Thursday, January 14, 2016

Mor Spirit: Mor of the Same

Mor Spirit has put himself on the radar as a potential Kentucky Derby hopeful, winning the Gr. 1 Los Alomitos Futurity. We shall dig in to the pedigree of this rising star in a moment. Before we get too far along, please read this piece on Mor Spirit's sire, Eskendereya, written by my pedigree mentor, Les Brinsfield.

One of my pedigree mentor Les Brinsfield's strongest statements that he ever put in his writing (paraphrasing from a post on the Pedigree Post, a site that has since been taken down, sadly) is the fact that crossing and re-crossing the same set of ancestors either produces good horses or it does not. When a cross as successful as the Domino / La Troienne cross is found and keeps producing good horses, it is not likely to suddenly stop producing these good horses any time in the near future.

This holds true with the pedigree of Gr. 1 Los Alamitos Futurity winner Mor Spirit. This pedigree features two genetically equivalent parents, with a dam inbred to a superior female family, that of Maggie B B (family 4-m), through the doubled Change Water. Maggie B B is a sire-source mare the likes of which are only rivaled by La Troienne herself. Whisk Broom is also from this family. Dixieland Band's 2nd dam is linebred to Maggie B B, and gets support from Dixie Union, who is also tail-female to Maggie B B. Unbridled's Song is also from this family, and Holy Bull is a result of build-ups of Maggie B B. The 2nd damsire Allens Prospect is from this same line, adding yet another line. The list of influential sires from family 4-m reads like a who's-who and I will either a) save it for another day or b) let you do some homework.

Sire Eskendereya and dam Im A Dixie Girl are both a result of a double of Northern Dancer combined with Seattle Slew and Raise A Native. Northern Dancer has Discovery (who has more of Domino's family than Domino himself) and various members of Family 16 (Agnes), all of whom I tout frequently, but, out to 9 generations, has Ormonde, his close kin Martagon (usually found in Blenheim II), plus Muncaster, Desmond, Sardanapale, Broomstick, and St Gatien. Family 16 representative Herbager is also present in Im A Dixie Girl.

Native Dancer and Raise A Native are laden with Domino. Seattle Slew brings La Troienne (inbred to full siblings Ormonde and Ornament, both of family 16) twice, and her granddaughters Striking and Busher present in Seattle Slew are each quadrupled to Domino from Bubbling Over and War Admiral. La Troienne was never bred to a sire free of Domino and the results speak for themselves. 3rd damsire Northern Fashion adds another two lines of La Troienne. Add another round of Ormonde and Ornament for Roman in Giants Causeway.

Potent influence Hail To Reason is present no less than four times and adds Plucky Liege twice for each line of Hail To Reason. Plucky Liege adds both variety and quantity to the family 16 carnage. Mr. Prospector in Im A Dixie Girl adds all the perks of Raise A Native and Native Dancer, plus he adds Lady Reel, stakes winning sister of Domino, plus a plethora of family 16.

Seems like I've heard this song before...

Should this wonderfully bred horse make it to the breeding shed - I have no reason to believe that he won't eventually breed on - I would like to see him get mares loaded with Djeddah and Johns Joy, Spend A Buck, and Friends Lake, who are all heavily loaded with Vandal blood that is critical for linebreeding to Domino. The latter two are also loaded with La Troienne. I would also like to see him get mares with Olympia and Prince John, both of whom also click really well with La Troienne.

Maggie B B was born in 1867 and Agnes was born in 1844. To those who say that nothing beyond the 3rd generation matters, I tell you to look closer, deeper, into the generations past and see how families are built, sustained, and revitalized - when necessary - through effective linebreeding. 

http://www.pedigreequery.com/mor+spirit

 

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