Pacing Stallions for 2019

Lazarus and All Bets Off

Considering that Bettors Delight is arguably the best pacing stallion in the world today it is surprising that he does not have many sons at stud. But then again his sire Cams Card Shark is in the same boat. Bettors Delight and his full brother Roll With Joe, along with Four Starzzz Shark are the only "major" sires that Cams Card Shark has produced. 

Lazarus

The current list of sires by Bettors Delight shows 9 in North America but only four of them have foals racing. Perhaps the most prominent of those is I'm Gorgeous whose limited production includes the exceptional colt Lather Up whose dam is by In The Pocket by Direct Scooter, the same sire line as the dam of Lazarus. That does not really prove much other than the Bettors Delight line and Direct Scooter lines are compatible under certain circumstances and perhaps mares by other Direct Scooter line sires such as Somebeachsomewhere will be important to the success of Bettors Delight sons at stud especially Lazarus.

What adds a bit of credibility to that connection is the success of the best filly so far from a Somebeachsomewhere mare, Youaremycandygirl. She is by American Ideal, a Western Hanover line, but it is the maternal side of that sire that is important since it is a combination of Direct Scooter and Albatross lines just like those of Lazarus. The closest sire overall to the pedigree of Lazarus is the Cam Fella son Village Jiffy whose maternal lines are Direct Scooter - Nero, like Albatross a son of Meadow Skipper.

An interesting feature of all of the current sires by Bettors Delight is the Albatross maternal connection, something that is a key part of the success of Bettors Delight generally. In fact almost all have 4x4 maternal crosses to Albatross or his sire Meadow Skipper. That link to Albatross is very noticeable in their best offspring. Kenneth J's eight that earned over $100K include seven with that connection. Betterthancheddar shows 6/6 for his $100K winners. Im Gorgeous is 5/6. 

All Bets Off and Lazarus have the same 4x4 Albatross cross maternally so there is a high degree of probability that their success as sires will depend upon finding mares that continue the trend. Village Jiffy whose pedigree is closest to Lazarus Village has 19 of his top 20 with a maternal cross of  Meadow Skipper through a son or an Albatross line sire. Given that Albatross is fast disappearing in the first three dams of todays broodmares this may create a problem. There is, however, another option.

The Adios line, particularly through Abercrombie, is also an important part of the profile of Bettors Delight since his own dam is by a son of Abercrombie. His profile shows 18 of his top 20 with an Adios line in the dams with the exceptions having Big Towner. His sons appear to be doing the same thing.

All Bets Off

When you win over $3 million that should give you credibility as a potential sire - right ?

It is, however, unusual to see a modern day stallion enter the stud as an eight year old and I am not aware of any valid comparisons to prove whether this is a scenario for possible success. I am, however, fairly convinced that stallion success is largely based on the maternal connections that occur in the middle of the pedigree, the 3rd and 4th generation crosses of the offspring in particular. All Bets Off is from a mare by Dexter Nukes, a son of No Nukes, and has a second dam by the trotting bred Horton Hanover (Volomite line).

Camystic and  Driven To Win, are the only sires with Dexter Nukes dams that have offspring racing and they may offer a clue to the possibilities although their second dams are through Adios line. Malicious is Western Hanover with a Adios line second dam also. The Adios line, in fact, is the dominant factor in their best. The three good ones by Driven To Win have Abercrombie maternally and all three have the Meadow Skipper/Albatross connection we see generally for Bettors Delight line stallions. Camystic has 14 of his top 20 from Abercrombie line mares, 18 of 20 with Abercrombie in the pedigree and 19 of 20 with the Albatross connection, the sole connection being the highly inbred Jackson K Down whose dam was by Dexter Nukes.

Mysticism in Florida is Western Hanover - Harold J (Volomite line) maternally, the only active sire similar maternally to All Bets Off,  and his only two good ones have both Abercrombie and Albatross lines in their dams. 

It looks like the same profile keys for both Lazarus and All Bets Off.

Predicted Profile

Mares that are line bred or inbred to the Meadow Skipper line including one dam by Meadow Skipper, a son or an Albatross line sire plus an adios/Abercrombie line maternally.

Example Pedigrees

Sweet Lady Jane, Pocket Comb, Bay Girl

New Stallions for 2019 - Tactical Landing

Tactical Landing

With the addition of Tactical Landing to the stallion ranks there are now 13 sons of Muscle Hill standing in North America - I hope that is not a bad omen. As a race horse he did not have much luck until late in his three year old season when he convincingly won back to back major stakes in the Breeders Crown and the TVG to just get past his $800,000 purchase price. That was not enough to get him any year-end honours but enough to justify giving him a chance as a stallion. He is, after all, a full brother to a $1.66 million winner in the filly Mission Brief.

His pedigree is unusual being from a mare by Italian bred Varenne whose own stallion career has been somewhat of a disappointment and whose broodmares are pretty much a disaster generally at 3.9% success rate in producing $100K winners. Four out his top six credits, however, are from the dam of Tactical Landing so she had to have something special. She was a Breeders Crown winner at three and an X-factor double to both Speedy Crown and Stars Pride. She was also an example of the TB pattern being by a Speedy Crown line sire and from a dam that is inbred maternally to the same sire line.

Tactical Landing has a double/double pedigree and like many of the best by Muscle Hill has maternal connections to Speedy Crown, Noble Victory and Stars Pride across his pedigree. His principal sire lines maternally are through Varenne (Speedy Somolli line) and Pine Chip (Arnie Almahurst line). As a Valley Victory line sire that puts him in the same category as Glidemaster whose dam was by Mr Lavec (Speedy Somolli) - Florida Pro (Arnie Almahurst). That may not be very auspicious considering the stud career of Glidemaster but it should give us a good model to follow.

Glidemaster's best offspring was the exceptional mare Maven, a double millionaire and a double/double pedigree as well. Her dam, M Stewart, was by American Winner, whose dam was by Speedy Somolli, and her second dam was by Arnie Almahurst, third dam by a son of Stars Pride - all of the lines in Tactical Landing worth connecting too.

Fourteen of Glidemaster's best were from non-Speedster line dams and four of the exceptions had an Arnie Almahurst line maternally. Fifteen of his best, including the top four, were inbred maternally to Speedster mostly on the TB pattern. In that respect Maven was both DD and TB.

Expected Profile

Non Speedy Crown line dams that are inbred maternally to Speedster line and have Arnie Almahurst and/or Stars Pride lines maternally.

Example Breedings - M Stewart, Mamora Bay

Double - Double Yearlings

Add Tall Drink Hanover, winner of the Shes A Great Lady at Woodbine, to the growing list of top two year olds with double-double pedigrees. She was rated at 80 - 1.48.3 on our list for yearlings to consider at Harrisburg last year. Also on the list was Metro winner Stag Party at 95 - 1.50.0.

