London Olympic Games – Breeding Analysis

I suspect that the Australian Sandro Hit contingent reinforces the worry that the determining factor in making a Grand Prix horse is more the skill of the trainer / rider than the genes of the mount. Sancette, out of a Contender mare, is ridden by Mary Hanna who has competed at four Olympic Games – Atlanta, Athens, Sydney and now London.

At Atlanta, she became the first ever Australian dressage competitor to qualify to compete in the Grand Prix Special, riding the New Zealand bred, 15 hand high Mosaic. Mosaic was bred by the famous New Zealand horseman and racehorse trainer, Eric Ropiha, and was by the imported Hanoverian stallion, Witzbold who stood in New Zealand from 1978 to 1986, where he sired Waikare (dressage at the Sydney Games), and Mosaic’s full-brother, Playskool (Rome WEG) and Monopoly who represented Canada at the Olympics as a showjumper. Witzbold was by an own son of Ferdinand, Winnetou, whose stallion line disappeared into Belgium; indeed the entire ‘W’ line of Ferdinand has died out in Europe and Witzbold was perhaps the last man standing (this to my count is the 3rd Hanoverian stallion line to find a final resting place in the Antipodes). Mosaic’s dam competed in pony classes with Ropiha’s daughter in showjumping, dressage and eventing. Way to go? Prehistoric Hanoverian over Pony mare??

Interestingly, both the Sandro Hits in the Australian team are solidly jumping bred on the dam line, Sancette is out of a Contender mare, while Sandro Boy is out of an Argentinus mare.

What is it about Aussies and Sandro Hits?

And yes, once again Donnerhall establishes himself as the pre-eminent sire of Grand Prix dressage horses. He is the sire of four of his own, and is responsible for more through his sons: De Niro, 8, Don Schufro, 5, Don Frederico, 2 and one each for Don Cardinal, Donnerschlag and Dream of Glory. His grandsons add more to the tally: D-Day, Di Versace, Dimaggio and Don Davidoff.

Standout start for De Niro – Desperados

Still number one – Jazz

Holland’s world number one, Jazz sired eight of the Olympic nominations. Former member of the Dutch Olympic team, Ferro is the sire of four with his sons, Metall and Negro adding three more, two for Negro. The Dutch-based Trakehner, Gribaldi contributes seven.

The ‘W’ line is hanging in there. Weltmeyer himself, is the sire of one nominee, with the Welt Hit brothers indicating that a goodly dose of ‘blood’ mixes well with Weltmeyer: Welt Hit II has three and his older brother, one. Wolkenstein II has two, and another son, Weltbogan, one.

Of the ‘R’ line, Rubinstein has one, his son, Rohdiamant, two, and grand-son, Riccione, one. Florestan has three progeny in the ranks.

It is interesting that the overwhelming majority of the horses nominated were obviously bred for dressage – the days of the jumpers who can’t jump being re-badged as dressage horses are over.

Showjumping Nominations

The showjumping nominations are a triumph for the much maligned Baloubet du Rouet. Poor Baloubet, right from the start he was the subject of derision. Rodrigo Pessoa recalls his first impression of the chestnut, coming off the lorry, “I said to myself ‘what on earth is that thing?’ He was just gangling and uncoordinated…” Despite a record making three in a row World Cup titles (1998, 1999, 2000, and just missing out in 2001) he is probably remembered more for his stop at the Sydney Games when gold was in his grasp. When he started breeding, his foals were said to be ugly – the reaction of Holstein master breeder, Harm Thormählen was not isolated: “We tried with Pessoa’s Baloubet du Rouet, and the eyes for me are not clever enough, they have a stupid face, and I hate that. All my good horses had a big and very sensitive clear eye. The foals by Baloubet were out of my best mares but the face was not clever enough.”

Baloubet confounds the critics

Perhaps Mr Thormählen abandoned Baloubet too soon, since the list of Olympic showjumping nominations shows 10 progeny, double the next best tallies – 5 each for Darco and Quick Star. Not all these nominated horses actually made the teams for London, but in a way, I feel the nominations are perhaps a better source of data for the breeding enthusiast than the final teams’ lists which are perhaps more influenced by the skill of the rider.

The nominations underscore the ongoing importance of the stallion Almé, the grand-sire of Baloubet, although perhaps we should go one generation further back to Almé’s sire Ibrahim, arguably the greatest of all jumping sires, since we see his influence not just through Almé and his sons (particularly Quick Star, Skippy and Jalisco) but also through his other stallion sons, like Fleuri du Manoir, dam sire of Vigo d’Arsouilles, and a relative newcomer, Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve who is by Narcos II whose great grandsire on both his top and bottom lines is Ibrahim, with a further cross of Ibrahim on his dam line, through Almé once again.

