Startac

Startac

by Andrea Hoogendoorn ©

Startac, a Lesson for Strategic Breeding

It was late last year when I first took note of a two-year-old colt making his first try in stakes company on the turf at Hollywood Park. The main reason was because Startac was bred by the late Allen Paulson, a breeder I have always admired due to the very clever pedigree patterns of most of his top horses.

Startac, of course, won the race, the Generous Stakes (G3). This race has spawned some very top notch future turf runners, so I was looking forward to Startac's grass career, being quite sure he would be a star in that division. Then a very curious turn of events took place in February of his three-year-old season. He ran on the dirt in the Turf Paradise Derby and won in dominating fashion. People started thinking roses. I had my doubts.

Fast forward to May 2001. Startac was entered to run in the Kentucky Derby (G1) following two losses in the Northern California three-year-old racing scene. Not a very strong contingent, which further convinced me that this horse was way over his head in the Derby. After having a conversation with his trainer, Simon Bray, the day before the Derby, it was clear that we would see Startac in turf company again. Mr. Bray was quite assuring that the colt was definitely "a turf horse".

After finishing a non-threatening tenth in the Derby, Startac's next turf appearance was anxiously awaited. I waited, and waited. Then, in August, after over three months with no starts, Startac was entered to run in the Secretariat Stakes (G1) at 1 1/4 miles. Now, most handicappers would cringe at this. Coming off a layoff and running a route is not the most common strategy of most trainers aiming for a very important Grade 1 event.

However, I knew a little more than most out there. His trainer is a very good one, especially with horses coming off a layoff. He is a "turf" horse, both in past performances and pedigree, and inside information said that the horse was ready to run "huge" effort and was dead fit. Startac came from the back of the pack on a yielding Arlington turf course to nip Strut The Stage (another son of Theatrical) by a nose. It was one of the best stretch runs seen all year on all surfaces. Needless to say, at 11-1 odds, I had a good day!!

The most interesting thing about Startac, and probably the #1 reason I have been following this horse, is his pedigree. By Theatrical and from the young stakes-winning Mr Prospector mare, Tenga, Startac's recipe for success would be no surprise to most.

There are a lot of horses bred like Startac, a Northern Dancer/Nureyev/Mr Prospector mix. Geri, another Paulson homebred, is another Grade 1 winner bred on the Theatrical/Mr Prospector cross. There have also been a good share of failures bred on this cross. What was really exciting in Startac's pedigree was deeper than that.

A look at his six-generation pedigree will show linebreeding to Nasrullah, Native Dancer, Court Martial and Hail To Reason. This would be considered very common, but what's uncommon is his 4x4 cross to the mare Pange. Having always been an avid supporter of the Rasmussen factor (inbreeding to superior females), that's what got my attention.

Pange produced the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Prince Royal II and two oustanding producers, Sensibility and Strip Poker. These two are responsible for the oustanding runners Landaluce, Theatrical (sire of Startac), Taiki Blizzard, Paradise Creek, Wild Event, Forbidden Apple, Jade Flush, Clout, and In Tissar. Pange is also the ancestress of stakes winners Patricia(G2) and Tarry Flynn(G3). That ought to prove that Pange is a superior female.

It appears that inbred horses can retain certain genetic factors in recessive form that often come out in later generations when certain relations enter the pedigree. So imagine how exciting it was to find that Pange herself was also inbred, 4x3 to the mare Malva, who is best know as the dam of the outstanding sire, Blenhiem II. She is inbred to Malva through King Salmon and His Grace (Blenheim II's full brother) without Blenhiem II. This bodes well for future matings involving the missing and much superior brother of the two, which is exactly what happened. When you inbreed to Pange, who is inbred to the dam of Blenhiem II, then linebreed to horses carrying the missing brother, interesting things start to happen.

Malva is by Charles O' Malley, a horse that was considered much better on the course than he showed, being a placegetter in some very top notch races, while only winning minor stakes events. Based on his race record, he would probably be considered a good handicapper. Charles O' Malley was a 3/4 brother to the famous broodmare Simon's Shoes, which is the pivotal point in this pedigree.

Enter Nureyev and his female family. Rough Shod II needs no introduction, however, her dam Dalmary, the fourth dam of Nureyev, is the real firecracker in this pedigree. Dalmary is very closely related to Blenhiem II and His Grace. First, all three are by Blandford. Dalmary's dam is Simon's Shoes (St. Simon's son Simon's Square x Goody Two Shoes) and Blenhiem II/His Grace have Charles O'Malley (St. Simon's son Desmond x Goody Two Shoes) as their damsire.

