Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Standardbred breeding’ Category

Ideal for the future? Part 2

Posted in Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , on August 4, 2012| 1 Comment »

This blog continues looking at the two new sire sons of Western Ideal that are being offered to New Zealand breeders this year.

Both Alabar and Nevele R have taken a punt on a son of Western Ideal for the coming breeding season – Big Jim for Alabar and Vintage Master for Nevele R.  How do these two new siring sons of Western Ideal compare? In the previous blog I looked at Vintage Master on pedigree and type and suggestedwhat mares might suit him. Now it’s Big Jim’s turn.

Big Jim is a big black stallion who will be sold as a sire on his speed, particularly his precocious 2yo speed. Whereas Vintage Master couldn’t win a race at 2 and take a record of only 1.57.4 as a 2yo, Big Jim not only won plenty of 2yo races but took a time of 1.49.2. But as we know, sires with great speed themselves may or may not leave it in their progeny.

What gives Big Jim hope in this regard is the strength of his maternal line. He has the medium sized, very fast Big Towner as his damsire, and on both his maternal lines goes back to the speedy trotting mares Nedda Guy and Nedda (see my blogs on them).  His dam Bold Pink reflected that breeding in her own ability, taking a mark of 1:51.6 herself and leaving four sub 1:55 foals, although Big Jim is by far the biggest earner in stakes. The strength of his maternal genetic structure is, in my view, similar to Vintage Master. It’s very good proven quality, solid rather than spectacular. His dam, grandam and great-grandam all won over $100,000 in stakes, in some decent times, and all produced good performers from a range of sires – a sign of quality heart genes being passed down the female line.

However he was not sound, and in the end niggles forced his retirement before the end of his good 3yo season. It appears the problem was in his ankles and was found to be bone bruising, and started to cause problems even before the end of his 2yo season. Whether the soundness factor is something breeders will take into consideration is uncertain – we do tend to rate speed so highly these days and be willing to take the consequences. People will say: genes don’t get sore. That’s true, and I don’t know enough about what might cause bone bruising in ankles to make any comment on whether it signals anything more than the pressures of racing on a young physical skeleton.

There’s been little doubt in Canada where his first book is full and closed.

Big Jim in full flight

He is a big powerful stallion. In terms of mares here who may suit Big Jim, I would look for pedigrees that would be compatible with his Big Towner factor. I think Big Jim could be very compatible for Falcon Seelster mares, for type and genes, as would Christian Cullen mares be. Also Elsu mares, but for a different reason than Falcon Seelster. Going outside the square,  Dream Away mares could be okay, especially smaller ones – there’s a double up to Sonsam which I don’t mind at all and he added value/speed into both sires’ maternal lines. Big Towner of course has my old mate Shadow Wave lurking close behind, and that opens up mares from the quality maternal lines of Shifting Sands such as Grin, Red River/Rustler Hanover –  although many of these were bigger mares and it will be a while before we see if Big Jim stamps his size.  Mares with plenty of Albatross and Meadow Skipper blood will find Big Jim an option, but Big Towner (an outcross sire with no Meadow Skipper) again provides a way of avoiding just too much of a good thing.

And yes, Art Major mares (eventually) would be a very interesting match.

At $4500 Alabar have, like Nevele R with Vintage Master, gone for a price that is affordable for breeders without attracting too many ‘back paddock mares’ desperate for a miracle.

As you can see from this and my previous post, I’m seeing these sires less in terms of the Western Ideal factor, and more in terms of what their overall pedigree might find compatible in our likely broodmare pool, particularly how breeders might build on the strengths in these sires’ maternal lines, which are well structured and have shown speed.

I’d be happy to have any comments from others on what they think of this approach and what matches they think might work.

Read Full Post »

Ideal for the future? Part 1

Posted in Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , , , on August 4, 2012| 1 Comment »

Both Alabar and Nevele R have taken a punt on a son of Western Ideal for the coming breeding season – Big Jim for Alabar and Vintage Master for Nevele R.

Although very good horses in their own right, and both with solid pedigrees, I think a major influence in bringing these sires to New Zealand is also the success of American Ideal (at Woodlands) and of Rocknroll Hanover (by frozen semen) over the past couple of years.

