Sire Line Affinity

I have written in the past about certain "nicks" in pedigrees as they apply to the profiles of sires. Most are explainable as reflecting the position of common individuals across the pedigree such as Albatross, No Nukes, Speedy Crown , Super Bowl etc. There are other patterns that are not readily explainable but are nevertheless noteworthy such as the presence of Big Towner in the dams of the best by Rock N Roll Heaven and Pet Rock, both sires similarly bred but with no Big Towner themselves.

But what about broodmare sires ? Do they exhibit similar affinities for certain lines in the sires to which they are bred other than the sire lines they share in common maternally. It would appear they do have such affinity, at least in the case of Bettors Delight..

Bettors Delight mares have been in the broodmare ranks since 2006 and by now are at their prime in producing top performers but as a group they are somewhat of a disappointment with a 17.4% average in producing top performers making over $100K. Compare this to his foals as racehorses with a success rate of over 34%. For most sires breeding success of the mares closely parallels racing success but for some reason this is not the case for mares by Bettors Delight.

Looking at the pedigrees of the mares responsible for his top 100 broodmare credits shows a remarkable pattern that centers on the presence of Volomite and Big Towner lines in the sire line or in the maternal lines of the sires that work best. Eighty nine of the top 100 including all of the top 30 show this pattern and 56 of the top 60.

The Volomite line shows up 58 times primarily through Direct Scooter and his descendants Matts Scooter, Mach Three, Somebeachsomewhere and his sons.

American Ideal has a Matts Scooter dam and has 13 of the top 100. Next comes the Direct Scooter line sire Somebeachsomewhere with 12, Rocknroll Hanover with 7, Well Said has 6, Rock N Roll Heaven with 6, Shadow Play 4, Mach Three 3, and 7 others with one each.

Big Towner shows up in 31 mares with Art Major leading the way with 12, Sportswriter with 4, Always A Virgin at 3, Big Bad John, Big Jim and Dragon Again have 2 each, and six other sires with one apiece.

The 11 exceptions are all by different sires with maternal lines that link to the bottom half of the pedigrees of the mares rather than to the Cam Fella - Abercrombie lines of Bettors Delight.

This seeming affinity for sires that carry Direct Scooter and/or Big Towner certainly reduces the sire options for mares by Bettors Delight and that alone could account for so many of these mares not performing as well in the broodmares ranks as they did on the track.