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Category Archives: Thoroughbred Horse Racing
Havre de Grace
From the bottom to the top, Havre de Grace exudes class. Some of her X factor horses are obvious in the first five generations. For example, every time you see Buckpasser, think War Admiral. War Admiral was Buckpasser’s broodmare sire, and if Buckpasser is in an X position, well, then so is War Admiral. But that’s not the only option. Buckpasser’s 2nd broodmare sire was Blue Larkspur. Certainly increases the odds…
Interestingly, Buckpasser also has Teddy in an X position. A stamina influence. Perhaps it’s just as important to have the ‘stayer’ blood in X lines, as well as the ‘speed’ X.
In the pedigree of stamina icon Red Rum, there are stamina X horses from top to bottom: Bois Roussel (same dam as Bull Dog – Plucky Liege and worth a mention even though his X stops with Quorum and is not passed to Red Rum), Solario (broodmare sire is Sundridge), Blenheim, and Buchan – all in the first five generations. A friend writes, “I went to see him once at Southport Sands where he was trained, he had a tremendous deep girth and his rider could not pull him up after galloping for 2 miles in the sea! He used to get well back in the Grand National and just sail over the mighty fences very relaxed, then on the second circuit he would make up ground and was still running strong at 4.5 miles.” He also added that the last time Red Rum ran, he carried 12 stone (168 pounds) on his back, and jumped 35 obstacles over a distance of 4.5 miles. Iron horse. And he was a sprinter as a two year old.
Perhaps it’s worthy of a look. In addition to Buckpasser, Havre de Grace’s 4th dam is Missy Baba, by My Babu, out of Uvira. Speed through Mumtaz Mahal X on top, stamina X through Umidwar and Son-in-Law on the bottom.
Speedy Johnstown, broodmare sire of Nashua comes up the dam line of Blushing Promise, dam of Carson City (Havre de Grace’s broodmare sire). Nijinsky, Carson City’s 2nd bm sire, ushers Blue Larkspur, Omaha, and Man O’ War X blood. Tudor Minstrel sits in 2nd broodmare sire position of Blushing Groom, Carson City’s bm sire. Tudor Minstrel combines high class speed X with high class stamina X in the crossing of Lady Josephine with Son-in-Law. Umidwar adds stamina X to Blushing Grooms 3rd dam, Emali, and Blandford (White Eagle (2nd broodmare sire of Princequillo), is in an X position through Blushing Grooms broodmare sire, Wild Risk.
Through her sire Saint Liam, Havre de Grace has speedy X horses, Native Dancer and Mahmoud, feeding into 3rd dam (of Saint Liam) Flight Dancer, and another stamina X horse in 2nd bm sire, Lyphard (Hurry On, and Gainsborough).
Quiet American continues the balance with a Princequillo X, Mahmoud X, War Admiral X, Man O War X, and a Teddy X.
Havre de Grace’s pedigree is entirely balanced between speed and stamina, in male and female representations, X and non X. Really a fascinating study… and a truly remarkable horse.
Drill, Creative Cause and Union Rags
Here’s a quick comparison of three promising two year olds:
In Drill’s pedigree, I find the Nijinsky/Danzig connection of particular interest. Here are two stallions that had Man O’ War in X positions, and Northern Dancer as a sire. You’ll find Man O’ War in Danzig’s pedigree through Admirals Voyage’s dam, Olympia Lou.
Otherwise, Secretariat’s in an X position, along with Fappiano (Man O’ War, War Admiral, Princequillo and Mahmoud in X positions), and My Babu.
In Creative Cause’s pedigree, I really like the combination of Secretariat in a non X position, going into the sireline, and the synergistic possibility with Mia Karina, who carries (in X positions) Discovery, Princequillo, Nasrullah, and Sir Gallahad. Particularly like the Nasrullah and Discovery X lines because of their inherent Lexington/Glencoe concentrations.