Dominating sire at the London Games, Almè

The legacy of Almé’s time in Zangersheide continues with his son Ahorn Z, the sire of Acord II, in turn the sire of Arpeggio with three and Acorado I with two and Acacio,  Araconit and Atlantic all with one representative. The other stallion discovered at Zangersheide and spirited away to Holstein by Maas J Hell, Athlet Z, is represented by his son, Adelfos. Almé’s Dutch family also makes an appearance, with his grandson, Andiamo, via Animo, providing two entries.

Baloubet also connects with another of the dominating jumping sires of all time, Cor de la Bryère, since he has two crosses of Corde’s sire, Rantzau xx on his mare line.

Cor de la Bryère has no stand out star on the nominations’ list but is still well represented. His son, Corland has one, while another son, Corrado has two nominations, while his son Corino, has one nomination. Another Corrado son, Clinton has three and his son Cornet Obolensky, two – and well as scoring himself a nomination for the German team. This feat is equaled by Vigo, nominated in the Belgian squad, who has a daughter, Tortola nominated for Argentine jumping team, and two offspring nominated on the Belgian eventing squad. Corde’s grandson, Contender continues to produces international athletes even in the twilight of his distinguished career, he has three nominations himself, and his son Chellano has three nominations and seven sons: Montender,  Contendro, Cantos, Con Air, Celano,  and Cannibus, Concerto II, all with one. Chellano is of course the classic mix, Cor de la Bryère on the topside, Capitol and Cor de la Bryère on the bottom. The influence of the Caletto brothers also continues to flow, with representatives by Caretino and the Cantos sons, Calido and Cascavelle.

The other dominating C note, Capitol, is hanging in there: one son, Carthago has  four, despite being infertile for years, with his son, Carvallo, sire of another. The Dutch-based Capitol son Indoctro provides three contenders, while Cento has two, Cento’s son, Cento Lano, provides another, while his grandson, Cumano has two. Cardento also has two. The Cassini brothers account for three.

The Ladykiller line is represented by rather more descendants of Lord than I would have suspected since for a while he seemed only a dam line influence, but his blood flows through Lux Z, with two, and single representatives for Lagerfield, Last Liberty, Elmshorn and Lordanos.

Landgraf is represented most strongly by his Dutch grandson, Numero Uno with three while Numero Uno’s sire Libero, has two. Another grandson, Lord Pezi has two. His son Landadel is represented by Interadel, Landkoenig, Landprinz and Landor S. Landgraf has further single representatives via Landwind, Burggraaf, Lando, Lifestyle, Landlord, Nairobi and Lancer II.

Voltaire is well represented. He is the sire of one representative, while his son, Concorde has two and his two sons, Namelus R and Royal Concorde, have one each – with single representatives to the Voltaire sons: Kannan, Vechta, Lexicon and Now or Never M.

The perennial WBFSH rankings head Darco has five of his own offspring, and his son, Parco, one. The great Nimmerdor is not directly represented, but his son, Heartbreaker has three, and his sons, Toulon and Quasimodo vd Molendreef, one, while another son, Nonstop, has two and his grand-son, Emillion, one.

For a while it looked as if Quidam de Revel was going to dominate the world of jumping, and he is still a force to be reckoned with, but more through his sons. Quidam has one representative, while his son Nabab de Reve has four, and his son, Kashmir van Schutterhof, one, another son, Quasimodo Z has two, with singles to Vigo d’Arsouilles, Guidam and Dollar da la Pierre.

The line of Le Tot de Sémilly is only modestly represented, one for Le Tot, and two each for his sons, Diamant de Sémilly and Flamenco de Sémilly.

The broodmare award goes to the amazing Fragrance de Chalus, dam of two nominees, Arc en Ciel de Muze and Mylord Carthago, but then again the mare had more chances than most since she is owned by a vet who produced some 40 foals from her, by embryo transfer!

Eventing Nominations

I must confess that Thoroughbred fan though I am, I was a little surprised by just how many of the Eventing nominations were by full Thoroughbred stallions – 40 out of 128 or just over 30%, and of course when we look more closely at the ‘Warmblood’ pedigrees,  we find them littered with the suffix xx.

Once again, the most influential sire was Heraldik xx with four progeny. This Thoroughbred stallion is without doubt the most successful eventing sire of all time. Don’t forget that the German gold medallist, Sam, is out of an Heraldik mare. There are nine stallions with two nominations each. The New Zealand Thoroughbreds, Blues Traveller and Grosvenor and the great Irish sire, Master Imp xx.

Another Irish-based sire, Cavalier Royale, also produced two nominees. Imported from Holstein, he is half Thoroughbred with a pedigree that combines the best of the French, Rantzau xx and Furioso xx with three of the Thoroughbreds that made Holstein great: Ladykiller, Cottage Son and Anblick. Another Irish sire, Clover Brigade has two, and he is a three-quarter ‘blood’ horse. Puissance is almost three-quarters Thoroughbred (by Imperious xx) with a strong dash of Irish Draught (King of Diamonds and Ben Purple), he too has two nominated for London.