There are similar pedigree treasures to be found in this year's catalogues at Harrisburg, Lexington and Forest City. A special Double-Double report is available to the first ten buyers, a limited number because this is exclusive information on a short list of horses that have the potential for greatness, just like Always B Miki, McWicked, Hannelore Hanover, Manchego and many other champions.

Americas Horse - The Fastest Way To A Million

A two year old Quarter Horse filly called Fly Baby Fly won almost $1.6 million last year and in so doing became the richest racing filly of all racing breeds. She also put an exclamation point on the rising interest and financial opportunities in quarter horse racing where million dollar purses are becoming the norm.

Reputed to be the largest horsebreed registry in the World in terms of members and horses, the American Quarter Horse Association may well be also the youngest being founded in Texas, USA, in the 1940's

The origins of the Quarter Horse combine two distinct horse breeds, the English and North American thoroughbred and the mustangs of the south-western States that evolved from the horses brought to South and Central America by the Spanish Conquistadors.

A smallish thoroughbred called Janus (1746) was imported from England to Virginia in the late 1700's. While small in size he was noted for his speed over short distances and his offspring were favourites among the farming community for impromptu racing with their neighbours. As the Wild West became developed  and the numbers of Thoroughbreds grew both in terms of imports and local breds the settlers took many of them to the frontiers where they proved themselves as agile and willing ranch horses and indeed war mounts as a defence against raids by indigenous tribes mounted on their "mustangs". Inevitably the two breeds came together and the result was a horse perfectly adapted for local conditions and the needs of the booming cattle ranching business.

While they started out as work horses adept for such chores as herding, roping and cutting it was also inevitable that their speed over short distances would result in a racing version especially with the continued importation to the West of more thoroughbreds with comparable speed.

The formation of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) predates organized racing and was created by a group of ranchers who enjoyed match racing and riding their horses for business and pleasure. The idea came from an article written in 1935 by Robert Denhardt entitled "The Quarter Horse, Then And Now" about the history and characteristics of the Quarter Horse.

In 1940, William Barre Warren was elected as the first President at an impromptu business meeting following a dinner party in Fort Worth, Texas, where the guests showed interest in forming a registry for the Steeldust and Billy horses of the Southwest. At that time Warren was a director for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He had hundreds of friends in the rodeo, match-race and ranch industries and it was at his suggestion that the registry not be confined to just the local breds by western bred sires but that horses with up to 50% thoroughbred blood could also be registered as Quarter Horses.

Two of Warren's own stallions were Peter McCue and Traveler. The former was born in 1895 and was a great-grandson of a legendary Kentucky bred stallion called Steel Dust (1844), a descendent of the great Diomed, and who came to the Southwest as a yearling. Traveler was a grandson of Steel Dust.

The American Quarter Horse Racing Association was formed in 1945. This group mainly was concerned with the operation of racetracks and their registration efforts were limited to what was needed for identification for racing purposes. They set the standards for racing, and set up a Register of Merit system to help with handicapping racing. They registered horses that were in AQHA's stud books, as well as Thoroughbreds. Even "Paint" horses, which at this time had no registry and would not for another two decades, were registered. Painted Joe, a foundation stallion with the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), was registered with the AQRA and ran against many of the early Quarter Horse racers.

Because of the continued dilution of the original bloodlines as a result of the 50/50 registration rule there is now an offshoot organization dedicated to the preservation of the older strains dating back to the 1800's. There have also been registries of horses of color in addition to the Paint horses with the Palomino Horse Breeders of America and the American Buckskin Registry Association being cross registered with the racing and ranch Quarter Horses. Both the Paint and Palomino breeds have a racehorse component also.

The largest group of owners, however, are still those involved in rodeos, horse shows and pleasure riding.  Today, people show American Quarter Horses in a variety of competitive events, including, but not limited to, halter classes; western style events such as Western Pleasure, Reining, and Cutting; English riding events in the hunt seat style, such as Hunter Under Saddle, Working Hunter, and Hunter Hack. Driving classes are available at some shows, as are some timed games such as barrel racing. There are also equitation and halter showmanship classes for non-pro exhibitors.

The Racing Quarter Horse.

The earliest mares were primarily ranch mares, many without known pedigrees and with names like Peg, Betty etc. or simply named after the Ranch with a number attached such as Waggoner Mare 56. As the breed has evolved there have been thoroughbred mares bred to Quarter Horse stallions that now are responsible for many of the top racers of today. On the Sire side the bloodlines are dominated by stallions tracing to the thoroughbred stallions Three Bars (1940) and Top Deck (1945), both descendants of the Darley Arabian through the imported English sire Camel (1822). Three Bars had several sons that continue to impact the paternal lines of todays best especially through Rocket Bar and his descendant First Down Dash (1984) who is still at stud although long past his peak in producing top performers. Top Deck is the sire line of the current top Quarter Horse stallion in North America named One Famous Eagle.

As in the thoroughbred world the other top influences in sires descend from Nearco and Native Dancer, known more commonly as the Northern Dancer and the Mr Prospector lines in thoroughbred circles although it is through Beduino and Raise A Native respectively that these lines have come to prominence in Quarter Horse racing particularly through their broodmares.

One Famous Eagle combines all of the top sire lines in his pedigree and has produced One Dashing Eagle, a winner of over $2 million, from a mare that also combines all of the same sires and traces back maternally to a descendant of Peter McCue, one of the original Texas bred sires owned by William Warren, the first President of the AQHA. One Famous Eagle has also produced the top two year old in North America in 2017 by the name of Fly Baby Fly who has the distinction of being the richest two year old race horse of any breed in North America last year. Her maternal line goes back to a ranch mare called Mollie born in 1930 and a grand daughter of Peter McCue. As for Janus, the little speedster who started it all, there appears to be no trace of him in todays pedigrees that I can find.

Bet you did not know that Roy Rogers horse Trigger was actually a Palomino quarter horse called Golden Cloud. His wife Dale Evans rode a buckskin quarter horse called Buttermilk. Another famous quarter horse in the movies was Mister Ed, the talking horse, played by a quarter horse called Bamboo Harvester and had a stunt double, also a quarter horse, by name of Pumpkin who subsequently appeared in the TV series Green Acres.

Stallion Review - 2017

The breeding of Standardbreds in North America, based on the number of yearlings, continues to be in decline. A big part of the problem in recent years has been the big drop in Ontario and New Jersey breedings, both crippled by Government policies that hurt the industry. While both jurisdictions, along with Quebec, are recovering somewhat, the impact on the stallion population there and elsewhere continues to present problems for the future.

