Sir Archy

[3] His dam, a blind mare named Castianira, had been purchased in England by Tayloe for his own Mount Airy Farm, but was bred on shares with his friend Randolph.

[4] Sir Archy, Castianira's second foal, was born on Randolph's Ben Lomond Plantation on the James River in Goochland County.

Still owned by Wormely, Sir Archy made his first start in the Washington Jockey Club Sweepstakes late in his three-year-old season.

[2] Now in the hands of Johnson's trainer, Arthur Taylor, Sir Archy became one of the greatest runners of his day, excelling in four-mile heats.

"[5] One of his most important matches was with Blank, in which Sir Archy won the first heat in 7:53 – the fastest time ever run to that point south of the James River.

Then William Amis bought Sir Archy, and stood the horse for 25 or his 28 years at his plantation, Mowfield, near the Roanoke River in Northampton County, North Carolina.

Amis' son estimated that during the years he stood at Mowfield, Sir Archy earned $76,000 in stud fees.

[4] Turf historian John Hervey wrote: "Before nor since, nothing has been known in America to equal the manner in which the Archys dominated both turf and stud for over half a century, beginning with the debut of his first crop of foals, in 1814 and culminating with the last of the sixteen seasons of premiership of his inbred great-grandson Lexington in 1878.

Sir Archy by Diomed out of Castianira by Alvan Fisher, ca. w/ caretaker Hardy. 1823-25. In the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts