JC / Railbird

Vanishing Lines

“Last year … saw what will almost certainly be the last graded-stakes winners descending tail-male from Secretariat (Take d’ Tour) and Affirmed (The Tin Man) … Since the turn of the century, several historic sire lines have produced what will likely be their last American-bred graded winners.”


4 Comments

Great catch, Jessica!
This is an interesting article piggybacking on some of what the Blood-Horse has done in the last year. The breeding business is such a curious, back-asswards biz, and this article sheds light on how successful lines die out because pinhookers and others seeking the immediate buck reject them.

Posted by That's Amore on January 8, 2008 @ 9:25 pm

It’s interesting how some sire-lines have died out faster than others – and not always the ones that you expect. How much is due to changing fashions in breeding, and how much comes down to pure dumb luck?
If the Secretariat line is dying out, it’s good to know that the Bold Ruler line itself (of which the Sec. line is a branch), through Seattle Slew and A.P. Indy, is still going strong.
Cheers,
E-man

Posted by E-man on January 10, 2008 @ 3:03 am

If I’m not mistaken, isn’t the Buckpasser line hugely influential on Derby winners. Who are the remaining Buckpasser sires? It would be wise to keep that line going . . . J.S.

Posted by J.S. on January 11, 2008 @ 1:59 am

There’s Montbrook in Florida, Silver Charm in Japan … I think Buckpasser is considered a better broodmare sire, even if he did get three Kentucky Derby winners, and his tail-male descendants haven’t done as well at stud.

Posted by Jessica on January 14, 2008 @ 8:42 pm