Pedigree Profiles - The Prevalence of Northern Dancer in Modern Pedigrees

In any sort of selective breeding, an outcross is adding new bood.  As Thoroughbreds have stayed true to their name, tracing back to only a handful of similar ancestors, outcrossing is used to make sure one horse doesn't pop up in a pedigree more times than he or she should.  While line-breeding is still popular, the word outcross holds a positive ring nowadays, as racehorses have become saturated with certain sires and bloodlines.

It is nearly impossible to find a horse without Native Dancer in its pedigree.  The gray classic winner is the forerunner of several important sirelines and certainly left his mark on female families as well.  As it is difficult to find a modern Thoroughbred free of Native Dancer, we look instead to the popularity of a son of his daughter Natalma - Northern Dancer.

Northern Dancer came close to winning the Triple Crown of 1964, but was vanquished, like so many others, in the Belmont Stakes.  He avenged that loss by becoming, arguably, the 20th century's greatest sire.  At one point, the regal bay stallion commanded a $1 million stud fee, a half-million more than any other stallion before or after him.  Decades later, his many great sons enjoy as much fame as he - Sadler's Wells, Danzig, Nureyev, Dixieland Band, and others play a part in this vast list.

Now, nearly fifty years after Northern Dancer entered stud, he is in pedigrees with nearly as much frequency as his damsire.  All of the last five Kentucky Derby winners had the sire somewhere in their pedigree; the same can be said of the last five Kentucky Oaks winners and also the last five English Derby winners.  Most of these carried Northern Dancer more than once in their bloodlines.  This Northern Dancer breeding is not at all uncommon.

Though line-breeding as an idea has merit, we look now, five or six generations after Northern Dancer's descendants were born, and see an overabundance of his bloodline.  Certainly Native Dancer is much more prevalent, especially through sons like Raise a Native, but with Northern Dancer blood pooled in so many successful stallions and broodmares, he may become as much of a permanent part of the bloodline as Native Dancer or even ancestors like Pharos and Eclipse.

Out of 43 featured new stallions in The Bloodhorse's Stallion Register, only three had pedigrees completely free of the name Northern Dancer.  They are three stallions from completely different backgrounds with completely different racing records, yet they all share this defining characteristic, so rare in today's modern Thoroughbred.

Fort Larned
E Dubai - Arlucea (Broad Brush)
It is interesting that the first horse we talk about here is last year's Breeders' Cup Classic winner.  Affectionately nicknamed "Big Ugly," he is a grandson of two-time Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Bayakoa (Consultant's Bid), who herself was from sturdy Argentinian female lines.  Fort Larned's sire, E Dubai, was once the property of Godolphin Racing and Darley Stud, but now resides in Pennsylvania.  Fort Larned is by far his most successful runner.

You will find Native Dancer in Fort Larned's pedigree; he traces back to the gray stallion directly through his sireline.  The great Nashua is found twice in this pedigree, as is Fleet Nasrullah - another son of Nasrullah - and Turn-To, the progenitor of the Hail to Reason line.  Fort Larned stands at Adena Springs in Kentucky for $15,000.

I Want Revenge
Stephen Got Even - Meguial (Roy)
It has been nearly five years since the morning this colt was scratched from the Kentucky Derby.  He was the morning-line favorite, the impressive winner of the Wood Memorial three weeks before, and he seemed destined to wear the roses.  After that soft tissue injury was discovered, he never was quite the same horse in his sporadic returns to the track.   Now this dark bay stallion, who could have been a champion, awaits a stud career.  He is from the A.P. Indy sireline, which traces back to Bold Ruler and his sire Nasrullah.  Like Fort Larned, he is also from South American female lines.

Unlike Fort Larned, however, he has no inbreeding in the first five generations of his pedigree.  You only find Native Dancer once, and that's through his damsire, Roy, who is a son of Fappiano (Mr. Prospector).  Though what could have been a glorious career was severely abbreviated, he is an intriguing outcross for mares heavily laden with Northern Dancer blood.  I Want Revenge is at Pauls Mill in Kentucky for $10,000.

World Renowned
A.P. Indy - Splendid Blended (Unbridled's Song)
This last stallion seems very out-of-place after the two distinguished racehorses before him.  Unlike Fort Larned or I Want Revenge, he never won a Grade 1 event, let alone a stakes race.  He won only twice in his life, and both of those were claiming events at Santa Anita.  It looks as if he was given a chance at stud due to his nice bloodlines.  A.P. Indy needs no introduction; dam Splendid Blended was a two-time Grade 1 winner and daughter of Unbridled's Song, a Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion.

World Renowned's dam also traces back to Fappiano, who in turn traces back to Native Dancer through Raise A Native.  You can find two strains of Bold Ruler - through sons Boldnesian and Secretariat - in this pedigree.  While his accomplishments pale in comparison to the two stallions before him, his bloodlines hold just as much weight.  World Renowned stands at stud at Brazeau Thoroughbred Farms in California for $2,500.

Just three out of 43 featured new stallions.  That number could very well be zero in a decade.  While inbreeding is nothing new in Thoroughbred breeding, especially if you look back to the first great racehorses, it is certainly a subject to study and scrutinize.  The effect of this excess Northern Dancer blood, though it may not be felt for some time, might negatively limit the gene pool.