If the Western Ideal sire line is the next big thing, then a stud needs to have one of his top sons on their books, otherwise they can’t offer what breeders appear to be looking for.

Western Ideal

But are New Zealand breeders attracted to American Ideal because of the Western Ideal factor and what is a successful trend in North America? I’m not sure. Western Ideal himself was offered here by frozen semen (via Nevele R) for a couple of years but there wasn’t a lot of interest, perhaps because of the price but also because Western Ideal is not one of those racehorses who reached globally to capture our Kiwi imagination. I would say the attitude to him is more one of huge respect but not excitement – and the lack of familiarity with Western Ideal as a racehorse or a sire (as well as the frozen semen factor) could have made breeders wonder: “Will this be a wow factor for buyers at the sales? Is it worth the price and the risk?”

However American Ideal’s growing reputation through the type of progeny he is leaving and his strike rate (23 starters for 15 winners in 2012), means a market has potentially developed for sons of Western Ideal standing here at affordable prices (compared to Rocknroll Hanover’s top priced frozen semen which is on a different tack).

So how do these two new siring sons of Western Ideal compare? I haven’t seen them in the flesh so I’m relying on photos and reports for that side of things.

They have both taken after their sire in having size (Western Ideal was over 16 hands), which is also the case with Rocknroll Hanover, although American Ideal is medium sized and is tending to leave medium sized foals. Perhaps that is the influence of American Ideal’s damline, which might also be a steer for breeders.

Both Vintage Master and Big Jim have strong maternal lines that could be complemented by broodmares here.

But as racehorses they were very different – Vintage Master tough, tractable, performed best at 3yo, kept going through to the end of the 5yo season.

Big Jim, very speedy 2yo and consistently fast in top races, mentally mature, retired due to soundness problems.

I’ll take a closer look at Vintage Master’s pedigree and what might suit him now, and turn to Big Jim in my next blog. These are, of course, just my views and based on a number of factors, research and thought – not pushing any particular barrow, sire or stud.

Vintage Master

Vintage Master took time to develop – he wasn’t a naturally early type and his fastest time 2yo was his qualifying one of 1:57.4. He matured in his 3yo season to win the Cane, Adios, Bluegrass and Tattersalls (and the bulk of his earnings), and the next couple of years he performed well as a tough pacer with enough grit and versatility to keep winning well-staked, if not top, races. I understand he wasn’t quick off the gate but had strength to hold his speed and, I would guess, the temperament to be very tractable in his racing. He accumulated over $2 million total career earnings but in terms of really top races it was that burst as a 3yo that really set him up. He retired sound after his 5yo season.

Vintage Master – strong maternal line

What I like about Vintage Master’s pedigree is his very well performed maternal line that carries proven speed performers. I think the size of Vintage Master meant he would always take time to find his speed, but it’s good for breeders to see where the speed is and figure out how they might reinforce it through mares with potentially compatible genes and/or type. Specifically Vintage Master’s dam has produced 4 winners from 5 foals and all of those winners have taken <1.55 marks. The fastest earliest is a three quarter brother (interestingly by American Ideal) who paced 1.50.4 at 2yo.

Vintage Master’s grandam is Napa Valley, a sister to the excellent racemare Silk Stockings – who of course appears in Live Or Die’s maternal pedigree. Napa Valley (by Most Happy Fella) was a good racemare herself, and half of her foals turned into <1.55 winners. Two of her fastest were by Storm Damage, the son of Breath O Spring and damsire of Grinfromeartoear.

So when looking for a type of mare that might suit Vintage Master, I’d look for maternal lines in particular that include some of these top quality elements – and Live Or Die and Grinfromeartoear mares would stand out for me.

I’d also look for Most Happy Fella in the maternal lines of sires that could add a bit of speed as well – so Mach Three and McArdle mares would fit that bill. Or looking back a bit, if anyone has still got Road Machine, Pacific Rocket mares around, they might be worth a try if they showed some speed themselves or come from a family that did.

Mares by In The Pocket would also help keep that ‘smaller, quicker’ type that I think this sire (and the Western Ideal line in general) will need. On type alone, many Courage Under Fire mares could suit Vintage Master.

