Musket (1867–1885) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

-bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse and a

Leading sire in Australia The list below shows the leading Father, sire of Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorses in Australia for each season since 1883–84. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season. The 2016 novel ''Mount ...

and New Zealand.

Breeding

He was sired by Toxophilite, his dam was a bay mare (1857) who was a half-sister to General Peel’s dam, by West Australian (winner of the 1853 British Triple Crown) from Brown Bess (1844) by Camel.Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), “Thoroughbred Breeding of the World”, Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970 Musket was inbred to Touchstone in the fourth generation (4x4).

Racing record

In England Musket won nine races including the Ascot Stakes before retiring to stud there where he only had limited patronage. In spite of this he managed to sire

Petronel The petronel was a 16th- and 17th-century black-powder muzzle-loading firearm, defined by Robert Barret (''Theorike and Practike of Modern Warres'', 1598) as a " horsemans peece". It was the muzzle-loading firearm which developed on the one h ...

winner of the

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

and Brown Bess (1876) winner of the

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 m ...

and Goodwood Stakes.

Stud record

In December 1878 Musket was imported into Victoria by the Auckland Stud Company and then sent to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand the following month. Initially he was used here to cover “half-bred” mares to breed coach horses.Leicester, Sir Charles, “Bloodstock Breeding”, J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 He sired 28 stakeswinners which had 107 stakes wins, including: * Cuirassier, won

Great Northern Derby The Great Northern Derby is a Group 1 harness racing event for 3 year old standardbreds. It is a major event for 3 year old colts and geldings in New Zealand and currently run at Alexandra Park in Auckland, in March. Records Most wins by an ow ...

* Foul Shot, won Auckland Derby * Fusilade, won

New Zealand Cup The New Zealand Cup is a thoroughbred horse race run at the Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch. New Zealand Cup week The New Zealand Cup is raced on the final Saturday of Christchurch "Cup week" held each year in the second week of Nov ...

* Fusilier, won Wanganui Derby * Manton, Derby Stakes, New Zealand Cup, Wanganui Derby * Martini-Henry,

Victoria Derby The Victoria Derby, also known as the Penfolds Victoria Derby, is a Victoria Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held under Set Weights conditions over a distance of 2,500 metres at Flemington Racecourse ...

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

* Nordenfeldt, Victoria Derby, AJC

Australian Derby The Australian Derby is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights held at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in April, during the Autumn ATC Championships Carnival. The race is considered to b ...

* Trenton, ARC Welcome Stakes, CJC Champagne Stakes, VRC Royal Park Stakes (twice), etc., sire of good racehorses including Wakeful and Auraria. Musket is best remembered for siring the famous

Carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and ligh ...

(great-great-grandsire of

Nearco Nearco (January 24, 1935 – June 27, 1957) was an Italian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by '' Thoroughbred Heritage'' as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He ...

), Nordenfeldt, Trenton (a leading sire in Australasia and then exported), Martini-Henry and Hotchkiss, all top sires. Carbine in his day was considered one of the greatest horses in the world, whose feats included winning the 1890

with the impost of in the record time of 3:28¼. The bloodlines of Musket including Carbine and Trenton, are still evident in many horses racing today.Becker, Friedrich, ''The Breed of the Racehorse'', The British Bloodstock Agency, London, c.1935 Musket had his portrait painted by the noted equine artist, Martin Stainforth and it was reproduced in ''Racehorses in Australia''.Painting of Musket by Martin Stainforth
Retrieved 2010-2-28

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1867 racehorse births 1885 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Champion Thoroughbred Sires of Australia Thoroughbred family 3-d

Breeding

Racing record

Stud record

Pedigree

See also

References