A few weeks ago, I mentioned my disappointment that the U.S. lost Judge T C (pedigree) from our bloodstock choices when he was exported to Saudi Arabia. I'll give credit to Prince Sultan Mohammed Saud al Kabeer and Nofa Equestiran Resort:  they saw something in a stallion that was overlooked in the domestic breeding market, and they snagged a real prize. (Original article announcing export.) 

I liked Forest Camp (pedigree), too -- a son of star broodmare sire Deputy Minister, out of a Princequillo-line mare, from the 19-b female family of the blue hen Bimlette (all of these are great ingredients in a stallion's five-cross pedigree). Forest Camp now covers mares in... South Korea.  South Korea! 

And I've heard breeders lamenting the loss of Menifee (pedigree), who also stands in South Korea despite being one of only a couple of promising sire sons of the tragically short-lived Harlan.  (On the subject, I enjoyed writing about Menifee in a Keeneland magazine article about homebred winners of the Blue Grass Stakes.) 

Stroll (pedigree) is another recent loss for American breeders:  he's by one of A.P. Indy's most promising sons (and A.P. Indy sons are going to become increasingly important as the Lane's End stallion ages).  And even better, that son is Pulpit, who is out of a mare from the amazing Claiborne Farm foundation family 2-f that dates back to Monarchy, a full sister to Round Table.  Stroll also has some intriguing lines on his bottom side, with his Family 1-k dam Maid for Walking descending from Tudor Minstrel with crosses of Hyperion (GB) and Djebel (FR) and Bois Roussel (FR) and Caerleon (GB) in her five-cross pedigree.  Stroll now stands in Italy.

It's a shame to see promising sires heading across the ocean, far away from the reach of most U.S. breeders. Of course, without bloodstock imports and exports, the breed would never have come in to existence -- and never would have made its way to the U.S. shores.  But certain losses are harder to accept than others, and I'm heartbroken over Judge T C. 

Since he's gone, I've started looking at his sons.  Request for Parole (on SRO) looks especially promising. The new-for-2008 grade I-winning stallion raced an impressive 51 times in 7 years, placing eight times in graded company, with earnings over $1.3 million.  His broodmare sire is -- you guessed it! -- Deputy Minister.  Request for Parole stands for the ridiculously-low price of $3,500 at Fox Tale Stud in Pennsylvania.  

I've also identified another Judge T C son who's still running, and who I'd love to see given a chance at stud one day.  Four-year-old False I. D. (pedigree) has scored in a Saratoga allowance race and just took an AOC at Colonial Downs a week ago.  He's got at least some stamina -- he's racing between 8.5 and 10 furlongs -- which is a big plus in my book.  False I.D. is 3 x 4 to Secretariat, with another third-generation cross to Secretariat's full sister Syrian Sea, who is False I.D.'s third dam.  It's neat seeing inbreeding to Somethingroyal, but this is a less usual instance (it is generally seen with Secretariat and Sir Gaylord). It's a long shot unless he suddenly starts scoring some black type, but with bloodlines like this, I would sure like to see False I.D. in the breeding shed a few years down the line.

Okay, so who have I missed?  What stallion do you miss who went abroad to a more appreciative audience?  Let's say within the last 20 years or so.

If Big Brown wins the Belmont and makes it a "Brown Crown," many in the industry will breathe a collective sigh of relief.  "It's about time," they'll say.  "Racing needs a hero." What better tale could be told than that of a 12^th winner of the Triple Crown? And after 30 long years!  Books will be penned, scores of mares will be nominated to his first season at Three Chimneys (whatever the cost!), and he'll be heralded as one of the immortals.

But I believe there's a better story in the offing.  It might not be as sexy as a sweep of the classics, or as easy to grasp for those who don't follow the sport regularly. While Casino Drive (pedigree) can't take the Triple Crown, he can do something no horse has ever done: follow in the footsteps of two siblings in the 12-furlong test of champions.

