Pedigree Query

A couple of years ago I came across my stallion, Thabit, standing in a field of weeds probably 250 lbs underweight, with bones sticking out and unable to graze because the old injuries to his front legs had stove him up so bad running away from the herd he could not walk much nor bear the weight of dropping his head to eat. He had proven to them he could not live out but to no avail. He had some gashes on his legs and pretty horrible rainrot.. anyhow I convinced the folks to let me trade them a little riding horse for Thabit and we swapped out.

I love this horse. I love his conformation. His temperament is amazing. Mostly he acts like an old riding horse and can be quieted with a word or two when he starts to puff up. He is grateful Every Single Day for the meals that arrive, the bathing, stall cleaning, and other activities. He was not a stakes winner but he could run well enough coupled with everything else for him to be a decent "farm" stallion. I love his pedigree. His second dam is Kooyonga, an amazing race mare. His damsire is Lure. He is deep dappled copper chestnut with quite a lot of white and looks quite a bit like Horse Greeley, another son of his sire who stood at stud in KY.

In the way things happen I just have the four broodmares - Express to Boston whom I got out of the kill pen back in '05, Glenfiddich Fire who is the first Thoroughbred I ever bought, Smoldering whom I got at Keeneland back in '07, and Callie Hermosa the filly I got at FT February last year who is Faster than the Wind but refractured an old stress crack in her pelvis in her first real work after training restarted - she went 3f in 34 and change in a track as deep as a beach with no company, 150lb exercise rider and no stick.

In analysing the offspring of Horse Greeley (I believe his data is the most relevant due to the striking physical resemblance and pedigree resemblance meaning more possible common DNA) His best 6 horses include damsire lines Arch, Devil's Bag, and Seattle Slew, along with the presence of Cox's Ridge and copious other sources of Northern Dancer. In fact I would have been hardpressed to put together a group of four mares more likely to produce similar patterns to those offspring of Horse Greeley.

Thabit's first foal for me is the truly lovely Smokin Hot Number a wonderful chestnut filly with a blaze and some socks, but has the misfortune to have a blond mane and tail (those are considered by some to be a sign of no talent in a racehorse). She is, however, a tall, beautiful, substantial filly with a GREAT mind and is already galloping in the indoor track. I have some hopes for her!

His next two foals are 2017 colts out of Express to Boston and Glenfiddich Fire. For this year I have foals coming from Smoldering, Callie Hermosa and Glenfiddich Fire. Express to Boston had struggled to get in foal for so many years she was having nothing to do with her colt leaving her side even for 10 minutes to be bred back. She is a commanding 17.1 hand 1400 lb mare who was never really broke and is a mare who can just Take You Out if the whim arises so we did not argue.

So if you have a moment and would find the irony amusing you can look up some of these. Comments?

I reviewed the stud and the mares and think you have found an interesting parallel there. I will be interested to follow to see how this plays out and translates into performance on the track. I was also more interested in the stories behind the stallion and the mare Express to Boston. It simply amazes me what people just cast away. This past year I have come across more amazing mares in kill pens that I have rescued than I can hardly believe. And while I do not always believe that every mare is meant to be a broodmare, nor is ever stallion meant to be a stud. There are rare circumstances in which you run across a mare or filly that really makes you wonder what the owners were thinking....most, often are not. However, like your Express to Boston mare who obviously hails from an incredible producing female family. I happened across some unique mares as well. Here are a few of them. Amazing they ended up where they were:

First mare - was not in ANY WAY well managed, cared for or bred.....shows that the owner really didn't know what he had. A friend and I rescued her and hope to breed her this year.
2008 mare: Ballerina Bess by Aptitude out of Ladyago by Northern Dancer. Yes - her dam sire is the one and only Northern Dancer. I have seen Northern Dancer in a few rare cases second or third in a pedigree but it is almost unheard of for him to be the dam sire. She looks just like him too. We plan to breed her this year.....just trying to identify the perfect match given that so many of todays' stallions in Kentucky "cross well" over Northern Dancer lines. Sorting through what is best when the Northern Dancer line is prominent is interesting.

