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The summer of 2017 saw the publication of a scientific paper titled "Y Chromosome Uncovers the Recent Oriental Origin of Modern Stallions" with the outcomes found in this paper covered by Eric Mitchell in the Blood Horse that year. The paper at the time, while generally a broad discussion about the origins of the equine breed, did raise some questions about our...
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This morning you may see that we have extended the computations of the Coefficient of Inbreeding and Coefficient of Relatedness to 10 generations. These coefficients were previously calculated over 8 and 6 generations respectively and were done to that generation previously due to computational restrictions, i.e, the speed of the computers and the frequency of...
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A couple of weeks ago the manager of a TrueNicks enrolled stallion called to tell us that a hypothetical mating had generated Dosage Figures that were all zeroes – zeroes for each category in the Dosage Profile; a Dosage Index of zero; and a Center of Distribution of zero. A check confirmed that this was not an error, and nor was it the result of an obscure pedigree...
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A year or so ago another company that I am associated with, Performance Genetics, did a private study on mitochondrial DNA, the strand of DNA that is maternally inherited in all species and can be used to classify female lineages. We were specifically looking into the #1 family of Tregonwell's Natural Barb which is now that of the likes of Black Caviar, Super...
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Last week saw the running of the Epsom Oaks (Eng-I) and Derby (Eng-I), two of the longest existing classic races in the world and for many the barometer of the Thoroughbred breed. The Derby was won in devastating fashion by the royally bred Australia. A son of the good racehorse and now leading sire Galileo ( TrueNicks ), Australia is out of Ouija Board, one...
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As a consultant, there is a tendency to feel that you should have a ready answer for most inquiries. There are times, however, when the correct answer is "I don't know." We were reminded of this when presented with a query regarding the mare Cameron's Buddy. The 10-year-old mare is by Frisk Me Now, a multiple graded stakes winner of $1.7 million, but the sire...
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The breeding maxim " Return to the sire the best blood of his dam " has been attributed to longtime Darby Dan Farm manager Olin Gentry. Gentry wasn't the first to suggest this breeding theory, indeed there is evidence to suggest that it first came into livestock management via the Bedouins in upgrading Arabian stock centuries ago. The theory is that when mating...
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At TrueNicks we are continually trying to improve the data in our reports in order to help you make a more informed and intelligent decision in your breeding and selection efforts. In that regard, in response to feedback we received from our customers, earlier this year we launched the TrueNicks Key Ancestors Report , a report that considers the entire pedigree...
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Classic trials apart, in the U.S. the championship-defining contests for straight 3-year-olds are usually the three Triple Crown events plus the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) and the Travers Stakes (gr. I). Prior to the weekend, the first four events had taken place and had been won by four different horses: Orb (Kentucky Derby, gr. I), Oxbow (Preakness Stakes...
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While there is no doubt that nicks tend to run in sire lines, we've also often found it profitable to consider the dam of a stallion when attempting to predict potential crosses. For example, when Smart Strike ( TrueNicks ) retired to stud, we noted that he was a half brother to champion Dance Smartly, a daughter of Danzig. Since Smart Strike was a Mr. Prospector...
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Unbeaten filly Stopshoppingdebbie, a daughter of Curlin ( TrueNicks ), will try to become the first horse to sweep the Emerald Downs 3-year-old filly stakes division in tomorrow's Washington Oaks. She's bred on the emerging nick of Smart Strike ( TrueNicks ) and his sons over Wild Again mares. Photo: Erin Palmer/Emerald Downs Stopshoppingdebbie (right) wins the...
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A little over two years ago, we looked at the cross of Galileo with mares by Danehill . This was fast becoming a European mega nick, having—in the space of three weeks—been represented by Frankel, who had just taken the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) in breathtaking style; Golden Lilac, successful in the French One Thousand Guineas (Fr-I); and Roderic O'Connor...
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The interpretation of Thoroughbred pedigrees is no simple matter. The multi-factorial elements that might be considered include nicks, inbreeding, linebreeding, the positions of ancestors relative to one another, the relationship of the pedigree to the female line, and the class of the individuals involved. Given the volume of the data, and the difficulty of...