The Selle Français stallion, Don Juan de la Bouverie has two reps. He carries the blood of Furioso xx and Rantzau xx on his top line, and on the dam line, Ibrahim, along with Le Mioche xx and Foudroyant II xx, who was a rival of Furioso xx, producing brilliant jumpers, but not so many as Furioso. Foudroyant II’s best-known offspring was Kenavo D, a medallist at the Tokyo Games.

As mentioned the amazing Vigo d’Arsouilles has two horses in the Belgian eventing squad though I guess no one expected to see them in the team medals hunt.

Summersong – eventing star, now an eventing sire…

Yarland’s Summersong was an out-and-out star in the French eventing team with Marie Christine Duroy, and he is a good example of an early attempt to purpose breed eventers. His Trakehner sire Fleetwater Opposition, was an individual and team gold medallist at the European Junior 3DE championships, and he is the sire of a string of top class eventers. Summersong is out of Welton Gameful, one of Sam Barr’s purpose bred eventing mares. It is often said that it is impossible to breed for eventing success but the relatively few breeders who have tried, have been in the main wildly successful. Yarland’s Summersong has two horses nominated for London.

So there are the raw numbers, it is time to look at the horses that came out on top to see which lines are producing winners…

The Finalists…

EVENTING

There were nine cross country clears at Greenwich and the result would seem to indicate that Thoroughbred blood is still an essential part of the eventing equation. Butts Abraxxas – by Heraldik – wears a Hanoverian brand but he is, in truth, 63/64ths Thoroughbred. High Kingdom is by the Thoroughbred, Master Imp, out of High Dolly by Chairlift xx – a descendant of Bayardo, out of a mare by Prefairy xx by the great Precipitation xx – Thoroughbred jumping aristocracy.  Miners Frolic is straight Thoroughbred by Miners Lamp out of an Oats mare. Sam – the eventual gold medallist, is by the Thoroughbred, Stan the Man, out of a mare by Heraldik xx, out of a Hanoverian grand-daughter of Gotthard. Nereo who finished in 4th place is by the Spanish Thoroughbred, Fines out of a mare by Golfi, a grandson of Gotthard. Leilani is by the Holsteiner, Lander (Lorenz / Fasolt) out of a Thoroughbred mare, Frozen Asset by Ten Below.

Opposition Buzz is by the eventing Trakehner, Fleetwater Opposition out of a mare by Java Tiger xx, out of a mare by Sovereign Bill xx.

The Swedish home-bred Wega is by Irco Mena by  Irco Marco (a grandson of the Trakehner, Marco Polo) out of an Irish mare by the Thoroughbred, Menelek. Wega’s dam La Fair, who also competed in the London Games, is again largely Thoroughbred and carries the blood of that great jumping influence, Phalaris xx.

Borough Penny Z  is the most ‘Warmbloody’ of the horses that came home under time. She is by Cevin Z – classic Holstein – a grandson of Cor de la Bryère, out of a Carthago / Caletto mare. Her dam, Sovereign Flight is by international dressage horse Dutch Gold, by another international dressage horse, the Dutch-bred, Dutch Courage, by Millerole xx.

Five of these horses made the final top ten after the two rounds of showjumping where they were joined by the Selle Français, Opgun Louvo. The chestnut gelding is a classic French mix. His sire Shogoun is by the great Thoroughbred, Night and Day, out of a mare by the Anglo Arab, Garitchou out of an Almé mare – and his dam is by J’T’Adore, a descendent of the great Thoroughbred, Furioso, out of an Anglo Arab mare.

Imperial Cavalier who finished 5th, is by Cavalier Royale, a Holsteiner that stood in Ireland. Cavalier Royale is by Cor de la Bryère (by Rantzau xx) out of Lugustra, who carries the blood of those two great Thoroughbreds, Ladykiller and Cottage Son. Imperial Cavalier is out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Imperius. Master Crusoe, in 7th is another by Master Imp xx, out of a very Irish mare, Cruising / King of Diamonds. Ninth to Mr Medicott, who is by Cruising (by the Irish Draught, Sea Crest out of Mullacrew, a three quarters Thoroughbred) out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Edmund Burke. Rounding out the top ten we have Clifton Promise, a New Zealand Thoroughbred (Engagement xx / Cautious Style xx).

DRESSAGE

Of the top twenty in the Grand Prix at London, we can safely say that nineteen were bred with dressage in mind, only Salinero, in 16th place, looks on paper a jumper, and indeed a full brother – Seven Up – did compete in showjumping at Athens.

