Any trainer with good horse sense could have told you that Trading Leather was something special before he raced from the pack, overtook Galileo Rock, and galloped to victory in the prestigious Irish Derby last June. All one needed to do was take in the magnificent crevasse of muscle running…
The following treatise is the product of Dr. Rif’at Hussain, breeder of Thoroughbreds for several decades. His most acclaimed homebred was the exceptionally fast racer Shimatoree, whom he bred and raced in partnership with trainer Dick Dutrow (the elder). Dr. Hussain’s views on bloodlines and bloodstock are, therefore, of interest,…
The “X Factor” or Large Heart Gene – Thumbs Down How did this idea get started? After the death of Secretariat in October, 1989, a necropsy was performed on the great champion by the University of Kentucky veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Swerczek. One of Swerczek’s findings was that, by his estimation,…
If you don’t know who Joe Estes was, then you need to do some reading. Look for the book “The Estes Formula For Breeding Stakes Winners” published by Russell Meerdinck,” which is a compilation of articles Joe wrote when he was the editor of The Blood-Horse back in the day…
Statistically Beneficial Generation Location for Linebreeding When practicing linebreeding, what generation position of the pedigree is most effective? Almost all horses, bad performers as well as good, are linebred in some way. However, the extensive research that has been done into successful horses has shown that certain areas of the…
Nicking, once considered a somewhat interesting theory worth no more than an occasional mention, has come to dominate Thoroughbred breeding to an extent dangerously out of proportion to whatever value it may offer. Not long ago the owner of a stakes-winning mare retiring from the track told us he called…
Is our American Thoroughbred only sprinter bred? No it is not, matter of fact America’s breeders produce 25% of the world’s stamina bloodlines. This means Sport Horse breeders in America can stop listening to the propaganda and start reinforcing those stamina lines your horses already carry. Click here to read…
Talk to a group of horse people about conformation and you’ll get as many differing opinions as you have bystanders. Racing lore says that a good, big horse can beat a good, little horse, or wait, is it the other way around? There are examples for either side of the…
Heritability of Performance Heritability – an explanation Factors including genetics, environment and random chance all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics. The heritability of a trait within a population is the proportion of observable differences in a trait between individuals within a population that is due…
If the definition of an inbred horse is one that has at least one duplicated ancestor between the parents within four generations, then an outcrossed one has no closely duplicated ancestors at all. The majority of the breed is outcrossed, which should relieve the fear that the Thoroughbred is overrun…