Nevele R have positioned him in the $4000 price range which is trying to attract reasonable quality and numbers of mares. It is a tough ask at the moment for a sire we don’t know much about. But it doesn’t compete with their top line latest edition Well Said (by Western Hanover) who is priced at $8000 and will be marketed as a speed sire.

The more I look into Vintage Master’s pedigree, the more I think he could offer something here in that medium price range that would particularly suit breeders with good but not “sales” mares who are wanting a sire that will add value and are not obsessed with producing very early speed.  He’s unlikely to upgrade slow mares from poor families, and very few sires can. But he could do well with smaller or medium sized mares with the right pedigrees and type for him.

Read Full Post »

Spencer and Scotland – Hambletonian stars

Posted in Harness racing, Horses, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , , on July 30, 2012| 2 Comments »

There are many horses in modern day pedigrees that have become familiar names to us, and yet we’ve lost a connection with them as real racehorses who were stars in their day and who you could see perform live at your local racetrack.

In past blogs I’ve dug up newspaper reports from the 1920s and 1930s on the amazing mother and daughter trotters Nedda and Nedda Guy, who appear in the maternal line of many great sires.

I’d like to do the same with two great racetrack colts who were rivals in that the same era – Scotland and Spencer, who both went on to be very good sires and superb broodmare sires – a pivotal part of many maternal lines of top horses and sires of the modern era.

Scotland over Spencer mares became a popular cross, so these two horses turn up in many of the best trotting and pacing pedigrees including Direct Scooter, Albatross and Cambest (see footnote to this blog).

But hang on, I’m making them into “names in the pedigree” again!

Let’s find them as “heroes on the racetrack”. And to do that I want to take you back to the Hambletonian trot of 1928 as reported by Tom Gahagan in The Trotter and Pacer magazine 6 September 1928. Remember that this is time in pacing and trotting where horses raced in heats on the same day – usually two but often three and sometimes even four to find an overall winner.

In the first heat of the Hambletonian for 3yo trotters (described below), Spencer wins, Scotland is second. In the second heat, Spencer wins again, and Scotland seventh, tiring after a slow start and an amazing recovery. This was only the third Hambletonian raced, and it endures today as one of the highest staked prestigious races for 3yo trotters in America. (I strongly recommend the website of the Hambletonian Society, particularly the wonderful collection of photos in their gallery: http://www.hambletonian.org/gallery.php).

“Another Hambletonian stake, the third to be raced, has passed into history and the honors go to Spencer, owned and bred at Castleton by David M. Look and driven by the eastern reinsman William H. Leese. In a spectacular battle, the son of Lee Tide and Petrex vanquished a field of nine of the very best three year olds in the classic event at the New York State Fairgrounds track today (27 August) where nearly 30,000 people had assembled to witness the battle for a fortune and the racing honors of the season…..

“They fussed a lot in the scoring for the first heat…When the word was finally given Billy Leese shot Spencer across and took the pole in the turn, right in front of Scotland, while Otzinachson placed alongside the black, Gaylworthy and Guy Abbe next, Coburn with them while Red Aubrey had been shuffled well back. The clip was terrific, the quarter in 291/2 seconds, Scotland right in behind the leader for the first time in his race career, the black having heretofore refused to stand the flying dirt. The order was maintained up the back stretch, the half passed in 1:001/2 with Spencer leading, Scotland trailing him and Otzinachson pounding along on the outside. Around the upper turn they went and at the three-quarters the timers flashed 1:313/4. Otzinachson was by this time flying distress signals while Gaylworthy and Guy Abbe were moving up. Leese gave Spencer his head and he moved away, followed by Scotland. Midway of the homestretch it was seen that Spencer was trotting strong with a two-length lead and the question was only who would finish second. Spencer came breezing to the wire in 2:021/2 with Scotland under a drive beating Gaylworthy for the place, Coburn fourth, while Guy Abbe, breaking at the distance stand when trotting very fast, was fifth.”

Spencer after winning Hambletonian in 1928

Spencer after winning Hambletonian in 1928

For his efforts over the two heats, Spencer’s share of the stake was $40,549.71. Not a bad pay day.

Tom Gahagan describes Spencer as “..at least one of the greatest three-year-olds of which the turf has ever boasted.”

Although Scotland didn’t win the Hambletonian, in future five of his progeny would achieve that prize – including the wonderful Rosalind.

