Dissident Ancestors
by Roger Lyons
The point of my last post was, in part, to suggest that certain dissident ancestors of broodmares pose special problems for stallion selection. They’re not carrying signs and throwing rocks, but the troublemakers assert themselves so forcefully that some seemingly well bred mares will have severely limited opportunity for a good match–or none at all.
I’ll just name three ancestors on my watch list: Graustark, Halo, and Nureyev. I’m not really sure about Nureyev. Let’s call him an ancestor of interest, but one can’t afford to be squeamish when rounding up suspected dissidents. You never know where a seemingly innocent association might lead. What these three have in common is that an unusually large proportion of stallions don’t like them very much. That’s enough to warrant indefinite detention on pedigree security grounds. If they’re innocent, let them prove it.
Never mind that in the right pedigree context those ancestors can have powerfully beneficial effects. Individual merit doesn’t count for much when a pedigree security interest is at stake.
According to eCompuSire, the online pedigree intelligence asset, six stakes winners worldwide are out of mares in descent of Graustark, Halo, and Nureyev within five generations. I’m afraid that’s not enough to establish their innocence. Even the most exculpatory evidence, such as a record of stakes production, readily turns against the perpetrators. Just watch.
The dam of Treasure (Anabaa ex Treasure Queen, by Kingmambo), winner of the Prix de la Vallee d’Auge in France, has Halo as the sire of her second dam, and she has Nureyev and Graustark by virtue of Kingmambo’s dam, Miesque.
The dam of Bottega (Mineshaft ex Sun Is Up, by Sunday Silence), winner of the Criterium du Languedoc in France, has Halo as the sire of Sunday Silence, and she has Nureyev and Graustark by virtue of her second dam, Miesque.
The dam of Sunday Sunrise (Lemon Drop Kid ex Sun Is Up [same dam as Bottega], by Sunday Silence), winner of the Veteran S. in New Mexico (must impose a travel ban), has Halo as the sire of Sunday Silence and has Nureyev and Graustark by virtue of her second dam, Miesque. Furthermore, Sunday Sunrise is by a son of Kingmambo, out of Miesque.
The dam of Indigo Cat (Storm Cat ex Bluemambo, by Kingmambo), winner of the Hampton Court S. in the UK, has Halo as the sire of her second dam and Nureyev and Graustark by virtue of Kingmambo’s dam, Miesque.
The dam of Air Zipangu (El Condor Pasa ex Air Passion, by Halo), winner of the Stayer S. in Japan, has Halo as her sire, Nureyev as her broodmare sire, and Graustark as the sire line of her second dam. Not incidentally, Air Zipangu is by a son of Kingmambo, whose dam is Miesque.
The dam of Link Man (Torreador ex Western Smoke, by Among Men), winner of the Gold Medallion (G1) and other group stakes in South Africa, is the only one among the dams of these six SWs whose contribution of Halo, Graustark, and Nureyev is not controlled in some fashion by Miesque–and in one case (Sunday Sunrise) inbreeding to Miesque. If you disqualify the five because they’re all mediated by one freakishly good broodmare, then what you have left is only one SW worldwide–a G1 winner, to be sure–to testify in defense of mares descending from all three of these ancestors.
By the way, eCompuSire is what you need when you haul an ancestor in for questioning. It’s the waterboard of enhanced pedigree interrogation techniques. See subscription details at the eNicks website–Products tab. Did I not mention that I have a personal stake in that product? Wouldn’t want to breach any ethical constraints.
So what you’re objecting to in this case is the trio of perps (Halo, Nureyev, and Graustark) in collusion. From the evidence presented, Chief Roger, it would appear that this trio is bad news, except when Miesque shows up to save the day.
Thinking of them functionally, they are an odd assortment, but it’s also interesting to note that many breeders would acquire these stallions’ daughters as broodmares, then mix. A crime, no doubt.
Frank
March 18th, 2011 at 11:50 amExactly, Frank. Grounds for alerting the pedigree police. And I wonder if it wouldn’t be considered something of a misdemeanor to cross a mare in descent of, say, Graustark and Halo with a stallion in descent of Nureyev–in lieu of Miesque, that is–because the result could be a filly.
March 18th, 2011 at 12:59 pmThat last comment, Roger, made me wonder whether a serious part of the problem among this trio is that they are largely dam-line influences, compounded with some asynchrony of phenotype.
There are no high-class sons of G or H at stud. The only American sons of Nureyev are Theatrical (very far outside the norms for US breeding) and Unusual Heat (lost somewhere in California and almost unused elsewhere). Nureyev would be the only one of the three who should be considered a generally good influence in the male line, with Sunday Silence getting very little opportunity outside Japan.
And then in physique, Graustark was quite big and Nureyev was quite small. That in itself is a problem, tending to mismatch physical traits or proportions that promote success.
Cheers,
March 19th, 2011 at 10:54 amFrank
Now that you mention it, I wonder if peculiarity of physical type isn’t the reason why neither Graustark nor Halo were dependable male-line influences. There was Key to the Mint, by Graustark, but an interesting point to be made about him is that all of the many promising stallion prospects that were produced by his daughters ultimately disappointed–in most cases, miserably; whereas, Graustark’s daughters produced Brian’s Time, Sunshine Forever, Razeen–dominant sires in their homelands. As those sires and Miesque illustrate, every once in awhile the idiosyncratic influences fall into place with extraordinary results, but most of the time they don’t.
March 19th, 2011 at 4:57 pmIn Halo’s case, could temperament be part of it? I’m just asking. Don’t know what his reputation was but I seem to remember him at Stone Farm as being difficult if not dangerous and extremely territorial. Though maybe I’m misremembering. And I guess plenty of stallions have that characteristic. Nasrullah comes to mind.
March 22nd, 2011 at 6:41 amThat’s his reputation for sure, Greg. Maybe some light can be shed on this by the stallions that have high strike rates with Halo: A.P. Indy, Carson City, Danehill, Danehill Dancer, Dubawi, Galileo, In the Wings, Invincible Spirit, Irish River, Jade Hunter, Lord Avie, Mr. Prospector, Mutakddim, Nureyev, Oasis Dream, Our Emblem, Pivotal, Saint Ballado, Silver Hawk, Storm Cat, Street Cry. Interesting list. Nureyev’s record of 4/16 has Halo saying, “Don’t look at me. Blame Graustark.” And it confirms what Frank says about the size issue between Nureyev and Graustark. But, how, then, can Nureyev’s record of 9/45 with Graustark be explained? This is a dissident cell fraught with intrigue.
March 22nd, 2011 at 8:38 amCan you explain for me the twist you see in these strike rates? What’s being expressed do you think?
March 22nd, 2011 at 1:10 pmThe odd thing about it is that, first, Nureyev, Halo, and Graustark don’t work well together, and, second, there seems to be an excuse for Nureyev and Graustark–the size issue. But, third, Nureyev, as a sire, had quite good strike rates with both Halo and Graustark individually. That seems incongruous. Of course, he never sired a foal whose dam had both of those sires in her ancestry.
March 22nd, 2011 at 2:17 pm