Page 43 - 8 June 2012 Special Broodmare Edition

Tesio, Master Of Matings by Ken McLean is a masterful book that studies Tesio’s breed- ing philosophies. McLean shows us that Tesio built his breeding program on “inbreeding, linebreeding and outcrossing.” But as you go through McLean’s book, it is obvious that Tesio focused his efforts through mares and mare lines.
Tesio used specially selected mares
to build families of horses. As McLean
put it, “He upgraded many female lines into top grade stakes winning families in
a short time.” These foundation mares include Catnip, dam of Nogara; Duccia de Buoninsegna, second dam of Donatello II; Try Try Again, dam of Tenerani (Tenerani was the sire of Ribot) and Barbara Burrini, the second dam of Ribot.
Tesio would search out mares that gave him the desired qualities and bloodlines he wanted in his program. Catnip serves as an example. McLean explains that Tesio liked the stallion Spearmint. Tesio found that Spearmint was a “tough stayer with powerful hocks.” He bought Catnip to put those quali- ties in his breeding program.
From the Catnip family Tesio bred horses like Nearco, who became the founder of two very significant branches of the Phalaris sire line through his sons, *Nasrullah and Nearctic.
Nearco sired *Nasrullah, who sired Bold Ruler. Bold Ruler was an eight-time leading sire in the Thoroughbred industry and the sire of Secretariat. The *Nasrullah sire line
is still prominent with A.P. Indy being one
of the strongest sires representing this line today. A.P. Indy is sired by Triple Crown win- ner and leading sire Seattle Slew, a sire line descendant of Bold Ruler. A.P. Indy is also out of a daughter of Secretariat by Bold Ruler.
Nearco also sired Nearctic. Nearctic was the sire of dominant stallion Northern Dancer. The Northern Dancer sire line has been prominent for many years through major stallions like Nuryev, Sadler’s Wells and Njinsky II. Storm Cat, a grandson of Northern Dancer, is a significant sire rep- resenting this line today. Giant’s Causeway was the 2011 leading money earning sire in the thoroughbred industry. He is a son of Storm Cat. Let it be noted here that Storm Cat was out of a daughter of Secretariat.
When we look at the modern day influ- ence of the female family and the influence of a taproot mare, a review of the 2011 AQHA Champion Racing American Quarter Horses shows how Esters Little Klu made her presence known last year through the tail female line. Ochoa, 2011 AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old and 2-Year-Old Gelding, Feature Mr Bojangles, AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and Fantastic For Me, AQHA South
Three Bars TB’s tail female family had a great influence on his success not only as a sire, but also as a top broodmare sire.
American
THREE BARS TB
Percentage
Midway
Ballot
*Voter
*Cerito
Thirty-Third
Sir Dixon
High Degree
Gossip Avenue
Bulse
Disguise
Nethersole
Rosewood
Magneto
*Rose Tree II
Myrtle Dee
Luke McLuke
Ultimus
Commando
Running Stream
Midge
Trenton
*Sandfly
Civil Maid
Patriot
Ben Brush
*Sandfly
Civil Rule
Carlsbad
Semper Victoire
Three Bars shows his inbreeding to a female through his dam Myrtle Dee. She has a breeding pattern of 3x3 to *Sandfly. It has to be noted that Myrtle Dee could have been a double copy mare with both of her X’s possibly coming from *Sandfly.
Champion, are all from the family of Esters Little Klu, a Thoroughbred mare. All three of these Champions come from the Ester’s Bunny branch of the Esters Little Klu family.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA AND THE FAMILY INFLUENCE
The mitochondria are known as the “pow- erhouse” of the cell because it functions as the cellular source of energy. The mitochondria
are located in the cell but outside the nucleus. Energy used by mammals is produced through the functioning of the mitochondria. It is the mitochondrial DNA’s function in cellular energy production that has prompted research into its role in an individual’s athletic ability or, in the case of the horse, its effect on racing speed and/or stamina.
There are two types of DNA in the cell— nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA. The
SPEEDHORSE, June 8, 2012 41
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