Two years later (1930) the same writer in the same magazine reported on Scotland’s attempt on the Syracause track record when he went under 2 minutes for the first time in his career, going on his own against the clock. It was a perfect day weather-wise and the course in record-breaking condition.

“Scotland, driven by Ben White, and paced by a runner with Gibson White as the pilot, trotted a beautiful mile. He was away from the wire fast, the quarter in 291/2 seconds, the half in :59, both quarters alike, then trotted the third in :293/4, making the three quarters in 1:283/4. The Pittsburgh stallion then had steam enough to come home in 301/2 seconds. The mile in 1:591/4 and he had joined his brother and sister, Highland Scott 1:591/4 and Rose Scott 1:593/4, in the two-minute list.”

The dam of all three was Roya McKinney (one of three wonderful sisters, but more on them another time). On the pedigree side, because I can’t resist, it’s also of interest to see Spencer’s dam is Petrex, who was a grand-daughter of Ethelwyn and so traces back to the x factor heart gene of Eclipse. See my blog on Nedda, who also traced back to this great Ethelwyn/Kathleen family).

Scotland as a 2yo

Scotland as a 2 year old in Tom Murphy’s stable. He took his 1:591/4 mark in Septemeber 1930 as a 5 year old, driven by Ben White. He was bred and owned by Henry Oliver.

Three of the runners in that 1928 Hambletonian (Spencer, Scotland and Guy Abbey) became highly regarded sires, and they can often be found combined as sires and damsires and grandsires in the pedigrees of  many top pedigrees. Hoot Mon, for example, has Scotland as his sire, and is from a Guy Abbey mare who has Spencer as her grandsire! Which goes to show the extended and successful siring careers these talented three year olds went on to achieve.

Footnote:  Just to jog your memory, Spencer was the sire of Spinster and therefore the damsire of half-sisters Lady Scotland (by Scotland) and The Old Maid (by Guy Abbey).  Lady Scotland was the dam of Harold J (damsire of Cambest) and Breath Of Spring (dam of Race Time and many subsequent credits). And Old Maid was the dam of Dancer Hanover, Thorpe Hanover and Bachelor Hanover (who stars in so many New Zealand pedigrees) – and what wonderful broodmare sires they all turned out to be!  Another excellent Scotland over a Spencer mare cross produced Emily Scott (dam of the very good trotting mare Emily’s Pride and grandam of the great trotting sire Noble Victory) and her full brother Spencer Scott (sire of Hoot Mon and Rodney) .
In New Zealand of course we had U Scott (with Scotland as his sire) and Light Brigade (with Spencer as his damsire) and what a contribution they made.
 

Photos in this blog are from the front covers of The Trotter and Pacer magazine of September 1928 and September 1930.

 

Read Full Post »

Cam Fella 3×3

Posted in Standardbred breeding, tagged on July 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

Kevin asked this question of me recently: “Could you give me your thoughts on 3 x 3 Cam Fella breeding lines, and which Grandam bloodlines would best suit this breeding.”

Well, I am definitely not a pedigree matching expert, and if the question relates to a specific mare then that involves a lot of different aspects like other influences in the pedigree, what type of mare she is physically and in temperament, and the attributes of her family, etc.

I’m not sure that I’ve got my head around the question, without actually seeing the pedigree set out. So I’ll just put down a few thoughts that keep it at a very general level i.e. what overall is Cam Fella adding to the mix, and what sort of crosses seem to bring out the best of his contribution?

In my very humble opinion, any pedigree with multiple doses of Cam Fella needs to keep getting speed inputs, at each generation. At 3 x 3 cross to Cam Fella, that is a lot of tough, courageous Cam Fella close up in the pedigree. Proven speed lines (like Direct Scooter/In The Pocket) or bloodlines that have injected speed when crossed with Cam Fella are what I would keep looking for.

I am presuming he would mainly be in 3×3 pedigrees through the male lines i.e. via his siring sons rather than as a damsire himself (which would be rare in this part of the world). So the dam would be a daughter of Armbro Operative, Presidential Ball, Fake Left etc, and on the male line it would be a sire who is the grandson of Cam Fella, perhaps Bettor’s Delight, Blissful Hall, DM Dilinger etc. That would get progeny with a 3 x 3 to Cam Fella. And then presumably it is a filly/mare that might be bred on from?

