by Nigel Pullen ©

Somebody once said it was better to be born lucky than rich. My knowledge of history is not good enough to recall who uttered those words, but they certainly came to mind after Vahorimix was awarded the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1) in the steward's room. He had just finished second to Proudwings, but the latter was disqualified and placed last after causing interference to fourth-placed Noverre. Vahorimix was not involved in the incident, but was the one to profit from Proudwings demotion by the stewards.

Amazingly, it was the second Group 1 race awarded to Vahorimix in 2001 on a technicality. You may remember that the grey son of Linamix was also promoted to first place in the Poule D'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas-G1), when the first past the post, Noverre, was subsequently disqualified. (Noverre tested positive for traces of a banned substance that had been used for treating an arthritic condition, but had failed to clear the colt's system by the time of the race.)

However, this is not to decry Vahorimix his success, for he has proved one of the best milers of the current three-year-old crop, with a listed success, and a close up fourth in the St James's Palace Stakes (G1).

Vahorimix certainly has a cosmopolitan background. His seventh dam Evelyn's Legend raced in France, where her younger full sisters Fairy Legend and Mary Legend won the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in successive years. Evelyn's Legend herself was exported to Argentina, where she founded a successful dynasty. Her best offspring was the Premio Eliseo Ramirez winner Elegy (by Rustom Pasha), whose year-younger full sister Rustom's Legend, in turn, bred another Premio Eliseo Ramirez winner in Vahorimix's fifth dam Quimera.

Quimera was a daughter of one of the leading Argentine stallions Sideral. The latter was a grandson of the influential English broodmare Feola. In fact Sideral's dam Starling II was one of a batch of broodmares imported by the Argentine Jockey Club from England in 1945. Sideral had a pedigree packed with St. Simon. His sire, Seductor, and dam, Starling, were linebred 5x5 and 5x4 respectively to St. Simon's son Persimmon, and all told Sideral had St. Simon 7x6x7x8x6x6x7x7x5x8x7x8x6.

It is also worth noting that Sideral was 4x4 to the close genetic relatives Stefan The Great (by a son of Roi Herode out of a Persimmon mare) and Amourette (by a son of Persimmon out of a Roi Herode mare). Notice how well these balanced each other with opposite sex strains of Roi Herode and Persimmon.

Quimera herself was 5x3 to Son-In-Law (by Dark Ronald), and Dark Ronald was also the sire Dark Legend whose daughter Evelyn's Legend was Quimera's granddam. Oddly enough Son-In-Law's third dam Reticence was a three-quarter sister to the stallion Hermit who appeared in Dark Legend, making him and Son-In-Law bred on similar lines.

On retiring to the paddocks, Quimera had a regular suitor each spring in the shape of the stallion Court Harwell. Her offspring by him included Tenzing, who finished second in the Michigan Mile when racing in North America at four, and the useful Argentine winner Lost Horizon II.

Court Harwell had done his racing in England where he won both Oxfordshire Stakes and Jockey Club Cup, besides finishing runner-up to Ballymoss in the St. Leger. At stud he received such little patronage that a £40,000 offer from Argentine in 1961 was too good to refuse. His last European crop contained the Irish Derby winner Meadow Count, who, as luck would have it, was a grandson of Miss Grillo, a mare who had won both the Argentine Derby and Oaks in 1945.

After an excellent start in Argentine, where he sired such top class fillies as Le Sevillana and Rafale, Court Harwell broke a leg, and had to be put down early in 1968. Lost Horizon II  would ultimately become the fourth dam of Vahorimix, and while her pedigree had just a single duplication in its first six generations, a 6x6x6 cross of Bay Ronald, it did have one interesting feature, provided by Abbot's Speed and Seductor. These individuals appeared 4x3 in Lost Horizon II and their respective third dams Strike-A-Light and Gilt Brook were bred on very similar lines. Strike-A-Light being by Galopin's son Donovan out of the mare Fuse, while Gilt Brook had almost the reverse pedigree pattern for she was by Long Tom (a son of the mare Fuse) out of a mare by Galopin.

