Arrogate - Current Top-Rated Horse in the World Linebred to Perfection

You've seen all the hype, the delivering of the goods, and the accolades that have stemmed from the performances of top runner, Arrogate (Unbridled's Song - Bubbler, by Distorted Humor). Now you'll get a down-and-dirty analysis of the pedigree that led to this superior runner and future sire. So... which key ancestors are in play here? All of them. Quantity of pre-potent ancestors is important, but variety is better, and Arrogate has no shortage of variety in the sources of Family 16, the family of the underrated and under-discussed blue hen mare, Agnes.

Let's start with Unbridled. Unbridled has three lines of La Troienne via Bimelech (twice) and Buckpasser. This is enough to get any party started and Unbridled was the culmination of a career of refined breeding from astute Florida horseman John Nerud of the legendary Tartan Farm. Unbridled carried all of the best blood of generations of Tartan Farm heavyweights forward, including In Reality, Aspidistra, Rough'n Tumble, and Fappiano on the top side.

Unbridled's Song was a result of crossing a sire with La Troienne to a mare with no La Troienne, but one who carries many of La Troienne's top accomplices. La Troienne herself is the result of the full-sibling cross of Ormonde and Ornament, both of Family 16. The dam of Undbridled's Song, Trolley Song, brings in more of Family 16 through Solario, Bull Dog, Blenheim II (read "Martagon), and especially Flushing. Even with all of these, I submit to you that Caro brings four lines of Kendal, a less common strain of Family 16, adding a booster shot of variety to the pool.

Repeat and cross.

Going down to Bubbler, here again is a product of a sire (Distorted Humor) with no La Troienne but loaded with La Troienne's primary accomplice, Domino, and other members of his family, mainly through Discovery, also brought in by Mr. Prospector (via Unbridled). Once she was imported into the United States, La Troienne was never bred to a stallion free of Domino and she always appreciates returns of Domino and his family to her in future matings. During his first 8 years at stud, Distorted Humor had over 35% SW with mares carrying La Troienne, and it took 8 years for him to sire a stakes winner free of La Troienne (Jimmy Creed). Daughters of both Distorted Humor and Jimmy Creed are in play for Arrogate.

Mizzen Mast is also in play.

That said, Deputy Minister has been the hottest of broodmare sires lately, and his daughters and granddaughters should be highly considered for sending to Arrogate.

Nick Alert! Gun Runner's First Mates

Finishing off a very high class field of horses in the latest edition of the Pegasus World Cup, champion Gun Runner now goes off to stud. Finding mares that match well with his bloodlines is easy. I am calling Bernardini mares as his ideal mates. Look for the position of the intensely inbred Quiet American in both the sire and the damsire.

Slip the Cable: A Long-Overdue Post on a Fantastically Linebred Horse

As we've recounted many times before, one of Olin Gentry's maxims is "Return to the sire the best blood of his dam." I'd like to take a moment and addend this maxim by saying that returning to the sire the best blood of both his sire and dam works well, too.

And so it is with Slip the Cable, winner of the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders Classic. Slip The Cable in WV by Coleswood Farm (Jeff and Susan Runco), though it should be noted that Jeff Runco has informed me that his wife, Susan, is the brains behind most of the planned matings.

This mating is so rich, that it's almost impossible to know where to begin, so I'll just throw it all on the wall and see what kind of art we end up with in the end. None of the elements should be discounted, but there are so many good ingredients in this pedigree.

First, let's start off with 2 X Mr. Prospector, who carries Lady Reel, a sister to Domino, top and bottom, both in the tail male line of the sire and dam. Mr. Prospector also adds Vandal, critical for linebreeding to Domino, who is present everywhere in the modern Thoroughbred gene pool. Add two sex-balanced Roberto in the bottom half of both the sire and dam. This nets us at least 4 X Nashua, and that's never a bad thing. Roberto also gives us plenty of often-discussed Family 16 via Plucky Liege.

It should be noted with significance that Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew, both present in the pedigree, descend from the female line of Myrtlewood, daughter of Frizeur, daughter of distaff force Frizette, Frizette is also the second dam of Tourbillon, brought to us into the pedigree by Damascus. Tourbillon carries 4 X Vandal and the accomplices to Domino are building at a fever pitch.