That’s a pedigree scenario which would be a lot more common in Australia than in New Zealand (see below for a recap on the different Cam Fella histories in each country), so again my knowledge is quite limited and my suggestions of a tentative and general nature.

What leaps out at me, looking at the pedigrees of many of the successful sons and grandsons of Cam Fella in Australia, is the presence of Albatross, Big Towner and Shadow Wave in the maternal lines. If you are looking for suitable grandams in potential sires, there are many that would offer the proven reputation of speed you need plus a dollop of those bloodlines. Doubling up on this blood is great – Albatross, Big Towner and Shadow Wave seem to thrive on multiple crosses of themselves and their own bloodlines. Art Major is an obvious sire who fits the bill in his maternal lines, Major In Art is another, Mach Three and Grinfromeartoear offer Shadow Wave. There will be much more choice in Australia of sires with these bloodlines.

Australia has a very different history of Cam Fella sires than New Zealand. In the mid 1990s in New Zealand we had three sons of Cam Fella standing as sires: Cameleon, Camtastic and Cam’s Trickster (who is a full brother to Cam’s Card Shark). None of them made any lasting impression, except amongst breeders and trainers that Cam Fella line horses didn’t leave speed and you have to wait for their strength to show too. Of course there were exceptions, but not many. Thus it has been a hard act for any Cam Fella sons to follow. In the early 2000s we got Presidential Ball, and we did have access to Armbro Operative in Australia sometimes. And both of these sires managed to shake off the Cam Fella association (I think it helped that they were named something other than Cam!) and leave horses that could run early as well as develop with age. Therefore we have far more Presidential Ball and Armbro Operative mares being retained to breed from. Later of course we have had Bettor’s Delight, as son of Cam’s Card Shark, and Lismara (still trying to gain a foothold), and the popular Washington VC, son of Presidential Ball. But Cam Fella’s line has had few representatives in New Zealand.

In Australia it was a different story, with numbers of siring sons of Cam Fella proving popular ( Aces and Sevens, Fake Left, Cambest, Armbro Operative and Presidential Ball) and a much larger number of  grandsons of Cam Fella taking part as well – Northern Luck, Brioso Hanover, Riverboat King, Blissful Hall, and others. Now there are great-grandsons of Cam Fella coming into the picture like Kenneth J (son of Bettor’s Delight).Camelot Hall etc.

Cam Fella was an outstanding performer and crowds loved his courage and tenacity. But his own maternal line was not outstanding, in fact it was very weak. Cam Fella has left a siring legacy that is getting better with time, rather like many of the Cam Fella line progeny.

Anyone else got thoughts on this?

Read Full Post »

Cross breeding

Posted in Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , on July 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

I’ve been following the interesting discussion on Race Cafe forum about the ‘freakish’ trotter Googoo Gaagaa who is from a moderately bred trotting family by a pacing stallion who was an okay racehorse but not a commercial sire.

Cross-breeding strikes us as unusual today, but it was common not all that long ago  in the days when the two specialised gaits were still being developed, and even more recently some good families have arisen from cross breeding.

Tar Heel, who is so common in our New Zealand breeding pool via In The Pocket and Holmes Hanover, has a trotting-bred dam (Leta Long who paced) and his damsire is the hugely influential and big hearted Volomite (who left about 50/50 pacing and trotting progeny).

Direct Scooter, whose sire line is becoming very influential in modern breeding, descends from Volomite and has a trotting damsire.

So In The Pocket (Direct Scooter-Leta Long-Tar Heel) has great trotting blood quite close up in a number of directions. And that puts it well and truly into many of our top family  bloodlines on the maternal and paternal lines.

The In The Pocket mare I breed from, Zenterfold, also has a trotting-bred grandam (Now And Zen whose sire was Chiola Hanover). The Zenover/Zenith family has left both pacing and trotting branches, and some of its descendant mares (like Now And Zen) can be bred to and produce both gaits. Some people have pointed to that trotting blood in Zenterfold’s pedigree as a possible ‘weak point’ in the mare’s genetic structure but I totally disagree. It is the quality of the genes that count.

