b4breeding

Just a quick diversion from my look at the Down Under branches of U7 – but still focused on that amazing Miss Duvall family…

I noticed in the recent Ohio Selected Yearling Sale 2021 that the top selling lot (Elusive Beauty, $200k) was a Downbytheseaside filly out of the Art Major mare Swinging Beauty who is from Stunning Beauty. Art Major of course being a U7 family member. However what was not highlighted in reports is that Swinging Beauty has another even closer connection to the U7 family branch in that her grandam is Dominique Semalu who is Downbytheseaside’s great-grandam. A close relation is Sling Shock who is one of Downbytheseaside’s best performers to date, from a full sister to Swinging Beauty. (See image at end of this blog which can also be found in the Ohio sales catalogue).

Another Downbytheseaside yearling that sold well at Ohio (85k) is by the mare Skippin By who is from a totally different U7 branch (Farm Bell/Nora Adele).

Some of his Downbytheseaside’s top performers to date – Gulf Shores descends from Rodine Hanover; and Pebble Beach is from a Western Ideal mare.

A word of caution – which I can hear many already raising – It is easy to join dots when there are so many dots on the page! Given the depth and breadth and quality of the U7 family, it is not at all surprising if connections like this can be made and that some of them will turn out to be successful.

What does interest me is that breeders are willing to try close options in some cases, and also that the overall quality of modern representatives from U7 (both sires and mares) mean we are not hunting in obscure back alleys for family matches. They can be current and proven, from a number of family branches, especially if we look at our mares’ damsire families not just their maternal bottom lines.

Some families seem to appreciate being bred back to their own bloodlines, and U7 seems this way. It has also nicked well with the Spinster (U2) and Golden Miss (U20) families – which seem to mix so well together – and has enjoyed outcross sires at pivotal points along the way to keep things fresh.

In my final blog of this series, I’ll look at my own recent low key attempts at this – which are by no stretch of the imagination a big success, but I’m not afraid to share my learning curve and my efforts at alchemy!