After her racing days were over, Lost Horizon II's stud career was spent in America, where she was visited by many of the top stallions. Her first and third foals turned out to be her most talented offspring; with Sweet Rhapsody (by Sea Bird II) scoring in the Prix du Pomone (G3) in France, and Sisterhood (by Exclusive Native) gaining Graded victories in the Gamely Handicap (G2) and Santa Barbara Handicap (G1) in a 38 race career which yielded ten wins.

Ironically, Lost Horizon II's offspring with the most lasting influence on the breed came after she visited the least influential of her various suitors, the Jersey Derby winner Creme Dela Creme. The resultant filly, named Rainbow's Edge, was to become the third dam of Vahorimix, and on the racetrack won just once from seven starts. Interestingly, Creme dela Creme introduced strains of Hyperion and Son-In-Law, both tail male descendants of Bay Ronald who were already present in Lost Horizon II's pedigree.

Rainbow's Edge's two best produce at stud were hers sons Pied A' Tierre (by Caucasus) and Rudy's Fantasy (by Nureyev), winners of the Pilgrim Stakes (G3) and Tanforan Handicap (G3) respectively. Many of her offspring were sent to race in France where her second foal, the filly Vadsa, finished third in the listed Prix Coronation, in addition to winning one of her eleven other starts.

Vadsa, bred by E. P. Taylor, was a daughter of Halo, and this made her 2x3 to the five-eighths genetic relatives Hail To Reason (sire of Halo) and Judy Rullah (dam of Creme de la Creme). Judy Rullah was by Nasrullah and her granddam was by Sir Gallahad III, a very similar combination to Hail To Reason, for not only was the latter's granddam was also by Sir Gallahad III, but his grandsire Royal Charger was a three-quarter brother to Nasrullah. This cross of Hail To Reason and Judy Rullah has cropped up in at least six other Group/Graded winners, namely Comic Strip, Min Allah, Pastry, Saikyo Sunday, Silver Comic and Voyagers Quest.

Vadsa remained in France being owned by Monsieur Jean-Luc Lagardere, for whom she bred a total of ten winners, including listed scorers Vagrancy (by Bikala) and Vadsa Honor (by Highest Honor). This family has served Monsieur Lagardere well. Vagrancy's full sister Vadlava produced for him the listed winner Vadlamixa (by Linamix); Vadlawys (by Always Fair) winner of the Prix Hocquart (G2); and Val Royal (by Royal Academy) whose victories include the Prix Guillaume D'Ornano (G2), Prix de Guiche (G3) and Del Mar Derby (G2).

Vadsa Honor, the dam of Vahorimix, was a daughter of one of France's most consistent stallions Highest Honor. Highest Honor had a remarkable pedigree for he was 5x5x4x4 to Nasrullah, as well as having Nasrullah's full sister Rivaz and their three parts brother Royal Charger. Three of the Nasrullah crosses were with Princequillo or his sire Prince Rose. Significantly, he also carried a strain of My Babu, whose dam Perfume II, brought in opposite sex strains of Nasrullah's grandsire Pharos, and granddam Mumtaz Mahal. Vadsa Honor's dam, Vadsa, also had a strain of Nasrullah and Royal Charger, but crucially carried another balance in the shape of Mahmoud, who was a three-quarter brother to Mumtaz Begum, herself the dam of Nasrullah and granddam of Royal Charger. Vadsa also provided a strain of Prince Chevalier, a stallion with a similar Prince Rose/Tracery/Cyllene background to the aforementioned Princequillo.

One other important relationship found 3x3 in Vadsa Honor was that between Riverman and Cosmah (dam of Halo). Both had strains of Phalaris and the mare Banish Fear, along with either Mahmoud or his three-quarter sister Mumtaz Begum. (Exit To Nowhere, another previous winner of the Prix Jacques Le Marois, also had this Riverman/Cosmah combination.)