It is interesting that when Zenover and her daughter Now and Zen were crossed with pacing sire New York Motoring, the result seem to have been the most successful branches of the family – Interchange from Zenover, and Zenola Star from Now And Zen.

So although the concept of crossing a trotting mare to a pacing sire comes across at first glance as a bit of a gamble, it is a path well trod in the not-so-distant past.

Read Full Post »

Article about damsire trends for our yearlings

Posted in Standardbred breeding, tagged , , , on July 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I’ve finally got around to posting up the article I wrote prior to the 2012 New Zealand yearling sales in which I looked at damsire and grandamsire trends over the past 10 or more years. The article was originally published in Breeding Matters, the magazine of NZ Standardbred Breeders Assn. It is published as a page rather than a blog, so you can find it at the top of my home page or via this link. 

Read Full Post »

X factor sires – look for pedigree and production stats

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged on June 25, 2012| 2 Comments »

In my previous post I listed 3 ways to help decide whether a sire carries the “X factor”. I should have included a 4th bullet point:

  • From his pedigree. The presence of commonly agreed ‘X factor’ damsires in his maternal lines, and the production record of his dam, grandam and great-grandam will also indicate whether a sire has increased chance of carrying the X factor himself. It is more certain if his maternal line production statistics show a higher proportion of foals to starters/winners (and good winners), but also if the mare did this with a range of sires rather than just one, and if the successful horses are colts as well as fillies. This indicates that the X chromosone she contributes may be a dominant one and carrying quality genes. A sire that is a “one off” superb horse but  not supported by some strong production statistics in his previous 2 or 3 maternal generations is much more of a gamble. Flashing Red would be an extreme example of this – a fantastic horse himself, but walking a fairly thin pedigree line.

However even with all the indicators flicking brightly, a sire can still be a disappointment at stud. This may be a result of getting mares with the wrong gene pool to complement his, or because of some other attribute he often passes on (fizzy temperament, conformation fault, lack of mental toughness, or just leaving bigger types that will take a lot of time to strength and mature).

So the X factor is just one of the things that go into the mix.

Refer to the articles that Ray Chaplin and I put together on Rich N Elegant and her siring sons for an example of this puzzle.

I’m not an expert in this at all, and I would love to hear from others who have more experience than I do – do you think the X factor is over-rated? What is the importance of heart size in today’s harness racing?

Read Full Post »

X factor sires – is there a list?

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged , on June 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Question came in recently from Kevin:  “I am looking for a list of Sires that carry the X Factor..Is there one, and where would i find it.”

I’d be interested in what others think or lists that people have found useful, but here is my views on the topic:

I don’t know of any list of standardbred sires that claims to identify current sires that carry the X factor. I am aware that Marianna Haun has published a list of galloping sires in her book “Understanding the Power of the X factor”, but she carefully defines what the list is – basically some current thoroughbred sires that possibly carry specific important heartlines and trace back to Eclipse (who was born in 1764) (See page 80 of her book).

It would be possible to do something similar for trotting and pacing, and there may be some pedigree/breeding consultancy services that will have databases that allow them to factor this into their evaluations of sires, damsires and mares. Such a list would be possible by either by tracing pedigrees back to Eclipse’s standardbred descendants or by listing current sires who are underpinned by proven producing mares and damsires – the great trotting and pacing families of the modern era.

There are pedigrees like that which maximise the chances of a sire inheriting a large heart. However even those lines can over time become diluted if mares are not matched with compatible sires that ‘bring out the best’ the mare has to offer and keep carryng those quality genes forward. Families “go off the boil” for a time, and often branches of them simply peter out. Even when matches are well considered, there is an element of ‘russian roulette’ about which X chromosome a foal will inherit.

In my view it is not as simple as labelling sires as ‘big hearted’ or not. The X factor usually refers to abnormally larger hearts, exceptional hearts. I’m not sure that an abnormally large heart is the ‘pot of gold’ some people think it is. In terms of heart scores, is a horse with an exceptional 150 score necessarily going to be that much better as a racehorse than one with a very good score of 120?  As in motor-racing, the car with the biggest engine has an advantage, but many other factors make a winner.

How can you tell if a sire potentially carries a large-heart gene?