Goody Two Shoes, in turn, is inbred to the mare Mineral 4x3 through Kisber and Wenlock. She is also by Isinglass, and probably one of his best producers. Isinglass' dam, Dead Lock is very closely related to Sanda, the dam of full siblings Sainfoin and Sierra (the dam of Sundridge). Similar to the Dalmary/Blenheim II pattern, both Sanda and Dead Lock are by Wenlock. Malpractice (dam of Dead Lock) is by Chevalier d'Industrie (Orlando x Industry) and Sanda is out of a daughter of Lady Evelyn (Don John x Industry). So, basically every time you link up Blenheim II/Dalmary with Sainfoin/Sierra, you hook up more Wenlock and add the half brother/sister combo of Chevalier d'Industrie and Lady Evelyn.

The best sources of Sainfoin is through his son Rock Sand, and maternal grandsons Phalaris and Hurry On. Sundridge is the best source of Sierra and can commonly be found through Lady Josephine (dam of Lady Juror and Mumtaz Mahal), Summer Girl (ancesstress of War Admiral), and Sunstar (sire of North Star III, etc).

By now, the breed in general is saturated with the Sainfoin/Sierra mix. This is nothing out of the ordinary as we speak, however, it is a fascinating study to follow the history of horses carrying strains of Isinglass devoid of Sanda (or the reverse) and to see what happens when they finally hook up. As our colleague, Les Brinsfield, simply puts it: BOOM!!

Mineral, to whom Goody Two Shoes is inbred as the dam of Wenlock and Kisber, traces in tail female to the important matriarch Maniac (her fifth dam). Maniac produced five offspring of importance. Her lone son, Bedlamite (by Welbeck) appears in the pedigrees of quite a few good horses and the other four siblings, all sisters, left very strong branches that are still alive and kicking to this very day. Her daughters of note are; Bee In A Bonnet (Blacklock), Harriet (Stripling), Lunatic (Prime Minister), and Young Maniac (Tramp).

Maniac's daughter Bee In A Bonnet is the ancestress of the excellent producer Thistle, the dam of Triple Crown winnner Common, Goldfinch (best know as the sire of the great producer, Chelandry), and the fine racemare Throstle who became the dam of the sire Missel Thrush.

Maniac's daughter Harriet is the ancestress of Mizpah, who became the third dam of Man O'War and sixth dam of American Triple Crown winner Assault. (There is a curious pattern of linebreeding in Mizpah that reveals itself further on.)

Maniac's daughter Lunatic is probably the strongest branch of the bunch. She became the dam of Moonbeam, who left numerous successful descendants. Moonbeam is the dam of Manganese (the dam of Mineral). Mineral's full sister, Mandragora became the dam of Knight of the Garter (1921) and a rare sire named Esterling. Mineral, as we already know, became the dam of Kisber and Wenlock. She also produced a full sister to Wenlock name Siluria. Siluria, in turn, became the ancestress of Willonyx, commonly found only in the sire St. James (sire of Jamestown), and the female clan of Boudoir II (ancestress of Graustark/His Majesty, etc). Another full sister to Mineral is Milliner, who also carried on a line found mostly in Japan. The other sister, a half-sibling, is Thorsday (Thormanby). She is the ancestress of Bruleur, Formasterus and Formor. Mineral had a full brother named The Miner, commonly found only through a mare named Casuistry, who just happens to be the sixth dam of La Troienne!!! In fact Helene de Troie is 6x6 to Mineral/The Miner and may be the only source of this strain. Interesting food for thought.

Moonbeam also had a son named Loup Garou. He became the sire of Lambourn, who is best known as the sire of the important matriarch Masquerade, ancestress of the important sires The Porter, Ballot, The Rhymer, Saraband, and Ultimus. Another source of Loup Garou is through a daughter named Maud, who became the third dam of a rare sire named Perigord. He sired Snoot, the female line ancestress of American Flag, and so appears in the pedigree of Raise A Native.

The last offspring of Maniac, Young Maniac, is best known as the fourth dam of Macgregor the sire of Mizpah and Meg Merrilies (ancestress of Hurry On and Sheen, the latter found in Northern Dancer). Mizpah is fascinating since she is by Macgregor and out of a mare by Underhand (second dam by Bedlamite) and has Harriet as her fourth dam, thus making her 6x6x5 to Maniac!

Another strain that appears with regularity in the pedigree of Startac is that of St. Marguerite (Hermit x Devotion by Stockwell). She spawned a slew of closely related descendants that merit a closer look. St. Marguerite is the dam of Tredennis (Kendal), an unsuccessful racer but the sire of Bachelor's Double, who can be found in the pedigrees of Bellini (grandsire of Ribot) and the full brothers Precipitation and Persian Gulf. In Startac, through the inbred Pange, Bachelors Double can be found in her sire King's Bench through his second dam, Doublure.

Tredennis is also the damsire of Coronach (a very close relative to Precipitation and Persian Gulf), who is found in the pedigree of Sassafras, the damsire of Theatrical. Sassafras is actually linebred to a son and a daughter of Tredennis. Perfect foil for the family of Nureyev!! Why is this?

