Himyar's Other Line

Couple of Mares at Keeneland Day 3

The Five-Cross Files — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:46:17 GMT

As we settle in to the marathon Keeneland breeding stock sale, I will occasionally comment on hips that are of special interest to me. Here are a couple of Book Two mares that I'd love to add to my little herd. Who are you watching during the big sale

re: Himyar's Other Line

dr.fager — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:58:11 GMT

I LOVE HOLY BULL, HE WAS A MONSTER ON THE RACETRACK, WHAT HE DIDNT FINISH ON THE TRACK WILL BE DONE IN THE BREEDING SHED, HIS BEST IS YET TO COME, HE HAS AND WILL BECOME SIRE OF SIRES, WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE HE WILL LIKELY GO DOWN AS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SIRE IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS.

Top 6 Sires-of-Sires at Keeneland September

The Five-Cross Files — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:48:50 GMT

Only six stallions have at least eight sons represented by hips at Keeneland's yearling sale later this month. We look at the sale's count by sire-of-sire as well as by larger sire lines.

Modern Thoroughbred Sire Lines

The Five-Cross Files — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:42:44 GMT

If Thoroughbred pedigree evaluation had been taught in elementary school, the "three foundation sires" would be as well-known to every student as "I before E except after C" and George Washington's cherry tree episode. The Godolphin Barb, Byerley Turk

re: Himyar's Other Line

Tammy — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 06:24:29 GMT

Ribot is a sire line I hate to see going, but then I hate to see the stamina being bred out of our horses. Domino was the first horse I fell in love with, but Ribot was my first real love. I was able to see him at Darby Dan, He may have been crazy but what a horse! He breathed on me and gazed onto my eyes like no other had, and we exchanged something, (yes he had his moments) Ok may be cheezy but I was hooked on racing forever. When Ribot died I cried. I wonder how many people remember how great a race horse he was? At any rate Ribot was a great sire, but all but forgotten due to our quest for speed speed speed. Someday things will swing and we will see the mile and half stars shine again. Perhaps there will be threads of some of the old lines left to rule again. They are out there.

Scot's response: I hope you're right, Tammy! It worries me to see older lines disappearing in tail-male, and I'm afraid we've already lost a few of them forever. As part of this column, I'll be seeking out any remaining branches of these lines. Let me know when you see any!

re: Himyar's Other Line

Ed — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:13:31 GMT

FYI, "Sire Lines" is a classic pedigree book by Abram S. Hewitt that everyone in the horse industry should read. It was recently re-published by The Blood-Horse.

Scot's response: Oh! I had Internet tunnel-vision. You're right, Hewitt's book is a classic and is not only great research, but a fun read. Available at the official store of The Blood-Horse for anyone interested, more information here.

re: Himyar's Other Line

Linny — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:01:35 GMT

I've been reading "Sire Lines" and loving it. I find it interesting that many times sirelines seem to hang on improbable horses for survival. (Ex. Man O' War sired many top colts but it is through War Relic, a good but not outstanding colt and then his son Intent who was not as good as War Relic that the line survives.)

I recommend "Sire Lines" to anyone interested in the historic study of pedigree.

Scot's response: Thanks, Linny. Are you referring to the Bloodlines.net Web site? They're a great reference and you're right -- hours and hours of fun reading.

re: Himyar's Other Line

Ed — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:15:13 GMT

I'm a big fan of Include as a sire, although he's not a horse that I had a high opinion of from the start. He's very attractive and was a sound racehorse, which are both big positives in this day and age. More importantly (in my opinion), he carries a high concenteration of Nasrullah and Turn-to who are closely related, as well as being inbred to Broad Brush's family.

re: Himyar's Other Line

YAMIL — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:20:29 GMT

I would like to learn more about this stuff.. where do i start?...

Scot's response: *grin* You've come to the right place! If you're interested in pedigrees, start reading some of the experts out there (Avalyn Hunter and Alan Porter both write weekly columns for BloodHorseNOW.com, and the discussion groups on PedigreeQuery.com are a great source of knowledge and opinions, for a start). Start looking at the pedigrees of your favorite runners and you'll pick up on interesting names and pedigree patterns. If you like sire lines, check the grey pages in the Stallion Register. For more reading, check out some of the offerings from Exclusively Equine. Oh -- and check back often for more topics on The Five-Cross Files. (<-- That was gratuitous, but I'm not ashamed.)

re: Himyar's Other Line

Debbie — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:06:26 GMT

Thank you for this column, just love reading about older sire lines, and what happened etc. Love the piece about Himyar. Would love to hear about Black Toney, Bimelech, Spy Song, Sweep, Whisk Broom 11, etc. It is so unfortunate that the foundation American sire lines are disappearing. Will you cover Ben Brush and his decendents as well? I know the least about them, and why the line ended. I believe there were still Ben Brush sire line stallions in the 60's.

Scot's response: Thanks, Debbie. That's one great thing about working here at Blood-Horse: I have the best research library around! I'll look into any remnants of Ben Brush that might remain -- isn't it amazing that he was America's leading sire 100 years ago and now his line is out of contention! BTW, you can read a little about Spy Song and Black Toney in last week's post about the Domino line. I'm actually going to breed a mare this year to a great-great-great grandson of Spy Song!

re: Himyar's Other Line

Karen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:20:51 GMT

I love Broad Brush. Not only as a sire, but also as a racehorse. I have only been to the Kentucky Derby once--we bet on Broad Brush (3rd) and Bold Arrangement (2nd). I thought Ferdinand was too lazy to win. Charlie Whittingham was my favorite trainer, so I should have known he would find a way to get Ferdinand to win. I have a photo, taken from the infield, of the three horses, as Ferdinand is blowing by at the head of the stretch.

Thanks for the articles on the Domino line. How about doing one on the other side of Broad Brush's pedigree? Do Hoist the Flag/Tom Rolfe have any current representatives in the stallion ranks?

Scot's response: There's not much left of the Tom Rolfe tail-male line (I'll do some research, but the only advertised stallion is Precocity). Going back a notch (Ribot) or several (St. Simon) is a little more hopeful, although this is definitely a line in trouble. Look for a follow-up soon!

Himyar's Other Line

The Five-Cross Files — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:50:35 GMT

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