The racing career of Citation (1945) was extraordinary. 

Citation, by Bull Lea, was a homebred by Warren Wright and
grown-up at the Calumet Farm, but Citation lacks the typical
American influence of e.g. Ben Brush or Commando. Citation has a
European, largely British pedigree. In this point Citation is an
exception among Bull Lea's top-class progeny. But let's start the
analysis with the damline.

1. The Damside

Citation is a relative of the family 3-l. This branch started
with Pic-Nic (1842, GB 1000 Guineas) and her daughter Mayonaise
(1856, GB 1000 Guineas), who is by Teddington. Grandsire of
Teddington is Touchstone.

1.1. Inbreedings by Lord Derby

In 1894 Lord Derby bought Broad Corrie (1889) at the Newmarket
December Sales. Broad Corrie, who is tail-female to Mayonaise, is
the sixth dam of Citation. Analyzing the damline of Citation you
see exemplary how Lord Derby used inbreedings to build up
interesting patterns. I think this is a risky breeding strategy
but Lord Derby got fine results. 'Table 1.' shows the inbreeding
coefficients of the dams tail-female of Citation.

Table 1. Inbreeding coefficients for dams tail-female of Citation
5
Generation 9 Generation
Tail-Female All horses PocahontasGalopin Touchstone Birdcatcher
Citation 09.37 % 1.42 % 2.93 % 1.17 % 0.73 %
Hydroplane 13.28 % 1.95 % 4.30 % 1.17 % 1.37 %
Toboggan 11.72 % 3.91 % 2.54 % 1.81 % 2.15 %
Glacier 21.09 % 2.73 % 7.81 % 1.07 % 2.15 %
Glasalt 17.19 % 2.34 % 1 line 2.15 % 2.73 %
Broad Corrie 14.85 % 2.34 % 1 line 1.95 % 1.95 %
Corrie Roy 11.72 % 1 line 1 line 1 line 3.13 %
Corrie 05.47 % 1 line - - 1 line - -
Mayonaise 10.16 % - - - - 1 line - -
Pic-Nic 10.94 % - - - - - - - -

Pic-Nic and Mayonaise have both an inbreeding coefficient of
about 10-11%. This indicates a moderate inbreeding or close
linebreeding. The next mare Corrie (1879) has a reduced
coefficient of 5.47%. She has no duplicated horse in her first
four generations. Then each subsequent mating increased the
inbreedings. Corrie Roy (1878) has 11.72% and her daughter Board
Corrie (1889) has 14.85%.

Lord Derby put the screws on further. Glasalt (1898), daughter of
Board Corrie and fifth dam of Citation has 14.85%. At last
Glacier (1907) reaches a coefficient of remarkable 21.09% largely
because of an inbreeding to Galopin 2x4.

In the next step Lord Derby reduced this heavy inbreeding by
mating Glacier with Hurry On. The result was Toboggan (1925) and
she has a moderate inbreeding coefficient of 11.72%. Toboggan ran
excellent and won the Epsom Oaks in 1928.

1.2. The Combination of Galopin, Birdcatcher, Touchstone and
Pocahontas

I belief that keys are Pocahontas, Galopin, Touchstone and
Birdcatcher. In the subsequent matings lines of these horses are
introduced, then reinforced respectively restrained. That was
done very carefully.

Corrie (1879) is by Stockwell, so Pocahontas is introduced into
the pedigree of Citation. The next dam is Corrie Roy (1878) by
Galopin. Therefore Corrie Roy is similar bred as St Simon because
of the cross of Galopin with Pocahontas.

Corrie Roy was mated with Hampton and the result was Broad Corrie
(1889), the fifth dam of Citation. This mating reinforced
Pocahontas, Birdcatcher and Touchstone.

The next dam Glasalt (1898) is by Isinglass and because Isinglass
has Pocahontas 4x5 and Touchstone 5x5x5 these lines are
reinforced. But Isinglass lacks of lines of Galopin. Glasalt is
inbred to Touchston's grandson Lord Clifden 4x3 and to
Pocahonta's son Stockwell 4x4. Glasalt brought Glacier and Canyon
(1913), who won the GB 1000 Guineas und foaled the Phalaris-sons
Colorado and Caerleon.