In 2017 alone we saw 139 stallions retired from breeding compared to the 96 that quit the ranks in 2016. This is offset somewhat by the meager 10 new stallions listed to date for 2018 breeding in addition to the 62 that may have first crop foals in 2018.

The number of stallions with yearlings registered to date in 2017 stood at 449 and many of them had just a handful of foals including 32 with just one foal registered. The number of yearlings in North America last year overall dropped to another 50 year low of 7234, with 4167 pacers and 3067 trotters, and all indications are that the drop will continue in the 2017 crop. The immediate effect is on the yearling sales where we are seeing reduced consignments and sale consolidations. This has a temporary good side in the form of increased sale averages but considering that the breeders have struggled with lower that cost sales in the past it is like a 100% increase going from 1 to 2 on a scale of 10.

The shortage of yearlings ultimately results in a shortage of racehorses, and a reduction in racing opportunities and purses as tracks struggle to maintain their market share. Track closures are inevitable as we have seen recently in Illinois. Even the biggest tracks are not immune since they are dependent on the "farm" system of smaller tracks for the development of race horses and the trainers and caregivers related to them.

Add to this an almost total absence of interest on the part of the two organizations responsible for the breed in doing anything positive to turn around the decline in their base. The USTA and Standardbred Canada continue to bury their heads in the sand claiming that they need to increase the bet and the purses as a first priority. Meanwhile the breeders that remain continue to struggle and pay ever increasing dues to these so-called breeders Associations getting little ground level support in return.

Here on Prince Edward Island we are blessed to have an active industry association to fill the gaps left by a delinquent national organization. Supported by local government at all levels of the industry, racing on PEI has a strong rural base with an active matinee track program that gives small breeders and younger people the opportunity to learn about, and grow their interest in, harness racing. While we have also seen the demise of several of our larger breeding farms in recent years the number of mares bred has stabilized and the number of small breeders has increased somewhat. Our yearling sale set an all time record average with a substantial 34% increase of the previous year record and the accolades should go out to the breeders accordingly and to the many volunteers that are key to our continued success.

Solutions are elusive to the problem. Increased promotion and assistance in the form of education and basic farm gate services are basic building blocks to encourage new breeders. A switch to broodmare residency requirements as the basis for regional stakes eligibility would open up a new market for struggling breeders to board mares. Breeders awards as a percentage of earnings are already in place in several jurisdictions but should be universally available. Broadening the ownership base and level of interest through initiatives like The Stable is also a positive development that should be encouraged at the regional level.

I am sure that readers have their own suggestions for ways to support the successful breeding of Standardbreds. After all the future of the breed in North America is at stake and leaving the problem to the next generation is not an option - there may not be another generation.

2017 North American Stallion Finder

The 2017 Stallion Finder is now available for free download.

The current version now contains every known active stallion in North America and is the only source available for this comprehensive information.

I trust you will enjoy and benefit from its use.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas.

Norman Hall
Pedigree Matching

Rockin Good

It is nice to hear back from clients of Pedigree Matching. In any one season I may make several hundred broodmare breeding recommendations and here is one letter that I just received from a client in Michigan.

"Norman

In 2011, you wrote me an analysis regarding my broodmare, Do Me Good. One of the sires you recommended was Rockin Image, who stands at Victory Hill Farm in LaGrange, Indiana. I took your advice and the result was Rockin Good. She was sold at the 2013 Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale to Mark and Jered Finn of Newton, Illinois for $9,500.

On June 19th, she qualified at Springfield, Illinois, in 1:55.1 without urging; and was briefly the Season's Leader for that effort. During the course of the summer, Rockin Good won the Elimination Heat of three legs of the Indiana Sires Stakes. Finally, on October 10th at Hoosier Park, she won her first final victory by a nose in 1:53.2, her lifetime mark. Last Saturday, October 18th, at Hoosier Park, Rockin Good won  the Indiana 2 YO Filly Championship and Sires Stake in a time of 1:53.3. Her purses totaled $181,250 for the Finns.

Thanks for the (Rockin) good advice."

Ed

Ed Engle, Jr.

Engle Equine, LLC

 

 

Ed's success reminds me of one of my earliest clients from Michigan. Joan Ellafrits was the owner of one mare at the time and had read an article on Pedigree Matching in the USTA Hoofbeats magazine. She had bred her mare three times without success, basically using the closest and least expensive sire available to her - a strategy that is often used but also one with near zero success.

I recommended she breed to a Michigan sire called Super Star Ranger. The result was a colt she named Winsum Ranger. At three he was the winner of the Michigan State Championship and went on to earn over $596,000 with 43 career wins and a record of 1:56.2 taken at Woodbine.

Winsum Ranger was the first really good horse that Joan ever bred or owned. She did it again with a full brother now with over $122,000 and still racing. She also has a filly called Keyanna Rose from a full sister to Winsum Ranger. That filly is also a winner of the Michigan Championships, and was the best of her three year old year in Michigan with over $451,000 made. Keyanna Rose is by Keystone Nordic, another Pedigree Matching sire choice as is her brother Keyodee Star with $292,000 in the bank.

Joan, like many others who have experienced Pedigree Matching in action, has shown that you don’t have to be a big farm to produce top horses. Anyone can produce or buy a great horse if they do their homework or at least get someone to help them with it.

How to breed a World Champion - Marg Told You So

What do the trotter Market Share and the pacer Somwherovrarainbow have in common - besides setting world records in the past few days over a five-eights track in Pennsylvania ?

One of the first people to inspire my interest in pedigrees was a lady named Marg Neale. She was the first lady of pedigrees in Canada for many years. She worked for the Canadian Trotting Association, the predecessor of Standardbred Canada. If Marg Neale was still around she would tell you in no uncertain terms - I told you so.

Here is an excerpt from an interview of Marg by Dean Hoffman and published in Hoofbeats over twenty years ago. I have referenced it before on an earlier post but it bears repeating.

“There is a model of breeding that is like a pattern, and the pattern persists over generations, although, of course, the names change. I like to see a mare that is inbred, and a sire that is not.”

 

Two World Champions - two great examples of the wisdom of Marg Neale.

 

Market Share is by the Swedish sire Revenue, an outcross sire by Reve D`Udon,  a French stallion ,but from a dam that has totally North American bloodlines. The only common element between the sire and the dam is Peter Scott, the paternal line of the dam of Reve D`Udon, and also the paternal line of Sugarcane Hanover, sire of Revenue`s dam. Clearly a sire that is not inbred.

