Horse running through field

Galileo and the Sons of Doubly Sure

by Roger Lyons

The cross that yielded Cape Blanco (Galileo-Laurel Delight, by Presidium, by General Assembly), recent winner of the Dante S. at York, is formally an A nick based on the Sadler’s Wells-General Assembly cross. Galileo may never get enough opportunity with Presidium mares to confirm a simple sire-broodmare sire nick in the conventional way, but this is not a conventional nick.

The fact is that Galileo has done a lot better with mares whose ancestries contain Presidium’s dam, Doubly Sure, than he’s done with Secretariat-line mares. Seven of his 27 mates that had Doubly Sure in their ancestries produced superior runners by him, including Cape Blanco’s dam.

Now, Doubly Sure is also the dam of Kris and Diesis, both by Sharpen Up, and they both have simple A+ nicks with Galileo. Furthermore, the numbers say Galileo’s nicks with Kris and Diesis are not attributable to their sire line. Galileo has sired foals out of 53 mares that have Sharpen Up in their ancestries (the whole ancestry, not just the sire line), and the only mares among them that produced superior runners by Galileo are those that have Sharpen Up descending through either Kris or Diesis. None of the 27 mares that have Sharpen Up through strains other than Kris or Diesis produced a superior runner by Galileo. Yet, Galileo’s combined strike rate with Kris and Diesis is 6/24 (25% superior runners).

Overwhelmingly, the numbers point to Doubly Sure as the key factor, and that’s the proof that Cape Blanco is bred from a simple nick with her son, Presidium.

Posted by Roger Lyons on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 12:01 pm.

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5 comments to “Galileo and the Sons of Doubly Sure”

  • Greg writes:

    Great look inside a pedigree to see what actually makes a cross tick while still staying close up enough in the generations for the influence of the nick to seem compelling and sensible.

    May 20th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
  • Roger Lyons writes:

    Thanks, Greg. Just following the numbers.

    May 21st, 2010 at 4:53 pm
  • The light switch goes on for pedigree researcher Roger Lyons « Sid Fernando + Observations writes:

    […] […]

    May 25th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
  • Hilda Marshall writes:

    Thank you for your English Derby pointer for Cape Blanco. A small investment has been made.
    I found some other lovely mares of Lord Howard de Walden in his 1989 private stud book which I found some years ago.
    Best wishes
    Hilda

    June 2nd, 2010 at 12:49 am
  • Roger Lyons writes:

    Hope that works out for you, Hilda.

    Roger

    June 2nd, 2010 at 12:28 pm

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