In addition, Skywalker adds, in X positions: Blue Larkspur (possible connection with Blue Larkspur in Roberto in Giant’s Causeway), Discovery, Count Fleet, and farther back, Rock Sand, Lady Hamburg (L/G) and Mannie Himyar (L/G) (through 4th dam Home-Made). Proper Mary carries My Babu, War Admiral, Bull Dog, and 2 instances of Blue Larkspur.
Now. Union Rags.
Sire: Dixie Union. Large heart lines for Dixie Union (for ‘union’s sake – not forgetting that the current idea is that the large heart gene is on the X chromosome, and is passed along to progeny that way. These boys received an X chromosome from their dams – however, Dixie Union has an X chromosome, that has been intermingling with his Y chromosome, and we do not yet know what kind of influence this has on the offspring one, two or even three generations out):
Sweep, Nasrullah, Bull Dog (2), Nashua, Count Fleet, Blue Larkspur, Rock Sand, Hamburg, St. Simon, Man O’ War (2), Jamestown, Domino, War Admiral (2), Sir Gallahad
Grandsire Dixieland Band: Blue Larkspur, Bathing Girl (3rd dam of War Admiral)(2), Hamburg, Sally McClelland (2), Starshoot (Hermit), Bonnie Blue (full sister to Sally McClelland), St. Simon, Man O’War, Lexington (2), Glencoe(3), Rock Sand
This gives the X lines of Union Rags a lot to hang a hat on. X lines include: Secretariat, Bull Lea, Star Shoot, Bonnie Blue (full sister to Sally McClelland), St. Simon, Blue Larkspur, Omaha, Man O’ War, Pretty Polly (Donatello), and Mumtaz Mahal. At least.
Union Rags has another advantage when it comes to the 2011 Breeder’s Cup, and hopefully, a very exciting three year old campaign; stamina. Loads of it.
From a strictly ‘paper’ point of view, in other words, not having actually met either of these horses in person…I’d have to say that Union Rags is way out front, followed by Creative Cause who edges Drill slightly in the large heart analysis. But that’s in my opinion. It doesn’t account for will power, determination, intellect, soundness of limb, track conditions, weather conditions, luck or anything else…
Wishing them all a safe trip in the 2011 Breeder’s Cup.
Mucho Macho Man: 2011 Preakness contender
Here’s why I think Mucho Macho Man by Macho Uno and out of Poncho de Leona, has one of the best large heart pedigrees in the Preakness:
It is simply this: the buildup of Discovery (Native Dancer), My Babu (Mumtaz Mahal through Badruddin), Omaha, Man O’ War and Blue Larkspur through Bull Page (Nijinsky), all coming through Street Ballet…
…combined with the Man O’ War through Eight Thirty [11-g tail female line], Hamburg through Sun Mixa, War Admiral and Sir Gallahad through Iron Reward (dam of Swaps), Sundridge through Blasting Signal (Gal Sal), and Sir Gallahad and Sundridge through Quiz Song (Proudest Roman).
Any one of these power hitters could have made their way to Poncho de Leona’s offspring. The interesting synergy lies with Mr. Prospector of Macho Uno’s side because of the following horses in X positions of his pedigree: Nashua, Count Fleet, Bull Dog, Blue Larkspur, and Frizeur (who carries Hamburg, St. Simon, Bend Or, and Hermit in X positions).
We still don’t know what part the Y chromosome plays in the expression of the X factor, but it doesn’t hurt to have such a stunning line up of nicely fitting X factor puzzle pieces on both sides of the pedigree. Mucho Macho Man’s got the potential, we’ll see if he’s got the moves…
It should be noted that there are quite a few stamina horses in his pedigree, which should serve him well if he goes on to compete in the Belmont.
Animal Kingdom: 2011 Preakness Stakes Contender
Animal Kingdom is a strong, well built horse, with plenty of stamina. The question is: Does he have the speed, and the desire; will the right conditions present themselves, and does he possess a larger than normal heart to aid him in his pursuit?
