Foxtrail: please explain.
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Foxtrail: please explain.
Here's a question for those of you who consider yourselves pedigree experts; please explain the performance at stud of Foxtrail. When he first went to stud I thought here's another decent racehorse with a modest pedigree who I really thought would be a flop. With 4 crops to the races he has an AEI of 1.32, CI of 1.24, 6% Stakes winners, 17% stakes horses. If anyone can offer an explanation for why the shrewd breeder should have jumped on his bandwagon right away, I'd sure appreciate it, because nice racehorses with modest, unfashionable pedigrees are alot less expensive to buy than the ones who have everything going for them.
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Linda in TX
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I'm certainly not an expert, but I can offer a guess - my guess would be that Foxtrail is essentially an outcross for mares with multiple lines of Phalaris, and he has no line of Native Dancer.
Foxtrail traces tail-male to Phalaris but through Manna instead of one of the more prevalent sons - Pharos, Sickle or Pharamond. In the rest of his extended pedigree Phalaris appears through The Squaw - by Sickle by Phalaris; through My Babu's second dam Lavendula - by Pharos by Phalaris; through Tombstone's dam Polyexna - by Priam by Pharis by Pharos by Phalaris; through Our Babu's (by My Babu) dam Glen Line by Blue Peter by Fairway by Phalaris. And that's it. The rest of his pedigree is a mix of non - Phalaris Eclipse, Matchem and Herod lines.
Now look at the distaff side of a couple of Foxtrail's better runners...
Trailthefox out of Suborned. Suborned's pedigree is running over with Phalaris - she's by Ascot Knight by Northern Dancer by Nearctic by Nearco by Pharos by Phalaris, and Northern Dancer is out of Natalma by Native Dancer by Polynesian by Unbreakable by Sickle by Phalaris; Danzig's dam Pas de Nom is by Admiral Voyage - his third dam is Creole Maid by Pharamond by Phalaris - Pas de Nom's dam is by Petition by Fair Trial by Fair Way by Phalaris; Raise A Native by Native Dancer; Our Native's second dam is by Native Dancer's sire Polynesian; Hail To Reason's sire Turn-To (by Royal Charger by Nearco) is inbred 3 x 3 to Pharos by Phalaris. Suborned's third dam is by Northern Dancer.
Wholelottabourbon's dam Regretfully is a repeat of the same thing - of the 16 members in her fourth generation the following 13 have one or more lines of Phalaris in their pedigrees: Nearctic (Pharos), Natalama (Sickle), Buckpasser (Pharamond), Kalamoun (x2 - Pharos), Belle of Ireland (x3 - Pharos x2 and a daughter), Djakao (x2 - Fairway, Pharos), Hollybrook (x3 - Colorado, Herbalist and a daughter), Grey Sovereign (Pharos), Chammosaire (Pharos), Life Hill (Manna), Raise A Native (Sickle), Gold Digger (Pharos), Dark Vintage (x2 - Manna, Sickle).
I'm sure delving into the pedigrees of the better performing offspring of Foxtrail would reveal other influences as well, and perhaps not all of his mares have as many lines of Phalaris as the two cited above. But from a quick survey he looks like a source for so-called "hybrid vigor" for mares saturated with Phalaris.
Foxtrail traces tail-male to Phalaris but through Manna instead of one of the more prevalent sons - Pharos, Sickle or Pharamond. In the rest of his extended pedigree Phalaris appears through The Squaw - by Sickle by Phalaris; through My Babu's second dam Lavendula - by Pharos by Phalaris; through Tombstone's dam Polyexna - by Priam by Pharis by Pharos by Phalaris; through Our Babu's (by My Babu) dam Glen Line by Blue Peter by Fairway by Phalaris. And that's it. The rest of his pedigree is a mix of non - Phalaris Eclipse, Matchem and Herod lines.
Now look at the distaff side of a couple of Foxtrail's better runners...
Trailthefox out of Suborned. Suborned's pedigree is running over with Phalaris - she's by Ascot Knight by Northern Dancer by Nearctic by Nearco by Pharos by Phalaris, and Northern Dancer is out of Natalma by Native Dancer by Polynesian by Unbreakable by Sickle by Phalaris; Danzig's dam Pas de Nom is by Admiral Voyage - his third dam is Creole Maid by Pharamond by Phalaris - Pas de Nom's dam is by Petition by Fair Trial by Fair Way by Phalaris; Raise A Native by Native Dancer; Our Native's second dam is by Native Dancer's sire Polynesian; Hail To Reason's sire Turn-To (by Royal Charger by Nearco) is inbred 3 x 3 to Pharos by Phalaris. Suborned's third dam is by Northern Dancer.
Wholelottabourbon's dam Regretfully is a repeat of the same thing - of the 16 members in her fourth generation the following 13 have one or more lines of Phalaris in their pedigrees: Nearctic (Pharos), Natalama (Sickle), Buckpasser (Pharamond), Kalamoun (x2 - Pharos), Belle of Ireland (x3 - Pharos x2 and a daughter), Djakao (x2 - Fairway, Pharos), Hollybrook (x3 - Colorado, Herbalist and a daughter), Grey Sovereign (Pharos), Chammosaire (Pharos), Life Hill (Manna), Raise A Native (Sickle), Gold Digger (Pharos), Dark Vintage (x2 - Manna, Sickle).
I'm sure delving into the pedigrees of the better performing offspring of Foxtrail would reveal other influences as well, and perhaps not all of his mares have as many lines of Phalaris as the two cited above. But from a quick survey he looks like a source for so-called "hybrid vigor" for mares saturated with Phalaris.
Here's my expert opinion: he's a freak. He was raced and owned by the Stronach's, who helped him along by breeding a lot of decent mares to him, but I wouldn't have bet a plugged nickle on him.
Similar story: CUTLASS FAX, in Florida. An unraced son of CUTLASS (who isn't really known as a sire of sires), this horse became a pretty good sire who produced a Grade 2 SW, if memory serves. He is inbred 2 x 2 (same granddam) to a mare named APHONIA, a minor winner who was a half sister to the great GAMELY. *Rough Shod II family. Maybe that's why he fared so much better than he should have, but, that seems like a stretch to me.
Similar story: CUTLASS FAX, in Florida. An unraced son of CUTLASS (who isn't really known as a sire of sires), this horse became a pretty good sire who produced a Grade 2 SW, if memory serves. He is inbred 2 x 2 (same granddam) to a mare named APHONIA, a minor winner who was a half sister to the great GAMELY. *Rough Shod II family. Maybe that's why he fared so much better than he should have, but, that seems like a stretch to me.