Thoughts on pedigree: Recency trumps 'ancient' history

A discussion in which I arrived late over at a Yahoo group I frequent -- that is, tb_breeding_theory -- finally piqued my interest this holiday weekend.

What is our obsession -- and by "our," I mean some pedigree enthusiasts -- with far-distant relatives in a horse's lineage?

My thoughts are prompted by a discussion about Nasrullah, which broadened to include other sires, including Hermit, and their influences on the breed, particularly negative traits including the perpetuation of bleeders, "roarers" (a breathing malady) and general unsoundness.

I find "deep-pedigree" research to be intriguing. In fact, I am pleased to know that my mare, Bushes Victory, is from the female line that produced both Seabiscuit and Equipoise. (All descend from British-born reine de course Ballantrae, born 1899.) But though that knowledge is quite interesting to me, it's virtually insignificant in determining whether "Tory" will produce good runners herself, no matter to whom she is mated.

To put it more directly, in my opinion the biggest factor in producing a successful racehorse is to ask of the lines being crossed, "What have you done for racing lately?"

An unraced mare from a family of modest to poor siblings, coupled with a marginal sire, is likely to produce a marginal racehorse, at best. It matters not that the foal is a great-great-grandson of Storm Cat out of a granddaughter of Mr. Prospector, or that he carries eight lines to a prepotent sire like Princequillo.

I suppose it's the same philosophy as the well-known husbandry adage: "Breed the best to the best and hope for the best."

In the Yahoo-group discussion, British turf journalist and author Tony Morris took up for Hermit, who another member noted had been criticized by author Richard Ulbrich as a "provable source of vascular weakness in the modern TB."

"Hermit was champion sire seven times," Morris wrote. "I don't think that would have happened if he habitually passed on his bleeding problem. I don't dispute the idea that the problem has been noted in some of his descendants, but I have to believe that Hermit is in every pedigree, generally many times over. It's not worth thinking about now."

And, almost unequivocally, I agree.

Certainly the traits of any living example are the product of his ancestors. But trying to attribute a specific flaw in today's horse to a stallion born 145 years ago is like playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, in the dark, in the Louisiana Superdome.

Granted, the more lines to a certain ancestor that a modern-day descendant carries, the more likely it is that the current animal's identifiable traits, good or bad, can be attributed to the heavily represented ancestor who displayed the same. But each additional line contributes to that likelihood in tiny increments. And it would be foolish to consider oneself certain in pinning a 21st century flaw on a 19th century sire, particularly when it's so much easier and far more direct to just look at the horse's most recent ancestors.

As I wrote in my concurrence with Mr. Morris -- a supporting statement with which I suspect he's wholly unimpressed: "If the sire, dam and their sires and dams were not notorious bleeders, or roarers, or unsound, then it's likely the foal will not be, either, regardless how many lines of Hermit (or whatever other ancestor) that foal might be carrying. And if he is a bleeder, roarer or unsound, you could blame the flaw on anything or nothing with equal accuracy."

Indeed it is interesting -- and some experts are paid quite well -- to dig deep into pedigrees, touting mares as being from the female family of La Troienne, or carrying X-number of crosses to Hyperion. But the further-off that blood becomes, the less likely it is to bear any real significance on the prospective foal.

I do believe in the process of inbreeding as a means of enriching for qualities the breeder wants to see in a foal. (Be careful, for inbreeding also enriches for the negative traits that ancestor might have possessed.) But if that inbreeding doesn't take place in the first four, or five -- at most six or seven generations, and in that case heavily, perhaps with a half-dozen or more crosses -- I believe that the influence of that repeated ancestor on the current foal is more wishful thinking than reliable husbandry.

eBay find: Trophy won by The Axe II

Far as horse racing-related eBay unearthings go the cool factor on this lot achieves Grade 1 status. So does the price.

For sale with an asking price of $6,800 is the Shreve of San Francisco-crafted, Sterling silver trophy for the 1963 Benjamin F. Lindheimer Handicap at Arlington Park in Chicago. The 12-furlong turf test (and, presumably, this trophy) was won that year by a superb horse who went on to be a significant influence on the breed as a sire, The Axe II (Mahmoud-Blackball, by Shut Out). Second dam of The Axe II was the Blue Larkspur mare Big Event, who was out of the thoroughbred world's Mother Superior, La Troienne herself.

The Axe II sired such great runners as Haskell winner Hatchet Man, Met Mile champion Executioner, Hawthorne Juvenile winner Al Hattab, Arkansas Derby winner Twist the Axe, and Hollywood Oaks winner Last of the Line.

If you don't eBay, you can visit the New York-based seller, Lauren Stanley Silver, and see the piece here.

The spectacular prize ain't your typical horse-racing platter or cup. The futuristic design was befitting of Lindheimer's vision, in racing, business and philanthropy; after his death in 1960, his family donated to establish the Lindheimer Astrophysical Research Center, dedicated in 1967 at Northwestern University. (The center served until it was razed due to asbestos in 1995).

But Lindheimer was a horseman at heart. He became head of racing at the long-since-gone Washington Park Race Track in 1935, and at Arlington Park beginning in 1940, promoting the legendary Washington Park Swaps vs. Nashua match race. Lindheimer put together the Balmoral Jockey Club group that purchased Lincoln Fields in 1955, renaming it Balmoral Park. He died in 1960.

The Lindheimer trophy isn't just a striking work of silver; weighing in at 40 ounces, it also features a center pillar -- between a silver base and the silver artwork (with hidden storage box) atop -- that is made of red jasper stone.

Silver's price is on the rise, but at $15.61 an ounce at the close of Friday trading, the trophy is priced much higher than its sheer precious-metal value. That's a good thing, I suppose. At least it won't end up melted down.

As for the race, it was often a stellar contest, won a year before this particular trophy was presented (that is, in 1962) by Prove It, and in 1971 by Princess Pout (after the race was shortened to 9 1/2 furlongs), who went on to become the dam of the great turf runner and sire, Alleged (by Hoist the Flag). Arlington icon Earlie Fires rode 22-1 shot Tampa Trouble to an upset win over favored Figonero in 1969.

I hope someone gives this trophy a deserving home. Maybe even Arlington Park itself. This piece should be in a museum setting or in the collection of someone who will truly appreciate it.

Someone like me, but with money.