Can anyone tell me if there is a difference (other than where they are foaled) between an Irish TB & US TB? Thanks
It depends on the bloodlines.
Most Irish TBs are predominately American in ther bloodlines anymore with sooooo much use of Northern Dancer blood in Europe.
However, Irish breeders do have different goals for their horses in terms of the types of races they will target. For example, they are breeding for grass and AW surfaces, where most American breeders are targeting speed on dirt.
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It’s often used as a marketing gimmick, especially among sport horse flippers, who will postulate the horse is not your average TB because it’s “Irish”. I see it occasionally in breeding circles – event breeders in particular are guilty of throwing around “Irish TB” or “European TB” but when you look at the pedigree it’s as USA as they come.
If you look at the pedigree, it will tell you all you need to know.
Most Irish and GB TBs are North American bred (either CAN or USA) but Irish/GB born, in part thanks to some super sires like Sadlers Wells (Northern Dancer), Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), or Danehill (Danzig) and their sons, who now spend part of the breeding season in different hemispheres.
What is more important is the races the horses ran. Grass/turf is common in IRE tracks but dirt is the mainstay in USA… but a turf raced horse doesn’t automatically mean it’s better than a dirt bred horse either. It’s all about looking at the horse in front of you.
The only “genetically distinct” line of TBs is GER, but even then, they are gradually getting less insular thanks to stallions like Animal Kingdom bringing a dose of GER blood to racing.
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Which I know you know, but for the sake of posterity, are all Northern Dancer in the end. 
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The extra 0 in the price tag
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Agree with all of this. Country of birth honestly has little bearing on future success in sport…it’s just cashing in on the American buyer fascination with European things (ie, it’s from Over There, so it MUST be better!). You could argue that their racehorses run longer distances, on turf, and some of them jump. But they also love their sprinters, too (esp Australia). And if you think North American TBs have too much Northern Dancer, well… he is even more prevalent overseas!
I look at what Euro buyers like at our yearling sales, and it isn’t particularly the ones I’d buy for sport. They aren’t all built uphill, big striding, or nice moving for sport. Grass sprinters look similar to dirt sprinters, and neither of them would be my choice for an eventer. They are absolutely flooded with ND bloodlines, and continue to buy more (War Fronts). But, our US dirt-bred star American Pharoah has had good success there, too, so the grass is always greener…
In short, look at the pedigree and the individual, not the country initials.
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I think there is a perception that European bloodlines are sounder. One thing about the German bloodlines is that the horses do not run on Lasix in Germany, so I feel like there is a hardier, sounder horse with German bloodlines. Caro(IRE) was well-known for siring warhorses. I think perhaps the distance-bred horses connote a sounder individual, although I don’t know if research would support this. I think the research does show that horses stay sounder racing on grass than dirt, and so perhaps that influences the perception that “European” bloodlines are sounder. Also, while some of the “European” bloodlines are basically US bloodlines that were born overseas (with plenty of the ubiquitous Northern Dancer & Mr. Prospector), there are also plenty of European bloodlines that do not contain these two. I think this gives the impression of not being quite so inbred as the US TB.
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It is an interesting question. TB bloodlines are increasingly international, with stallions shuttling between hemispheres, with big breeding outfits owning farms in Europe, North America, Australia, NZ, Japan and moving horses between them. Buyers attend the big sales all around the globe. But, racing in Ireland, UK, France, Germany is different from the USA and I think it plays to different demands and expectations on the horses. Racing in the three main European countries is run predominantly on turf. We have some long races, up to 2.5 miles or more, on the same card as sprints. They run on “hay and water”. We have jump racing which, in the past, focused on different bloodlines. The French, in particular, have different blood and that is one reason why Brits like to buy French racers Even today, when well-bred flat horses move on to National Hunt (NH) jump racing after a flat career, there are certain stallions/families that do better than others. Saddlers Wells is still very dominant in jump racing, not just because there are so many around but because they are good jumpers and are hardy. If they couldn’t jump, they wouldn’t be racing. Making a NH sire is a very long-term prospect so there are stallions that are successful that aren’t/weren’t flat superstars. Often a stallion that is a mid-range flat sire will move over to become a successful NH one. Many stallions are dead by the time they become a jumping champion sire because their offspring may start running as 6 or 7 year olds and then race into their early teens. And a mare who can run in a 3 mile steeplechase under top weight is going to put toughness into her foals.
well, country of birth means little as mares have to be live covered, and many mares are shipped in foal to be covered once the current one hits the ground.
You can get an IRE from bloodlines totally not from there.
It would be interesting about the actual raising of the foal, as the philosophies are different, plus the climate.
And of course the actual IRE bred horses are aimed at different races than US bred ones.
I mean, turf is rare, and anything past 8 furlongs. OMG classical distance…
Not only do the German TBs not race on any medication, but the offspring of any stallions who ever ran on medication are restricted from breeding premiums. The Germans place a high priority on the preservation of soundness and durability.
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While it’s nice to think that all TBs run on “hay and water” except those in the U.S. it simply isn’t true.
This article is from last week. It’s one of several concerning EU and UK trainers this year:
Police Arrest 26 After Horse-doping Raids In Europe | Barron’s (barrons.com)
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true, they use oats as well…
However, the line is more clear cut on other chemicals: They ain’t supposed to be there.
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A[quote=“LaurieB, post:11, topic:771072, full:true”]
While it’s nice to think that all TBs run on “hay and water” except those in the U.S. it simply isn’t true.
This article is from last week. It’s one of several concerning EU and UK trainers this year:
Police Arrest 26 After Horse-doping Raids In Europe | Barron’s (barrons.com)
[/quote]
The expectation is that the horses run without chemical assistance - and 26 people were recently arrested for cheating.
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