The top twenty demonstrates yet again the dominance of Donnerhall and his stallion sons. Six out of the twenty are from the D line:  three own sons of Donnerhall – Digby, Damon Hill and Donnperignon – one Don Frederico – Diva Royal, and Don  Auriello by Don Davidoff (what a pity he was sub-fertile and withdrawn from breeding after one season!) We also find Donnerhall as the dam sire of Edward Gal’s Undercover.

Undercover is by Ferro, another with multiple representatives in the top twenty. His grandson, Valegro (by Negro) heads the list, with another grandson, Uthopia (by Metall) in fifth. Ferro is also the dam sire of Painted Black, and Ferro’s sire, Ulft is the dam sire of number two on the list, Parzival (by Jazz).

SHOWJUMPING

Alme still the big influence

Only two stallions managed to put more than one horse into the final top 22 that fought it out for individual honors at London: Baloubet du Rouet  sired Rahmannshof Bogeno (dam by the Dutch stallion, Elanville) and Napoli du Ry (out of an Oldenburg mare, by Silvio I). Quick Star had two, Big Star and Star Power with Quick Star’s son, Obos Quality contributing another, Castlefield Eclipse. But really it was a triumph for Almé and his son, Galoubet who sired both of these stallions. Interestingly, both the Quick Star stars bear the KWPN brand. Big Star’s dam is Nimmerdor / Ramiro, a mix of two of the great Holsteiners who came to The Netherlands, while Star Power is out of a Calvados / Le Mexico mare – two influential French imports to Holland.

There was further Almé influence through another son, Jalisco, sire of Quidam de Revel in turn the sire of Dollar de la Pierre, sire of Rebozo. Quidam is also the sire of Nabab de Reve, sire of silver medallist, London. Nabab is also the dam sire of Hello Sanctos (by the Heartbreaker son, Quasimodo vd Molendreef). Almé also featured in a somewhat more tortuous way in the pedigree of another of the top 22, Temple Road, by Antaeus by Acord II by Ahorn Z – a product of Almé’s stay at Zangersheide.

Two horses flew the flag for Irish breeding – Castlefield Eclipse (Obos Quality by Quick Star out of a Hanoverian mare by Domino) out of that most famous of Irish broodmares – ‘Breeding Unknown’ and Flexible, by Irish Grand Prix competitor, Cruising of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Safari, out of, you guessed it…

While only two of the 22 – Carlina IV (Carvello / Landgraf) and Rosalia La Silla (Cassini I / Contender) – bore the Holsteiner brand, the Holstein influence is still strong. Sancha is described as being from the Studbook La Silla, but his sire is the Holsteiner, Chin Chin. Chin Chin is also the dam sire of London. Lennox is by Lifestyle, a grandson of Landgraf, out of the classic cross of Oldenburg’s Klatte stud – Grannus / Argentinus. There is further Landgraf influence through his son Libero H, sire of Numero Uno, the sire of Tamino.

Noblesse des Tess is the product of the year Cumano (by Cassini I) stood in France – and in that year produced a string of successful competitors and breeding horses – out of a French mare by Irak E, a grandson of Ibrahim. She is one of  four horses branded Selle Français, along with Nino des Buissonets, Lord du Thieze, and the Le Tot de Sémilly son, Itot du Chateau (out of a mare by Galoubet – Almé again!)

There were also four horses with the KWPN brand: Star Power, Tamino, Big Star and Plot Blue – by Mr Blue out of Ilotte, a Dutch mare by the great Westfalien sire, Pilot out of a mare by the Selle Français, San Fernando, out of a Thoroughbred. As my friend Arnaud Evain is wont to point out, most of the world’s most successful jumping horses are ‘bastards’ – a mix of studbooks as distinct from a ‘purebred’.

The bronze medallist, Blue Loyd is by the Oldenburg sire, Landor S (by Landadel by Landgraf) out of a French mare, Suzana du Bouley, by the Anglo Arab, Hadj A out of a mare by Fair Play III (sire of Narcos II)

The gold medallist, Nino des Buissonnets is branded Selle Français, but his sire, Kannan is an import from Holland. He is out of a Nimmerdor mare and by the Hanoverian, Voltaire, in turn by the Selle Français stallion imported to Germany by Georg Vorwerk, Furioso II – a son of the great French Thoroughbred, Furioso. The Furioso line had died out in France and was only revived with the arrival of Kannan. Nino des Buissonnets is out of a mare by Narcos II (who is also the grandsire of another of the finalists, Lord de Thieze, by Donald Rouge II HN) out of an Almé mare. Kannan is the current shooting star on the world jumping breeding scene and seems destined to take the number one spot on the rankings at some stage in the not too distant future. Currently Kannan has 272 registered CSI winners on the sja.it site. Since January of this year, he had added 42 horses to the total, and now an Olympic Gold…