 

The dam of Market Share, however, is very much the opposite. Classical Flirt by Yankee Glide and her dam is by Donerail, both sons of Valley Victory and thus a 2x3 linebred. She is also maternally inbred to Speedy Crown as is her dam, Show Me Leg,  and her Bonefish second dam also adds another degree of inbreeding since he is also the damsire of Valley Victory. Clearly a mare that is extensively inbred.

 

If you look back over the pedigree of Classical Flirt you will see what Marg means by a "pattern that persists over generations" as the maternal inbreeding persists for several generations although, as Marg noted, the names involved change.

 

Market Share, himself, is outcrossed on sire line and inbred maternally to Speedy Scot and Bonefish and as such is a typical good pedigree match..

 

Somwhrovrarainbow is a four year old mare by Somebeachsomewhere, arguably the top sire currently in North America, despite being from a much maligned sire line that was on the verge of extinction before he came along. Her sire line is through a family of pacing sires originating with the epochal trotting sire Volomite who is also responsible for the resurgent Noble Victory line in trotters.

 

SBSW is by Mach Three, an Ontario, Canada, based sire that was ignored by major North American stud farms, and out of a mare by Beach Towel, another sire held in low esteem by North American breeders. Beach Towel is also inbred maternally to the Volomite pacing line of sires. While Mach Three`s sire line represents an outcross and this is further enforced by the additional presence of Volomite in Beach Towel and also by two sire lines through Direct which have essentially died out in modern breeding. Clearly again a sire that is not inbred to the conventional pacing sire lines through Meadow Skipper and Adios.

 

The dam of Somwhrovertherainbow is Rainbow Blue, a world champion mare that is inbred maternally 3x2 to On The Road Again in the same fashion as the historic X-factor mares Helen Hanover and Margaret Parrish. She also carries a maternal cross to Adios being x-factor crossed to his son Bret Hanover and both she and her dam are x-factor inbred to Tar Heel, whose dam is by Volomite. Clearly a mare that is extensively inbred and like Market Share the inbreeding pattern extends back several generations maternally..

 

Also like Market Share she is outcrossed on sire line and inbred maternally, in her case to Most Happy Fella and his sire Meadow Skipper - another good pedigree match.

 

It is amazing to see how the standardbred breed reinvents itself with the success of unknown or less than popular sires like Mach Three, Revenue and Garland Lobell, none of whom had the advantage of the "best" broodmares to breed. The same could be said for the thorobred breed with the success of California Chrome by little known sire Lucky Pulpit setting the TB establishment on their ears. He too fits the pattern that Marg Neale believed in. Looks like there is still room for the little guy to make an impact on the future of both breeds.

 

And we can thank Marg Neale in part for that.

Kentucky Derby

One of the biggest horse races in North America is the Kentucky Derby. There are over 300 horses eligible but only 20 get to start based on their earnings and points earned during a series of races in what is known as The Road to The Kentucky Derby. According to the race website the current top 20 are as listed below. There are some interesting pedigrees among the leading contenders to date.

A look back at the past winners since 2000 shows an interesting trend in the pedigrees. Thorobred breeders generally favour a pedigree with as little inbreeding as possible and indeed with the possibile exception of 2000 winner Fusaichi Pegasus, that has been evident in recent history but interestingly the last five winners have had significant maternal inbreeding. Last year the winner was Orb by Malibu Moon. Orb was inbred maternally to Mr Prospector 3x4. The year before Ill Have Another shows maternal inbreeding to Northern Dancer 5x5. Both of these winners were outcrossed on sire line. In 2011 Animal Kingdom had a pedigree more typical of past winners with virtually no duplications in six generations other than a 4x4 double of Lyphard (Northern Dancer) from his second dam to the dam of his grandsire Candy Stripes. The 2010 winner Super Saver was double inbred to Nasrullah (Nearco) while Mine That Bird in 2009 was 4x4 to Northern Dancer (grandson of Nearco) maternally.

In recent times there has been a spate of big winners that show maternal doubles to Northern Dancer and /or Mr Prospector. I have noted the ones on the current list that have that pedigree feature.


1. We Miss Artie by Artie Schiller.           Raise A Native (sire of Mr Prospector) 5x(4x5)
2. Samraat by Noble Causeway                 Raise A Native 5x6, dam inbred to Raise A Native 5x5
3. Hoppertunity by Any Given Saturday   Danzig (Northern Dancer) 3x4, dam 4x3 Northern Dancer
4. Chitu by Henny Hughes
5. Intense Holiday by Harlans Holiday     Raise A Native 5x6
6. Midnight Hawk by Midnight Lute
7. Wildcat Red by D`Wildcat                    Nasrullah 6x6, Raise A Native 4x5
8. Ring Weekend by Tapit                         Fappiano (Mr Prospector) 4x3, sire 3x4 to Mr Prospector
9. California Chrome by Lucky Pulpit      Mr Prospector 4x3, dam inbred to Northern Dancer 4x5
10. Tapiture by Tapit                                 Raise A Native 6x6, sire 3x4 to Mr Prospector
11. Albano by Istan                                  
12. Uncle Sigh by Indian Charlie              Northern Dancer (Nearctic) 5x4
13, Vinceremos by Pioneerof The Nile     Bold Ruler (Nasrullah) 5x5
14. Vicars In Trouble by Into Mischief     Icecapade (Nearctic) 5x4
15. Harrys Holiday by Harlans Holiday
16.General A Rod by Roman Ruler          Danzig (Northern Dancer) 4x4
17. Ride On Curlin by Curlin                    Northern Dancer 5x4
18. Havana by Dunkirk
19 Cairo Prince by Pioneerof The Nile    
20. Kristo by Distorted Humor                 Northern Dancer 4x4, dam is 6x6 Nearco

Looks like 14 - 6 in favour of the current Derby pattern of maternal inbreeding.

Over the next month the top ones will compete in a number of Derby races in Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, California and the Wood Memorial in New York.  The current list could change dramatically in the two weeks based on the results of these Derby Prep races.

The pedigrees can be viewed on PM Online Globerunner

http://www.pedigreematching.com/index.aspx

The Matchmaker

Every spring the best pacing mares in North America compete in the Matchmaker Series at Yonkers. The series is well named as the pedigrees of the four winners in the first leg are all great examples of Pedigree Matching in a variety of ways.

Coincidentally all four winners have Abercrombie line dams, two by Artsplace and one each by Life Sign and Artiscape and all four are by Meadow Skipper line sires so they satisfy the general rule of outcrossing on sire line. It is the maternal connections, however, that determine their greatness and the maternal breeding and X-factor doubles involved are something to see.

