Curwen's Bay Barb ( 1690 – c. 1728) was a foundation sire of the Thoroughbred breed. A bay horse with a white blaze, he was imported by Henry Curwen in 1698 from France. He had originally been a present to Louis XIV from the King of Morocco. One of his early sons, Mixbury, stood just over 13 hands high and apparently "there were not more that two horses of his day that could beat him under light wrights". He also sired Tantivy, Brocklesby, Brocklesby Betty, Creeping Molly and the top stallion Hip. It has also been suggested that he may have been the sire of Alcock's Arabian.
His sire line is extinct, but he made a significant contribution to the Thoroughbred breed. The three traditional foundation sires whose sire lines still exist today were Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerley Turk. However Curwen's Bay Barb contributed significantly to the breed through other lines of descent. Modern Thoroughbred's tend to have most crosses to Godolphin Arabian (contributing 13.8%), then Darley Arabian (6.5%), Curwen's Bay Barb (4.2%) and Byerley Turk (3.3%).
Sire line tree
Curwen's Bay BarbFoundation Sire: Curwen Bay BarbBiography: Curwen Bay Barb Blossum Flatface Brocklesby Hip Hartleys Roan Horse Windsor Grantham Mixbury GallowayFoundation Sire: Mixbury Harlequin Little-Thought-On Monkey Alcock's ArabianFoundation Sire: Alcock's ArabianBiography: Alcock's Arabian Tippler CrabFoundation Sires: C GrasshopperStudbook: Early G Grey Ward Crab (Routh) ValiantStudbook: Early UV Rib Sober John Sloe Sweeper Bustard Dorimond Gamahoe Othello (Portmore) Allworthy Locust Bucephalus Why Not Oroonoko Brunswick Spectator Pagan Sulphur Mark Anthony Vandal BrilliantBiography: Brilliant Antelope Bellario Don Dun Crab (Cumberland) Milksop Crab (Shepherd) Lath (Protector)Studbook: Early L Othello (Kingston)Studbook: Early NO True Briton Selim Spot (Alcock) Gentleman Spot (Wynn)
References
Foundation Sires of the Thoroughbred: Curwen's Bay Barb tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29