Pedigree Query

When I get bored, I like to daydream about who I would breed top mares to, so I've been thinking about Zenyatta lately. Obviously I hope she keeps racing forever, but knowing that she'll probably be retired after the 2009 season, who would you like to see her bred to? She has an interesting pedigree, being free of Northern Dancer. Would you add ND in or keep her free from it? I'd almost go for keeping her as a complete outcross of ND.

If she were mine, I'd probably go for Dynaformer. It doubles up on the Roberto and keeps her free of ND. I like that Dynaformer gets a sort of turf-y dirt horse that gets a fair distance and he has a similar body type to Zenyatta.

Any opinions? Who would you breed her to?

with Dynaformer I think the horse would be too big physically and take too long to develop. She obviously deserves to be bred to the best. For physical balance my first thought would be AP Indy. But with that it's probably still a later development. Maybe Distorted Humor to inject more early speed. A fun decision to make for the owners.

RuffianT21 wrote:When I get bored, I like to daydream about who I would breed top mares to

me too! sick isn't it?


zenyatta =shamradal. you have some sorta rasmussen factor going but not quite[/list]

Even though she's raced in the US, this mare's breeding makes her a major contender for European cup horses.

Danehill Dancer immediately comes to mind, as well as his close relation Dylan Thomas. Dansili is also appealing, as is Pivotal.

I think of the above, I like Pivotal and Danehill Dancer the best. Not a fan of the Sadlers Wells tribe with her--nothing against them, just a gut feeling.

Hmmm... I guess I could see how Dynaformer might magnify the rangy late-developing aspect too much. I would really shy away from breeding her to someone too blocky or precocious, though.

People seem to be thinking along the same lines as me in terms of her working well with a more turf-y horse. Shamardal would actually be really interesting now that I look at it, having the sire of the dam and the dam of the sire be full siblings. Has that sort of inbreeding been tried much?

Danehill Dancer-Zenyatta results in 3 different lines of Natalma.

I'd prefer to see her go to Distorted Humor over AP Indy, but I don't really know why. Gut reaction, too, I guess...

A Rock of Gibralter-Zenyatta colt would be very exciting!

Giant's Causeway, for me.

The only son of Storm Cat I like, but think he leans more towards his dam's side of the family.

[quote="RuffianT21"]Hmmm... I guess I could see how Dynaformer might magnify the rangy late-developing aspect too much. I would really shy away from breeding her to someone too blocky or precocious, though.

\Shamardal would actually be really interesting now that I look at it, having the sire of the dam and the dam of the sire be full siblings. Has that sort of inbreeding been tried much?
\/quote]


I think it would be worth a shot. not only becuase you are inbreeding. you are inbreeding to one of the hottest lines in the world.

Its been tried a bit. Inbreeding to Natalma through Raise the Standard has been extremely successful, but that doesn't mean this would be. I'd probably wait a generation before trying it. Its rather close.

I would prefer to see her go to Mizzen Mast. It gives a formula 1 RF to the bluehen Mrs. Peterkin. The mating would probably produce a horse that would enjoy 2 turns but also be relatively precocious. It should also produce a runner that would enjoy dirt, the fake, and turf.

I don't really like her with any of the top sires, but take a look at her with Devil His Due.

Lots of Halo! He'd probably never be chosen though--right? Not a top sire "enough"?

Indian Charlie

Altanbarr wrote:Indian Charlie

Indian charlie + Zenyatta = Indiatta

Great topic----Dynaformer is interesting but the obvious choices AP Indy and Giants Causeway also make very good choices. My sleeper pick would be El Prado... It would be difficult not to think any of the top sires would not be a good match for her.
I have never seen her in the flesh but I would also choose the stallion that is most like her physically. I like to breed like to like as much as possible and if she has certain flaws---let's say hypothetically she has "bad feet" then I would breed away from stallions that express that particular fault.
It will be fun to see who they select when her time comes to visit the shed....

the only thing about dynaformer, is fi you breed her to dynaformer, the foal might not see the track utnil it's 8!

Giant's Causeway or Awesome Again