Angel's Delight is the least experienced of the four. Coming into the series with earnings of just over $100K she is a late bloomer whose pedigree is finally coming through. She is by Rocknroll Hanover and was bred by Lothlorien Stable in Ontario who were part owners of the stallion. Her dam, Belovedangel, was bought by Bob Mcintosh at Harrisburg as a yearling. Bob is a PM enthusiast from the early years and has been assisted by Dr Moira Gunn, formerly of Armstrong Farm, and one of my earliest PM followers. Moira and I combined forces to recommend the purchase of several mares for Lothlorien to breed to Rocknroll Hanover in his first year at stud. The highlight of that group was Kikikatie whose four breedings to Rocknroll Hanover have produced four $100K plus winners of over $2.5 million combined including first crop star Rockn Image $903,424. Belovedangel was also in that group of mares and although her five breedings to Rocknroll have been less spectacular they have produced five race starters, including a late racing two year old last year, with combined earnings approaching $500K including Audreys Dream $258K.

With an Artsplace dam that is inbred maternally to Meadow Skipper and from a mare that is also inbred to Meadow Skipper maternally, Angels Delight fit the expected profile for Rocknroll Hanover perfectly. Add to that her second dam by Matts Scooter providing a maternal double to Direct Scooter to compliment the double to Abercrombie and the success of this match was actually pretty predictable.

Summertime Lea also has a close connection to me from a pedigree matching standpoint. Her dam Donna Summer went through the New Jersey sale and I had recommended her purchase to one of my Prince Edward Island breeders. He was hesitant to pay a lot for a mare that had already produced a winner of $206K and she was in foal to Lislea for the fourth time and the first three had not been successful at the track. Two of those were colts, however, and the third was an as yet unraced yearling filly. The buyers were from Indiana and the resultant filly, Summertime Lea, ended up being trained by Ron Burke, making $553K racing in New York including the two year old NYSS championship. Genetics tells us that if you try the same breeding consistently you will get one of the four offspring that will be a top performer, 25%, and in this case it proved to be true.

Her dam is by Life Sign and as you can see from the pedigree that sire is a virtual clone of Lisheen, the dam of Lislea. The maternal sequence of both is Abercrombie - Albatross - Bret Hanover - Knight Dream with the last three sires being doubled in X-factor position. Added to this is a third dam also through Albatross making Donna Summer inbred maternally to that sire and also with an X-factor double to Bret Hanover. It helps too that Summertime Lea's second dam is a double to the X-factor pacing queen Helen Hanover.

Somwherovrtherainbow has a great mother in $1.6 million earner Rainbow Blue but even great race mares are no guarantee in the broodmare ranks unless they are bred to the right sire. After essentially failed breedings to top sires like Western Hanover, Bettors Delight and Dragon Again, she was finally paired up with Somebeachsomewhere, a sire that could take advantage of her close maternal inbreeding to Meadow Skipper. SBSW has a double Meadow Skipper dam and such sires predictably favour mares that are either linebred or inbred maternally to that sire line. Before she started racing I predicted in an earlier blog post that she would become the fastest female of all time. She certainly started out in the right direction as a two year old but struggled with health issues last year. Healthy now she is looking like this might be her year to achieve lasting greatness in the footsteps of her record setting mother.

Her dam is by Artiscape and is inbred to On The Road Again 3x2 maternally, an unusual but historically significant pattern that produced exceptional maternal influences like Helen Hanover and Margaret Parrish. Across the pedigree the X-factor highlights are Tar Heel and Bret Hanover, two individuals that show up consistently in X-factor position in great mares and for good reason as you can read in my book Queen Among Queens. Another interesting characteristic of this pedigree is the connection from Rainbow Blue to dam of the grandsire of Somwherovrtherainbow, Mach Three, where we see his maternal lines of Abercrombie and Most Happy Fella repeated. This outmatch pattern is a common feature in the best offspring by SBSW.

Yagonnakissmeornot is from the Artsplace mare Artstopper. She was bought by George Teague as a yearling and like many of his bargain purchases at Harrisburg she raced well at 2 and 3. Her four year old season was not up to par but starting her five year old campaign she now shows four wins and two seconds in her first seven starts. With $368K made she is the best of six from her dam and the only one by The Panderosa. A look at her pedigree tells you why this match worked better than the others.

Her pedigree is inbred maternally to Abercrombie and Gene Abbe and she has X-factor doubles to Tar Heel and Bret Hanover - enough said. She had a very good two year old by Always A Virgin last year and another in training this year by the same sire. Look for both of these to be prominent at the races in 2014 based on their pedigrees which feature maternal crosses to both Big Towner and Albatross.

I'm sure there will be other mares in this series that will win subsequent legs and I suspect they too will show the pedigree patterns that make for great mares.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/0m09mveyy9cd38o/Summertime_Lea.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/a53sgec8y3rec8e/Yagonnakissmeornot.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/k9tuyosttk48cbs/Angels_Delight.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/cnyipt8r99vnjs6/Somwherovrarainbow.pdf

Welcome to Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners

With the startup of PM Online we enter a new phase in the development of Pedigree Matching.

While my interest in the influence of pedigree on breeding and racing success has primarily been on the standardbred breed, I have been watching the top performers of other performance breeds to see if the same principles apply in their pedigrees. I am convinced that they do. Here are some examples drawn from the past year.

Thoroughbred breeders are generally convinced that inbreeding of any kind is bad and as a consequence the pedigrees often show little of the kinds ot patterns that show up in top standardbreds. In that respect the situation is similar to the approach of the French trotter breeders. The net result is that the overall success rates in producing top performers is less than half that of standardbreds generally. Similarily when this approach does produce a special individual it is because of the extreme outcross nature of such matings, the much touted hybrid vigour, that can and does succeed spectacularly on relatively rare occasions. But not all top thoroughbred performers come from such matings by any means. Four of the top earning horses in North America are the following:

Will Take Charge by Unbridleds Song
Game On Dude by Awesome Again
Orb by Malibu Moon
Mucho Macho Man by Macho Uno

The basic approach to pedigree matching is to outcross on sire line and inbreed maternally. The sire lines in thoroughbreds are more numerous than in standardbreds but the majority of sires currently standing in North America descend from Bartletts Childers, the full brother to Flying Childers a sire that is responsible for the vast majority of the modern day standardbred stallions. This sire line splits at a sire called Phalaris 1913 into two sire lines that are commonly described as the Nearco and Native Dancer lines. Nearco's line is famous for the great Northern Dancer and his siring legacy while Mr Prospector is a sire from the Native Danver branch that is prominent, as is Northern Dancer, both as a sire of sires and as a strong maternal influence through his daughters.

Orb is by a Nearco line sire and from a Native Dancer line dam and thus considered an outcross on sire line since the common ancestor on sire line is several generations away. He is inbred maternally to Mr Prospector 3x4 and also inbred to the Nearco line maternally with Northern Dancer and Turn To, both grandsons of Nearco, across the pedigree maternally.

