Page 79 - July 2015

You will find 18 crosses
in the pedigree of American Pharoah to the great Hyperion, shown here.
American Pharoah has multiple crosses to the great Olympia, who had a stellar race career and was a solid sire and broodmare sire.
The previous 3 winners of the Triple Crown before American Pharoah:
Reb’s Policy is also the sire of Lilsalady, the second dam of the great Corona Chick. Corona Chick is also the dam of Corona Cartel, the all-time leading living sire of Quarter Horse money earners.
The Quarter Horse connection to Hyperion would have to include Shirley’s Champion and The Signature. Both of these stallions come to us from the Hyperion sire line through a son
of Hyperion named Stardust. Stardust sired Star Kingdom, who sired Noholme II, and Noholme II sired both of these stallions.
The Signature is the sire of horses like AQHA Champion Three Year Olds Rare Form and Heza Fast Man; All American Derby-G1 winner Meter Me Gone; and Bob Baffert’s Kindergarten Futurity-G1 winner Ourautograph.
The Hyperion line continues through stallions like Meter Me Gone and Heza Fast Man. Meter Me Gone is the sire of Panther Mountain, an AQHA Champion Aged Stallion and sire of such notable horses as Gone To The Mountain, a 2-time Champion, and DMNV Mountable, winner of the Heritage Place Derby-G1, Texas Classic Derby-G1 and Remington Park Derby-G1. Heza Fast Man is the sire of Heza Motor Scooter, winner of the El Primero Del Ano Derby-G1. Heza Motor Scooter is the sire of Rylees Boy, a Champion of Champions-G1 winner.
We recently saw the role of Shirley’s Champion as a part of the pedigree of the SPEEDHORSE Broodmare of the Year Look Her Over. But, another major source of this blood shows up in the breeding program founded by the AQHA Hall of Fame breeder Spencer Childers. Childers stood Shirley’s Champion, and a great example of his influ- ence on the program comes from AQHA Racing World Champion Be A Bono. Shirley’s
Champion is the sire of Keynesian, the third dam of Be A Bono. Another from this line is Be A Bono’s full sister Bonos Party and she is the dam of The Partys On Fire, winner of the Golden State Million Futurity-G1.
Shirley B Gayle is a great runner sired by Shirley’s Champion. She was the win- ner of the Golden State Futurity and the Golden State Derby-G1. She is the dam
of seven ROM, with her leading run-
ner being the stakes placed Surly B Dash by Dash For Cash. This mating gives
the cross another Hyperion connection through Alibhai, who is in the pedigree of Dash For Cash.
One of the daughters of Shirley B Gayle was Shirley’s Signature by The Signature. This makes Shirley’s Signature double bred to Hyperion through The Signature and Shirley’s Champion. Shirley’s Signature is the dam of Devons Signature, a multiple Grade 1 finalist including a third in the 2004 All American Futurity-G1. This
is interesting because the sire of Devons Signature is Devon Lane, a Thoroughbred son of Storm Cat. The dam of Devon Lane is To The Hunt, a granddaughter of In Reality. Hmmm! Some interesting connections here.
Wow! This has been an interesting trip through the pedigree of American Pharoah - our 12th Triple Crown Champion. His blood is a mixture of many fine bloodlines with a definite Hyperion influence. It will be interesting to see if American Pharoah will someday influence our American Quarter Racing Horse just as some of the horses in his pedigree have influenced the breed. But most important, we now have a new Triple Crown winner - proving we can still do it. I just hope we don’t have to wait 37 more years for another one.
Secretariat was the winner of the 1973 Triple Crown.
Seattle Slew was the winner of the 1977 Triple Crown.
Affirmed was the winner of the 1978 Triple Crown.
SPEEDHORSE, July 2015 77
SPEEDLINES