I am now in receipt of The New Care & Training of the Trotter & Pacer, and have some observations and musings regarding the first chapter,"Perspectives on Bloodlines & Breeding".

There are many aspects therein contained with which I whole-heartedly agree with author Curt Greene.He is after all, widely recognized as one of the more knowledgeable in the sport with respect to bloodlines, and has observations that culminate from 30 years of involvement in the harness world at various levels.

But there are also some observations with which I take exception, and aspects of bloodlines and breeding that I think have been omitted - accidentally I presume - but areas to be considered when looking at theoretical and practical approaches to breeding a better race-horse.

This month, we'll chase away the "February Blahs" with some discussion of the areas in that chapter that I think deserve attention, and finish up with an example of "putting one's money where one's mouth is".

First of all, I think that Mr. Greene should be applauded for the years of labour he has poured into this updated version of the Care & Training. Many aspects of the sport have changed over the past 30 years, and current information on breeding, training and racing our future stars was clearly needed. The insights and information shared by the "authors" of the various chapters of the book are interesting, thought-provoking, and at times enlightening and informative.

In his chapter on Bloodlines, Mr. Greene chooses not to repeat the unchanging aspects of the original study so thoroughly covered by James Harrison so many years ago. The lengthy discourses related to the historical underpinnings of the breed, genotype and phenotype are not recreated, nor do they need to be. Instead, Greene brings the breeding scene "up to date", looking at the lines from the times of "contemporaries" such as Volomite, Scotland and Hal Dale, rather than Hambletonian, Mambrino Chief and Tom Hal.

He correctly identifies for the reader the current pacing lines...Abbedale (Hal Dale...Dale Frost...Meadow Skipper...Most Happy Fella and his sons... Albatross) or (Hal Dale...Adios...Henry T. Adios...Silent Majority... Abercrombie and his sons) and (Bert Abbe...Gene Abbe...Big Towner and his sons) and Volomite (Sampson Hanover...Sampson Direct...Direct Scooter and his sons)...and the trotting lines Peter Scott (Scotland through to Valley Victory, Pine Chip and Dream Of Glory), Peter Volo (Volomite through Stars Pride in one branch, and Mack Lobell and Balanced Image in the other), and Axworthy (through Sierra Kosmos).

For the neophyte to the sport, this road map through the recent and current bloodlines of the sport is informative, and maybe even challenging, but probably not so for the more studious in the area of bloodlines.

Greene's observations regarding breeding for gait and type are most welcome. Often, people ask me who I think they should breed this or that mare to, believing this to be simply a bloodline question. And to some degree it is. But, the conformation of the mare, her gait, her disposition and attitude should also be matched to those of the prospective stallion. We are, after all, matching living organisms, and trying to create something better than both. Tabulated pedigrees don't break records...only hearts and bank accounts!!

Greene states: "Gait (is) a far more important factor in predicting success as a sire". Yet, elsewhere in the chapter, Meadow Skipper, Stars Pride and Malts Scooter (among others) are highlighted as examples of sires lacking in gait, so again there is no ONE way to breed a better horse.

Crosses

One area in which there is bound to be confusion is in Greene's definition of Inbreeding, Linebreeding and Outcrossing. In the original work, Harrison identified Inbreeding as any combination of common ancestors in generation numbers totaling five or six (2x3, 3x3, 2x4). Greene redefines the terms, ruling that a 2x4 cross is Linebred, because one of the common connections is outside the 3rd generation. Who's right??

A horse bred 2x3 has 37.5% of his pedigree represented by one ancestor. A 3x3 cross is 25% and a 2x4 cross is 31.25% made up of that individual. On the other hand, Linebred animals are 3x4 (18.75%) or 4x4 (12.5%)...I fail to see how one arbitrarily adds 2x4 (31.25%) to the list of linebred examples.

Greene also fails to recognize the possibility of Incestuously-bred individuals (1x3 or 2x2 crosses). Although these are a relative rarity in modern times, some of our great maternal lines sprang from incestuously bred mares, or mares by stallions that were so-bred.

Greene makes fleeting references to "crosses", but only the obvious ones - for instance, he talks about Cam Fella / Albatross and No Nukes / Albatross performers. But let's face it, there are hundreds of Albatross mares bred to Cam Fella and No Nukes, and numbers would dictate the likelihood of success being the outcome in a few instances. What about other crosses? Like Cam Fella / BG's Bunny...French Chef / Bye Bye Byrd...Beach Towel / Cam Fella. Every now and then, "nicks" can be found to a variety of stallions, and champions result.

On the trotting side, Greene refers to the resurgence of Super Bowl through Speedy Crown mares. I think the opportunity to point out two areas of note was missed in this regard. One is in the progression of the Peter Scott sire line, as compared to the Peter Volo line: ie: Peter Scott...Scotland...Spencer Scot...Rodney...Speedster...Speedy Scot...Speedy Crown...Speedy Somolli... Baltic Speed...Valley Victory (10 removes); versus Peter Volo...Volomite... Worthy Boy...Stars Pride...Super Bowl (five removes).

