Zenyatta bloodlines, part III

Part III Zenyatta’s pedigree can be found here: Zenyatta

In order to round out the understanding of Zenyatta’s incredible power pack, three more horses in her pedigree need attention in terms of X factor.

First, Waterway, Zenyatta’s sire’s (Street Cry’s) 2nd dam. By Riverman and out of Boulevard, Waterway, through Boulevard, adds another Nearco daughter to Troy’s amazing cache (see Zenyatta matchups: part II). In addition, through Boulevard’s 2nd broodmare sire Worden, she brings in:

Phalaris (Nearco’s grandsire) in an X position, (which means a Sainfoin X(sire of Rock Sand, who was the BM sire of Man O’War, plus a high concentration of Pocahontas (GB)X blood through Stockwell and his full brother Rataplan. Sainfoin also was a great grandson by direct sireline, of Stockwell))

and a St. Simon X line.

There is Gallinule in an X position (which means Hermit X, and another Stockwell X), and still in Worden’s broodmare sire’s line, another Rataplan X through the tail female line.

Worden’s 2nd broodmare sire is Teddy (Bend Or/Macaroni X nick) in an X position, and adds another Hermit X, and a Bend Or Macaroni nick through Jean Gow, Worden’s 3rd dam.

Champion sire and broodmare sire, The Tetrarch can be found through Boulevard’s sire Pall Mall, sitting at the 3rd broodmare sire position. Her (Jean Gow’s) tail female line, adds a Sundridge X, Phalaris X, and another Pocahontas X line through St. Frusquin.

Through Waterway’s sire, Riverman, there is a tally of X blood that goes like this:

Count Fleet, Blue Larkspur, Roman (which means Domino X blood times 2), Sun Teddy (Whisk Broom X), and Man O’War in an X position.

Horse number two is Bridgework. Bridgework can be located in Zenyatta’s broodmare sire’s pedigree (Kris S), in the 2nd dam position. At first glance it may not look like much, but there is gold in them thar hills.

First, through Bunting, Occupy’s broodmare sire (Occupy is Bridgwork’s sire), we see a mare named Petticoat. Absolutely fabulous. She carries a Hamburg X (which means a Lexington/Glencoe X, a Lexington X, plus three more Glencoe daughters in X positions). Also through Petticoat, as her broodmare sire, there is Sir Dixon, who carries a Glencoe daughter crossed with Lexington’s sire Boston. This gave us Madeline, the dam of Maggie B B, and Petticoat’s 3rd broodmare sire, War Dance, there is a Lexington/Glencoe nick, where only the Glencoe daughter is in an X position.

Through Occupy’s 2nd dam, Mirthful, we add a Macaroni X, Bend Or X, and another Hamburg X. Not only that, Mannie Gray, Hamburg’s dam, is duplicated in this line, and is in a second X position.

Zenyatta’s buildup of Lexington/Glencoe is absolutely phenomenal. When we consider just how many of these Lexington/Glencoe pairings are in X positions, it becomes staggering…

Bridgework’s dam, Feale Bridge adds a high concentration of Pocahontas (GB) X blood through horses Wenlock, St. Simon, Stockwell, Rigolboche, with the addition of two Hermit X lines.

Horse number three, is Forli. No pun intended. Through his broodmare sire, Advocate, there is an Americus Girl line in a non-X position…but is worth noting. There is Papyrus, which carries a Hermit X line through Marcovil, and a St. Simon X line. Ocean Light, brings in more Pocahontas (GB) X blood through Isinglass (Wenlock).

Through Forli’s 2nd dam, Veneta, a tally of Teddy X, Wenlock X, Pocahontas (GB) X through Woodbine, Macaroni X times 2, and the amazing 11-g female line through Kingcraft, Veneta’s 4th broodmare sire is accumulated.

The mention of the 11-g line has significance, since it is the same tail female line that helped produce War Admiral. I have had many requests to analyze War Admiral’s pedigree, since he figures prominently into the large heart story, and has enjoyed quite a bit of attention lately.

Once again, War Admiral comes into Zenyatta’s pedigree through her 3rd broodmare sire, Hoist the Flag (his broodmare sire). Hoist the Flag is also present in the pedigree of Machiavellian, the sire of Street Cry (tremendous X buildup through Halo, Hoist the Flag, Native Dancer (Discovery), and Mahmoud).

Zenyatta has Man O’ War, War Admiral’s sire in her pedigree, as the sire of American Flag in the pedigree of Raise a Native (sire of Mr. Prospector), in an X position of Hail to Reason until he sired Halo (could mention here that Mahmoud is Halo’s 2nd broodmare sire), in an X position through Riverman, in an X position in Hail to Reason, until he sired Roberto, in addition to the two previously mentioned War Admiral stations.

That’s a highly focused look at Zenyatta’s pedigree in terms of the base of her genetic stew. She has a wonderful mix of incredible power, stamina and speed blood. Her ‘stew’ if you will, is filled with a perfect base, perfect seasoning,, and all the additions, like the carrots, potatoes, and other yummies, are all a perfect size, all cooked to perfection. Nothing is overdone, or underdone. We see real balance.

I tend to look at it like this; the farther back the synergies and duplications, the better. Genes have a nice amount of time over the generations to work out their differences, and we don’t get big ‘chunks’ of anything. Nothing ‘dominates’ in the way of some of the older pedigrees…for instance, seeing Stockwell 3, 4, or even 5 times within 5 generations. That, to me, would amount to big chunks of potatoes, overpowering the appearance and perhaps the performance of the individual stew.

Want to build up heart, lungs, bones, and correct build? Start way back. Know your horses, know what makes ‘em up, and start from scratch.

That’s my opinion about breeding any way, and Zenyatta has it all. To many, she would appear as an ‘outcross’, like Secretariat, and Curlin. But to me, she is the kind of horse that has exquisite bloodlines, carefully put together for over 10 generations. It would logically harken back to the ‘old days’; the days of bigger bones and old fashioned horses.

Further Note: In terms of the X factor, after more than a decade of study, I tend to think that there are more components contributing to the equine large heart phenomenon than simply the ‘X chromosome’, and ‘double copy’.

Since ‘size’ (in terms of height) tends to be a conformational trait (highly inheritable), I would think the stallion would have an influence on this portion of the horse as well. If a stallion can produce size in the form of height, logically, the argument could be made for heart size as well, since it has its own ‘conformation’. Every single large heart horse I have researched, has large heart components on both sides of the pedigree.

My theory becomes more of an environmental question. If a mare is bred to a stallion with a large heart allele/gene, and she does not possess this herself; then, are there conditions for the mare under which the gene is expressed, or conditions for the mare under which it is not expressed in the resulting foal? Is the mare instrumental for expression in a way that does not involve genes, say in the form of nurturing her foal (before and after birth)? And when exactly during foal development, do we know that the heart is larger than normal?

Dr. Gus Cothran, an equine geneticist explains that they do know that heart size varies in horses, but extensive research would have to be done to ascertain the exact mechanisms involved…and that’s what they ‘know’ for sure…a great deal of work needs to be done!

Until then, pedigree analysis will continue to have its value…

Part I: Zenyatta mating matchups

Part II: Zenyatta mating matchups

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