Better Than Honour (pedigree) may well become the first mare to produce a Belmont winner three years in a row. If any doubts remain that Jazil (on SRO) was a fluke, they should be put to rest right now. This mare, herself a graded winner and multiple grade I placed runner who never finished out of the money, produced the Shadwell Farm stud from the Mr. Prospector horse Seeking the Gold (on SRO), and followed up a year later with the A.P. Indy (on SRO)-sired champion filly Rags to Riches, whose Belmont win was the first for a distaffer in more than a century.

And here comes Casino Drive. The Peter Pan (gr. II) winner has been pointed towards the Belmont pretty much for the past two years. By Mineshaft (on SRO), Casino Drive gets a dose of influence from both Jazil's sire line (Mineshaft's broodmare sire is Mr. Prospector himself) and from Rags to Riches' sire line (Mineshaft is a son of Rags' sire A.P. Indy). 

Combine that with Better Than Honour's royal breeding, and you've got a horse that just might be unbeatable. I've already commented on Deputy Minister as a broodmare sire (as he is in Casino Drive's case), and it appears that this daughter is going to launch his broodmare sire stats into the stratosphere.

If you're a pedigree fan looking for an equine hero, look no further than Better Than Honour.  And on Belmont Day, you just might hit the jackpot with Casino Drive.

When a highly-inbred horse does well on the track and is bred to outcrosses, watch out, world!

I responded to a comment in an earlier post that a mare with considerable inbreeding often yields superior runners when she's outcrossed, but will generally fare poorly at the track herself.  When a filly with close-up pedigree duplications actually goes out and scores well in her own race career, she's as close to a "sure thing" that you'll ever find in a broodmare prospect.

 It's a concept that pedigree enthusiasts have noted since the beginning of the breed (and, in fact, since the beginning of genetic theory... see Wikipedia's take on inbreeding and outcrossing). My colleague Avalyn Hunter occasionally references the phenomenon in her Mahubah's Corner column on BloodHorseNOW.com.  In a recent article about Sunshine Millions winner American County (pedigree), Avalyn noted that "Inbreeding patterns can be fascinating, but the broodmare career of (American County's dam) Young American tends to support the conventional wisdom that, beyond a certain level, inbreeding can depress performance and needs to be balanced by outcrossing." (Subscribers to The Blood-Horse, check out the full article.)

Okay, so you have a mare that's inbred to strong pedigree influences, and she has a good chance of success when outcrossed.  Does it work the other way around?

It does.  Quiet American (on SRO) is just one example of a stallion who's heavily inbred and who gets an exceptional number of good runners and more than his share of "big horses." Looking at his pedigree, he's got "Dr. Fager over a daughter of the great mare Cequillo" on top (resulting in Killaloe, dam of his sire, Fappiano) and on bottom (resulting in Demure, his own dam). Dr. Fager himself was the result of inbreeding - he had Bull Dog 3x4, multiple instances of Teddy, and both Spearmint and Whisk Broom 5x5.

A.P. Indy (on SRO) is a stallion whose inbreeding comes as a bit of a surprise to many who study five-cross pedigrees. As the sire of a given horse, you see only four generations of A.P. Indy's pedigree. So, if you're looking at an A.P. Indy offspring (take a look at Bernardini here -- a fine stallion who has A.P. Indy over a Quiet American mare), the only duplicated horse shown for him is Bold Ruler. But when you look at his own pedigree (see it here), you notice that he has colored boxes all over the place. Specifically, he is:  4x3 to Bold Ruler, 5x5x4 to Nasrullah, 5x5 to Turn-to, and 5x4 to Princequillo, as well as 3x5 to Somethingroyal via his dam.

Okay, so where am I going with all this?  BIG BROWN. If you haven't already gotten on this colt's bandwagon for his racing accomplishments (here's a recap of his commanding Florida Derby (gr. I) win), get ready to see lots more of this fellow in the future.  As in, during his post-race career.  Big Brown (pedigree) has a fascinating pedigree pattern.  On both sides, a male-line descendent of Northern Dancer was bred to a female-line descendent of the Damascus-Round Table cross. This mating choice wasn't a fluke, it was an inspiration. The fact that he's been so successful (3-for-3 thus far) is exciting for all of us pedigree geeks.