  • From their performance on the track. All other things being equal, big hearted horses have had a real advantage on the racetrack, and thus are more likely to achieve the consistent top level “stand out” racing performances that are required to become a commercial sires these days.
  • From their performance in the breeding barn, those sires will soon start to build a reputation as a sire of good fillies, not just of colts.
  • And in the longer run, from their performance as damsires, leaving females that go on to be good broodmares of both male and female offspring.

By their deeds you will know them – although it is much harder to gauge new boys hot off the track, as the more reliable signs will only be apparent later.

Some horses (male and female) will never get the chance to pass on their big heart genes because for some other reason they did not show enough potential as a racehorse or their family is not commercial enough.

A list of sires only tells half the story. If you agree that the big heart gene is carried on the X chromosome, then the mares served by a sire play a huge role in carrying and passing on good heart lines.

Firstly, if the larger heart gene is sex-specific (i.e. carried on the X chromosome) then a sire cannot pass this larger heart to his sons. Male foals are the product of a Y chromosome from their sires and an X chromosome from their dams. So the idea that In The Pocket passed on his own heart size to Courage Under Fire and Christian Cullen, for example, doesn’t stand up.

On the other hand, female foals receive an X chromosome from both parents. One of these is likely to be dominant or “expressed”.  It may (or may not) be one that carries a larger heart gene. A larger heart gene could be on the X chromosome from the sire (from his dam), or it could be on one or both of the two X chromosomes the mare carries. This is what is referred to as a single copy or double copy mare.

Marianna Haun explains this really well in Chapter 9 of Looking for the Great Heart (in “Understanding the Power of the X factor”) and describes how to look for the signs of the X factor in the productions statistics of mares and sires.

So there are no guarantees even by breeding a filly from a sire that is carrying a large heart gene, that the foal will express that gene. But of course it does help your chances.

My previous blogs about Nedda, Nedda Guy, Esther, Volomite and the link back to Eclipse might show an example of how quality lines and big hearts can endure through many generations and pop up in modern pedigrees in different places.

Read Full Post »

Sunshine and records make the Jewels sparkle

Posted in Harness racing, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged on June 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Cambridge Raceway, New Zealand on Jewels Day 2012

Cambridge Raceway, on Jewels Day 2012

Cambridge turned on a nearly perfect day weatherwise for the Harness Racing Jewels –  a few records tumbled, a couple of favourites stumbled, and overall it was a fitting climax for the racing season.

Yes, the course, distance and the draw can combine with little luck in the running and the fact that some of these horses are coming to the end of a pretty big season… and I don’t think anyone would claim that the Jewels winners are necessary the best of the best horses taken over the full season. But the winners can say they beat the top earners in their age group in one of the real tests of speed, on the day that it mattered. Congratulations to them and their trainers, owners and breeders.

The shocks – Bettor Cover Lover being beaten, Gold Ace scratched, and Ideal Scott fading out.

The highlights for me?

A 2yo trot where,  although some made mistakes, the improving quality and class of young trotters made for an excellent race. Big, bold Royal Aspirations (Monarchy-Aspiring Gal-Sundon) was dominant – fantastic feat by trainer Fred Fletcher, and a lovely confident drive from Sam Smolenski.

The similarly dominating, crushing run by Smolda (Courage Under Fire-Under the Mattress-Safely Kept)  in the last race – and a NZ record of 1.52.17. By then the beautiful sunshine had clouded over and the temperature had dropped by about 5 degrees. Some of the crowd had already left, and what a race they missed! Smolda took on Ideal Scott, and couldn’t get the lead, but sat parked, challenged again, and won. On that speed, absolutely TOUGH!

Two other runs caught my eye in terms of  horses who had to do it so tough and still ran on bravely for a place… Cheer The Lady’s run for 3rd in the 3yo fillies Diamond from draw 13 and parked wide without cover for a significant time. And I understand she was pulling a flat tyre for the last 800m. Gutsy! Likewise Border Control’s run from draw 6, parked out and having to come wide and yet made considerable ground in the straight. There were several more – interested to get comments from those who noticed some “wow” moments.

Now looking at the breeding of those who came 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their age/sex race:

Here’s a quirky one – Safely Kept appears as a damsire of the 3yo pacing colts and geldings winner (Smolda) and the 3yo trotters winner (Cyclone U Bolt) – Safely Kept was a sire able to leave good quality in both gaits over the course of his career, but never had many foals here, so a quite remarkable feat to pull off as a broodmare sire on one day of top racing!

