An analysis by Chris Hector
Once again Thoroughbred blood comes to the fore. The winner Chilli Morning is Brandenburg branded, but by the Thoroughbred grandson of Northern Dancer, Phantomic, out of a mare by the great jumping stallion at Neustadt, Kolibri, but she is out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Grollus. His percentage of Thoroughbred blood is 62% but there is also quite a lot of Trakehner blood on the sire line.
Helikon xx, the sire of Horseware Hale Bob – and the recently retired Seacookie, ridden by both Ingrid and William
Second, the Oldenburg branded, Horseware Hale Bob, is 71.88% Thoroughbred – by the Thoroughbred stallion, Helikon, out of a mare by Noble Champion by the Thoroughbred, Noble Roi.
Third, Clifton Lush, is 100%, by Half-Iced. The fourth placegetter, the Holsteiner, Leonidas II is by Landos, who is 58% ‘blood’, combining Ladykiller xx and Cottage Son xx, out of a mare by the Thoroughbred,
Parco, out of a mare with a double cross of the Anglo Arab, Ramzes. Poor Landos had quite a checkered career – the Lord son was ‘banished’ to Hungary for many years, and then spent time in Poland, before
returning home.
Fifth placegetter, Designer 10 is ‘only’ 49.61% blood, her sire Dali X is an unlikely sire of jumping horses, he is by Donnerhall out of a Lauries Crusador mare, neither of whom were able to jump a cavaletti, and her dam is by the Thoroughbred, Concepcion.
In sixth place, Nereo, from the Beca family breeding program in Spain, is by the Thoroughbred, Fines and has at least 52.15% blood, although his mare line is not totally known. Fines was a good race horse, but Ramon Beca’s mare band is a bit of a mixed lot – Nereo’s dam sire, Golf combines Gotthard and Grande, I asked Andrew if he wasn’t worried about too much Warmblood?
“Nereo is probably one of the most consistent horses in the world. Ramon’s horses are all similar in their type and their behavior, they are quite tough horses. Tough in their minds and tough in their bodies. For sure they are not like Thoroughbreds, you’ve got to gallop them a lot more, you’ve got to gallop them a lot harder than a Thoroughbred. I think that’s where a lot of riders get a little disheartened, they try to do the same preparation that you would with a Thoroughbred and they haven’t got the engine for that. That’s why I like to buy them when they are young, so I can start galloping them when they are relatively young, stretching their lungs, getting them hard.”
Seventh, One Too Many, is branded Irish, but by the Holsteiner, Chacoa, by Contender – 43.16%, out of an Irish mare by the King of Diamonds grandson, Colin Diamond, out of ‘unknown’.
In eighth, Vaguely North is a New Zealand Thoroughbred, by the Northern Dancer grandson, Distinctly North, and out of a mare by Grosvenor, whose offspring may be tricky, but they can jump. Ninth placegetter, the Irish bred, Ballylynch Adventure is by the Selle Français Don Juan de la Bouverie who is 59.96 blood, but what blood – Furioso and Rantzau on the top line. He is out of a half bred mare, by the Thoroughbred, Standaan. In tenth another from the Emerald Isle, Paulank Brockagh who is by Touchdown by the great Selle Français, Galoubet A, out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Cheyne. Paulank Brockagh is out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Triggerero, out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, French Wood, out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Carnival Night.
Then we have Armada – a full brother to Nereo. Twelfth, Redesigned, by the Selle Français, Carnute (a grandson of the great jumping Thoroughbred, Laudanum), out of a mare of largely Anglo Arab breeding. There are three crosses of the great Anglo Arab, Nithard on Redesigned’s pedigree.
Kilronan was 13th, another Irish Sport horse, and by the Thoroughbred, Ghareeb, out of a grand-daughter of King of Diamonds. 69.73% blood. Fourteenth, Indian Mill, by Millkom xx, and while Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain branded, 100% Thoroughbred. Rounding out the top 15 is Ringwood Sky Boy, another Irish Sport Horse, by the Holsteiner, Courage II (Capitol / Cor de la Bryère) out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Sky Boy.
Originally published The Horse Magazine, June 2015