by Nigel Pullen ©

In the first part of this article on Rough Shod we covered her ancestry, pedigree and her many descendants. In Part 2 we now focus on how successful line breeding or inbreeding has been to this mare.

One of the most rewarding strategies has been to duplicate Rough Shod's daughter Thong, via her various descendants. Table 1 shows the Group/Graded winners in which Thong appears in the pedigree of both sire and dam.

This gives a total of 19 winners (including the G1 U.S. steeplechaser Correggio), by 13 different sires, with nine of the winners featuring the champion stallion Sadler's Wells somewhere in their pedigree.

Table 2 below sets out to illustrate which sons and daughters of Thong have been most successfully combined in the production of the above Group/Graded winners. The name in brackets beneath each of Thong's offspring is their sire.

What the above table illustrates is the influence of the mare Special. All but Rosselli having at least one strain of this mare, who is doubly represented in El Condor Pasa, Silvester Lady, La Sylphide, Numerous Times and Wellbeing. Perhaps the most interesting of this quintet is El Condor Pasa, the champion Japanese horse who gave Montjeu such a race in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). Not only is El Condor Pasa 4x4 to Special through her son Nureyev (by Northern Dancer) and grandson Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer), but also has Special's full sister Lisadell as his third dam.

This combination of the three-quarter relatives Nureyev and Sadler's Wells is also found in La Sylphide and Wellbeing, while German Oaks winner Silvester Lady doubles Special via two strains of her son Nureyev. Numerous Times is by Number's son Numerous and out of a mare by Nureyev's son Theatrical. The most commonly found duplication of Thong comes via the full brother and sister Special and Thatch, this accounting for six of the above Group winners. Also of interest are the genetic brothers Festival Hall (by Sadler's Wells) and Hymn (by Fairy King). Sired by the famous brothers, both are sons of Thong's daughter Handsewn. The pedigree of Group 1 winner Fatherland is even more intense, as his dam Lisadell is a full sister to Special, the granddam of Fatherland's own sire Sadler's Wells. Finally, just to prove they can jump as well as run, the top US Steeplechase of 1996, Correggio (by Sadler's Wells - Rosa Mundi by Secretariat - Lisadell) is 4x3 to Thong, via the full sister Special and Lisadell.

Let us now move on to consider the Group/Grade winners who have duplications of the mare Rough Shod, other than solely through Thong.

This actually gives us an additional 11 horses, because both Winning Counter and La Sylphide not only have a double of Thong (and thus appeared in Tables 1 and 2), but also have an additional line of Rough Shod. Thus we have a grand total of 30 Group/Graded winners with at least two strains of Rough Shod.

Table 4 below highlights the sons and daughters of Rough Shod who have combined most successfully for the above horses. Once again the names in brackets are the respective sires.

This table graphically illustrates the influence of Thong, for it highlights the fact that apart from the Canadian Graded winner Lubicon, every Group/Graded winner line or inbred to Rough Shod has at least one line via Thong.

Let us begin with the recent Sha Tin Vase (G2) winner Winning Counter. His 2x5 double of Thong comes via his sire Geiger Counter (by Mr Prospector - Thong) and his maternal grandsire Tate Gallery (a full brother to Sadler's Wells). In addition Winning Counter's granddam is by Apalachee's son Motavato; and Apalachee is himself a son Thong's full sister Moccasin. The other horse with a double of Thong and an additional strain of Rough Shod is the Prix Penelope heroine La Sylphide. Here we have the Sadler's Wells/Nureyev combination, backed up by Thong's full brother Lt Stevens. Interestingly, all the three horses sired by Lear Fan (maternal grandsire Lt Stevens), namely Loup Solitaire, Fantastic Fellow and Verveine, are out of mares by Nureyev.

Finally it is worth noting that the following 4 Group/Graded winners are out of mares with duplications of Rough Shod. The G3 winner Disco Rico (1997 by Citidancer - Round It Off). His dam was 3x5 to Rough Shod, via Moccasin and Ridan. The German Derby (G1) winner Samum (1997 by Monsun - Sacarina). His dam was 6x3 to Rough Shod, via Thong and Ridan. The G3 winning siblings Victory Cry (1996 by Caerleon - Verveine) and Volga (1998 by Caerleon - Verveine). Their dam was a G2 winner and is covered above.

These two articles have shown the evolution of the Rough Shod dynasty, and how breeders have exploited its genetic strength to their advantage. Indeed, by the time you read this it may already be out-of-date, as yet another new Group winner boasting this pedigree pattern passes the winning post!

December 16, 2001. Copyright by Nigel Pullen 2001.