Prince John also carries a champion sister to Domino in Correction and adds to the damage.
Three X La Troienne* each from Unbridled and Avenue of Flags brings the total to six La Troienne*, the greatest distaff force in the history of the modern Thoroughbred. Add to more La Troienne* thanks to Not For Love's second dam, Numbered Account, who is not only a direct female line descendent of La Troienne*, but also adds another La Troienne* with the peerless Buckpasser. Once she reached the US shores, La Troienne* was never bred to a sire free of Domino and now we just add in all of the Domino and his sisters that have been building up feverishly in the pedigree Slip the Cable and you have an explosion of classic speed that can go the distance. Caro in Unbridled's Song checks in with 4 X Kendal, a rarer occurrence of aforementioned Family 16, found throughout the pedigrees of Roberto and La Troienne herself.

Add to all of this a bunch of known genetic equivalents coming together... Roberto and Nijinsky II are enough to do justify any mating that combines the two. Mr. Prospector, Seattle Slew, and Tourbillon all descending from Frizette... I could go on, and on, and on with this pedigree.

It really doesn't get much better than this, folks. Well done, Susan Runco, well done.

Update: I Told You So!

Remember when I first wrote about Friend or Foe and told you he was going to be a great stallion prospect?

There is an old horse saying that goes "pedigrees don't run, horses do," and so far, from two starters, Friend or Foe has two winners, Code Red, and Mr. Buff. Code Red won in an impressive Maiden Special Weight at Belmont and followed that up with 2nd place in the Seeking The Ante S., also at Saratoga, while Mr. Buff won his Maiden Special at Belmont.

For a stallion that very few people know about, he sure is making a big splash in the huge pond that is the NYRA circuit.

While pedigree isn't everything, effective linebreeding sure helps increase your odds of getting you horses that can run.

You can't say that I didn't warn you...

Virtual Inspections for U.S. Sales

Prior to July of this year, no U.S. based auction house has provided virtual inspection videos for its buyers or provided a centralized platform that allows the consignors the ability to upload their own photos and videos... until now. 

Thanks to Thoroughbred Catalog, sales companies can now catalogue their sales online in a searchable and sortable tabular format that is embeddable on the sales company's website. To facilitate interaction between buyers and sellers, Thoroughbred Catalog enables the consignors to upload unlimited photos and walking videos for each horse in their consignment.

The Texas Thoroughbred Association has catalogued their full sale on Thoroughbred Catalog, with consignor-provided conformation photos, and you can find that sale at https://www.ThoroughbredCatalog.com/Sales/Details/1011

At just $10 per hip, sales companies can catalogue their entire sale and import results via the free OData feed into the analysis application of their choice (Microsoft Excel, Tableau, etc.).

This service is available to all sales companies of all sizes and budgets. Please encourage these companies to provide a better, more interactive, virtual inspection experience to their buyers. Thoroughbred Catalog is here and ready to serve these customers.

To learn more, please visit https://www.ThoroughbredCatalog.com

Texas Yearling and Mixed Sale - Presented by the Texas Thoroughbred Association

My First Post on a Debut Winner...

Not only did Sonic Mule break his maiden at first asking, he did so impressively enough to make heads turn and start chatter among the racing media about a possible new rising star.

Let's start with the easy part. Through his first 8 seasons as a stallion, Distorted Humor famously touted an astonishing 35% stakes winners with mares carrying La Troienne. Sonic Mule's damsire-supreme A.P. Indy carries three lines of La Troienne through My Charmer, dam of Seattle Slew, and Buckpasser. La Troienne is the result of crossing full siblings Ormonde and Ornament, which I have mentioned many times (there is a reason for this... because IT MATTERS!).



Ormonde is prevalent throughout the American Thoroughbred gene pool but Ornament is a bit less common. But not to worry, File, the dam of Forty Niner, who is present twice in the pedigree of Sonic Mule, carries no less than 4 lines of Ornament and gives balance to every instance of Ormonde in the gene pool. While he was whisked away to southeast Asia at the age of 10, Forty Niner is arguably one of the most important sons of Mr. Prospector to ever look through a bridle and pass his genetic goodness onto his progeny. His sons Distorted Humor and End Sweep are evidence enough of his potency in the breeding shed... but I digresss...

Distorted Humor adds Danzigs Beauty who adds War Admiral, Olympia, Hail To Reason, and Eight Thirty, all known accomplices to La Troienne (all carry Domino).  The dam of Distorted Humor adds Djeddah, who carries male lines of Vandal, critical for linebreeding to Domino, and now you have a genetic explosion that can be heard 'round the world when combined with La Troienne, who was never bred to a sire free of Domino once she reached U.S. soil.