By Sid Fernando
Distorted Humor and Unbridled’s Song stand for six figures and here’s one reason why: Both get plenty of classics contenders, which is the goal of big-time stables and owners. Both veteran sires came away this weekend with two new colts on the Triple Crown trail: Endorsement for Distorted Humor, and Mission Impazible for Unbridled’s Song.
Distorted Humor (Forty Niner–Danzig’s Beauty, by Danzig) stands for $100,000 at Win Star Farm in Versailles, Ky., and already has a Derby winner to his credit in 2003 winner Funny Cide, who also won the Preakness. Now the sire of 85 SWs (including at least 9 in SH from three seasons in Australia), Distorted Humor began his career at $12,500, and last year he was at $150,000. His first crop, which included Funny Cide and 9 other SWs, announced his arrival, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Distorted Humor was primarily a 7f sprinter as a racehorse, and he raced three seasons, 3-5, winning fives stakes races at the G2-G3 level and earning more than $750K. The well-managed Win Star operation made sure early on that they spread mares in foal to him in states with good restricted racing programs, and Win Star was actually the listed breeder of Funny Cide in New York. Nowadays, Distorted Humor is one of the elite sires in the country and doesn’t need restricted company for protection; he easily makes his away in the best races around the country.
The stallion’s Endorsement won the $800K G3 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico Sunday for Win Star to give Win Star and the sire their second combined classic contender, along with Drosselmeyer. Endorsement, however, is the “Now” horse. A $450,000 yearling, Endorsement is out of an A.P. Indy mare from an Argentine family and on a sire-line cross is bred like Funny Cide, who was produced from a mare by the Seattle Slew sire Slewacide. Now a winner of 2 of 4 starts, Endorsement defeated the undefeated and highly regarded Conveyance in the Sunland Park Derby and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 2/5. Last year, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was 4th in this same race.
The Distorted Humor/Seattle Slew combination through A.P. Indy also was responsible for the one-time classics contender and G1 winner Any Given Saturday and the Delta Jackpot winner at 2 and one-time classic contender Z Humor. All told, there are 9 Distorted Humor unrestricted SWs from Seattle Slew-line mares.
Hi Sid,
I’m pretty impressed with Mission Impazible, and I might even make him my Derby horse!
Where do you stand on the theory that inbreeding of 4×4 or closer makes horses unsound?
-Jameel
I don’t belive breeding closer than 4×4 makes horses unsound, but i personally would stay away from anything closer than 3×2 or 2×3; again, the duplicated ancestor (and as a result, the multiple duplications behind him or her) has bearing on the issue, too.
Along those same lines, what do you think about close inbreeding to horses known for soundness and durability?
Amanda, that’s a really good question on many levels. First off, when breeders think “soundness,” they are usually thinking of outcrossing for “hybrid vigor.” Inbreeding, unfairly perhaps, has been associated more with “weakness” than strength. Much inbreeding also happens naturally when a prepotent sire line creates generations of the line, as has happened with Northern Dancer and Mr.Prospector, to name two. Conversely, in our racing enviornment, “sound” and “durable” horses rarely create dynasties; therefore, natural inbreeding to them rarely occurs.
Another point: In this age of large books and favored commercial lines, “sound” and “durable” type sires, such as Mr. Leader and Naskra from eras past, to name two, are hard to find.