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With the final round of Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps underway, so begins the usual analysis of top contenders—Are they good enough?—Will they get the distance? TrueNicks Enhanced Reports include the average winning distance (AWD) for the starters on given sire line/broodmare sire line cross. A table of the top 10 contenders (by Derby points) and their cross AWD...
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Sunland Park's big day turned into a benefit for Bob Baffert and Mike Pegram, who took the Sunland Park Derby (gr. III, VIDEO ) with Govenor Charlie (also bred by Pegram) and the Sunland Park Oaks ( VIDEO ) with Midnight Lucky (owned by Pegram in partnership). The duo—who both scored in track record time—are both from the first crop of the Baffert-trained/Pegram...
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Photo: Three Chimneys Flower Alley , who is inbred 3x3 to Mr. Prospector, has had success with mares carrying Mr. Prospector or Raise a Native. There are plenty of examples in racehorse breeding when popular opinion turns out to be wrong. I was looking through an old racing book, The Spell of The Turf (1926) by Hildreth and Crowell, and found an interesting passage...
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15.33%. That's the coefficient of relatedness between Frankel and Chrysanthemum, the first mare scanned in foal to the champion racehorse during his first season at stud. As a point of comparison, first cousins are 12.5% related and half siblings are 25% related. Chrysanthemum, owned by the Coolmore team of Tabor, Magnier, and Smith, won a pair of group III races...
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Today TrueNicks is pleased to announce the new Key Ancestors Report, a breakthrough report that considers your mare's entire pedigree—all male and female ancestors—and identifies the key ancestors to seek out or avoid in the pedigrees of stallions in prospective matings. TrueNicks' Byron Rogers and Ian Tapp discuss the new report in the video below. brightcove...
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On a week when much will be written about the great Frankel (Galileo– Kind , by Danehill) as he retires to Juddmonte Farms to serve his first season at stud in 2013, this writer had pause to reflect on the outstanding performance of his broodmare sire, Danehill, who has thus far proved himself a phenomenon as a sire and broodmare sire in two hemispheres—a true...
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With Danedream flashing her credentials for a shot at back-to-back victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) with a score in the Grosser Preis von Baden (Ger-I) at the weekend, we thought it was worth a look back at her pedigree from this article we wrote for the International Thoroughbred after her win in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in...
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Last weekend was an exciting one for bloodstock consultant Gary Hadden ( haddenbloodstock.com ). Gary recommended the mating that produced Reckless Abandon, a son of Exchange Rate ( TrueNicks , SRO ) who won Sunday's Darley Prix Morny (Fr-I) and solidified himself as the top European 2-year-old. The colt previously took the Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II) at Royal Ascot...
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It's still very early in the season for serious juvenile competition, but there is no doubt that one of the most impressive 2-year-old fillies seen to date is Kauai Katie. Successful by 12 lengths on her debut ( video ), the Stonestreet Stable color-bearer returned to action at Saratoga in the Adirondack Stakes (gr. II), and captured the 6 1/2-furlong event by...
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A few weeks ago, when looking at the emerging French second year sire Turtle Bowl , we noted that he conformed to something of a recent trend in France, the appearance of a number of good sires with relatively unfashionable pedigrees, other examples that come to mind including Linamix (by Mendez), Muhtathir (by Elmaamul), and Chichicastenango (by Smadoun). The...
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The most recent weekend saw two Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps with $1 million purses, and both resulted in upsets. The Florida Derby (gr. I, video ) seeing longtime Derby favorite Union Rags and the well-regarded El Padrino finish third and fourth, respectively, behind gate-to-wire scorer Take Charge Indy. The Louisiana Derby (gr. II, video ) fell to another pacesetter...
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The brilliant victory of Black Caviar in the MRC C.F. Orr Stakes (gr. I, video below) - which took her record to 18 wins in 18 starts - gives us an excuse to post an article of her pedigree that ran in the Australian publication Inside Breeding last year, which explored the potential reasoning behind the mating that led to her. Why is Black Caviar brilliant?...
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