| Bulle Rock | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Darley Arabian |
| Dam | Byerley Turk mare |
| Damsire | Byerley Turk |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | c. 1709 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Bay |
| Owner | Earl of Huntingdon,Samuel Gist |
| Honours | |
| First Thoroughbred stallion imported to America | |
Bulle Rock (foaled c. 1709), sometimes referred to asBulle Rocke or"Bullyrock", is thought to be the firstEnglishThoroughbred stallion brought to theAmerican Colonies, which would later become theUnited States. He was imported fromEngland toAmerica by amerchant mariner namedJames Patton in 1730, at the age of 21.[1] James Patton was distantly related toequestrian andU.S.GeneralGeorge S. Patton (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945), with both being descendants of the Rev. William Thomas Patton (1590 – abt. 1641), who was born inFreuchie,Fife,Scotland, and later moved toClonmany,County Donegal,Northern Ireland.
Bulle Rock was reportedly abay son of theDarley Arabian, and said to be out of a mare by theByerley Turk, though his maternal lineage is questioned by some sources.[2]
Bulle Rock is not mentioned in Britain'sGeneral Stud Book, which did not exist at the time of his birth, and, although the revised Volume 1 mentions some sons of the Darley Arabian, Bulle Rock is not among them, an omission possibly due to compilerJames Weatherby having no knowledge of the dam.[3] Pick'sTurf Register references a Bullyrock, by the Darley Arabian, out of an "indifferent mare",[4] whichThe Sportsman newspaper claims was "evidently the same horse"[5] The name derives from 16th and 17th-century literature where it meant "boon companion". The term "my Bully Rooke" is used byFalstaff in Shakespeare'sMerry Wives of Windsor.[6]
"Bulle Rock" was also named after "Bull Rock", an outpoint ofDursey Island (Irish:Baoi Bhéarra orOileán Baoi[7]), which lies at the southwestern tip of theBeara Peninsula in the west ofCounty Cork inIreland. InIrish mythology, "Bull Rock" is associated withDonn ("the dark one", fromProto-Celtic: *Dhuosnos),[8][9] an ancestor of theGaels who is believed to have been agod of the dead.[9][10][11]
Bulle Rock wasfoaled in England about 1709.[1] Edgar'sAmerica Race-turf Register, Sportsman's Herald and General Stud Book of 1833 is credited with "preserving his fame"[12] as other sources do not mention him until after this date. Edgar gives a birth date for Bulle Rock of 1718,[13] a date repeated in theAmerican Turf Register and Sporting Magazine of 1834,[14] but given his race record occurred prior to that year, the 1709 date appears more credible. Later, Edgar seems to have conceded this error, requesting an amendment to theAmerican Turf Register in 1835, concluding he must have been foaled "about the year 1707".[12] Primary source information on the horse is scant. Contemporary advertisements could be found in old Virginia newspapers at one time,[5] but by 1929, whenFairfax Harrison searched for them, these were lost.[15]
During Bulle Rock's racing career in England, he was owned in part by theEarl of Huntingdon and part by Mr Metcalfe. His track career lasted six years, starting with the Ladies' Plate held atYork in 1713, when he finished fourth, beaten by Careless. The following year, he finished second in the same race and in 1715 was second in two races,[2] including the Royal Gold Cup at York, in which he was beaten by Brocklesby.[16] He finally recorded a win in 1716, completing four heats of four miles each, winning two of them. He recorded a third-place finish in 1717 and a second in 1718.[2]
Originally owned byJames Patton, Bulle Rock was later sold toSamuel Gist ofHanover County,Virginia Colony.[2] Bulle Rock was thought to be an older horse by the time he arrived in America, but still was mated to at least 39 English, Spanish, orNarragansett Pacer mares, and the fillies he got were in turn mated with other importedEnglishThoroughbred stallions. The latter includedMessenger, who was imported in 1788, andDiomed, who was imported in 1798.[17] His reputation was made by the descendants of one of his daughters, who was owned by theBelair Stud.[17]