 Big Brown looks towards Louisville in one month, and is well-placed to be amongst the favorites. (You can read lots more about Big Brown in my buddy Jason Shandler's Triple Crown Talk blog -- he's been watching the Rick Dutrow Jr.-trained powerhouse for the last month.) I'll sure be watching for Big Brown near the lead at the top of the stretch on Derby Day (although I've got to say I'll still be rooting for my favorite, Anak Nakal -- another pedigree with a great inbreeding pattern! -- if he makes it. Steve Haskin doesn't seem too high on my guy).

Honour Devil (ARG) (pedigree) has made Nad al Sheba his stomping ground. After a ~ 6-furlong maiden victory in his homeland of Argentina as a southern hemisphere 2-year-old, the son of Honour and Glory (on SRO) was sent to the United Arab Emirates to race under new trainer Michael de Kock. The results have been nothing short of amazing.

Piloted by John Murtagh in all of his UAE tries, the bay colt easily won a 7-furlong conditions race Jan. 24 and followed up three weeks later with the group III Gulf News UAE Two Thousand Guineas. Another three weeks later, Honour Devil was headed by his stablemate Royal Vintage (SAF) in a listed event at 9 furlongs. He came back strong today (and avenged the loss to Royal Vintage) in the group II UAE Derby, another 9-furlong contest, this one valued at a cool US$2 million. (Story on BloodHorse.com)

A brass ring is certainly owed to Avalyn Hunter, pedigree analyst for BloodHorseNOW.com, who profiled Honour and Glory, a son of Relaunch, in her weekly Mahubah's Corner column earlier this week. (Subscribers to The Blood-Horse can view the article here.) Her timing couldn't have been more on the mark! In addition to her insightful comments on Honour and Glory's pedigree, she indicated that his breeding success in Argentina is likely to be partially tied to "the emerging cross between sons of Relaunch and mares sired by the excellent Argentine stallion Cipayo and his sons."

Have I mentioned?  Honour Devil is by Cipayo's best son, Fitzcarraldo (ARG).

Honour and Glory is likely to get many opportunities with daughters of Fitzcarraldo in his new home base of Argentina (he officially "reverse shuttles" to the U.S., as he is owned by La Mission Stallion Station). The cross is likely to continue to produce exceptional runners.

But what about the reverse cross? We know that A.P. Indy does well with Mr. Prospector mares, and sons of "Mr. P." do well with A.P. Indy daughters -- when these stallions' bloodlines are combined, it seems like it doesn't matter which one is on top of the pedigree.  Could the same hold true for the broad Relaunch - Cipayo match (and the more specific cross of their sons Honour and Glory with Fitzcarraldo)? I'm betting "yes." That's one reason why I'm watching Buck Pond Farm's Seattle Fitz (ARG) (on SRO) so closely.

A son of Fitzcarraldo, Seattle Fitz is bred on an exciting cross. His dam, Hug a Slew, is linebred to the sensational mare Myrtlewood; in addition to having the granddaughter of Frizette as her sixth dam, Hug a Slew is by Seattle Slew, who has Myrtlewood in his fifth dam. The possibilities for crossing Seattle Fitz with other lines of Seattle Slew (A.P. Indy and his sons, for example) are great, as are crosses with daughters of Mr. Prospector and his sons, as Mr. Prospector was yet another stallion to have Myrtlewood in tail-female, in this case as his fourth dam. Since this post seems to be jumping around a whole lot anyway, I'll digress a bit more and say that Myrtlewood is worth a long chapter in any book about Frizette, and probably a book or two on her own, because of the huge influence she's had on modern sire lines. She was a fine source of speed and class.

It's likely that Seattle Fitz will see mares by sons of Seattle Slew and Mr. P., just by sheer number of those bloodlines in circulation. Honour and Glory's story is a bit different. With that in mind, I wish I had an Honour and Glory mare to send to Seattle Fitz this year. If he does as well as I expect, his $6,500 stud fee will prove to be a true bargain for forward-thinking breeders in 2008 -- and he'll be out of my price range in a couple of years!