According to his female heart lines, and the possible X chromosome that might be charging his engine, the answer is: perhaps.
He’s a fascinating study, bringing in excellent horses from Europe. Animal Kingdom’s broodmare sire is the German turf dynamo Acatenango, who was out of an English mare named Aggravate. X possibilities are: Nearco, Hyperion (broodmare sire of Nearctic), Hurry On (strong Pocahontas presence) on her sire Aggressor’s side, and mostly the English mare Pocahontas on her dam’s side.
Animal Kingdom’s second broodmare sire, Dancing Brave, was an American horse out of Navajo Princess, who stacks up enormous possibilities with Tom Fool, Mahmoud, War Admiral, Bend Or, and more Pocahontas.
Animal Kingdom’s 3rd dam, the champion Diasprina, has some Pocahontas blood, but is truly an outcross. She is representative of iron though, since the horses that contribute heavily to her pedigree are mostly golden stars of stamina. This doesn’t mean that she does not carry the X factor, it just means that she may have received it from other sources besides Eclipse. This is a great opportunity to illustrate the fact that the X factor did exist before the famous chestnut of yesteryear, and was probably developed along with the natural evolution of the horse. Diasprina has Eclipse blood, yes, but more importantly, she possesses Regulus, Byerley Turk, and Godolphin daughters that have worked their way into the present through a maze of female torches.
As for speed, desire and the right conditions, we’ll have to wait and see…
Soldat – 2011 Kentucky Derby contender
Soldat: by War Front out of Le Relais. I love War Front with his Eight Thirty, Warfare, Rubiano (Omaha, Man O’ War, Blue Larkspur, Menow) power pack. But it’s War Front’s Y chromosome that is passed along to Soldat.
Le Relais gives him his X chromosome, and she has one from her sire’s dam, Laughing Look, and from her dam, Malday.
Who knows which one Soldat received, but here’s how it breaks down.
First up, Laughing Look. Laughing Look is by Damascus, and Damascus presents interesting possibilities: Mumtaz Mahal (grand dam of Nasrullah), Selene (carries Pocahontas X on her sire Chaucer’s side), Blue Larkspur, Sweep and Bellisario.
Laughing Look is out of Laughter, whose got a double dose of Discovery, and an extra super kick from Hamburg; Hermit , Macaroni and Pocahontas are present in Sweep Out (3rd dam of Bold Ruler), and all of these are X factor possibilities.
Le Relais’ dam, Malbay carries a punch, and her possibilities are just as numerous. Through her sire Apalachee, there could be an X factor chromosome coming from Flambino, Hocus Pocus, or Dalmary (who carries an X chromosome from Blanche(White Eagle – 2nd broodmare sire of Princequillo) and one from Simon’s Shoes (Simon Square x Goody Two-Shoes who carries Pocahontas X factor on both sides).
Through her dam Sawmill Lady, Malbay may have received an X chromosome from the incomparable Nashua, or one of two Blue Larkspur lines.
The following illustration may make it easier:
Soldat X factor possibilities
Soldat may or may not have a larger than normal heart. Just how he stacks up against the other horses who may have more possibilities, and therefore a higher probability of carrying the X factor depends on conformation, stamina, luck of the draw, footing, weather, health, energy, training, conditioning, and well, all the things that make horse racing so unpredictable…
Uncle Mo – 2011 Kentucky Derby contender
Temporarily inhibited by a stomach bug, Uncle Mo is back.
Fans should not discount the blood that this star has to show on May 7th in the running of the 137th Kentucky Derby. By Indian Charlie and out of Playa Maya, it is an absolutely fascinating study to see two brilliant colts; Uncle Mo and Archarcharch running with a common link: Arch. [Please see Archarcharch]
In the pedigree of Uncle Mo, Arch sits in the broodmare sire’s seat, and from there offers his powerful X factor punch. Here, any one of these horses: War Admiral, Never Bend, Alydar or Danzig could have given Uncle Mo the heart of a champion.
