Arion run a very useful report detailing statistics for inbreeding / line breeding to a particular sire or dam within five generations.
The report on inbreeding to Danehill (foaled in 1986) reads like this.
Sex |
Named |
Rnrs |
Runs |
Wnrs |
Wnrs/ |
Wins |
GW |
G1W |
SW |
SP |
AEI(anz) |
Colts |
1287 |
882 |
10370 |
427 |
48.4% |
1066 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
25 |
25 |
Fillies |
1238 |
795 |
7754 |
324 |
40.8% |
730 |
12 |
1 |
23 |
24 |
24 |
Total |
2525 |
1677 |
18124 |
751 |
44.8% |
1796 |
16 |
3 |
37 |
49 |
49 |
His 37 stakes-winners are headed by triple Group I winning filly Guelph (2 x 3 Exceed and Excel x Camarilla, by Elusive Quality), while other Group I winners are the Northern Hemisphere bred Astaire (3 x 3 Intense Focus x Runway Dancer, by Dansili) and New Zealand Group I winner Southern Lord (3 x 3 Stratum x Angel Girl by Rory's Jester).
All three have the double Danehill cross quite close in their pedigrees and all three have it sex balanced through a son of Danehill and a daughter of Danehill.
This type of mating is becoming ever more frequent as we see a number of stallions from Danehill line mares, notably Sebring, Star Witness and Sepoy being mated to mares that also carry Danehill, a lot of them by Danehill line sires.
Sebring's stakes-winners Kiss a Rose, Scratchy Bottom and Pressing are all bred this way as is the Star Witness stakes-winner Pearl Star and while Sepoy is yet to sire a winner, you can bet that when we look at his stats at this time next year he will have winners bred this way.
When you start looking at inbreeding involving two Danehill line stallions, the results are seemingly at this point in time not as successful, but it's very early days.
The only Australian double Danehill stakes-winners so far bred on the direct cross (sireline over dam sireline) of two Danehill line sires are the full siblings Psychologist and Luger (by Choisir from a daughter of Danzero), Prompt Return (Beneteau / Exceed and Excel), Darlington Abbey (Stratum / Blackfriars), Fantisha (Collate (by Catbird)/ Flying Spur) and Choice Words (Choisir / Flying Spur).
It's tough to find a comparison for Danehill to see how his statistics measure up in the context of a peer as in reality Danehill had no peer in this country, such has been his dominance in terms of re-shaping the breed and founding a sire dynasty.
Star Kingdom (IRE) stallion Biscay (foaled in 1965) was probably the best stallion of the pre-Danehill era in terms of exerting his influence beyond his own progeny.
His Arion report for inbreeding within five generations reads like this.
Sex |
Named |
Rnrs |
Runs |
Wnrs |
Wnrs/ |
Wins |
GW |
G1W |
SW |
SP |
AEI(anz) |
Colts |
5528 |
4477 |
78419 |
2596 |
58.0% |
8100 |
44 |
6 |
105 |
88 |
88 |
Fillies |
5306 |
3738 |
44903 |
1744 |
46.7% |
4287 |
31 |
10 |
57 |
75 |
75 |
Total |
10834 |
8215 |
123322 |
4340 |
52.8% |
12387 |
75 |
16 |
162 |
163 |
163 |
New Zealand based Sir Tristram (IRE) (foaled 1971) is the other sire that could be looked at with some interest as his influence extends in all directions through his champion son Zabeel and also though his presence in the pedigree of current champion sire Fastnet Rock and includes five of his Group I winners.
His Arion report for inbreeding within five generations reads like this.
Sex |
Named |
Rnrs |
Runs |
Wnrs |
Wnrs/ |
Wins |
GW |
G1W |
SW |
SP |
AEI(anz) |
Colts |
1840 |
1425 |
23142 |
825 |
57.9% |
2388 |
19 |
7 |
42 |
37 |
37 |
Fillies |
1805 |
1230 |
13339 |
580 |
47.2% |
1230 |
17 |
4 |
26 |
30 |
30 |
Total |
3645 |
2655 |
36481 |
1405 |
52.9% |
3618 |
36 |
11 |
68 |
67 |
67 |
When I first started working in bloodstock the merits of a double cross of Danehill's sire Danzig (foaled 1977) was the subject of hot discussion with many experts expressing the view that it was not or would not be successful.
His Arion report for inbreeding within five generations reads like this.
Sex |
Named |
Rnrs |
Runs |
Wnrs |
Wnrs/ |
Wins |
GW |
G1W |
SW |
SP |
AEI(anz) |
Colts |
11440 |
9154 |
136988 |
5213 |
56.9% |
15154 |
105 |
35 |
237 |
259 |
259 |
Fillies |
11262 |
8325 |
96326 |
4131 |
49.6% |
9855 |
74 |
17 |
182 |
252 |
252 |
Total |
22702 |
17479 |
233314 |
9344 |
53.5% |
25009 |
179 |
52 |
419 |
511 |
511 |
The double Danzig cross has given us a wide variety of very successful horses including Australian Horse of the Year Dissident, current boom young sire All Too Hard, much loved stayer Zipping and brilliant sprinter Brazen Beau.
Some of the success stories for double Danzig feature the double up on the dams side, with the sire of the horse bringing new blood into the mix with examples including Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente and Group I winning filly Pasadena Girl.
As time passes and breeders become wiser for experience at finding the best ways to utilize the Danehill blood, his figures will undoubtedly improve and in ten years time will probably look more like those of the luminary sires we have highlighted.
For yearling buyers faced with making a decision right now, it's always best to look at the horse first and pedigree second.
Soundess and temperament issues that may arise from inbreeding are often there to be seen, while a well-constructed, sensible horse with a good attitude is impossible to miss.