A simple nick

By Sid Fernando

The late WTC founder Jack Werk spent a lot of time making pedigree analysis accessible and understandable. He, along with Roger Lyons, developed the Werk nick rating as a simple guide for users to gauge the effectiveness of sire line crosses, and he was actually quite adamant in insisting that a “nick” was just one of many factors that should be used to assess a mating, although there were many who tried to bury him as just another pedigree nut with a gimmick. Undeterred, Jack soldiered on with his message, which won out eventually, and he wrote about this over a year ago in a humorous post titled “Our Nicks and Your Common Sense!” It begins like this: “Every year around the start of the breeding season, I make a mental note to remind breeders who call in that the Werk nick rating – as important a tool as it is – is just one piece of information in breeding decisions. Now, with this blog going at full steam, I can actually get it off my chest in one shot. Here’s my annual advice about using nicks: Use common sense, folks!” I suggest you click the link above and read or reread it before proceeding forward.

Recently I came across some comments by a pedigree expert on a blog site that reminded me of Jack’s call for common sense. This expert—and I don’t call him a pedigree nut, but there are many that do—had analyzed a female family to such a dizzying degree that he’d found what he’d wanted to fit his theories. But he hadn’t figured that a simple explanation might have better served everyone, including a practical breeder’s needs in this particular case. I’m not going to rehash his stuff—it’s not necessary—except to say that he was wrong in only highlighting one horse from this family as its superior member when there were several, and these successful racehorses were all produced by a mare’s very obvious affinity for the Ribot sire line. In essence, it was an example of a very commonsensical nick between mare and a sire line, a simple nick, if you will.

Here it is: The mare in question was the SW BROWN BERRY (1960 by Mount Marcy out of Brown Baby, by Phalanx), a marvelous producer. Her offspring, with sire and sire line, are listed below. SWs are highlighted in bold caps, stakes placed in bold face type.

1965 Indian Berry (by Indian Hemp, by Nasrullah)

1966 Chief Ruler (by Fleet Nasrullah, by Nasrullah)

1967 Khalberry (by Khaled, by Hyperion)

1968 UNCONSCIOUS (by Prince Royal II, by Ribot) [Won California Derby, Charles H. Strub Stakes, etc]

1969 Brown Hare (by Coursing, by Fleet Nasrullah, by Nasrullah)

1971 Predisposed (by Coursing, by Fleet Nasrullah, by Nasrullah)

1972 AVATAR (by Graustark, by Ribot) [Won G1 Belmont Stakes, G1 Santa Anita Derby, G1 San Luis Rey,2nd G1 Kentucky Derby,etc]

1973 Glorieuse (by Prince Royal II, by Ribot)

1974 MONSEIGNEUR (by Graustark, by Ribot) [Won G2 Prix de Conseil de Paris, 2nd G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, etc]

1975 Conmemorativo (by Hoist the Flag, by Tom Rolfe, by Ribot)

1976 Parinda (by Damascus; Teddy line)

1977 Whitsett (by Damascus; Teddy line)

1978 Valeur (by Vaguely Noble; Hyperion line)

1979 Estoril (by Graustark,by Ribot)

1981 Grausberry (by Graustark, by Ribot)

1982 Welsh Berry (by Sir Ivor; Turn-to line to Nearco)

1983 Komaite (by Nureyev, by Northern Dancer)

1985 HOURS AFTER (by Alleged, by Hoist the Flag, by Tom Rolfe, by Ribot) [Won G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby equivalent)]

1986 Brown Arc (by Alleged, by Hoist the Flag, by Tom Rolfe, by Ribot)

Brown Berry produced two classic winners in Avatar and Hours After, and what’s obvious right away is that whenever this mare was bred to a Ribot-line sire, she had success (with the exception of her last foal, Brown Arc, who was actually quite promising, winning once from 2 starts. At stud initially in New York, he sired the exceptional New York-bred G1 winner Perfect Arc.). Her early foals were bred by Arthur Seeligson (including Avatar) and her later foals were bred by Paul Sorren and Crown Breeding Corp. (Hours After). Both breeders sent her to sires outside the Ribot line but always came back to what had been successful for this remarkable mare, who had a thing for Ribot.