Lucky Boy xx
167 cm Born 1966 Died 1984
Pharos Nearco Nogara Compromise Owen Tudor Idealist Mysstre Lucky Boy xx Norseman Ksarinor Ksarine Séjane Mistral Jeanne Seymour Ann's Twin
When Melanie Smith finished second in the 1980 World Cup final on the seven year old Dutch bred Calypso, and then followed that up two years later with a victory in the 1982 final in Göteborg, suddenly in the rest of the world – particularly the United States – the hunt was on for Dutch bred showjumpers, especially the ones by Calypso’s sire, Lucky Boy.
Jacob Melissen comments in his 92/93 edition of The Leading Sires of the Netherlands that “Calypso has been of fundamental importance to the development of showjumping in the ‘new style’, he was one of those elastic, plucky horses that perform intelligently and are keen to tackle anything without being too hot. Bold horses, with a light-footed canter. The kind of horses in which the athletic action of the Thoroughbred is united with the balanced character of the part-bred. That’s what Calypso was, and that’s precisely what Lucky Boy contributed to Dutch sport horse breeding.”
In fact Lucky Boy contributed a string of top jumpers to the international scene. There was Willi Melliger’s Van Gogh, and The Freak with Hugo Simon and later Dirk Hafemeister, and Anne Kursinski’s Medrano – and all three of them were in Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympic Games.
In fact, the Lucky Boys seemed to come in threes, because three years later, the winning American team in the Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows found room for three Lucky Boy offspring: VIP and Debbie Dolan, Victor and Joan Scharffenberger, and Anne Kursinski and Medrano.
Other international performers include Urchin (Rene Tebbel), Logo (Dianne Shaw), Dutch Regard (Mike McCormick), Revlon Rascal (Lisa Tarnopol), Servus (Martha Burstein), Windsor (Guido Dominici), Zazou (Phillip Heffer), US Neopolitan (Annemarie Kynsilehto) and Bokilly (Eugenie Legrand, now Eugenie Angot).
Lucky Boy’s sire, Compromise is rich in the blood that says ‘jump’ on any Thoroughbred pedigreee. Phalaris (three times) and Bayardo (twice).
Lucky Boy produced 16 stallion sons, the most famous of which was Octrooi, who had a successful career in the USA under the name, Best of Luck. Interestingly, he was out of a mare by yet another Thoroughbred sire, Koridon.
Best of Luck, competed in Europe as a Grand Prix jumper where he was a champion, and in North America where he was a Champion Hunter. A horse of elegance and impressive appearance, Best Of Luck sired winners in all Hunter and Jumper divisions from Junior / Amateur to Open, Puissance and International Grand Prix, as well as FEI dressage and Combined Training champions. He scored over 100 points in both Dressage and Jumping on the Dutch Stallion Index.
Lucky Boy is also proving a valuable brood mare sire. Beezie Maddan’s current star, Authentic is by Guidam but out of a grand-daughter of Lucky Boy. Rolf-Goran Bengtssen‘s Mac Kinley is out of a great grand-daughter of Lucky Boy. Katharina Offel’s top horse, Nike, is by Indoctro out of a daughter of Octrooi.