First Crop of Tell All

There are 82 yearlings by first crop sire Tell All. Almost one third of them are from mares by Abercrombie line sires making them line bred to Abercrombie usually 3x3 or 4x3 with broodmare sires by Artsplace and his sons as well as by other Abercrombie sons even including Life Sign, grandsire of Tell All.

Normally I would not give this type of yearling a second look despite the quality of the mares. Statistically you can show that line breeding is a much less attractive proposition than outcrossing on sire line - about 4 to 1 in favour of the latter when it comes to producing top performers. That being said, however, there is some hope when the maternal connections are strong enough. Several of the Artsplace mares are from the maternal family of Golden Miss, as is Tell All, and usually they have Jate Lobell or No Nukes second dams with Albatross next in line. In theory they should be attractive prospects and the fillies especially should be looked at closely.

One that really caught my eye is To Tell The Truth from the Artsplace mare Living With Art. The maternal lines combine three of the best modern maternal families in K Nora, Lady Kacne and Golden Miss as well as No Nukes and Albatross doubled across the pedigree.

There are in fact eighteen others that have maternal doubles to Golden Miss and again the fillies are certainly worth a second look.

A very interesting group of yearlings that are, for the most part, strongly inbred maternally. The question is will the Abercrombie line breds be among the better ones.?

First Crop Sires

There are not that many first crop sires this year but there are several high profile ones. Donato Hanover will likely create the most buzz at the yearling sales for the trotting enthusiasts while Tell All appears to be the pacing sire of greatest interest. Others include the pacers Lis Mara in Ontario and Kenneth J in New York, and the trotting star Majestic Son in Ontario (although he has a pacing maternal line from the third dam down.)

I am always interested in what Hanover Shoe Farms does and particularily since Paul Spears is now involved in the sire selection process. Paul has been a great supporter of Pedigree Camp having attended all four years to date. It appears that some of that experience is rubbing off on the Hanover breedings.

I have not looked at all of the Donato Hanover yearlings yet but the ones bearing the Hanover name are from some very special mares, as it should be. Among the best that I can see so far are the following:

Aerodonato Hanover, colt from Aurora Hall

Donato Hanover is Donerail (Valley Victory) and Giant Victory (Super Bowl) maternally so you should expect that Valley Victory - Super Bowl combinations in the mares would be a large part of his success. This is a classic case since the dam is by Self Possessed from a mare by American Winner. The dam is also a double to Margaret Parrish

Bernice G Hanover is a very special filly since she is a double to Margaret Parrish as is her dam Batbreaker (Muscles Yankee).

Sari Maki Hanover from Likeavirgin Lindy is a similar filly with a double to MP and a dam that is also a double MP. She is my favorite so far being out of a mare by Like A Prayer whose sire is a son of Valley Victory and whose dam is by Super Bowl. The match is also a strong outmatch to the dominant Speedy Crown lines in Donato Hanover.

Tell All is by the Abercrombie line sire Real Desire and his maternal lines are Albatross - Jate Lobell. Western Hanover mares make a lot of sense here and one that is outstanding is a filly called Intelligence from Western Wisdom, a full sister to the millionaires Western Terror and If I Can Dream.

Lis Mara will be an interesting sire to follow. Will he dodge the bullet that comes from being a son of Cambest ? Or will he follow Cammibest and Camotion into early obscurity ? With a colt from Barbys Makentrax called Basque Hanover it looks like he might have a chance with his first crop.

The 2010 yearlings should be available shortly in both PedigreeGuru and Globetrotter