Not every pedigree is by intentional design, but is sometimes simply a repeat of previous success (successful crosses are not likely to suddenly stop producing good horses, after all). Such is the case with Tepin, younger full sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Prime Cut, by Bernstein, and half sister to multiple Grade 2 winner, Vyjack. I recently spoke with Vyjack and Tepin's breeder, Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall Farm, about the selection of Bernstein, and she stated that she had no real pedigree designs in mind when she bred 1st dam Life Happened back to Bernstein - she simply wanted to reproduce the same mating that produced Prime Cut. In between Prime Cut and Tepin, Brogden was not able to get in to Bernstien's book for breeding, so she "called an audible" as she put it, and booked Life Happened to a sire who had yet to truly spread his wings at the time, Into Mischief. The rest of the story is that Into Mischief became wildly successful, including the foal out of Life Happened, Vyjack. The following year, Brogden was able to get Life Happened into Bernstein's book of mares and was handsomely rewarded with Gr. 1 winner Tepin. Mrs. Brogden admitted she was not a "pedigree" person, but the pedigree of Tepin and, by extension, her full brother Prime Cut, as well as Vyjack, will be covered.
Tepin and Prime Cut are by Bernstein, out of Life Happened, by Stravinsky, out of Round It Off. There is a 4 x 4 cross of Northern Dancer and Round Table present in both parents. This is never a bad thing and the affinity the two horses have for each other is undeniable as both parents have been successful runners and producers on their own. This brings a build-up of St. Simon and his full sister Angelica, as well as a plethora of family 16 (descendants of Agnes), which I have discussed at length in some of my other posts.
It is no mystery that highly inbred mares tend to make very successful dams and even better 2nd dams, especially when inbred to superior female lines (aka Rasmussen Factor). 2nd dam Round It Off is no exception to this principle. Her inbreeding to blue hen Rough Shod, especially with opposite-sex, full siblings Moccasin and Ridan, gets the party started.
First dam Life Happened adds to the carnage of Rough Shod as she adds another full sister in Thong. A mare that has high concentrations of known classic-producing female lines is now pre-potent and selectively filtered enough to produce nothing but superior offspring. When bred to Bernstein, another blue hen, Boola Brook is now duplicated, creating a new Rasmussen Factor scenario.
To top it off, our best friend La Troienne is present through Bernstien via Busanda, dam of champion Buckpasser. La Troienne's best friend Domino and his accomplices Tourbillon and Discovery are also present.
Vyjack is a slightly different story. At five generations, he appears to be a total outcross. A further comparison of Bernstein and Into Mischief reveals that they are similarly bred, both with Storm Cat and Triple Crown winner Affirmed close up in the sire. Bernstein is tail-female to La Troienne, but Into Mischief is tail-female to Cornish Prince, whose 4th dam Adargatis is three-quarter sister to La Troienne. Bernstein and Into Mischief can be considered genetic equivalents at this point. Into Mischief also has Djeddah, a necessity when linebreeding for Domino. Refer to my previous article on Lucy N Ethel to find out why this is important.
What is the result of crossing Storm Cat on Affirmed? Family 16 all over the place, plus close genetic relatives Mahmoud and Nasrullah lashed up nicely with their best friend, Princequillo, all of whom add more of family 16 through Martagon and Papyrus.
Same band, different song...
http://www.pedigreequery.com/tepin
I will post segments of my interview with Carrie Brogden in a later post. Many thanks to Carrie and Machmer Hall Farm for her time on the phone with me! I learned a lot about the commercial sales side of the business that I will cover in more detail later.
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