b4breeding

I have no idea what the future plans are for Lazarus, and I am sure the very experienced owners and trainers have a few – but each step at a time will be the approach.

However as an outsider, I can put out one option right now – here is a potential successor down under to Bettor’s Delight with some hugely legit racing credentials.

The breeders were Studholme Bloodstock and Gavin Chin, and credit to them and the mare for producing such an outstanding racehorse.

It’s an American family right through with the bottom line, like with Raging Bull’s, arriving down here through an imported mare but in this case much further back in the line than Raging Bull’s. This means less chance of the line getting world-class damsires adding their bit along the way. However, that is mitigated by some good choice of sires and an absolute “nick” that appears to have occurred between the maternal line and Sokys Atom (a son of Albatross who did a wonderful job here) and a critical time when the family was starting to struggle.

This happened on the maternal line at the point of Tabella Beth (a mare by Able Bye Bye from a Great Evander mare called Double Tested). Perhaps the influence of Great Evander should also be credited for Double Tested’s ability to change the family fortunes – Double Tested’s full brother and sister by Great Evander were by far the best of their dam, although accumulators rather than top level, but it does signal some sort of “nick” although there is nothing I can pick out in the pedigree match itself.

Tabella Beth’s sire Able Bye Bye brings in absolutely top class breeding credentials. As I’ve written in my blog on Sweet Lou

Able Bye Bye’s pedigree was to die for. He was the son of Bye Bye Byrd (therefore grandson of Poplar Byrd) and his dam was Adioo Time (by Adios from On Time, who is a daughter of Volmite and the great mare Nedda Guy). Bye Bye Byrd’s dam is Adieu, the full sister to Adios.

Tabella Beth won 5 races here, took a mile record of 1.55.6 in North America, then returned to New Zealand for breeding, and she left nine winners – three inside 2 minutes.

And the subsequent “nick” of Tabella Beth with Soky’s Atom starts to really make your hairs stand on end. We are into some very classy breeding branches –  Sokys Sunday, Spirit Of Bethlehem (1.57.8, Southland Oaks), and Star Of Bethlehem, and of course their full brother Spirit Of Zeus (1.57.8, winner of the NZ Sires Stakes 3yo final and NZ Yearling Sales 3yo final).  All progeny of Tabella Beth and Soky’s Atom. In addition she left Karmic Reward (1.58.6, Kindergarten Stakes) by New York Motoring.

Each of her Soky’s Atom daughters have left an impressive legacy as broodmares, and now there are many branches. However top performers keep arriving with regularity – the likes of Starts And Stripes, Light And Sound, United We Stand, Victory Spirit, Nobium, Spiritual King, and many others, and more recently Spirit And Desire, Bettor Spirits, Star Of Dionysis, and of course Lazarus.

So while many early branches of this U307 river meandered and dried up, the branch of Double Tested has picked up momentum and through Tabella Beth has developed into  a damn good river of its own, thanks to much better quality breeding decisions along the way.

For Lazarus, the next two damsire inputs are Christian Cullen and then Bettor’s Delight, two of the best we have had in New Zealand in recent times. The closest duplication in Lazarus’ pedigree is 4×4 Albatross, which would make him an acceptable choice for many mares except those by Bettor’s Delight and Christian Cullen themselves.

So whatever more Lazarus does as a racehorse, with his breeding and the New Zealand Cup and Free For All under his belt, he already has underscored his potential to be an extremely popular sire of the future.