Tredennis has a full sister named Sweet Marjorie, who is the dam of Simon Square (St. Simon) who became the sire of Simon's Shoes, the ancestress of Nureyev, while Nearctic (grandsire of Nureyev) has Sister Sarah as his second dam and she is by Abbots Trace, a horse inbred 4x3 to St. Marguerite and her full brother St Honorat!! A comparison of Simon's Shoes and Bachelors Double is instructive.

There is more...can you believe it? St. Marguerite is also the dam of Roquebrune (St. Simon) the dam of Rock Sand (Sainfoin), who is the damsire of Man O' War (among many others), and sire of Tracery, etc. St. Marguerite is also the great-granddam of Rock Sand's very close relative Trefle. Trefle is a daughter of Sainfoin and Cimiez (St. Simon), who is from Antibes (Isonomy), another daughter of St. Marguerite.

Hail To Reason, to whom Startac is linebred to 4x6, traces in tail female to Trefle. The fourth dam of Hail To Reason, Baton Rouge is actually 3x4 to Rock Sand/Trefle. Baton Rouge is also the fourth dam of Admiral's Voyage, best known as the sire of Danzig (surprised?).

St. Marguerite is also granddam to Seraph, another close relative to Roquebrune, Simon Square, and Cimiez. Seraph is by St. Frusquin (by St Simon) and her dam is St. Marina (Janissary x St. Marguerite). Seraph became the third dam of full brothers Gallant Fox/Fighting Fox and their half- sibling Petee Wrack. Gallant Fox can be found in Nantallah, the sire of Thong, and Fighting Fox is the grandsire of Admiral's Voyage (again, surprised?).

I find it very interesting that most of the top Northern Dancer sires have Gallant Fox and/or Fighting Fox in their pedigrees. Nijinsky II, The Minstrel, Storm Bird (Gallant Fox with more Tredennis and St. Honorat), Danzig, Nureyev, Northern Taste (in Japan) and Sadlers Wells. This has to be more than coincidence.

Seattle Slew has had incredible success with the family of Pange, whether it be with Theatrical bred to his daughters or granddaughters (in the case of Startac), or Slew himself with the family (Landaluce, Takia Blizzard). To make a case here, note that Seattle Slew has Hail To Reason (Trefle), 4 strains of Blenheim, 5 of Man O'War (damsire Rock Sand), additional strains of Rock Sand through Tracery and another daughter, a very high concentration of Sainfoin/Sundridge (Sierra), and he is inbred to Busher and Baby League, both granddaughters of La Troienne, who both carry The Miner, the full brother to Mineral..

Now, compare Isinglass with Inchbonny, the fifth dam of La Troienne. Simply fascinating. Helene De Troie is carrying the pair in her pedigree and watch what happens when her descendants hook up with Sainfoin/Sierra.

Lastly, it's worth noting the unusual order of finish of the Secretariat Stakes (G1). The top three all had Theatrical in their pedigrees. Startac (first) and Strut The Stage (second) are both by Theatrical and Sharp Performance (third) is out of a Theatrical Mare. Do they share a common genetic equation? You be the judge. Strut The Stage's dam, Ruby Ransom has Roberto (Hail To Reason/Nashua), a daughter of Neartic (remember Abbot's Trace?), Ribot (has Bachelor's Double), more Nashua, as well as having Time To Dine (a horse that has very close ties to War Admiral). Once again, a ton of Rock Sand in this pedigree.

Sharp Performance is by Kris S., a son of Roberto. Kris S. has Princequillo up close, bringing in Tracery (and more Rock Sand), and Bridgework, his second dam, has Essexford, a rare son of Charles O' Malley (bringing in more Goody Two Shoes). Silver In Flight, the second dam of Sharp Performance, has Gallant Fox and her sire is inbred to Blenheim II.

The common theme between these three is Hail To Reason and Nashua. The presence of Nashua is interesting and there are ties, although they are not as obvious as the others. Nashua, of course, is by Nasrullah, bringing in Blenheim II and Sundridge. His dam, Segula, is by Johnstown, who is by Jamestown, with Rock Sand and Willonyx (traces to a full sister to Wenlock). Segula's dam, Sekhmet, is by Sardanapale, a son of Prestige who traces to Thorsday, a half-sister to Mineral. Sekhmet's fourth dam, Grace Conroy, is the real boost here. She is by Esterling, a grandson of Mandragora (full sister Mineral).

It will be interesting to see how two particular yearling fillies fare at the Keeneland September Sale. These being hip #35, a full sister to Startac, and hip #187, a daughter of Theatrical ex Jade Flush. These two, being so closely related with the success already proven on the track of this pedigree combination, should bring top dollar. Deservedly so.