Astrology

Last year on February 1st I chose Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby based on his pedigree. the other horse I liked was Eskendereya who was injured and never made the race. Of all the young stallions in Kentucky I like Eskendereya to become a top stallion.

This year I like Astrology who will make his first start of the year in the Sunland Park Derby. Super Saver, Eskendereya and Astrology have a similar pedigree patter often found in top racehorses. What is that pattern? It is the crossing of a male line descendant of a matriarch to a female descendant of the same horse.

In the case of Super Saver it was found in his 4th dam Numbered Account who is the result of breeding Buckpasser a direct descendant of La Troienne down his tail female line to Intriguing who is also a direct descendant of La Trioenne. Numbered Account was a great racemare and a great broodmare. Super Saver's dam is Supercharger a daughter of A P Indy. The addition of A P Indy to this female line adds three additional strains of reinforcement as he has La Troienne in his pedigree through Buckpasser, Poker and Jet Action all of which trace to La Troienne.

Eskendereya has this cross through his 3rd dam Stellar Odyssey who is the result of breeding Northern Dancer a grandson of Almahmoud to Queen Sucree a granddaughter of Almahmoud. Then when Giant's Causeway is bred to Aldebaran Light to produce Eskendereya an addition direct cross of Northern Dancer is added through the direct male line. Keep in mind that Stellar Odyssey produced Belmont Stakes winner Stephan's Odyssey when bred to Danzig a son of Northern Dancer.

Although he is by the classic sire A P Indy it is Astrology's dam Quiet Eclipse that is most likely to lead to classic ability. To begin Quiet Eclipse is by Quiet American who is in possession of the pedigree pattern in question. Quiet American is by Fappiano whose 3rd dam is Princequillo's daughter Cequillo. Fappiano was bred to Demure to get Quiet American and Demure's 2nd dam is the same Cequillo. Quiet American was a very fast miler who sired Kentucky Derby winner Real Quiet in his first crop. A little more investigation into Quiet American's pedigree is very revealing! Cequillo's 3rd dam is a mare named Marguerite De Valois. Ever heard of her? Well if you haven't she is the full sister to the great stallions Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad 3rd. Quiet American is inbred 3x2 to Dr. Fager. Why is this important? Because Dr. Fager carries a double cross of Marguerite De Valois's full brother Bull Dog. Considering that Quiet American is inbred to Dr. Fager he adds four crosses of Bull Dog to reinforce Cequillo.

It is easy to see that Quiet American is the result of the concentration of a great female line into one individual.

So why do I think Astrology's dam Quiet Eclipse is likely to give him extraordinary ability? It is not just that she is by Quiet American it is because she is by Quiet American and also traces to the foundation mare that made him what he is; none other than Marguerite De Valois.

In summary we have a stallion, Quiet American, who is the result of breeding Fappiano a direct descendant of Cequillo to Demure another direct descendant of Cequillo. Then Quiet American is bred to June Gift and the result is Astrology's dam Quiet Eclipse who also traces to the same mare as does Cequillo, that being Marguerite De Valois.

The question is, why do I think this makes such a significant difference? To understand this look at the pedigree of the greatest broodmare of recent times which I would argue is Urban Sea. She is the dam of Galileo which won the Epsom and Irish Derbies. Sea of Stars, Epsom Derby, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'arc de Triomphe. My Typhoon, Diana Handicap G1. Black Sam Bellamy, Gran Primio del Jockey Club (Italian Derby) and All To Beautiful, 2nd Epsom Oaks.

No doubt about it, a super great broodmare. However, kif you were to look at just the first four generations of her pedigree you would probably miss what made her such a great producer. You have to look at her dam Allegretta to understand the pedigree.

Allegretta is by Lombard who i'm sure most of you have never heard of. Here is the significance , Lombard is by Agio whose dam is a mare called Aralia, she being my Alchimist-Aster by Oleander. Unless you are some sort of pedigree expert, none of these horses would mean anything to you. However, Alchimist's 3rd dam and Aster's 6th dam are the same mare, one Alveole by Crafton. Therefore, Aralia is the result of breeding a male line descendant of a mare back to a female from the same family.

Now look down Allegretta's female line and you find Aster as her 5th dam. Not only that but we find that Allegretta's 2nd dam is bred very much like Aralia. Aralia is by Alchimist out of Aster while Almyra (2nd dam of Allegretta) is by a son of Alchimist out of a granddaughter of Aster. More importantly we have one of the sires in the male line, in this case Agio, tracing to the same mare as does Allegretta (same cross as found in Super Saver, Eskendereya and Astrology). I hope this is food for thought.