Lucy N Ethel: Not the Usual Suspects, But a Lot of Vandals

When a juvenile filly wins by 13 lengths and earns a 104 Equibase E-figure, people start paying attention. Such is the case with Parx maiden special weight and allowance-winning juvenile filly, Lucy N Ethel, presumably named in honor of a TV show I grew up watching re-runs of, I Love Lucy.

Her sire, During (Cherokee Run - Blading Saddle, by Blade) was a first-class runner free of Northern Dancer (and any Native Dancer), A.P. Indy, Seattle Slew, and Mr. Prospector. He is, however, loaded with Nasrullah / Princequillo lash-ups as well as Discovery through Bold Ruler and Tentam. Also present are some lines of Royal Charger, a genetic equivalent to Nasrullah, and also lashed up with Princequillo through Sir Gaylord, half-brother to the immortal Secretariat.

In addition to hailing from the family of Barbaro, During also has our beloved La Troienne present, only twice, but this is more than enough when her accomplices show up to magnify the wake of her carnage. So... who are La Troienne's main accomplices? Domino, present just about everywhere now, Tourbillon, and anyone from or containing family 16, the family of Agnes. La Troienne is herself inbred to full siblings, Ormonde and Ornament (both from same family 16), and any of their close relatives are considered willing and able accomplices.

What does Lucy N Ethel's dam, Kid Silver, bring to the table? First glance reveals a double of Native Dancer, another source of Discovery and John P Grier, twice. She also adds to the overload of Bleinheim II. Blenheim II also comes into play, mainly through more Nasrullah and Royal Charger but through other sources as well, like Mahmoud. Bleinheim II brings more of Agnes to the table through Martagon, close kin to the aforementioned Ormonde and Ornament, dam of the legendary racemare and producer, Sceptre. During himself is also a direct female-line descendant of Agnes, adding to the damage.

All of this is enough to give us a great runner and future producer, but we haven't reached the culprit responsible for the future super-star filly Lucy N Ethel. Glencoe is found everywhere in pedigrees, but overwhelmingly comes in female strains, mostly through his daughter, 1837 Pocahontas, long thought to be a source of the large heart gene, but also through his daughters Florine and Reel. The key to Lucy N Ethel lies in her countless strains of Vandal, a rare, male strain of Glencoe that sex-balances all of the Pocahontas, Reel, and Florine found throughout the gene pool.

During and Kid Silver are both packing Djeddah and Johns Joy, both of whom are packing more Vandal than what I can count in a reasonable amount of time with the tools available (at least 8 from each line of Djeddah, maybe more, and at least 5 from Johns Joy). Whisk Broom also accounts for another line of Vandal each time he is present (at least three lines through During, and at least five lines through Kid Silver). This distant though very heavy presence of Vandal explains the explosiveness of the cross that comes from only a single line of Raise A Native via Mr. Prospector, no Seattle Slew or A.P. Indy, no Northern Dancer, Buckpasser, and no Secretariat.

Fast horses can be produced from modest stock if solid linebreeding principles are applied, and rising star Lucy N Ethel is a perfect example of how to upgrade modest breeding stock.

During stands at O'Sullivan Farms in Charles Town, WV.

As an added bonus, During has had a very good strike rate with mares returning Tamerett to him. Gone West, Shackleford and any Round Table are very nice targets to send to During.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/lucy+n+ethel

Behrnik's Bank: Out to a Fast Start

According to an October 2010 report compiled by Werk Thoroughbred Consultants on the Top 40 dam lines by stakes winners (for the 15-year time period of 1995 - 2010), #1 La Troienne was responsible for more tail-female stakes winners more than any mare in this time frame, outranking her 2nd place rival (Escutcheon) by over 65%. La Troienne's dam, Helene De Troie, was #6 on this list. Between them were Big Hurry (ranked #4), a daughter of La Troienne, and Stolen Hour (#5), by Mr. Busher, out of Baby League, yet another daughter of La Troienne who also ranked 14th on her own merit on the report. La Troienne (by Teddy), had a three-quarter sister named Adargatis (by Asterus, a son of Teddy). Combining any number of sons and daughters of La Troienne has proved remarkable, and combining La Troienne with her French Oaks winning three-quarter sister Adargatis has produced the likes of Spend A Buck, Empire Maker, and Ice Box, all Gr. 1 winners and good producers.
And again the pattern is a hit once again in Behrnik's Bank, winner of the 6-furlong, $75,000 Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies Stakes run at Penn National Race Course. 
Adargatis is present through Cornish Prince, sire of Behrnik's Bank's 3rd dam, Lightning Bug. Cornish Prince's 2nd dam is Donatella (by Tourbillon, out of Adargatis). Coming Forward, 2nd dam Lady Mondegreen adds two lines of La Troienne through power-producer Numbered Account, who herself is deserving of an entire pedigree feature (California Chrome's dam Love the Chase is closely inbred to Numbered Account).
1st dam Behrnik introduces yet another line of La Troienne through her sire, Chimes Band, who is tail-female to blue hen mare Foggy Note, by The Axe, who is out of Blackball, out of La Troienne daughter Big Event. Foggy Note's 2nd dam Beadah is a daughter of Djeddah, who is tail-male to Tourbillon himself but also traces tail-female to a full-sister to Tourbillon's dam, Banshee. When accounting for the influence of Tourbillon in pedigrees, I count Djeddah as a multiplier of Tourbillon because the influences that created Tourbillon are present twice in the pedigree of Djeddah. Behrnik's line of Damascus also adds another line of Tourbillon through My Babu.
Finally, sire Bank Heist adds two more La Troienne through Buckpasser and Deputy Minister, along with another line of Damascus (read "Tourbillon") and Olden Times (more Tourbillon!). For extra credit, Bank Heist also introduces Caro, Secretariat, and Blue Prince, who all check in with a gaggle of various family 16 members who all help La Troienne. 
Lashing all of this together is a variety of lines of Discovery, who also travels well with La Troienne. Discovery is present through Bold Ruler, Traffic Judge, and Native Dancer. When it is time for Behrnik's Bank to go to the breeding shed, sources of In Reality will add more variety to the sources of Discovery. She is also set up well to receive sources of Prince John and Olympia.
Oddly enough, the cross that produced Behrnik's Bank has been tried before, but Behrnik's Bank is the result of crossing the sons of the sire (Maria's Mon) and broodmare sire (Dixieland Band) that were tried before. Who was the result of the first cross? The only horse to tie Secretariat's Kentucky Derby winning time, Monarchos. The pedigrees of the best horses are never left to chance.