Caressing : Pouring it On

by Les Brinsfield ©

When it rains, it pours: just ask Carl Pollard, master of Hermitage Farm and owner of 2000 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Caressing, who is rounding into form as shown by a win in Arlington's recent Singapore Plate Stakes (G3). Enjoying a star filly, on top of being voted the new chairman of Churchill Downs has nice ring to it. The La Troienne Stakes (G3) was run there and his Caressing was victorious there as well. The gods of racing are at it again.

Now, Caressing has linebeeding to Big Event in her sire, Honour and Glory, he of the rightfully elevated stud fee. Her dam, Lovin Touch, is 3 X 3 to full sibs, Your Hostess and My Host. The sibs in the dam and Big Event in the sire have some common ancestors, as most any two horses do: however, they themselves are not a natural cross to one another.

The linebreeding is mostly in Lovin Touch as the sibs are crossed on three-quarter brothers Royal Charger and Nasrullah, and it gets worse as their dam is Boudoir II, she by Mahmoud.

Now, Mahmoud is clearly sire of The Axe II and a little digging finds a triple in the sire as he is behind Northern Dancer [Almahmoud] and sired Boldness, fifth dam of Honour And Glory, himself tail female to Marguerite de Valois, the sister to Bull Dog/Sir Gallahad. So what looked like line crossing of sire with a close up cross of Big Event on a mare 3X3 to brother and sister by Alibhai's son and daughter turns this into a quintupling of Mahmoud who is the inside out version of Sun Princess, dam of Royal Charger and three-quarters to Mumtaz Begum, dam of Nasrullah, he [to remind] the three-quarter brother to Royal Charger - all compliments of Mumtaz Mahal and H.H. Aga Khan.

[Readers are advised to take a minute and compare Nasrullah and Royal Charger to each other and both to Mahmoud - these are cornerstone relationships not likely to evaporated from the gene pool. Del Mar Pedigree Query is a handy tool for this, using the Hypo Mating feature.]

Hold it! Alibhai is a grandson of Gainsborough, he the damsire of Mahmoud. Now Teddy, sire of La Troienne, she the dam of double Big Event, is very similar to the basics of Gainsborough - to wit: Teddy is a maternal grandson of Bay Ronald and carries Angelica, the sister to St. Simon. Gainsborough is a paternal grandson of Bay Ronald and has St. Simon. Both are tail female to Bend Or mares out of daughters of May Queen. Call this pair genetic equivalents [you will love the glossary of terms we invented and their illustrations - it is on the drawing boards as we speak].

Let's not forget the 5X4 cross of Royal Charger tying this ball of wax together. Nor should we expunge pedigrees of great geldings from our minds - it was no fault of theirs they did not breed on. Five time Horse of the Year Kelso was by the third sib in this saga, Your Host, from a Count Fleet mare. And seeing that cross in the dam of a current Champion brings back memories of Chesapeake City and Mrs. DuPont and the great Kelso finally getting it done in the D.C. International.