The other is that it appears to be a general "rule" that older-bred mares can be bred successfully to new stallions, but that older stallions will not find the same degree of success with "modern" mares. For instance, Albatross has been bred to mares by Oil Burner, Abercrombie, No Nukes etc., with limited success. Yet, to this day you can breed him to a Bret Hanover mare, and get a
Ball And Chain. So it appears to be with Super Bowl and Noble Victory and Speedy Crown mares. The other issue is that sometimes sires are limited by the gene pool. Albatross can't breed to the greatest mares, because they are either his own daughters, or grand-daughters. The same applies to Super Bowl. But Speedy Crown's line has moved far enough away from him that Valley Victory can (and is) successfully breed to Speedy Crown mares.

Breeding to Siblings and Maternal Lines

Greene makes reference to the importance of maternal families...to omit this aspect of bloodlines would be gross negligence. But he only flirts with the opportunity to point out the performers in the sport that have resulted from pedigrees which were inbred or linebred to siblings, and therefore to great mares.

For instance, he identifies that Nervolo Belle is the fifth dam of Worthy Boy, and the dam of Worthy Boy's grand-sire (2x4 brother and sister)...that Bye Bye Byrd's most successful cross was to an Adios mare (2x3 brother and sister)..."that Nearly Perfect and several of his most successful offspring ...share the same maternal roots - a very rare and interesting occurrence."

While I would agree completely that it is an "interesting occurrence", I don't think it's as rare as one may be led to believe. The great Guy Axworthy was bred 2x3 to full brothers (therefore 3x4 to the mare)...Adioo Volo, the world champion mother of Adieu and Adios, was by Adioo Guy, who was in-bred to the mare By By. What about C.R. Kay Suzie (2x2 to full brother and
sister) and A Stud Name Sue (2x2 to half-brothers), each of these being 3x3 to a mare??

The fact that students of bloodlines in the sport really don't take heed beyond the first dam of great performers (do you know the second dam of Speedy Crown or Albatross or Matts Scooter etc.??), is to me ample illustration that the importance of the mare is given mere lip service. "What's the dam of Speedy Crown?" "I don't know her name, but it's a Florican mare!" You've heard it a thousand times. Yet, Missile Toe produced one of the greatest sires in the history of our sport.

In Summary


I found much of the chapter on Bloodlines and Breeding to be interesting, though not too challenging. Perhaps that was how it was meant to be. The original Care & Training was my initiation to the sport, and the first of many steps along the path of bloodline study. Perhaps this book is intended to be the same for this generation of beginners. I'd still highly suggest to the uninitiated that they read the chapter by Harrison to get a flavor for the history of harness racing, and its bloodlines.

In closing this month's offering, I want to say there is one aspect of the Greene chapter that I completely agree with. On page 69, Greene suggests that the sisters of great performers, even if unraced themselves, are not to be over-looked as broodmares. To this, I would add that the daughters of these sisters, and their daughters (properly bred) will make worthy additions to a broodmare band. If her daughter don't do it...then her granddaughter will!!

Money Where The Mouth Is


Every now and then, I see a mare that I think is a "must-buy". Such was the case in the Garden State Winter Mixed Sale last month at the Meadowlands. Hip # 59 was a Walton Hanover 7-year-old mare by the name of Spawn Hanover, p, 3, T 1:59 ($34,266).

I remembered Spawn Hanover from 1993, when a filly of which I was part-owner beat her in the Adioo Volo, in 1:56f. Spawn finished third, and I knew she had been race-timed much faster than her record. In fact, Spawn was race-timed second as a 2-year-old in 1:58.2f, and as a 3-year-old she was race-timed faster than 2:00 in 23 of her 35 starts.

Spawn Hanover produced two foals prior to selling...an In The Pocket 2-year-old in 1997, and an Albatross yearling colt. Spawn herself is out of the Meadow Skipper mare Skippers Dream, p, 2, 1:59.2 ($128,782), dam of six in 2:00 from 11 foals...second dam Dream Girl p, 3, T2:00.1 ($51,785), dam of 13 winners. Dream Girl was the full sister to the granddam of Most Happy Fella.

Spawn Hanover sold in foal to Western Hanover, sire of 30 in 2:00 from his first crop, (stud fee paid), as part of the Whitehorse Farms dispersal. I priced her at $5,000. The reasons for choosing Spawn Hanover among other choices in this sale are relatively simple. I knew the mare to be more talented than she indicated on paper. And the foal she is carrying embodies one of the breeding theories which I hold in high regard.

This daughter of Walton Hanover is in foal to Western Hanover, making the resulting foal a 2x2 cross to 1/2 brother (Walton) and sister (Wendymae). Both are out of the mare Wendy Sue Hanover (by Best Of All), who from her first 12 foals, produced 12 winners in 2:02...8 in 2:00...4 in 1:56; for aggregate earnings of over $1,300,000.

What kind of mare is it that produces Walton Hanover, p, 3, 1:53.2 ($802,741), sire of the fastest mare of all time (Caesars Jackpot, p,
T1:49.2)....Walt Hanover, p, 4, 1:53.1 ($239,086) and Wendymae Hanover p, 4, T1:57, the dam of Western Hanover, p, 3, 1:50.4 ($2,541,647)? What kind of potency does Wendy Sue Hanover carry in her genes?

In addition, the foal will also carry a 6x3 connection to Maxines Dream and Dream Girl, Knight Dream full sisters from the great mare Maxine Abbe.

We'll find out. I got the mare for $4,200, due to foal in April 1997. I'm just hoping we get a filly. That would be one foal that would NEVER see an auction sale, as I believe she will make a great broodmare. See you after the February Blahs have melted away.


Ralph.