Glacier (1907) is the third dam of Citation. She is by St.Simon,
who has no lines of Touchstone. But St Simon brought new lines of
Galopin and reinforced Pocahontas. Glacier has an inbreeding to
Galopin 2x4 because the similar bred horses St Simon and Broad
Corrie are very close 1x2 in her pedigree.

In the next step we have a mating of Glacier and Hurry On and the
result is Toboggan (1925). Maybe Toboggan is the culminnation
point of these matings. She is by Hurry On, who has a lot of
lines of Touchstone, Birdcatcher and Pocahontas. Hurry On is
moderate inbred to Stockwell, who is by Birdcatcher's son The
Baron out of Pocahontas, and he is linebred to Touchstone. These
lines are spread very regular in his pedigree. Another important
point is that Hurry On lacks Galopin.

So Hurry On was the perfect choice of a mating with Glacier. As a
result Toboggan's pedigree centres on the combination of
Touchstone, Birdcatcher, Galopin and the mare Pocahontas.
Toboggan has for Galopin a 9-generations coefficient of 3.91%,
for Pocahontas 2.54%, for Birdcatcher 2.15% and for Touchstone
1.81%. The high coefficient for Galopin results from an
inbreeding to Galopin 3x5. The other coefficients result from
linebreedings.

I think it is interesting that Touchstone, Birdcatcher and
Galopin represent the sirelines today dominating the contemporary
thoroughbred. The sirelines of Godolphin Arabian and Byerley Turk
nearly disappear and the Darley Arabian sireline prevailed in the
end via Eclipse's sons Pot-8-Os and King Fergus. At the beginning
of the 20th century this dominance could be seen to emerge, but
was not clear at all. For example The Tetrarch or Man O'War were
still hopefuls to upset dominant lines.

Touchstone (1831) and Birdcatcher (1833) are tail-male via
Whalebone -Waxy -Pot-8-Os to Eclipse. Whalebone's son Camel sired
Touchstone. This is the sireline of Bay Ronald and Commando. Bay
Ronald is the paternal grandsire of Hyperion.

Birdcatcher was sired by Whalebone's son Sir Hercules.
Birdcatcher is the damsire of Galopin's sire Vedette, but his
sireline is carried on via The Baron - Stockwell - Doncaster -
Bend Or. Phalaris and Teddy can be traced back to Bend Or. That
is also Citation's sireline.

Galopin (1872) is born about 40 years later than Touchstone and
Birdcatcher. He has Voltaire 3x3 and is tail-male via Voltaire
-Blacklock -Whiteback -Hambletonian -King Fergus to Eclipse. This
is the sire-line of Ribot and Princequillo.

Pocahontas (1837) attracted a lot of attention because of the
X-Factor-theory of Marianna Haun, but also from point of view of
linebreeding Pocahontas seems to be a key in pedigrees of
top-class European thoroughbred of the early 20th century. What
make Pocahontas special is the regularity she is inbred to
Eclipse/ Herod, which is the most important nick in the early
thoroughbred breeding history. In the sixth generation Herod and
his sons Highflyer and Woodpecker appear 13 times, largely as
damsire, while Eclipse and his sons are to find 10 times. In the
third generation 6 of 8 sires are representatives of the
Eclipse-sireline.

1.3. Hydroplane, dam of Citation

None of Toboggan's progeny scored at the racetrack something
worth mentioning. At stud her son Bobsleigh by Gainsborough sired
All Moonshine, half sister to Hyperion. Among her daughters was
it only Hydroplane who at last foaled with Citation a top-class
horse.

Hydroplane is by Hyperion, who has Galopin 6x4x5x4x6 and his son
St.Simon 4x5. Tail-male is Hyperion via Bay Ronald to Touchstone.
Hyperion has also an a close linebreeding to Hermit. Personally,
I think there is a relationship between St.Simon, Bay Ronald and
Hermit. They share damside Ion. Hermit has a combination of Ion
and Touchstone, whereas St.Simon has a mix of Galopin- Pocahontas
and Ion. Bay Ronald has it all and additionally Macaroni.

Secondly, Hyperion has an inbreeding to Pilgrimage 4x5. Hyperion
was a small sized racehorse and it is described that his stature
was handed down via Chaucer and Canterbury Pilgrim, so the most
analysts focus on Pilgrimage. But Hyperion's sire Gainsborough
has also an interesting feature. In his first generations a mix
of Bay Ronald, St Simon and Trenton appear. That is interesting
because Bull Lea has the same combination in his pedigree.