In Uncle Mo’s 2nd broodmare sire’s position, Dixieland Band offers the 11-g female line of War Admiral through his ¾ relative, the graded stakes winner and broodmare sire of Decidedly and Warfare, War Glory. Whisk Broom and Lady Hamburg boost that rocket in significant ways. Dixieland Band also has a line of Blue Larkspur, a full sister to War Admiral, Seaplane through Eight Thirty, and St. Simon adding to the assurance that the large heart gene was indeed present when conception took place.
I’d like to mention, that in addition to all of the above, Uncle Mo has one of my favorite lines; that of Jamestown in an X position. Jamestown was the broodmare sire of Nashua, and has been an underdog in the large heart story. When he shows up, there are fireworks. Sometimes that energy is placed in a highly temperamental individual; hard to train, hard to gain trust. But. If those elements are handled skillfully…well then. Watch out.
I’m not saying that Uncle Mo is temperamental. I don’t know him personally, and haven’t read or heard anything about him in that regard.
But now that he’s running true to form, he’ll add an indisputable charge to the Kentucky Derby.
Dialed In – 2011 KY Derby contender
A favorite for the Derby, Dialed In should prove to be a heavy hitter. He is inbred to Secretariat, sporting the recently pensioned A.P. Indy as his paternal grandsire, and the ever famous Storm Cat as his maternal grandsire. Those genes alone have the potential to bring in enough ‘heart’ for all.
He does have some interesting genes supporting his quest, and they are great stand alone genes. On his sire, Mineshaft‘s side, Hoist the Flag hauls in War Admiral, however, this, like A.P. Indy cannot be the source of the X factor (according to the current theory). Mr. Prospector rings the large heart bell, and The Garden Club holds the seeds of Nasrullah, War Admiral, Bubbling Over and La Troienne .
Ready for expression and sitting in X positions, are several opportunities for the large heart gene to find its way. In addition to Secretariat, we have a double dose of Crimson Satan (2nd broodmare sire to Storm Cat and broodmare sire of Mt. Livermore (who is the 2nd broodmare sire of Dialed In)).
Out of the Argentinean mare, Papila, Crimson Satan ran 58 races, placing first in 18 of them, coming in second and third in 18 more. His sire, Spy Song was out of the great mare, Mata Hari, whose broodmare sire was none other than Man O’ War himself.
Papila’s treasure is concentrated by Flying Fox, Val Dor and St. Mirin. St. Mirin might be responsible for the secret, though. He inadvertently stacks up Godolphin daughters behind the scenes, which make any addition of the large heart mare Pocohantas (found in Flying Fox and Val Dor) a huge bonus. In fact, Papila has so many instances of Pocahontas, that it’s almost silly. Hermit also finds his way through in an X position of Papila’s broodmare sire, Papanatas. This makes Crimson Satan a tremendously interesting source of Godolphin for future generations.
Also of interest in the pedigree of Dialed In, is Bold Bidder, his 3rd broodmare. Bold Bidder ushers in To Market, whose broodmare sire is Johnstown (also the broodmare sire of Nashua), and a very nice position for Princequillo, who would undoubtedly support Secretariat’s instance of Princequillo.
Lot of speed in Dialed In’s pedigree, backed by stamina and heart. Hope he has a good post position, and a safe trip. He’ll be fun to watch…
Archarcharch – 2011 KY Derby contender
The magic of Archarcharch resides in an interesting convergence of War Admiral and Simon Square.
Through his broodmare sire Woodman, Archarcharch accumulates three direct lines of War Admiral, all in X factor positions. He also possesses a Nasrullah daughter in an X position. Extra gravy for X positions include Bubbling Over, Blue Larkspur, and two lines of La Troienne. This is plenty to get excited about. But his large heart story doesn’t stop there. If Archarcharch didn’t receive his X chromosome from his broodmare sire, then he would have received his X chromosome from his tail female line.
