Sire Lines Of International Jumpers The Marco Line

A very important jumping line in both Europe and North America descends from the English Thoroughbred stallion Marco.
Marco was a descendant of the Matchem line, a Thoroughbred line particularly noted to be slow maturing, staying race horses. Marco stood at stud in England, where he had several sons of importance in both racing and jumping pedigrees. These sons included Marcovil and Omar Khayyam. Marco was also the grandsire of Cottage, a famous ‘chasing sire in England.

 Marco's son Marcovil was far from being a first class performer on the race course. Hampered by bad forelegs, he won only two unimportant races as a three-year-old, but he had the ability to produce offspring who were better than he was himself.

Marcovil sired Hurry On, a 17 hand individual of outstanding physique who was never defeated on the race track.
Hurry On became a leading sire in England, producing a line of stayers, horses who showed stamina over a long distance.
It was the beginning of the Hurry On line whose influence was to be felt throughout the world, both on the race course and in the show ring.
Hurry On went on to sire Precipitation,a classic winner who, like his sire, also became a leading race sire. Hurry On was also the sire of the stallion Coronach, who will be mentioned later.

One of Precipitation's sons, Furioso, ran in twenty races and later became one of the most successful jumping sires known in Europe. Furioso, an Irish-bred Thoroughbred stallion, was purchased by the French National Stud after the Second World War in an attempt to rebuild its breeding operation in Normandy which had been devastated by the war.
Sired by Precipitation, Furioso was out of a mare by Son-In-Law, a descendant of the Dark Ronald line,to be mentioned later.
In France, Furioso sired the well-known international jumper Lutter B. who was ridden by Pierre d’Oriola of France.
Lutter B won the Grand Prix of Madrid, the Jumping Derby at La Baule, and then went on to compete in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he won an individual Gold Medal, and was a member of the silver medal winning French team.
Pomone B, a daughter of Furioso, won the World Jumping Championship in Buenos Aires in 1966 and also the Jumping Championship of Germany. In 1967, in Mexico she won the pre-Olympic competition. During her career, Pomone B was a multiple Grand Prix winner in Europe. Like Lutter B, Pomone B was ridden by Pierre d'Oriola.

Another son of Furioso ridden by Pierre d'Oriola was Virtuoso a jumper who won many European events, competed in the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm, and placed his rider second in the Men's European Championships in Paris in 1959.
Eclair Au Chocolate and Grand Veneur, both sired by Furioso, were members of the French Olympic team in the 1960 Olympics.
No less than five sons of the great Furioso competed in the Prix de Nations in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Lutter B and Monsieur De Littry were members of the silver medal-winning French team, Infernal and Eolo IV jumped for the Spanish team, while Joc de l’Ile was a member of the Portuguese team.
Furioso also produced Frio, a member of the Prix de Nations winning Italian team in Nice in 1960, as well as the jumpers Melisande and Kairouan, a puissance specialist who was the Champion of the Netherlands, ridden by Holland’s leading show jumping rider, Anton Ebben.

Two sons of Furioso, Mexico and Curioso, stood successfully at stud producing show jumpers in Europe. Furioso II, was a full brother to the jumping sire Mexico, and both also descend from Orange Peel, a Thoroughbred line very important in French breeding. Furioso II was sold to Germany, where he became a leading sire.
Furioso II  is the grandsire of Everest Forever, a Hanoverian ridden by Liz Edgar of Great Britain. Everest Forever won the Aachen Grand Prix in 1980 and placed second in the World Cup Qualifier in Paris in 1981. He also placed sixth in the FEI World Cup in 1982. Everest Forever was sired by Futuro, a son of Furioso II.
Fabian, an Oldenburg-Thorougbred cross presently ridden by Hans Gunter Winkler, is also a jumper by Furioso II.

Furioso himself is the maternal grandsire of Artichaut, the sire of GlandorAkai, a leading show jumper in Europe now shown in North America by Barney Ward. Artichaut is also the sire of Gracieuse K of the French Equestrian Team.
As well, Furioso is the maternal grandsire of the sire of Costa, one of Germany's most successful show jumping mares.
Her sire, Cor de la Bryere, is out of a daughter of Furioso.
Belle De Mars, a gold medal winning member of the French Equestrian Team at the Montreal Olympics, was sired by Surioso, a son of Furioso.

When Furioso died in 1968, he had sired over 300 foals. Of these, more than thirty were international winners in jumping classes in many countries throughout the world.
Precipitation, through another son, Precipice (whose dam was a granddaughter of The Tetrarch, a sire to be mentioned later), appears in the pedigree of the Thoroughbred stallion Snuff Matter. Snuff Matter is the sire of the Italian jumper Crispy, an international Grand Prix winner. It is interesting to note that Snuff Matter also descends from the Thoroughbred stallion Denturius. Denturius was an English Thoroughbred stallion who sired San Padre,a jumper with the United States Equestrian Team who was a member of Prix de Nations winning teams in Ostend and Toronto, and was ridden by Carol Hoffman.
A half brother to Precipitation, Persian Gulf, is the grandsire of the Westphalian stallion Paradox, who has sired many present-day jumpers in Europe, including Prizess, Palma Nova, Payot, Pardon, Pia, Playboy, Parbleu, Summertime, and Pascal. Persian Gulf is also the grandsire of the English Thoroughbred stallion, Marlon, an important jumping stallion in the Holsteiner breed in Germany.
Marco, the grandsire of Hurry On, is also the grandsire of the English Thoroughbred stallion, Cottage. Cottage sired many great steeplechasers in England including three Grand National winners Lovely Cottage, Shelia's Cottage and Workman. Cottage also descends from the *Rock Sand line, a family to be mentioned later.
Cottage was the maternal grandsire of the Thoroughbred stallion Cottage Son, whose son, Codex, sired the Irish-bred European Grand Prix and puissance jumper Marco Codex, ridden by Paul Darragh of Ireland.
The Thoroughbred stallion, Cottage Son, who is out of a daughter of Cottage, was sired by Young Lover, who was by the Thoroughbred stallion Son-In-Law and out of a daughter of *Rock Sand. As will be seen later, this combines three strong jumping lines in the pedigree of Cottage Son.
Cottage Son is also the sire of Anzak, 1968 winner of the Danish Junior Jumping Championships and a member of the winning team at the Danish Jumping Championships from 1967 to 1970. Cottage Son is a widely used stallion in the Holsteiner breed in Germany.