To sum it up, Hydroplane got a strong inbreeding to Galopin. She
has nice linebreedings to Pocahontas, Touchstone and Hermit,
which is a pattern Lord Derby used a lot. Additionally her
grandsire Gainsborough brings a new pattern with Bay Ronald, St
Simon and Trenton.

After Hydroplane had ran as 3-year-old without success, Lord
Derby sold Hydroplane to Warren Wright. Maybe Warren Wright got
interested in Hydroplane just because she was bred in the purple
also she shares some points with Man O'War, who was a model for
American breeders at the time of Warren Wright. Man O'War has an
inbreeding to Galopin 5x5 and Hermit 5x5. So Hydroplane was
shipped to USA, because of wartime a long way via Suez Canal and
the Pacific.

2. The Sireside

2.1. Matings with Hydroplane

Warren Wright had now a mare pure British and bred in the purple.
What to do ? Hyperion, sire of Hydroplane had done well with
blood of Teddy. This combination have Owen Tudor, Belle Sicambre,
Borealis and finally Citation. Owen Tudor (1928) won the Derby
Stakes 1941, so just a few years before Warren Wright had to
decide which sire will cover Hydroplane.

Secondly, Hyperion combined with Swynford was a successful
combination too, also with Blenheim II and Mahmoud who are sires
tail-male to Swynford. This combination have Alycidon, Nearctic,
Shantung, Heliopolis, Tudor Minstrel, also Luskin Star, Aureole,
High Hat, Soaring and finally Northern Dancer. Striking in the
combination of Hyperion and Swynford is the duplication of
Pilgrimage. But it was only later in the fifties that it became
clear that this could be a successful combination.

Warren Wright tried both patterns. He chose with Sun Teddy a son
of Teddy for the first mating with Hydroplane. The result was Fly
Off (1943). This filly has a lot of Galopin and a moderate
linebreeding to Hermit. The next partner of Hydroplane was
Blenheim II and the product was Mermaid (1944). Both matings are
interesting but failed to produce top-class one. Fly Off and
Mermaid were only average on the racetrack.

The third foal of Hydroplane was Citation (1945) by Bull Lea.
Citation was described as a good-looking foal, but it seems that
Warren Wright was keen of blood of Teddy because the next mating
was with Sun Again and brought Sunny Flight (1946). Sun Again was
by Sun Teddy and a young stallion, but he has more blood of
Hermit than his sire Sun Teddy. The fifth foal of Hydroplane was
by Blenheim II's son Whirlaway and called On Wings (1947), also
without class.

In 1948 it became clear that Citation was something special, also
that Bull Lea was not a nine day's wonder but a steady producer
of top-class horses. In consequence all of the next matings of
Hydroplane were with Bull Lea. The foals were Unbelievable
(1949), Sienna Way (1952) and St.Crispin (1953). Citation
remained unequaled, but it is worth mentioning that Sienna Way
upset a useful damline, brought Davona Dale (1966, multiple Gr.1)
and Gate Dancer (1981, Preakness S.).

2.2. Bull Lea, sire of Citation

All top-class progeny of Bull Lea share damside some American
blood like Blue Larkspur, Ben Brush or Commando. Out of mares by
Blue Larkspur are Twilight Tear, Bull Page, Real Delight and
Rarelea (granddam of Roberto). Lines of Commando and/ or Ben
Brush have Coaltown, Two Lea, Bewitch, Tap Day (dam of
Quadrangle), Hill Gail and Armed. Other lines of American blood
have Iron Liege and Faultless.

Only Citation is an exception. Born in the USA and sired by an
American stallion, nevertheless he has a pure European pedigree.
So its not possible to argue with the often stressed hypothesis
of the positive effect happened when European blood was combined
with raw boned, leggy American racehorses of that time.

Striking in Bull Lea's pedigree are the dublication of Musket 4x4
and Hermit 5x5. Musket by Toxophilite has a lot of of Touchstone.
Hermit has Touchstone too and additionally Ion. Hermit appears
only damside in Bull Lea's pedigree. But let's analyse
systematically the sire line.

