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Article by Les Brinfield @ May 2005 The epitaph of Domino: Domino died in his second year at stud just as his first arrived. Domino left 19 named foals and they have left an unbelievable equine legacy. Just 2 sons of Domino bred on and only Commando impacted the tail male line now hanging by a thread in Broad Brush and his sons. Commando died tragically young also, siring just 3 crops. The fact that the Domino line survives at all is a tribute to his greatness. Domino was double bowed as a yearling and ran 6 furlongs in 1:09 at 2 over 100 years ago. He was undefeated in 9 starts and Champion at 2. All told, he won 19 of 25 and earned $193,650, a record that stood 25 years until broken by Man O'War. Domino is the backbone of the American Quarter Horse and endemic to the American thoroughbred gene pool. On the surface, one could easily conclude Domino was "just" a speed influence. But consider for a moment the pain in running on two bowed tendons. No wonder he was not all that great beyond a mile. With a century of data piled up we can look at the genetic contributions of Domino and add some definition.I will not get into all we have found out about Domino and what he works with and how to use him effectively in pedigree work. But I did take a look at the winners of the Belmont for a reason. The Belmont is the crown jewel of stamina in the American classics and is the third and most difficult leg of the TB Triple Crown. This seemed the ideal circumstance to prove or disprove the one-dimensional speedball reputation hung on Domino. Do not think for a tick that I am anti-speed. One of my matings produced Kona Gold who set the Breeders Cup record: 1:07.77. Kona Gold had 80 strains of Domino per my best effort at counting them. I selected the dam of Yes It's True for her 5 lines of Correction and Mannie Himyar and 4 of Lady Reel which increased to 6 and 8 respectively in Yes It's True who she carried through the ring at the time. So Domino is a good source of speed but speed need not preclude classic stamina. Consider Scattered, she the ancestress of the immortal runner and sire, Dash For Cash. She was triple Domino and won the CCA Oaks at 12 furlongs. For good measure, the all time stayer Secretariat is from this tribe, too. Domino had a unique pedigree as he was tripled to all world sire, Lexington. Lizzie G., the second dam of Domino is a brilliant and unique example of linebreeding as she had a triple of Galopade. Moreover, Lizzie G. was by War Dance, a 3/4 brother to LeCompte. Both War Dance and LeCompte are out of Reel whose 3/4 sister, Judith, is 5th dam of Domino. Reel and Judith are by Glencoe. Reel is out of Galopade and Judith is out of a daughter of Galopade. Domino had 2 sons: Commando and Disguise as well as 2 sisters: Mannie Himyar and Correction, the latter a Champion. Finally, he had a 5/8 sister named Lady Reel. It bears mention that Commando picked up a double to Lexington in his dam, thus summing to 5 such lines, three of which where from Glencoe mares. He won a Belmont, sired 2 Belmont winners, won seven, was second twice in 9 starts and was a Champion at 2 and 3.The following are cryptic notes on 29 of 53 Belmont winners beginning with Commando in 1901 on up to 1953 and the ways Domino influenced their pedigrees.
There are 7 of the 29 that Domino or his direct male descendants sired. There were 3 of 29 sired by a son of Correction or Lady Reel. No fewer that 6 of the 29 won the Triple Crown, albeit none of those are tail male to Domino. One such Triple Crown winner [Gallant Fox] sired a Triple Crown winner [Omaha]. This leaves 13 with Domino as a varying factor in their pedigree. Three of these 13 are out of mares by Domino, his son or grandson and include Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox. Two more of these 13 are Triple Crown winners War Admiral and Whirlaway, both from Sweep mares, he a son of Pink Domino. These last 5 are named as the damsire of a horse is a key to pedigrees as is the damsire of the damsire and so on. Lexington is the damsire of Himyar and Enquirer, they the sire and damsire of Domino who is the damsire of Sweep who is the damsire of War Admiral who is damsire of Buckpasser and Hoist The Flag. Better Self is by the Domino line sire Bimelech out of a War Admiral mare and is damsire of Silent Screen and Dr. Fager. The latter ran a World Record mile in 1:32 1/5 which has never been bettered. The previous WR mile was run by Buckpasser. produced many good ones including sires who will in turn grace the broodmare sire lists in years to come. And Domino is a key to this progression as well. As Native Dancer won the Belmont in 1953, it is easy to see the various key elements in the Domino equation multiplying over time. Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Secretariat bring to nine the number of Triple Crown winners with a major Domino factor in their pedigree. Affirmed, in my eye the most beautiful male horse I ever saw, is tail female to Correction compounded by 16 lines of Domino. Fact is, no family has produced more American Classic winners than that of Domino. Evidence seems to justify a re-write of history and the addition of classic stamina to the legacy of Domino, a magnificent specimen, courageous runner and prolific sire of the first rank, and his remarkable sister Correction, Lady Reel and their dam, Mannie Grey. Readers wishing to add seriously to their knowledge of horses named herein should use the Google site search feature on www.tbheritage.com, a website that is literally a one stop shop treasure of historical and pedigree information. Copyright Les Brinfield May 2005 -------------------------------------- Editor Note: Since Native Dancer very few winners of the Belmont have no Domino in their pedigree. The only USA bred winner with no Domino is Nashua. Three other British bred winners, Cavan, Celtic Ash and Gallant Man also had no Domino. In recent times every winner has had multiple strains of Domino in their pedigrees and not finding him in the pedigree of a future winner is extremely unlikely. The last 15 winners will serve as an example of Domino's presence in modern
day pedigrees.
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