Will Take Charge is outcrossed on sire line in similar fashion but the other way around being by a Native Dancer line sire and from a Nearco line dam. He also is inbred maternally to Nearco through grandsons Nasrullah and Northern Dancer.

Game On Dude is actually linebred on sire line to Nearco with the sire line through Northern Dancer and the dam sire through Turn To. Maternally , however, he is inbred to both Nasrullah and to Raise A Native, son of Native Dancer.

Mucho Macho Man has over $7 million made lifetime and he is outcrossed on sire line being by yet another line descending from Bartletts Childers through Roughntumble. He is strongly inbred maternally to both Mr Prospector 4x4 and to Nasrullah 5x6.

As you can see all four have pedigrees typical of the best standardbreds and I will point out two others. Remember the Breeders Cup race a couple of years ago when the great mare Zenyatta took on the best male horses and came second by a head to Blame. Guess what. Blame is outcrossed on sire line through Turn To (Nearco) to Native Dancer and is inbred maternally to Northern Dancer 4x4 and Raise A Native 5x4,  And then there is the mighty Zenyatta. She shows yet another pattern familiar to standardbred breeders. She too is outcrossed on sire line by a grandson of Mr Prospector and from a mare through Turn To. Her maternal connections are a typical standardbred outcross pattern with her maternal lines through Hail To Reason (Turn To) and Hoist The Flag being duplicated in the maternal lines of her grandsire Machiavellian.

I'll add one more for the Quarter Horse breeders and that is the horse I posted about earlier, One Famous Glass, the quarter horse colt, by a first crop sire, plucked from a 1200 strong yearling sale for $10,000 based solely on a pedigree reminiscent of standardbred success. That colt has just been named Horse Of The Year in Canada for 2013. He is owned by my son Charles who created the original Pedigree Matching computer program.

Perhaps the quarter horse breeders, as well as the thoroughbred breeders, can learn from these examples that maternal inbreeding is not that bad after all.

Blame
Zenyatta
Game On Dude
Mucho Macho Man
Will Take Charge
Orb
One Famous Glass

PM Online

Just in time for Christmas - PM Online is indeed online.
 

The PM-Online service is offered on a subscription basis with a variety of payment and access options. You can choose the bargain priced Basic level that includes all of the functions of our previous PedigreeGuru web service, or you can choose a Guru level subscription for more advanced features, including all of your favourite Globetrotter program functions that allow you to add, edit and store information on your own horses as well as do complex searches and profiles for stallion performance and for yearling sales. An added feature for Guru level subscribers will be the EasyMatch function that provides stallion choices for your mares at the click of a button.

Visit PM-Online for a free two day trial and find out more about the worldwide Globetrotter database that now contains over 2.2 million horses including standardbreds and related breeds such as coldblood and French trotters, and Tennessee Walking horses.

If you are interested in thoroughbred pedigrees then you will want to try out Globerunner, a parallel service for pedigree research of thoroughbred and quarter horses, again with an international database approaching two million horses.

It is our hope that PM-Online will form the basis for a truly worldwide database supported directly by the various registries. To this end we are offering complimentary basic access to any registered member of any organization that directly supports the database with ongoing data updates or through commercial endorsement.

While other sites may provide similar information we are committed to providing the tools to make the information work for you in your search for a future champion performance horse. We encourage you to help us in that quest by sending us your suggestions for improvements.
As an incentive we are offering subscription credits for active database participation and also for referring this site to your friends. For every ten referrals that subscribe and identify you as the reference you will receive a one year membership extension worth $100 at the basic subscription level. For 50 referrals you can upgrade to Guru level for one year, a value of $400. As a Guru level subscriber you will be authorized to add/edit data and earn further credits to allow you to continue to use the site free at the Guru level.

Guru members can also choose a lifetime subscription that entitles them to become a PM Online partner with an interest in the future development and success of PM Online.

For more information on membership options, including our referral incentive program and PM-Online partner opportunities, you can contact me personally by calling:

902-628-5581 (Canada) or by email to norman@pedigreematching.com

You will also find us on Facebook shortly and on our Pedigree Matching website. The link to PM Online is also on the website at www.pedigreematching.com and will be active effective Saturday, Decenber 21st.

Well Said - Well Dead ?

In an earlier blog on Well Said yearlings I predicted that Well Said would have a difficult time as a sire based on the lack of success for similar sires. I was prepared to cut him some slack based on his exceptional racing career but it seems that early results of his first crop may be proving me right regardless.

To date he has a eleven winners from a first crop of 102 and the best has made just over $60,000. The top one was very predictable. Talkative is from an Artiscape mare with a second dam by Direct Scooter which is a perfect fit for Well Said's maternal lines of Artsplace and Matts Scooter.

The predicted profile for Well Said was for non Meadow Skipper line mares or mares that are line bred to Meadow Skipper with maternal connections to either Abercrombie or Direct Scooter. So far three of the top four are from Abercrombie line dams and the other is a line bred Meadow Skipper dam with an Abercrombie third dam. Just as predicted.

The other nick that was important was to find an Albatross line maternally and the top two have third dams through Albatross.

It is early yet and I hope to see his results improve but unfortunately, as is often the case, the breeders guessed wrong for the most part and the ones that fit the profile better step up soon or this well bred sire will truly be well dead.

What is my "Philosophy" on Breeding?

My philosophy on breeding standardbreds is simple as published recently in Hevos, the Finland Association news magazine. I do not have opinions on mares or stallions. I evaluate them on the basis of what I know to be true based on established fact.

Unfortunately the breeders of today base most of their decisions on opinions, mostly those of other people, and resulting from anecdotal information at best and from rumour at worst. As a result the success rate in producing top performers is far below what it should be and leads to an enormous waste of our time and resources.

Genetics tells us that if you choose a correct pedigree you have a 25% chance of creating the top individual you seek. The success rate for breeders worldwide is less than 5% in producing horses that will pay for themselves over their racing career. A pedigree is the foundation of the animal and once chosen and fulfilled in terms of a foal, it cannot be changed. The choice of the correct sire is therefore the most important decision a breeder can make and this decision cannot be made correctly without a knowledge of the facts. Guessing and rumour do not replace facts.

One fact that is evident is that a study of the top performers by any sire can produce a profile of the type of mares with which he has success. This sire profile is established in his first racing crop and does not vary. This fact alone is almost totally ignored by breeders who continue to breed mares that do not fit the profile of the sires they choose, with their decisions being based on “flavour of the day”, economic or location factors that doom their decisions from the start.

