The Sadler's Wells/Mill Reef Nick

re: The Sadler's Wells/Mill Reef Nick

Steve — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:21:53 GMT

There is an Austrlaian horse nearing champ status (certainly a 2yo champ) called Pierro who has Lalun all over him 5 or 6 generations back on the female side and once on the sire side (he's by Octagonal). Any comments on the Lalun influence, if any?

re: The Sadler's Wells/Mill Reef Nick

Anthony Moreno — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:41:43 GMT

With discussion of the doubling of Lalun, there is a current example of this inbreeding relative to the trail to the Kentucky Derby in 2012. Lucky Chappy just ran in the El Camino Real Derby and finished 2nd by a nostril to Daddy Nose Best in a ten horse field. In examining the finish of the 1 1/8 Mile race, Julien Leparoux was appropriately using the whip to get the most of the final strides. In contrast, Alan Garcia was following stride for stride with a two-handed hand-ride. If Graham Motion makes a significant jockey change and can get J. Velasquez or another experienced jockey in the reigns, he has a shot at winning the Derby two years in a row. Then we can haggle over who gets the credit. Is it Graham Motion, the doubling of Lalun or is Lucky Chappy just plain Lucky? Guess what. This weekend you can place a couple of bucks on Lucky Chappy at Wynn's Kentucky Derby Future Wager at 100-1. I know I will. We have to ask ourselves "Do you feel Lucky? Well do you?"

re: The Sadler's Wells/Mill Reef Nick

sceptre — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:28:00 GMT

Really great stuff, Scot, and Alan's points are well taken. This type of analysis, while important, is voiced too infrequently. It points out a need for humility when pondering potential matings...No easy answers for this one-the significance of Lalun's contribution to the successful Sadler's Wells-Mill Reef nick. I'll contribute a few more thoughts:

I always viewed Sadler's Wells' Lalun contribution with some skepticism. Bold Reason was a fairly good racehorse, but a poor sire. He would appear to be one of the weaker influences in Sadler's Wells' pedigree. His dam, Fairy Bridge (Bold Reason-Special) was a quite talented runner. Most then (and in retrospect) would have attributed the lion's share of Fairy Bridge's racing talent to Special and to her family. Nureyev, for one, adds more evidence to this belief. Also, since Bold Reason was a poor sire, it seems more likely that his brand of Lalun was less than exceptional. None of this, however, is said with much certainty. Had Bold Reason also been a mediocre runner the argument would seem somewhat stronger. Even this portion of the analysis is far more complex than space allows here. For one, there is the issue of both Sadler's Wells' and Mill Reef's possession of very positive Lalun alleles vs together their "forming" a fortuitous gene complex (ex.-that may have worked so well for the top racemare Lalun herself---we can't forget that Lalun was both a very talented racehorse, and a superior producer). This is just an example...Scot does raise a worthy point about the Lady Josephine linebreeding. *Forli, who was inbred to Lady Juror, did certainly excell with Bold Ruler-*Nasrullah-so *Nasrullah's "brand" of Lady Josephine seemed to compliment well Forli's "brand" of this mare. I'm less taken with the like-to-like theory. For me, Mill Reef and Sadler's Wells were not too similar conformationally. I did see Mill Reef close up (got a good look at him at the '71 Arc), and have seen countless photos of Sadler's Wells. Mill Reef was far more refined and compact. I also doubt that conformational nicks make it beyond one generation...Yes, the Sadler's Wells-Mill Reef nick could be caused by several factors. Or, the Lalun inbreeding/linebreeding could be the major contributor. A very careful and thorough analysis might point to the more likely answer. I believe, though, that even with use of the most sophisticated programs/mathematics, etc., we would still be left with much uncertainty.

re: The Sadler’s Wells/Mill Reef Nick

Alan Porter — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:29:58 GMT

One thing that is generally overlooked is that Bold Reason (broodmare sire of Sadler's Wells) is actually a little more closely related to Never Bend than just being a half-brother. Bold Reason is by a grandson of Royal Charger, where Never Bend is by Nasrullah, a three-parts-brother to Royal Charger.

So now you've got a little genetic unit, and that tends to bring other affinities with it. With Sadler's Wells you have Fair Trial and a three-parts-sister (Riot), and they are both from the same male and female line as Royal Charger and Nasrullah.

For reasons too complex to go into here Son-in-Law/Gallinule (in Fair Trial and the three-parts-sister) is good with Blue Larkspur (twice in Bold Reason) and Frizette's female line (closely doubled in Djeddah, the sire of Lalun).

You probably get some relatively similar and complimentary aptitudes and biomechanics, with the gene groupings bringing some physiological goodies.

This would tend to be why it's worked over a number of generations and both ways round.

Of course, it's not invariably successful, as Montjeu for one has some other stronger preferences.