National Sporting Library - NSL Collection Highlights - Speed and the Thoroughbred by Alexander Mackay-Smith

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COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

SPEED AND THE THOROUGHBRED
The Complete History
by Alexander Mackay-Smith
Lanham, Maryland: The Derrydale Press, 2000.

Cover of 'Speed and the Thoroughbred' Speed and the Thoroughbred, The Complete History is the last book written by the NSL's co-founder, Alexander Mackay-Smith (1903-1998).

Throughout his life, Mackay-Smith wrote numerous books on racing and foxhunting, all of which are in the NSL's collection. He was editor of The Chronicle of the Horse for many years, and served as the Library's Chairman of the Board until 1991.

Speed is the culmination of ten years of work by Mackay-Smith. He traced the development of speed in the modern Thoroughbred to three sources: the pre-Christian Irish Hobby, the 16th-century English running horse, and the Middle-Eastern imports. Mackay-Smith included numerous illustrations that will delight readers.

John T. von Stade wrote in the foreword: "One of the delights of the saga, as Mr. Mackay-Smith set it out, is how early the relationship which we feel between ourselves and the Thoroughbred began to enter the hearts and souls of men." Mackay-Smith researched the development of the Thoroughbred's speed far deeper than ever before. He dug way beyond common knowledge by identifying specific horses and horsemen responsible for today's racing heroes. "Speed is the bottom line of racehorse breeding. For the past 500 years and more, the British racehorse has been the world's fastest horse," he wrote.
		The Byerley Turk, a Fores engraving after John Wootton (1683-1764).
	Mackay-Smith traced important horses and their origins from the Middle East and Ireland in the 16th century to 20th-century progeny. He included historical information about early imports of racing stock to the American colonies in the early 18th century, such as the notable sire Monkey. Speed and the Thoroughbred is shelved in the Flat Racing section in the main reading room.
Monkey 1725, imported to Virginia in 1737.