Godolphin Arabian

The Godolphin Arabian (ca 1724 - 1754), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was one of three horses which were the founders of the modern thoroughbred horse racing broodstock. The Godolphin Arabian was foaled in Yemen. He was a gift to King Louis XV of France; he was subsequently purchased in Paris by Edward Coke of Holkham Hall, son of the Earl of Leicester and sold to Francis, Earl of Godolphin, who maintained a stud in Suffolk near the racing town of Newmarket. There the Godolphin Arabian was bred to England's finest mares. One of his offspring with the mare "Shireborn" was a mare named "Selima" born in 1745. "Swelima" was purchased by Benjamin Tasker, Jr. of Maryland in Colonial America and raced there between 1750 and 1753 when she became an important broodmare at the Belair Stud in what is today known as Bowie, Maryland.

Related Topics:
Arabian - Horse - Thoroughbred - Horse racing - Yemen - Louis XV of France - Edward Coke - Holkham Hall - Earl of Leicester - Francis, Earl of Godolphin - Newmarket - Selima - Benjamin Tasker, Jr. - Maryland - Colonial America - Belair Stud - Bowie, Maryland

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Godolphin's grave in the stable block of Wandlebury House can be visited.

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A somewhat romanticized biography of the Godolphin Arabian is told in King of the Wind, a novel by Marguerite Henry (better known for her Misty of Chincoteague stories).

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