Table 2. Inbreeding coefficients for sires tail-male of Citation
5
Generation 9 Generation
Tail-Male All horses Pocahontas Galopin Touchstone Birdcatcher
Citation 09.37 % 1.42 % 2.93 % 1.17 % 0.73 %
Bull Lea 08.59 % 1.76 % 1.56 % 2.29 % 1.32 %
Bull Dog 10.94 % 2.00 % 3.13 % 2.25 % 1.51 %
Teddy 10.94 % 1.86 % 3.13 % 2.25 % 1.51 %
Ajax 13.28 % 2.54 % 4.69 % 2.25 % 1.66 %
Flying
Fox 20.31 % 1.56 % 9.38 % 1.17 % 2.15 %
Orme 08.59 % 2.34 % 1 line 0.39 % 1.95 %
Ormonde 07.03 % 1 line - - 0.78 % 2.34 %

Starting with Ormonde (1883), you see again the Bend Or- Macaroni
mix. Bend Or brings Buzzard- Alexander Mare and also Touchstone,
while Ormonde's damsire Macaroni also brings the combination of
Buzzard with Alexander Mare, also the important mare Banter, who
is not only Macaroni's second dam but also dam of Touchstone. I
believe that Banter is an underrated mare.

Ormonde sired Orme (1889), who is out of Angelica, a full sister
of St.Simon. This adds Pocahontas, who Ormonde lacks in
comparison with Bona Vista, Bend Or's other imported son.

The mating of Orme with a daughter of Galopin resulted in Flying
Fox (1896) and reinforces Galopin. Therefore Flying Fox has a
high inbreeding coefficient of 20.31% similar Citation's third
dam Glacier.

Flying Fox son Ajax (1901) has in his pedigree restrained this
heavy impact of Galopin, but reinforced Pocahontas and
Touchstone. His inbreeding coefficient is moderate with 13.28%.

The next is Teddy (1913) by Ajax out of Rondeau. It is
interesting that Orme and Rondeau are bred in a similar way. They
share Bend Or- Macaroni combined with Galopin, who comes via
Teddy's damsire Bay Ronald. If you compare Bay Ronald with
St.Simon you will find some similarities. I think this is an
important point. Bay Ronald has damside the mix of Ion and
Galopin, while sireside Pocahontas is added. Differed from
St.Simon Bay Ronald has also Touchstone.

The next horse in this sireline is Bull Dog (1927). His dam
Plucky Liege has damside the well known Bend Or - Macaroni
combination. Via Plucky Liege's sire Spearmint Pocahontas is
added. It's interesting that Plucky Liege has also done very well
with Admiral Drake, who is similar to Teddy.

At first glance the damside of Bull Lea's pedigree seems to be
boring. In the first generations there is a lacking of real
prominent horses and the linebreedings are nothing special. There
are some Touchstone, a lot of Stockwell and no Galopin. But I
think three features are interesting. First, an inbreeding to
Hermit 4x4 appears. Remember Man O'War, who was inbred to Hermit
too. Secondly, Bull Lea is a relative of the family 9-f, which
was upset by the Toxophilite Mare and brings steadily top-class
horses. In 2001 this branch was well represented by Aptitude and
To The Victory (JPN). Thirdly, Bull Lea's second damsire is
Trenton.

Trenton raced in Australia. He is interesting because he appears
in combination with St.Simon and Bay Ronald in the pedigree of
Gainsborough and Bull Lea respectively.

To sum it up Bull Lea has a moderate inbreeding largely because
of Toxophilite's son Musket 3x4 and has nice linebreedings to
Pocahontas, Galopin, Touchstone and Birdcatcher. The first
special feature is a duplication of Hermit 5x5, which Bull Lea
shares with Man O'War. The second special feature is the
combination of Bay Ronald, St Simon and Trenton.

3. Progeny of Citation

Citation sired with Fabius and Silver Spoon two top-class horses,
but considering his exceptional racing career he did not fulfill
the high expectations while at stud.

Fabius (1953), who won the Preakness Stakes but failed at stud,
is out of Shameen, who is inbred to The Tetrarch 3x3 via Royal
Minstrel and Stefan The Great. Both have a lot of Pocahontas,
Touchstone and Galopin. The Tetrarch has also a Bend Or -
Macaroni combination. Shameen has additionally an American
influence. Further matings of Shameen with Citation produced only
average.

