Australian

Australian (1858 – 15 October 1879) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was exported to the United States where he had modest success as a racehorse but became a very successful and influential breeding stallion. Background Australian was a chestnut horse with no white markings, standing 15.3 hands high in maturity bred in England by W. E. Duncombe. William Ernest Duncombe, later to become 1st Earl of Feversham was a member of a family which owned a long-established stud at Helmsley in Yorkshire. As a foal, he was acquired by Alexander Keene Richards of Scott County, Kentucky and was exported to the United States. The colt was initially given the name Millington. He was from the third crop of foals sired by West Australian who won the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, St Leger and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1853 and has been retrospectively recognised as the first Triple Crown winner. West Australian was regarded by contemporary experts as one of the best British horses of the nineteenth century. After his retirement from racing he had some success as a sire of winners in England and France and, through his son Solon was largely responsible for the survival of the Godolphin Arabian sire-line in Europe. Australian's dam Emilia, who was imported to the United States along with her son, became the female-line ancestor of many other major winners including Tanya, Ben Ali, Rhine Maiden and Broomspun. Her line continues to have an impact as her direct descendants include the influential broodmares Gaily, Hasili and Mariah's Storm. Racing career