Trotting 2yos – 1st and 2nd places taken by horses sired by Monarchy (out of  Sundon and  Yankee Reb mares) and Monarchy doesn’t really have a rep as a sire of young trotters. And in the trotting 3yos Ruby – 1st and 2nd places taken by horses sired by Dream Vacation (out of Safely Kept and Sundon mares).

Bettor’s Delight sired the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placegetters in the pacing 4yo mares Diamond (out of Christian Cullen, What’s Next and Save Fuel mares), as well as siring the 3rd horse in the 2yo fillies Diamond (from a Holmes Hanover mare), the 3rd horse in the 3yo Diamond (from an Albert Albert mare). Bettor’s Delight also sired the 1st and 3rd placed horses in the colts and geldings 2yo Emerald (out of Butler BG and Artsplace mares) and the 3rd placegetter in the 3yo Emerald (out of a Frugal Gourmet mare). The conclusion I’m drawing here is not just the class of Bettor’s Delight as a sire (particularly in races that need speed and huge desire to win) but that he is doing such a great job as a sire with a wide range of mares/damsires.

Unfashionable damsires to poke their noses into a win or place were Jaguar Spur, Albert Albert and Frugal Gourmet. You just never know – and I kinda like that!

No space here to put the full results, but those reading this can find all the details including the breeding of each horse on the HRNZ website (see the link on the right side bar of my blog)under the Results/Cambridge page.

The only quibble I had about the whole day, is that lack of real “event buzz” on course, and that might partly be the laid back Kiwi nature, or the pleasure of relaxing in the sunshine…but it did feel more like a highly successful “Summer at the Races” event rather than the Jewels. There was an absence of bright buntings, active compere on course, and I didn’t even spot signs in Cambridge township pointing to the event.  I felt a cheery local band playing some live jazz would have kept the crowd warm between races when the day started to cloud over. But those were minor quibbles on a great day. I am sure lessons can be learnt to keep this great concept buzzing into the future.

PS  What was the name of that Pizza stand again? They were scrumptious! Italian pizza base, real fresh basil…Yum!

Read Full Post »

Topics coming up

Posted in Harness racing, Horses, Pedigree matching, Standardbred breeding, tagged on May 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Apologies for a bit of a gap in blogging, but there are a number of reasons (recalcitrant mouse and old computer, got new computer but delay in hooking up, got a virus – me, not the computer! – and being dizzy with the viral infection made me fall, falling cracked a rib – oh, and I’m moving house) so it is a challenge to blog at the moment, but after a week or so me and my computer should be in full working order again!.

However the good news – some topics coming up include a look at Bettor’s Delight and his full brother Roll With Joe, and some observations on other “brothers at stud”. What are the pros and cons from breeding, commercial and genetic perspectives? Also I am collaborating with Ray Chaplin of equineexcellence.biz to do some in-depth analysis of Life Sign sons at stud. This follows our previous collaboration on the great mare Rich N Elegant and her sons at stud (see previous blogs). The question in both cases is: Why do some top sons perform at stud and others are flops? That article will initially be published in Breeding Matters magazine (official magazine of NZ Standardbred Breeders Assn) probably in August and then posted on this blog.

In the meantime, I will continue to post up my usual range of observations and articles as often as I can.

Jewels this Saturday!

Locally (Cambridge, New Zealand) we are hosting the Harness Racing Jewels event this Saturday, where the top earning 2, 3 and 4 year old pacers and trotters compete over a mile for top stakes in one day of fantastic racing. (2 June 2012). The Jewels is an event that has great memories for me with Tintin In America winning the 4yo Emerald for pacers last time it was held in Cambridge in 2010, the 3yo Emerald in Ashburton in 2009, and placed 3rd in the 2yo Emerald in Cambridge in 2008.

It’s also an event the captures the mix of fun day out and intensity of top racing that are the hallmark of The Little Brown Jug and Breeders Crown race days internationally. Well worth supporting – and Cambridge is a really lovely place to visit.  Cross our fingers for a fine day – we’ve had some beautiful clear sunny days after overnight frosts this autumn, and one of those on Saturday would be superb.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »