Perspectives On Sire Lineage - Turf Route

Original article written by Paul Heinrich posted 13 years 3 weeks ago

Extending the theme discussed throughout the first two articles, featuring turf sprinters and milers, the SIM turf route division is a relative beacon of health and vitality. Here’s a fun exercise when you’re bored – take any given Grade or Group 1 stakes race, and count the number of sires and damsires represented in the pedigree of the participants. Then divide that number by the number of entries. The higher the number, the more diversity in the race – with the highest number possible at 2. A score of 1.5 or above would be considered healthy - get below a score of 1, and you're dealing with a lot of redundancy. This year’s Ireland Champion’s Stakes, for example, features a current field of 7 turf routers (and one turf sprinter, whom we’ll ignore). From those 7 entrants, there are 14 different sires and damsires represented – this race scores a “perfect 2”. Contrasting this, one of the principle prep races for the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Filly Turf Dash goes off in Louisiana with 8 entrants. Here is a basic look at the sire crosses:

Right Hand Man x A Bus
Silent Partner x A Bus
Right Hand Man x A Bus
Right Hand Man x A Bus
Right Hand Man x Night Shade (Yay!)
Right Hand Man x A Bus
Right Hand Man x A Bus
Ease (who is, like RHM, by King’s Best) x (you guessed it) A Bus

That’s a grand total of 5 males represented as sires or damsires in these pedigrees, out of 8 entrants. According to my Tennessee math, this race scores a not-so-perfect .625, which probably borders on unbearable redundancy.

This is an extreme example, of course, and there are lots of turf sprint stakes races featuring runners by different sires. For example, the male version of this race features 7 entrants with 9 sires/damsires represented - although in this race we’re breaking into the sons of RHM and A Bus. Moreover, this article is not about what is wrong with turf sprinting – it is about what is right with the turf route division.

We’ve got most of the same players as we examined with milers: Storm Cat (Three of Crowns/A Crown Awaits/Three of a Kind, Acapulco, Stop and Stare); Kingmambo (Black Conder/Atlantis); Sunday Silence (Deep Impact/Frayed); Danzig (War Chant/Palpitations); Kris S (Action This Day, Threeten Doitagain); and Sadler’s Wells (Super Light, Stealth Ninja, Rado). We also have some sireline representation for the miler damsires we highlighted, Astarabad (Streamer) and Tulloch (Fumetsu). We’ll come back to some of these in detail below. But let’s start with the surprises.

Perhaps the biggest surprise to an onlooker or new trainer is that one very prominent turf family hails from a sireline best known for producing dirt speedsters (sprint, mile and route) in the SIM. Symbol was a product of Silver Charm crossed with Secretariat. While he ran exclusively on dirt, and produced almost exclusively dirt, when crossed with a Storm Cat mare named Rain Dancer, Symbol produced what may be considered the original SIM Superhorse, Conduit. Many volumes have already been written on this sireline, and it’s very well deserved. Sons representing Conduit on turf include Atlas, Feature Attraction, Le Dauphin Noir, Loki Dynasty, Tejano Tribute, Unconquered and Zinfandel. Of this group, Feature Attraction stands out as a sire of sires, with 13 sons currently available for duty. However, as with Monaachi in the mile division, the Feature Attraction strain is still awaiting an heir apparent from the 3rd generation.

Another apparent oddball turf route sire line comes through the Unbridled line. Like Conduit, End of the Line was a “superhorse” type product of a dirt sire line crossed with a turf-filled female family (Tulloch). Lest we get any ideas, it’s important to note that this almost never works. Probably at least 99 times out of 100, the result is a foal not suited to run on either surface, rather than a versatile horse who can run anywhere. End of the Line, like Conduit before him, beat those odds. On turf, End of the Line is represented by Start of the End, Magician, and Commendation.

Getting back to the classic turf families, Action This Day (Kris S) has proven to be a wonderful and consistent sire of sires, with 7 sons currently standing, and perhaps 2 more on the way. Fish is by far the most successful son at this point, with 3 millionaire sons (including the fabulous Baracuda) and more to come; in other words, the 3rd generation here is very secure. Another Roberto strain bypasses Kris S through Dynaformer and his beloved son, Barbaro. This particular line is in a precarious position, as Looking at the Sun is probably the only viable son of Barbaro standing, and he has yet to produce an obvious male heir.

The Sadler’s Wells strain of Northern Dancer’s legendary lineage is in no danger of extinction anytime soon. 8 grandsons are currently standing, although champion Sword Bearer is the only real standout at this point. However, with millionaires Unlimited and I Dreamed a Dream due to join their ranks soon, this popular line should stay well represented. It should also be noted, Well Traveled (through El Prado/Rado) is already representing the 3rd generation well, already with two 4yo sons who figure to approach 7 digit earnings before they’re through.

In his day, Black Condor was the pinnacle of the division. If you want a male-line descendant, you have no shortage of choices, at prices ranging from $2,500 to $65,000. He sired 35 stakes winning colts, 18 of which are currently listed in the stud book. 11 of his ungelded sons were millionaires. He didn’t produce a son capable of his sort of dominance, however, and this is perhaps a contributing factor to the division’s overall health – there is no one dominant line, despite how imposing Black Condor and his $200,000 stud fee once looked. Atlantis is clearly the most accomplished of the bunch, with a pair of sons already at stud. However, next to his sire’s legendary figures, Atlantis’ sire stats may look rather dry.

The Storm Cat side of the Northern Dancer family is a little more oriented toward sprint and mile distances. But through Three of Crowns, Acapulco, and Stop and Stare, there are some Storm Cat options in this division as well. The Three of Crowns family, most notably A Crown Awaits and Three of a Kind, looks like it will ultimately be more successful on the bottom of the pedigree. No sons of A Crown Awaits have really made a mark in the route division. Knighted has produced the only ungelded route stakes winning grandson, with Slay the Dragon. Being out of a Lokite Magic mare who has produced nothing else of note, Slay the Dragon will have a lot to prove when he hits the breeding shed, as he appears to have outrun his pedigree both in terms of class and distance. As a sire of sires, Acapulco hasn’t fared much better in the route division.

Of the Storm Cat router sons, the Stop and Stare line is probably the best bet to survive. Jabaar has five stakes winning males in his first crop of 3yos, including Japanese Derby winner, Evil Grin. He also has two stakes winning juvenile colts. The second generation may not be done yet either, as Stop and Stare has a trio of stakes winning colts in his class of 3yos.

Tulloch produced a little bit of everything on turf, and thanks to his great-grandson Fumetsu, he is alive and kicking in the way-back recesses of modern turf route pedigrees. Untamed and Feat are the two principle players here. Untamed made it to stallion duty first, and has a quintet of stakes winning males, headed up by the unfortunately named Untamed Princess (yes, that’s a colt). He’s not an obvious superstar yet, but he’s got a Group 1 win, and an owner who will give him every opportunity in the shed, so Fumetsu has probably already got a 3rd generation heir set. But his son Feat is the one really turning heads, becoming one of the hot new sires with yearlings assaulting the top workout lists in Year 28. For a while, it appeared the once potent Crystal Night sire line was in trouble; but thanks to Fumetsu, he is likely out of the woods, to remain a male-line presence in the turf route universe.

So what do you call an outcross when there are so many good options? Vernacular is a fitting answer. His sire line, through Halling and Diesis, has virtually no other representation in the SIM. It’s possible to get some of that blood through his half brother, Fact Not Fiction, but otherwise you’ll need to go through one of his sons. So far, Trafalgar is the only one standing, but there may be a few lesser options joining him in the next few years. Beyond Vernacular, Frayed (Deep Impact) and Deathdefying (Lokite Magic) deserve mention in this section, as they both have multiple sons capable of carrying their blood through the next generation.

Conventional wisdom says you send the best mares to the best stallions, and hope for the best. More nuanced approaches are becoming popular, especially among breeders interested in advancing the routing divisions. One line of thought proposes to make a great router by combining some speed on the bottom (Storm Cat, Tulloch, Danzig, Astarabad) with some stamina on the top (Black Condor, Action This Day, Sadler’s Wells) to get the desired hybrid vigor. Others take a near-opposite approach, and seek to reinforce stamina in their fillies, whether through linebreeding or simply outcrossing to a distance influence like Vernacular, and then planning to add speed back in for the next generation. Regardless of the method, one thing is clear – there are a lot more choices with turf routers than amongst their speedier green cousins.

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