The horse to look at here is Pattern Step, Archarcharch‘s 2nd dam.
By Nureyev and out of Tipping Time, Pattern Step was a Graded Stakes earner, sporting an interesting duplication of Simon Square through both the tail female line of her sire, and the tail female line of her dam. Nureyev‘s 5th dam, Simons Shoes, and Tipping Time‘s 4th dam, Tetragynia, were both by this interesting stallion.
Simon Square was by the great St. Simon himself, and out of a mare named Sweet Marjorie. Sweet Marjorie collected the X blood of Touchstone, Stockwell, Hermit, and Kendal, who was a product of the famous ‘Bend Or – Macaroni’ nick.
All in all, the dam’s side of Archarcharch’s pedigree is nicely supported by the Never Bend – Alydar – Danzig – Princequillo and Nashua influences provided by his sire, Arch.
Archarcharch has a beautiful combination of stamina, speed and heart, combined with the stunning shoulder and powerful quarters that Kris S passes down through the generations.
The Derby trail…
Here we are in the middle of March, after weeks of jostling and romping.
Brethren, who was looking high in February, was shot down to the 10 spot before spring. Gourmet Dinner, who was in the number two spot, missed his reservation, and is now waiting for a table along with Sway Away and Riveting Reason who are behind Brethren in earnings and performance.
One horse that sprung was Mucho Macho Man, who gives hope to us all. We need more manly men (I heard that on the News this morning)…He’s now in the number three spot for earnings, putting in a dominant performance in the Risen Star Stakes. He will run again in the Louisiana Derby on March 26th, as we get ready for April’s final drum roll leading up to the song of the bugle on May 7th.
Anthony’s Cross moved up in the rankings along with To Honor and Serve, both fighting gallantly; Rogue Romance is in spot number sex…oops. I mean seven. Probably don’t want to talk about how he got across the finish line…or maybe we do, I don’t know…
Anyway, sixth in the earnings list is temporarily occupied by Premier Pegasus, who tested his wings in the San Felipe stakes, and guess what? They worked…he left his rivals lengths behind, galloping out for another 1/8 of a mile before he showed any signs of landing.
The Factor will run against Sway Away again on March 19th, which should prove interesting…Sway Away was powering up, as the The Factor was powering down at the finish of the San Vincente last month. They will be joined by J P’s Gusto, Caleb’s Posse and others farther down the totem pole.
The big test comes for Indian Charlie’s son Uncle Mo, who was exceptionally sharp during his first race this year, winning so easily that folks were reminiscing about Seattle Slew, the Triple Crown winner of 1977. Uncle Mo will be challenged by the 2nd place holder, Soldat, fourth place holder Dialed In, and eighth place holder To Honor and Serve, along with others including Stay Thirsty, Flashpoint and Arch Traveler on April 3rd in the Florida Derby.
Just one thing gets me. Every horse we see today, whether it is the blooded Thoroughbred, with his large heart and desert metabolism, to the clever, perky pony — has thousands of ancient ancestors that were cultivated by the harshest tests of all; those of Nature. In more recent history, they have advanced the ambitions of mankind from the Phoenicians to the Romans, the Vikings to the Americans. They carried the Huns and the Kazars, the Union soldiers and the Indians. They provided transportation for people and cargo, essentially forming the makings of FedEx, and of course, the Post Office in the form of the Pony Express. Thousands upon thousands of miles these horses have endured, helping man shape Nations — and destroy them.
…and this guy…a famous Thoroughbred trainer of international renown says, “he (meaning one of the horses mentioned above) was bred for two turns…” as if this were the apex of bloodhorse stamina and ability.
If Nature had limited the horse to two turns, on a fair day with good footing…well…Good grief.
