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

 

When You Find Gold, Keep Digging.

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.

Stellar Wind: Produced from Generations of Stellar Matings

Gr. 1 Santa Anita Oaks winner and Gr. 1 Breeder's Cup Distaff runner-up Stellar Wind comes from a family of mostly hard-knockers who earned every penny, but generations of successive, thoughtful linebreeding by the Keswick Stables dynasty in Virginia has infused this family with improved speed each generation.

The pedigree starts out with no less than 6 crosses of La Troienne, but brings along many lines of her best friend Domino, as well as Roman in Hasty Road. Hasty Road, like Bold Ruler, Native Dancer, and Intentionally, is out of a Discovery mare. Discovery brings more of Domino's family (Family 23) than Domino himself. Super-sire Curlin has only one line of La Troienne, but he is overloaded with Domino and Discovery through multiples of Native Dancer but also a rarely seen double of Domino-line sire Double Jay, who brings with his damsire Whisk Broom a double of speed influence Maggie B. B., a true taproot source of sire-producing mares who rivals La Troienne in her influence in the Thoroughbred gene pool. Domino also appears through known speed influence Olympia. Bunty Lawless, present twice in Deputy Minister, is also carrying more of Domino's family (Family 23-b).

La Troienne herself is inbred to Family 16 through full siblings Ormonde and Ornament, and Roman brings more of both Ormonde and Ornament. Stellar Wind's dam, Evening Star, brings with her at least five (5) more La Troienne and more Domino, as well as more of family 16. Double Jay is by Balladier, who also carries St. Angelo, a Family 16 member. St. Angelo and Domino are also both present every time you see Blue Larkspur, which clearly explains his potency and prevalence throughout American pedigrees. Herbager is also a direct descendant of Family 16, as are full brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad, both present many times. Add two more Family 16 members, Martagon and Desmond, for every Blenheim II, present in every Mahmoud, Nasrullah, and Royal Charger. Add a another member of the family for every Papyrus, present mostly through Princequillo. To emphasize the point, Secretariat was the result of crossing a sire with Martagon and Desmond on a mare with both Papyrus and Martagon.

To put some icing on the cake, Iron Reward is present in the sire through Track Medal and in the dam through Swaps. Very few things are more potent than crossing brother and sister in pedigrees.

Once she retires to the breeding shed, I am predicting that stallions carrying multiples of Prince John, Olympia, and Tourbillon will be ideally suited for her. La Troienne, Olympia, Prince John, and Tourbillon, especially through his grandson, Djeddah, have proven to be a very potent mix that consistently produces top-class horses.

Same band, different song.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/stellar+wind2

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.

Stallion Profile: Ice Box - Throwing Red Hot Runners

2010 Gr. 1 Florida Derby winner and Gr. 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands runner-up Ice Box is off to an exciting start at stud with several two year old winners already making their mark. He has been well-supported in his first several years at stud and should be able to make a big statement. So, let's dive in to his pedigree, shall we?

Ice Box starts off with a very prevalent A.P. Indy / Mr. Prospector cross in his sire, Pulpit, crossed on a mare from the Storm Cat line. A.P. Indy, Mr. Prospector, and Storm Cat have all historically shown affinities for each other, but there is much, much more to his pedigree than this.

Ice Box descends from the classic distance male line of Seattle Slew (doubled to La Troienne) via A.P. Indy (add another La Troienne) followed by Pulpit on the top side of the pedigree and hails from a female family that gave us the 4th fastest Kentucky Derby winner in history, Spend A Buck. Spend A Buck is a son of Buckaroo also (doubled to La Troienne) out of Belle De Jour, who descends from Adargatis, the three-quarters sister to La Troienne. La Troienne is by Teddy, out of Helene De Troie, while Adargatis is by Teddy's son, Asterus, and also out of Helene De Troie. Coming forward from Adargatis, Belle De Jour is laden with Tourbillon, who provides much-needed male strains of Glencoe (Vandal) to balance all of the female Glencoe (mostly through Pocahontas) present in Domino and, with him, most prominant American pedigrees.

Being from the tail-female line of Spend A Buck naturally invites Spend A Buck in the pedigree of any of Ice Box's mates. Mares with Riverman should also be considered prime candidates as a sex-balanced double of Prince John did not hurt Gr. 1 winners Big Blue Kitten and Songbird as well as New York stakes winners Friend Or Foe and Our Entourage in the least.

So, which broodmare sire is set up to be the ultimate Nick with Ice Box? Mares by Kitten's Joy should be an easy slam-dunk with Ice Box, providing him with more La Troienne and doubling Prince John, Buckpasser, and Northern Dancer, and adding Roberto - a known genetic equivalent to Buckpasser - into the already-potent mix. Last but not least is a same-generation cross of full sisters Bel Sheba and Wac, better known as the dams of Alysheba and Lear Fan, respectively. Also from the El Prado line we have Medaglia D'Oro, who also offers additional Prince John and La Troienne. 

Empire Maker or his Triple Crown-siring son Pioneerof the Nile will also provide a double of Ice Box's own female line in Adargatis via Cornish Prince. Pioneerof the Nile also features a tail-female line of Olympia, which always tracks well with La Troienne. Empire Maker's inbreeding to In Reality also makes a nice splash with Pulpit. But don't take my word for it... Just ask Tapit.

Another angle to try is the cross of full sisters in blood Busanda (dam of Buckpasser) and Blue Eyed Momo, the mother of Francis S. Blue Eyed Momo can be found through sources like Cherokee Run, Catienus, Honour and Glory, and Johannesburg. The Busanda / Blue Eyed Momo cross has been rock-solid and will continue to be so into the future. Crossing close kin Nijinsky II and The Minstrel should also be powerful.

If anyone has daughters of Even The Score, who also stands alongside Ice Box at Millennium Farms, crossing daughters of Even The Score with Ice Box gives nice doubles of Speak John and Barbizon, both speed influences. It should be noted that Barbizon was at the top of the Experimental Handicap over Bold Ruler, Federal Hill, Round Table, and other top horses and should be considered a prime target for inbreeding.

Ice Box has the support of stallions costing ten times his fee and is an excellent value at any price.

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This post is in loving memory of our mare Espana, half-sister to Spice Island, dam of Ice Box. Espana was a very kind, loving mare despite her battles with laminitis that eventually took her life.