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Kentucky Derby Pedigree Patterns Change With Each New Generation Race Always Welcomes Fresh Infusion of Blood Into Ranks Only Time Will Tell What Effect Various Importations Vill Have on Downs Classic ClassicBy By NELSON DUNSTAN DUNSTANCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky April 30 The eightieth running of the Kentucky Derby is another example of how the pedigree patterns have undergone changes with each succeeding generation since the Inaugural in 1875 Aristides win ¬ ner of the first running was by the im ¬ ported horse Leamington out of arong by our own Blind Hero Lexington while the 1953 winner Dark Star by the Aus ¬ tralian importation Royal Gem H was from Isolde a daughter of Bull Dog From 1875 to 1953 the Louisville classic like other traditional events stresses that fresh infusions of blood from whateyei source are good for our breed This will continue for in recent years Nasrullah Royal Charger Daumier Endeavour n and many others have been brought here and only time can tell what effect these newcomers will have on the Derby renewals of the future futureThoroughbred Thoroughbred breeding is described as a science but it is purely conjectural We cannot foresee the future but we can re ¬ view the past generation by generation and trace the changes that have occurred throughout the years Leamington made a deep impression on the breeding of his years and it was in 1875 that he dethroned Lexington who had been the ie sire of this country for 14 years in succession Leamington was regarded as the most in ¬ fluential sire ever brought to these shores until the arrival of Sir Gallahad HI 18751900 Winners Reflected Pattern Prom 1875 to 1900 the breeding of Ken ¬ tucky Derby winners reflected a pattern of Glencoe Leamington Australian and others being mated to daughters of our own Boston and his son Lexington and still others In those years the value of the race passed the 5000 mark on only one occasion The outstanding winner in the early years was Hindoo the bay horse by Virgil grandson of Glencoe out of Flor ¬ ence by Lexington and he is still regarded as one of the greatest horses ever to race in this country Bred at Elmendorf the pedigree of Hindoo is just one of the many examples of the blending of the Hood of Imported horses with that of our own mares and vice versa Lexington vr the grandsire of Falsetto who before being sent to England was the sire of Chant Derby winner in 1894 His Eminence win ¬ ner in 1901 and Sir Huon winner in 1906 Hindoo too had come to stud and his son Hanover was mated with Longfellows by Leamington daughter Julia L and from this mating came Halma winner in 1895 With the expansion that came it was different during the first 20 years of the present century The breeding world was growing and more colts and fillies were being sent to the races and then to the breeding sheds The courageous little sire Broomstick of the American line of Ben Brush who had won the Derby in 1896 came into the picture when his son Merid ¬ ian was the winner in 1911 He then wrote a colorful page of history when his daughter Regret became the first and only filly ever to win at Louisville Regrot vas the first of 19 horses that the famous owner and breeder Harry Payne Whitney was to send after Derby honors honorsFirst First to EarnOver 10000 10000Regret Regret was the first to earn over 10000 in the Derby and the value steadily in ¬ creased as Omar Khayyam Exterminator Sir Barton and Morvich joined the win ¬ ning roster It passed the 50000 mark when Zev garnered 53600 in 1923 Pur ¬ chased at the Newmarket sales by C K G Billings and Fred Johnson Omar Khay ¬ yam was imported as a yearling and was the first foreignbred horse to win at Louisville Exterminator a gelding used the Derby as a stepping stone to one of the outstanding Cup careers of all time and in 1919 Sir Barton was the first win ¬ ner to go on and annex the honors in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes the three races which had become the Triple Crown CrownSir Sir Barton was the threeyearold cham ¬ pion in 1919 a year which boasted Eter ¬ nal Purchase and other good horses Sir Barton was a son of the imported Star Shoot and upon the arrival of the latter it was believed that a new dynasty had come to reign that of Isonomy through his grandson Star Shoot son of Isinglass and the great mare Astrology On four occasions Star Shoot became Americas leading sire 191112 and then again in 191617 His two best sons were Sir Bar ¬ ton and Grey Lag but they failed to carry on in stud and the Isonomy line along with those of St Simon Bend