Cottage was the sire of Huntress, who was the dam of Cottage Colleen. a member of Canada's Bronze medal winning Three-Day Event Team in the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and ridden in that event by Jim Elder.
Marcovil, as previously mentioned, was the sire of Hurry On and he also sired My Prince, a leading steeplechasing sire in England. My Prince sired twelve steeplechase winners, including a Grand National winner, and he also was the sire of Greenoque Princess, the second dam of the Irish-bred champion steeplechaser Arkle. Arkle was sired by a son of Nearco, and he also descends from Dark Ronald on his sire’s side and Son-In-Law on his dam’s side.

Prince Hal, one of the leading indoor jumpers in the world, ridden by Pat Smythe of Great Britain in the 1950’s, was out of a mare by My Prince. Prince Hal won the Daily Mail Cup at the Royal International Horse Show in London. He also set the Ladies European High jump record at 7' 4 1/2", and he was a member of winning Prix de Nations teams for Great Britain, winning classes throughout Europe and North America.

Other descendants of Marco in Europe are the Thoroughbred stallion Courville (sire of Jasper, known as Little One,a winner of the Hamburg Derby with Hugo Simon) and the Thoroughbred stallion Erathosthenes (sire of Iwan, a Dutch Equestrian Team jumper at the Montreal Olympics). Both Courville and Erathosthenes  descend from Marco's son, Neil Gow.

The Hurry On/Precipitation line has not been a very successful Thoroughbred racing line in North America. This is probably because they are slow-maturing, distance horses, a trait which has not been prominent in successful race families on this side of the Atlantic where faster maturing, sprinting lines are more popular. The line has been very successful in most other racing countries of the world, however, including New Zealand and Australia and for this reason Marco is not as common in the pedigrees of jumpers in North America as it is in Europe.

Hurry On does appear in the pedigrees of the United States Equestrian Team jumper Good Twist, winner of 21 international classes in North America and Europe. *Ianthe II, the dam of Good Twist, was a steeplechaser in Ireland, and she was out of a grandaughter of Hurry On.
Unusual, winner of the President's Cup at the Washington International HorseShow and a member of the gold medal winning United States Equestrian team at the 1963 Pan Am Games, also carries the Hurry On line through his sire, Endeavour II, whose dam was a granddaughter of Hurry On.

New Providence, the sire of the jumper Countdown (winner of the Jacksonville Grand Prix and a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team for rider Ian Millar), is a grandson of Preciptic by Precipitation.
Tuscaloosa, ridden by Dennis Murphy to many United States Equestrian Team wins overseas as well as Grand Prix win in Jacksonville, Ocala and Palm Beach, descends from Hurry On through his sire, an imported stallion named *Coffee Money.

Other well-known North American jumpers descending  from Hurry Oninclude Mr. Demeanor, Space Citation, and Catbird. They all descend from Hurry On through the great American race horse Citation, whose second dam was by Hurry On.
Marco, the grandsire of Hurry On, did sire *Omar Khayyam, a colt bred in England who came to the United States as a yearling and went on to win the Triple Crown in the United States.

*Omar Khayyam is the grandsire of Sir Damion, an important stallion in North America, appearing in the pedigrees of many Grand Prix and international jumpers. These include The Flying Nun (a Grand Prix and puissance winner and member of the Canadian Equestrian Team), Danny (a full brother of The Flying Nun and a leading jumper in California), Sloopy (a bronze and silver medal winning jumper in the Munich Olympics in 1972), and the Grand Prix jumpers Country Rose, Samba, Jibber Jabber, War Lord, and Just Plain Wilbur.

Idle Dice, the winningest Grand Prix jumper in North America, also descends from *Omar Khayyam through his maternal grand sire, Isolator. Isolator was out of Priscilla Carter, a daughter of *Omar Khayyam. Isolator is also the grandsire of The Crimson Tide, a member of the United States Equestrian Team in 1978, and on the Canadian Equestrian Team’s silver medal winning team at the 1979 Pan Am Games.

Isolator is a half brother to Humility, the third dam of the Thoroughbred stallion Ozymandias, who sired the international jumpers Heatwave (now shown in England as Tabac Original), ridden by David Broome, and Ryan’s Son, ridden by John Whitaker of Great Britain, a leading contender in World Cup competition.

Coronach. a 16.2 hand son of Hurry On, appears in the pedigree of the jumper Australis, a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team and Grand Prix winner on both sides of the Atlantic.
Coranach sired Niccolo Dell’Arca, a half brother to Nearco, who is the maternal grandsire of Uppercut, a Thoroughbreed stallion who sired the international jumper The Saint ridden by Alwin Schochemohle of Germany.

Snowbound, a grand Prix winning member of the United States Equestrian team, on both sides of the Atlantic and an Individual Gold Medal winner at the Mexico Olympics for the United States, descends from Marco through his son Neil Gow.

Dr Pete Birdsall of Equine Bloodlines