Silver Spoon (1956) is out of the Mahmoud-daughter Silver Fog.
Again you will find blood of The Tetrarch because Silver Fog is
mare by Mahoud, whose second damsire is the The Tetrarch. It is
interesting that Northern Dancer (1961) is similar bred as Silver
Spoon. They share damside lines of the Broomstick and Fair Play,
but striking is both have a combination of Hyperion- Mahmoud
resulting in a crossed duplication of Gainsborough 4x4. More,
Northern Dancer's second dam Almahmoud has an inbreeding of The
Tetrarch 4x5. And sireside they share a mix of Ajax- Spearmint.

In the nineties, the German Group-1 winner Germany (1991) and
Catinca (1995, Ruffian-Handicap) were top-class racehorses and
they are tail-female to Silver Spoon. They got lines of Phalaris,
particularly of Native Dancer, whom Silver Spoon is lacking in
comparison with Northern Dancer.

It was logical after the success of Silver Spoon that mares with
blood of Mahmoud were sent to Citation. But he failed to produce
something special again.

Other interesting progeny maybe Jutland (1953), who has damside
The Tetrarch, and the filly Matched'n Lost (1963), who is out of
Mixed Marriage and inbred to Hyperion 3x4. For German breeders
maybe interesting that Dicker On (1966) is out of the high
successful Nella Da Gubbio-damline.

4. Conclusions

After pointing out some features of Citation's pedigree I think
it became clear that there are several possibilities to explain
his stellar class. If you claim I should commit myself, I belief
that there is a slightly shift in the linebreeding patterns
determine Toboggan, Citation and Silver Spoon respectively.

I think that Citation's second dam Toboggan, who won the Epsom
Oaks got her class out of a balanced combination of Pocahontas
and Galopin, also of Touchstone and Birdcatcher. At the beginning
of this article I have tried to argue this point. Maybe 'Table
3.' is helpful too.

Table 3.
5
Generation 9 Generation
All horses Pocahontas GalopinTouchstone Birdcatcher
Silver
Spoon 06.25 % 0.34 % 2.59 % 0.15 % 0.15 %
Fabius 05.47 % 0.44 % 2.44 % 0.15 % 0.20 %
Citation 09.37 % 1.42 % 2.93 % 1.17 % 0.73 %
Bull Lea 08.59 % 1.76 % 1.56 % 2.29 % 1.32 %
Hydroplane 13.28 % 1.95 % 4.30 % 1.17 % 1.37 %
Toboggan 11.72 % 3.91 % 2.54 % 1.81 % 2.15 %

The linebreedings to Pocahontas, Touchstone and Birdcatcher
appear largely in the eighth and ninth generations. It is
inevitable that the influence of that relationship is fading out
slowly in the next matings. Of course by switching to 10
generation coefficients we would get them back, but I think the
influence is the farther the more theoretically. So it makes
sense to do a cut at the eighth or ninth generation respectively.
From the point of view of a strategic linebreeding it is
necessary to connect to a new linebreeding pattern timely.

Maybe that the mix of Galopin and Hermit, also of Bay Ronald,
St.Simon and Trenton are such a new patterns. They don't bring
something really new. For example Hermit's grandsire is
Touchstone and St.Simon is by Galopin.

Table 4.
9 Generation

Galopin Hermit Bay St.Simon Trenton
Ronald
Silver Spoon 2.59 % 1.32 % 1.17 % 2.34 % 1.17 %
Fabius 2.44 % 1.07 % 0.78 % 3.13 % 1.37 %
Citation 2.93 % 1.51 % 1.56 % 3.52 % 1.95 %
Bull Lea 1.56 % 1.56 % 1 line 1 line 1 line
Hydroplane 4.30 % 1.46 % 1 line 5.47 % 1 line

In Citation's pedigree appears the pattern of Bay Ronald, St.Simon
and Trenton as a crossed duplication. I think that the influence
of Trenton is less important, but St.Simon and Bay Ronald share
some similarities. The similarities in the linebreedings of Hermit and St.Simon are also striking.

I belief that these horses are not substitutes but they are more
an addition for each other. I don't think that there is just one gene
which causes a superiority. The selecting criterion of superior
racing performance is the result of a bundle of features. There
are bones, muscles, legs and so on, also maybe a large heart.

Copyright by Peter Hohlweg 2004.