Or and Hampton failed to become permanent in this country despite the large number of representatives that had been imported It is remarkable how sire lines which were powerful on the other side could fail here and then again those who were considered failures in Europe could come here to carve success successBy By 1921 the Kentucky Derby had come into its own as one of the major sports events in this country It was decided to raise the value to 50000 and with Be ¬ have Yourself defeating his stablemate Black Servant Col E R Bradley of Idle Hour entered the picture in which he was to play such a prominent part as both owner and breeder Morvich was the first Californiabred to win at Louisville and in 1923 was followed by Zev a son of The Finn who was to become Americas lead ¬ ing sure on two occasions Then there was the colorful Black Gold who was followed in 1925 by Flying Ebony another son of The Finn and a horse that had been pur ¬ chased for 110000 Bubbling Over son of the imported North Star HI won for Colonel Bradley in 1926 and was followed by Whiskery a typical Americanbred horse as he was by Whisk Broom n Prudery by Peter Pan thus of the Ben Brush Domino cross Whiskery was found to be impotent when sent to stud and finished his days as a saddle horse horseFrom From its inaugural running the roster of Kentucky Derby winners had mainly been a blending of foreign sires and Amer ¬ ican mares or vice versa The year 1928 can be called a milestone in Derby history and more so because of its winner Reigh Count than that it attracted 22 starters the largest field in Derby history Reigh Count was a son of Sunreigh out of Con tesinna by Count Shomberg and was bred by Willis Sharpe Kilmer of Court Manor Virginia Kilmer sold Reigh Count pri ¬ vately to John D Hertz for a reported 12500 Later it was said That was the only mistake Kilmer ever made But whether so or not it was one of the great ¬ est purchases ever made by an owner and breeder in this country Reigh Count was sent to England to win the Coronation Cup and finished second in the Ascot Gold Cup Then he returned to write one of the most colorful pages of Derby history historyMan Man o War did not start in the Kentucky Derby but despite his prowess as a sire it is surprising that he did not appear on the winning sire list until 1929 when his son sonI I Continued on Page FortySeven FRED CAPOSSELA Will describe the therunning running of todays eightieth Kentucky KentuckyDerby Derby over television and radio Patterns of Derby Pedigrees Change With Each Generation Fresh Infusion of Blood Is Welcome Only One Winning Trio of Direct Male Descent DescentContinued Continued from Page Twelve Twelvethe the gelded little Clyde Van Dusen entered the winners circle and then was followed by War Admiral in 1937 The Pair Play clan of which man o War was an outstand ¬ ing member was far more impressive in the Belmont Stakes than in the Louisville race With the coming of 1930 Americas most colorful horse race entered into a new phase of breeding for the full brothers Sir Gal lahad m and later Bull Dog were des ¬ tined to play a prominent part in our rac ¬ ing St Germans had also been imported and before the decade had spent itself an American syndicate had purchased Blen ¬ heim n from the Aga Khan It is impos ¬ sible to evaluate what these four horses have accomplished in this country It is clear that Sir Gallahad m had replaced Leamington as the most successful sire ever imported here but it has been ques ¬ tioned whether Sir Gallahad m or Blen ¬ heim n has been the greater horse on the breeding of this country in the past two decades Sir Gallahad m and Bull Dog were representatives of the great male line of Teddy while St Germans was a son of Swynford then again Blenheim n was by Blandford who until his death was re ¬ garded as the greatest sire in the world Thus in these four horses we had repre ¬ sentatives of France England and Ireland IrelandGallant Gallant Fox Scores ScoresSir Sir Gallahad HI joined the Derby ros ¬ ter in 1930 when his son Gallant Fox was returned the winner and went onto gain Triple Crown honors Then St Germans sent Twenty Grand to win and in the two years to follow Burgoo King and Brokers Tip sons of Bubbling Over and Black Toney respectively added to the glory of Idle Hour Farm and Colonel Bradley The year 1934 was a tribute to the English stallion Lancegaye the sire of Cavalcade and in the following year the line of Sir Gallahad m again reigned when his son Gallant Fox had the winner in Omaha Those were great years for Man o War i was the sire of War Admiral in 1937 and Insco another son of Sir Gallahad HI sired