Based on the statistical evidence it is my recommendation that breeders, whenever possible, should outcross on sire line and line breed maternally for the best chance of success.  This approach is universally successfull as shown by my experience on a recent trip to Sweden for the Elitlop. One only needs to look at the pedigrees of Elitlop winner Nahar and three year old filly winner on the same program Massive Babe to see how this is so.

Elitlopp winner Nahar is outcrossed on sire line, with a sire line through Coktail Jet (Speedy Scot line) and a broodmare sire line through Stars Pride. He is linebred maternally to both Super Bowl and Speedy Crown. His sire, Love You, has a well established profile when bred to North American based pedigrees which shows a preference for mares with principal lines through Speedy Crown and Super Bowl. This is a fact – and breeding mares to him that do not fit this profile is a waste of time and money in addition to spoiling the reputation of the mare and the breeder.

Massive Babe is outcrossed on sire line being by a Valley Victory line sire and from a Noble Victory line dam by Andover Hall. She is linebred maternally to Arnie Almahurst and to Speedy Crown. Muscle Mass, her sire, has maternal lines through Pine Chip (Arnie Almahurst line) and Valley Victory (Speedy Crown line). While his first crop has been modestly successful there are just two of his first crop that were correctly bred for top performance being this filly and another called Muscle Magic who was the only Muscle Mass to compete successfully at the Gold level in Ontario last year. This was a mystery to me given the obvious and plentifull choice of mares by Andover, Conway and Angus Hall for this sire - yet such breedings were virtually non existent. His best two year old to date this year is Muscle Matters, dam by Conway Hall so he may fare better this year.

Based on the sire profile for a similar sire, Glidemaster, I was able to predict that these two fillies were bred correctly before they raced. Glidemaster, like Muscle Mass, is by a son of Valley Victory and from a dam that combines Arnie Almahurst and Speedy Crown lines. His best by far is the mare called Maven, and like Massive Babe is outcrossed on sire line and linebred maternally to both Arnie Almahurst and Speedy Crown. This fact alone based on the established profile of Glidemaster and other similar sires would have allowed you to choose Massive Babe as a yearling purchase with considerable confidence in her chances for success. Glidemaster has been a disappointing sire to date but dont blame the horse, blame the breeders who missed the opportunity presented to breed some of the many Andover and Conway Hall mares in PA and NY.

In Europe in particular there is a considerable emphasis on reducing the degree of linebreeding as a result of a fixation with low inbreeding co-efficients. Breeders of all types of animals have recognized for centuries that a degree of linebreeding is necessary to fix certain qualities in the breed. One of these qualities is consistency. It is an established fact that low inbreeding coefficients lead to increased randomness in results. There is still the opportunity for an exceptional performer because of the extreme outcross nature of many European breedings but the percentage of failure is much higher. But you can also find, even in French breeding, where close maternal line breeding is rare, such champions as Jag de Bellouet and Offshore Dream that have maternal line breeding similar to North American practice. In fact much of the recent success of French breeding is attributable to J P Dubois who is a strong advocate on maternal linebreeding with such sires as Super Bowl, Speedy Somolli and Florestan doubled in his best horses.

 

I would add one more example of what is shaping up to be an exceptional filly. Her name is Struck By Lindy. She is by first crop sire Explosive Matter and set a PA Sires record of 1.56.4f in her third start. Explosive Matter is line bred to Valley Victory and from a mare that is linebred to Speedy Crown. His sire, Cantab Hall, is out of a full sister in blood to Andover, Conway and Angus Hall. The dam of Struck By Lindy is by Angus Hall and the maternal sequence then goes to Valley Victory and Speedy Crown which is the same maternal sequence of sire lines in Explosive Matter. Add to this the sibling cross of Self Possessed on the sire line to that of his sister Dream On Victory on the maternal line and you have a complete package, outcrossed on sire line and extensively linebred maternally. Frank Antonacci of Lindy Farms obviously gets it.

 
Let me conclude by emphasising again that what I have said above is not opinion but is based on fact. Breeders should make sure they base their decisions on nothing less.

Australia and New Zealand Update

The database has been updated for ANZ data and production.

You can download the database here

http://www.mediafire.com/?2ocig57wm91s65o

Stallion listings have not yet been added but are available on the Australian and New Zealand websites. Most of the stallions are shuttled from North America and Somebeachsomewhere is there for the first time and no doubt getting a very large book. The most popular shuttle stallions recently have been Bettors Delight and Mach Three while ANZ breds Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire are also in demand.

Some surprises on the trotting side where Pegasus Spur, who has done little in Canada, is one of the top sires downunder with several Grade 1 winners. Old standby Sundon is still standing and with 40 yearlings registered this year is now over 1800 foals in his twenty year career (he is now 26 years old)

The expanded availability of frozen semen is resulting in French stallions , like the popular Love You, getting some interest. Love You is probably the most patronized standardbred stallion in the world with over 1900 foals in six crops to date in twelve different countries and over 400 yearlings in 2011 alone. His profile is interesting in that he has a particular liking for mares that have daughters of both Speedy Crown and Super Bowl in their pedigree making him open to a wide range of mares.

In Australia anything can happen in trotters with many pacer/trotter breds including the best three year old this year, by pacing sire Metropolitan from a Balanced Image mare. The top three year old pacer is by Real Desire.

Progress Report on Globetrotter

I have posted an update to Globetrotter which includes the 2011 performance update and stallion listings. This will probably be the last time you need to replace your database since we are moving towards a web based database that you can access either through PedigreeGuru or through your Globetrotter program and ultimately with your i-phone or i-pad..

We have relocated both the PedigreeGuru and PedigreeMatching sites to a new server - much faster and more secure. Over the next few weeks we will be redesigning the sites to make them more compatible and making cosmetic changes to remove redundant info and links.

The new web presence will be known as PM-Online and will combine the two websites as well as offering pedigree databases for both Standardbred and Thorobred pedigrees using Globetrotter and Globerunner respectively. The Globetrotter database will incorporate standardbreds, cold blood trotters and Tennessee Walking Horses while the Globerunner database will feature Thorobreds and Quarterhorse pedigrees.

We are working on the ultimate pedigree matching tool, what we call the EasyMate button. Type in your mare, select where you want to breed and how much you want to pay and EasyMate will give you a ranked list of stallion options. This will be available as an App for mobile users. The App will also feature instant yearling ratings as a basis for your yearling inspections.

Sounds like fun Eh?

Muscle Massive

Muscle Massive won the Hambletonian, earning $1,179,105 and taking a record of 1:51. He faced some serious competition in the three year old ranks with Break The Bank K, Lucky Chucky and Wishing Stone all taking his measure later in the season.