2014 filly: Lillian by Hal's Image out of Caught Speeding by Saint Ballado. This filly wasn't much of a racehorse and she was nearly on death's door when I rescued her. But if you look close enough her 1/2 sister is a multiple graded stakes placed and her two full sisters were both bred to Awesome Again and each sold in this year's November sale for $23k and $24k respectively. I rehabbed her and rehomed her to a young lady who will use her as a barrel racer.

2004 mare: Classy Beck by Sky Classic out of Glitzi BJ by Mogambo. This mare was a turf horse and did decent for herself making $82,000 on the turf and in total hit the board 8 out of 14 times. She was bred to stallions that aren't well known and threw decent enough runners. She has been barren since losing her foal in 2014. After I rescued her and rehabbed her - I had the vet check her - she checks out breeding sound and the repro vet just thinks she wasn't managed well. I am going to try to breed her this year. She is a gorgeous strong mare that has a lot of power and presence to her.

2012 mare: Rene's Fast Cat out of Big Top Cat by Walk Away Rene by Gold Alert. At first appearance - Rene didn't look like much other than a beautiful copper chestnut. She wasn't a great racehorse. She Isn't by a well known sire or all that great of a dam sire. However, if you dig a little bit - you will see that her 1/2 sister is the grand dam of Girvin and Cocked and Loaded. Her 1/2 sister has now also produced two blacktype runners. One of which just posted a 122 beyer. I sold her to a farm in Kentucky that is looking to breed her to one of the top sires there.

So - I don't condone saving these horses to make them broodmares - I have rescued some mares who were sent there at the end of their breeding career - one was a 20 year old stakes mare that it was time for her to retire to a quieter life. However, these are just some examples of mares and fillies that were not managed well, were not bred well or someone was just trying to take the fastest way out to get rid of them for a buck without really understanding where their value lies. Each one of these mares has amazing female families or backgrounds. I can only imagine those that don't get saved what we have lost. I thank you for saving for Thabit and Express to Boston. I wish you much success with them!


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How did you wind up with Lillian? Was she found on a feed lot? I think when she was given away it was to a riding home not a racing one...

Thanks bluejayjack! It will be interesting to see what they all do. The stockyard near me in Shepherdsville closed maybe 9 years ago I think so I have not been to an auction with TB's in the kill pen since then. I think there is a horse sale once at month out at Tri County Sales near Pendleton KY and there is one in Marengo, Indiana. I don't know of any others in KY - if you do I would be happy if you would pass the info along.

They used to call me "the Thoroughbred" lady and amongst so many I bought I remember a beautiful 3 year old filly named "Lady Show Me" - I sent her up to my sister who was riding at a stable west of Toronto and she sold her to a young lady for a show horse. That filly got ribbons her first out at the "Royal" which is Canada's most prestigious horse show. That year I bought and rehabbed/rehomed 38 TB's also a couple of Saddlebreds some Arabians a few TWH, Rocky Mountain, etc.

What kind of race record did he have? Long/short? I hope somebody tried the turf.

Good looking guy that's for sure.

jm

Thabit? He sold for $800K as a yearling (Shadwell bought him) and went to England to train and start. He won his 2nd Weight for Age (MSW equivalent) and third start was a handicap in which he fractured his right front leg. After rehab they sent him to Keeneland to sell as a stallion prospect. The purchaser put him back in race training. He made 18 starts - 18-5-2-1 - on the old injury and bowed the left front tendon. He ran 100+ beyers. He won A other than and a starter handicap at Indiana Downs. His wins were on the grass and the poly. He won from 6 furlongs to 1-1/6 mile. He's a horse whose heart was sounder than his legs. At the end he was claimed and that trainer ran him back till the DNF and then gave him away to the folks in whose field I found him beat up hairless and starved.

His amazing daughter I have in training is out of Smoldering, and she is All That. Smoldering is by Sultry Song and that Cox's Ridge line seem to be any surface horses, but I would be happy to have a good classy allowance filly for the grass. I would especially like to have one that might be competitive in the lofty company at Kentucky Downs and earn me a stakes kind of check for a maiden or condition race. The MSW was $142K there last year I think.