Lawrin the first Derby winner ever saddled by Ben Jones of Calumet fame Those were years when it was obvious that our breeders were importing stallions who were to send forth youngsters capable of winning our greatest turf events James ¬ town a son of St James out of the Fair Play mare Mile Dazie ended the decade when his son Johnstown defeated Challe don and Heather Broom BroomWith With the coming of 1940 Sir Gallahad HI was very much in the Derby picture In that year his son Gallahadion scored one of the biggest upsets of the race when he won from Bimelech Blenheim n made his presence felt at Louisville for the first time with Whirlaway and in the follow ¬ ing year the brilliant Equipoise the be ¬ loved Chocolate Soldier was proving himself as great a sire as he was a racer Just one of his sons was the Derby win ¬ ner Shut Out who defeated Alsab We can well say that in three successive years Sir Gallahad UL Blenheim n and Equipoise had proven themselves to be three of the greatest sires of their time timeStill Still in the Running RunningWhile While the Derby showed very definite effects of sons of imported sires the Amer ¬ ican lines of Ben Brush Fair Play and Domino were still in the running In 1933 Black Toney had sent Brokers Tip to the winners circle and the victory of Shut Out was another feather in the cap of the Domino clan for both Black Toney and Equipoise were direct male line descend ¬ ants of Domino and the similarity between the breeding of these two horses was strik ¬ ing Domino created the greatest speed line ever known to this country and it was a blending of Domino on Ben Brush that was to prove of extraordinary success successThe The year 1943 can well be called another milestone in Derby annals Gallant Fox and Omaha had joined the father and son roster of Derby winners and now Reigh Count winner in 1928 was to join that list with the triumph of his son Count Fleet Since 1919 only Sir Barton Gal ¬ lant Fox Omaha War Admiral and Whirlaway had won the Derby and then gone on to Triple Crown honors But once again an outstanding threeyearold came on the scene in Count Fleet a colt who became the sixth to win the Triple Crown An injury in the Belmont Stakes sent this horse to the breeding farm where as we will show later he wrote a brilliant page for the breeding world Foreign im ¬ prints on the Derby scene were again ap ¬ parent for in the four years following Count Fleet the race was to be won by Pensive a son of Hyperion and then Hoop Jr by Sir Gallahad m Assault by Bold Venture by St Germans out of Igual a daughter of Equipoise In 1947 Jet Pilot by Blenheim n was the winner and in 1948 he was followed by Citation a son of Bull Lea and undoubtedly one of the greatest winners since the event was inaugurated in 1875 1875Assault Assault was the seventh threeyearold to win the Triple Crown and Citation became the eighth Sir Gallahad in had sent three winners to Louisville and little did the racing world realize that his full brother Bull Dog was to beget one of the foremost sires of the present day in Bull Lea The latter out of Rose Leaves by Ballot was not an outstanding race horse but came to his full powers when he was sent to Calumet Farm for breed ¬ ing He was mated with Hydroplane n a daughter of Hyperion and the issue was Citation a horse who has often been men ¬ tioned in the same breath with Man o War Although he never reached these shores the name of Hyperion loomed large in the Derby annals of these years for not only did his son Pensive win in 1944 but when sent to stud and mated with Miss Rushin a daughter of Blenheim n the result was Ponder who defeated Capot and Palestinian in 1949 1949Bold Bold Venture came into the news once again when his son Middleground won from Hill Prince in the renewal of 1950 Now we come to the year 1951 when one of the most unique episodes in all Derby history was to occur A winner by a win ¬ ner had been recorded on quite a few occasions but in the year mentioned Count Fleet sent J J Amiels Count Turf to the winners circle and that was the first time that a trio had won in direct male line succession the trio being Reigh Count Count Fleet and Count Turf TurfThe The Bull Lea Blenheim II cross was to come into play once again when Hill Gail won hi 1952 and that of course was a forerunner to one of the most surpris ¬ ing upsets in all Derby history Native Dancer who had never met defeat was an oddson choice in 1953 but was to suffer the only setback of his career as a two and threeyearold when Dark Star a son of the Australian sire Royal Gem n and out of Bull Dogs daughter Isolde scored by a head over the Vanderbilt champion