His full brother Muscle Mass is standing in Ontario and was well received with a full book. His pedigree is a high percentage cross being by Muscles Yankee out of a Pine Chip mare, a cross that is 26.9% in producing $100K winners. He is outcrossed on sire line with no common individual inside the sixth generation on his sire or broodmare sire line and is double inbred 3x4 and 3x5 maternally to Speedy Crown. His dam, Graceful Touch, is inbred to Speedy Somolli 3x4 maternally.


Muscle Massive’s principal sire lines maternally are Pine Chip, grandson of Arnie Almahurst, and Valley Victory, grandson of Speedy Somolli, making mares that carry this combination a priority for his success. Mares with sons of these two sires would also be prime prospects. Such sires can also be expected to do well with mares that have Speedy Crown doubled in their pedigrees or have no Speedy Crown at all.


There are several sires already producing that have similar maternal lines, including Glidemaster, Cjs Secret, Master Lavec and Valley Victor.


Glidemaster had a spotty first crop that was redeemed somewhat with Blue Porche’s Breeders Crown win and the early success of Not Nice. Glidemaster’s dam is by a son of Speedy Somolli, second dam by Florida Pro, a son of Arnie Almahurst. Blue Porche was from a mare by Garland Lobell. That sire has a Speedy Crown dam. The second dam was by Valley Victory, grandson of Speedy Somolli, and third dam by Homesick, a son of Speedy Crown. Not Nice was from a mare by a son of Speedy Crown with a second dam by Arndon, sire of Pine Chip. Both performers fit the profile of Glidemaster and the likely profile for Muscle Massive.


Cjs Secret is Speedy Crown-Florida Pro maternally. His best performer is Brandons Secret from a mare that combines Dakota Spur (Speedy Somolli) and Defiant Yankee (Speedy Crown).


Master Lavec is Speed In Action – Arnie Almahurst maternally. His best is Master Pine whose maternal succession is Pine Chip (Arndon) – Bonefish – Speedy Crown.


Valley Victor is line bred maternally to Arnie Almahurst and his top four have no Speedy Crown maternally.


A broodmare sire that would be excellent for Muscle Massive would be Dream Vacation (Pine Chip-Valley Victory) as well as Chip Chip Hooray and Enjoy Lavec.


In summary look for mares that are non Speedster line that have double Speedy Crown lines maternally or no Speedy Crown lines at all. Also consider mares that have combinations of Valley Victory and Arnie Almahurst lines.

Crys Dream

One of the best two year old trotting fillies this year is Crys Dream with a pedigree that is far from fashionable. It does, however, have a lot of merit. Her sire is Taurus Dream who was bred and stood in Quebec and the dam, Crystas Image, is a Canadian bred daughter of Balanced Image.

Like a lot of good fillies Crys Dream is a double to Margaret Parrish through Rodney. Her second dam is also a double to Margaret Parrish through the same source. The maternal line has a succession of mares that are inbred maternally. Crys Dream is inbred to Speedy Crown, Crystas Image is inbred to Speedster and Stars Pride, Crown Crysta in addition to her double to Margaret Parrish through Rodney is also inbred to Stars Pride. The fourth dam is inbred to Rodney and Volomite, the fifth dam to Volomite and Darnley, the sixth dam to Peter Volo and Guy Axworthy and so on. This continued sequence of maternal inbreediong through several generations is a feature of many great pedigrees including Moni Maker who goes back ten generations in this fashion.

Taurus Dream has a second dam that was Quebec sired from an imported French mare called Nevadara who also has an interesting pedigree with lots to offer maternally. She was by Caprior, a descendant of The Great McKinney, an American sire that was exported to France in the 1920's and is known primarily for his two sons, the full brothers Ogaden and Kairos. These two are key figures in French maternal lines through their daughters. Caprior's maternal line goes through the English thorobred mare Gladys, another key maternal influence in France.

Nevadara's dam , Fenaison, is line bred to Sam Williams, another US sire that went to France in the 1920's but she is also inbred maternally to Loudeac whose dam Bonne Fortune is another important figure in French maternal lines.

The maternal family of Taurus Dream is not French however since it goes back through an American bred mare called Lady Stately, foaled in 1904 and subsequently exported to France. She is of interest because her dam carries a sibling cross to Miss Russell through her sons Mambrino Russell and Nutwood, the latter being the sire of the dam of Margaret Parrish.

The mastermind behind the pedigree of Crys Dream is the famous French breeder Jean Pierre Dubois, who operates in North America under the Dream With Me stable name and his farm name of Reve Avec Moi now located in Kentucky.

Globetrotter Update

An update to the Globetrotter database is now available. The instructions for downloading are here at http://www.pedigreematching.com/globe2.html

The update contains North American performance data for two and three year olds.

Break The Bank K

“I watched him race last year and I was stunned by his speed,” Smedshammer said. “I said last year to a few people jokingly that if I could pick one horse out of that group [of two-year-old trotters], he would be the one I wanted to pick because of his breeding and his size and his speed. I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to get this horse. He’s got the potential to be the best if he minds his manners.”

That is pretty high praise for a colt by Revenue considering that the sire has been only modestly successful to date. Of his 150 foals 3 years and older he has 85 to the races and just 7 with earnings of over $100K. Despite this slow start Revenue could well be the sire of the next great American super sire if Break The Bank K lives up to Smedshammer's expectations. The colt's first start this year was a winning one in the NJSS. The winning time of 1:56.3 tells only half the tale since Break The Bank K trotted his last half in 55.1 and last quarter in 27 seconds in winning. There are not many aged trotters with that kind of speed.

A look at his pedigree explains why. The expected profile for Revenue S was for Speedster line dams or Stars Pride line dams with a second dam by Speedy Crown or a son. The actual profile after his first two crops have raced is right on the mark. (see attached) . Break The Bank K falls into the second profile category being out of an American Winner dam with a second dam by Crowning Point, a son of Speedy Crown. The dam in fact is inbred to Speedy Crown. His maternal line is inbred maternally for 11 consecutive generations.

Revenue S has a French bred sire but his dam has all American bloodlines combining Sugarcane Hanover (Florida Pro) with Lindys Pride (Stars Pride). That makes Break The Bank K an outcross on sire line and inbred maternally to both Florida Pro and Stars Pride. The match is a Scenario #3 match where we ignore the two Speedy Crown lines in the dam and match to the two other major maternal lines of the first and third dams.

What makes Break The Bank K so interesting is that he presents a perfect opportunity for virtually every broodmare in North America as a potential sire. His sire line being French automatically makes him an outcross sire. His maternal lines contain the two key individuals in North American breeding, Speedy Crown and Super Bowl.

http://www.mediafire.com/?winmoity22j Profile of Revenue S

http://www.mediafire.com/?mzhraymzyty Pedigree of Break The Bank K