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In an increasingly commercial world it is becoming more and more evident that particular sire lines - and more specifically, one stallion and his sons - can, at least from a commercial sense, quickly dominate the broodmare population of a given country.

It then becomes a race for the next sire line - one that fits the dominant sire and his sons from a physical and genetic viewpoint - to emerge, as in general terms breeding a sireline back upon itself is never as profitable as finding an alternate sireline.

A great example of this is the position that Japanese breeders are in after the dominance of Sunday Silence and his sons. While Sunday Silence followed on the back, at least from a nicking viewpoint, of the great Northern Taste, the increased dominance of Sunday Silence and his sons in Japanese racing has seen the frequency of his blood appearing in the commercial end of the broodmare population reach almost saturation point.

Shadai Farm, which stood both Northern Taste and Sunday Silence, has been trying for the past few years to find the logical successor. Shadai held great hopes for the ill-fated duo End Sweep and El Condor Pasa, the international superstar Falbrav (IRE), and the shy breeding Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem - all receiving their fair share of mares by Sunday Silence and his sons.

One stallion that seems to have found some level of favor with mares by Sunday Silence is the former Three Chimneys Farm stallion French Deputy. Imported to Japan in large part because of his highly successful son Kurofune, French Deputy has done quite well with Sunday Silence mares, with the most recent example being the weekend's Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas) winner Reginetta. Hailing from the great Fall Aspen family, Reginetta's win came as a bit of a surprise to the betting public, but not to her connections, who think that better is in store for the well-bred filly.

As TrueNicks is able to use the vast Jockey Club database, we are able to look at all the stakes results in Japan and use this data to generate ratings for Japanese runners. Reginetta is a B TrueNicks rated horse, falling right on the cusp of becoming a B+, which is reflective of the fact that French Deputy has received a great number of Sunday Silence mares, yet has still produced some outstanding runners.

Filed under: Broodmare Sire Lines, Recent Winners