Vadsa Honour's listed win in the Prix De Thiberville was one of her two successes from just five starts. She made an immediate impact at stud for her owner-breeder Monsieur Lagardere, as Vahorimix was her first foal.

Vahorimix is a son of Linamix, a horse who also raced in Monsieur Lagardere's colours. Linamix made a sensational start as a stallion when he retired to stud to his owner's Haras du Val Henry stud in France, after proving an excellent miler in a racing career which included victory in the French 2000 Guineas. His success as a stallion was in no small part due to Monsieur Lagardere, who had enough confidence in the horse to send him many of his best mares, and his faith was amply rewarded. From his eight crops to race Linamix has sired seven G1 winners, including Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe hero Sagamix, and remarkably all but one having raced in Monsieur Lagardere's colours.

Looking at the six generation pedigree of Vahorimix, there appears little similarity between Linamix and Vadsa Honor, just a 5x5 cross of Olympia and 6x6 to Grey Sovereign. However, if we probe a little deeper, things get decidedly interesting.

Let us begin with the relationship between Miss Carina (dam of Linamix's sire Mendez) and Vahorimix's third dam Rainbow's Edge, who thus appeared 3x3. To begin with, Miss Carina's dam, Miss Pia, was by Olympia out of a mare by Nasrullah's son Bold Ruler. This made her a three-quarter genetic relative to Rainbow's Edge's sire Creme dela Creme (by Olympia out of a Nasrullah mare).

Secondly, there was Chambord (dam of Miss Carina's sire Caro) whose background of Precipitation, Gondolette, Gainsborough, Sundridge, Polymelus and Gallinule meant she was bred on very similar lines to Neutron (dam of Rainbow's Edge's maternal grandsire Court Harwell).

The other relationship of particular interest is that between Caro and Kalamoun, who were found 4x4 in Vahorimix. Both were grandsons of Grey Sovereign, and while Caro supplied the mare Snowberry (a granddaughter of Pharos out of a Tetratema mare), Kalamoun reinforced this by providing Palestine (a grandson of Pharos's full brother Fairway out a Tetratema mare.

Finally it is worth noting that Vahorimix's cross of Linamix and Riverman has occurred in two other Group winners, namely Housamix (G2) and Goldamix (G1), with Housamix having a very similar pedigree pattern to Vahorimix, as both also share Hail To Reason. Furthermore another of Linamix's G1 winners, Fragrant Mix has Mill Reef, a stallion bred on similar lines to Riverman.

This affinity may be due to the relationship between Relko (sire of Linamix's maternal grandsire Breton) and Never Bend (sire of Riverman and Mill Reef). A comparison between the pedigrees of Relko and Never Bend show they share strains of Fairway or his full brother Pharos, Blandford, Black Toney, Tourbillon and Vaila. Indeed, English 1000 Guineas heroine Fairy Footsteps was by Mill Reef out of a Relko mare, and other G1 winners with the Never Bend/Relko combination are Desert Prince, Industrial Pioneer, Knowledge and Super Sheila.

Relko also related to another strain found in Vadsa Honor, namely that of Hail To Reason. Remember the latter was also found in Linamix's Group 2 winner Housamix. The maternal granddams of Relko and Hail To Reason, Relic and Blue Swords respectively, where in fact three-quarter genetic relatives, sharing strains of Vaila, Man O'War and Black Toney. They were also perfect foils for one another as Relic and Blue Swords had opposite sex strains of both Man O'War and Black Toney.

Significantly perhaps, the all-conquering stallion Sadler's Wells is out of a mare by Bold Reason, who was by Hail To Reason out of Never Bend's dam Lalun. Three of his Group 1 winners (Dream Well, Leggera and Luna Wells), and one Group 1 winner by his son In The Wings (Central Park), are out of mares with Relko close up in their pedigrees, thus bringing together this trio Hail To Reason, Relko and Lalun. This could well be a combination to look out for when planning future matings.

September 2, 2001. Copyright by Nigel Pullen 2001.