The New Secretariat

So, last night I went to see the Tom Cruise vehicle Knight & Day. While I was going through the corridor on the way to the theatre I saw the poster for the upcoming film Secretariat. The poster made me think of two things: the first is that Diane Lane has a really, really varied filmography. The second thing is that there has never been a horse that has come close to Secretariat, and to the best of my knowledge, breeders don't really try to breed horses like him anymore.

This got me thinking.

If someone were to try to recreate Secretariat how would he go about this.

Now, it has to be said that all horses are individuals. Each one possesses his own mind, body and spirit which can never be duplicated. However, if one were to try and breed a horse comparable to Big Red, which sire and broodmare sire would he choose.

The first question to answer is this: are we trying to breed a horse that has lots of Secretariat's blood? or are we trying to breed a horse that can run like Big Red?

Personally, I think it's one in the same. You have to bring back his bloodlines to get a horse that can run like he did. So lets get started.

It is basically considered fact that Princequillo passed on his large heart to Somethingroyal, who then passed it on to Secretariat, who then passed it on to the majority of his daughters, who then passed it off to their sons. If we accept this as a fact, then the pattern for passing off the large heart is male-female-male-female. This means that the large heart of Princequillo which was passed down to Secreatriat, lives on in the daughters of sons of Secretariat broodmares. Basically, colts who have Secretariat as their broodmare sire can be good broodmare sires themselves because they can pass down this gene.

This means that A.P Indy, Storm Cat and Dehere all qualify. In fact, Dehere has already had a decent amount of success as a broodmare sire. Two of his best horses as a broodmare sire are Meisho Yoshihisa and Midnight Lute. I think that whatever basic principles were used to breed these two colts is worthy of some imitation.

Meisho has Secretariat broodmares in his third and fourth generations. This could be the reason for a great deal of his success; however he also has Norther Dancer in the fourth generation through Lyphard and of course, Vice Regent. Midnight Lute o also has Northern Dancer through Vice Regent as well as Native Dancer, the great grandsire of Northern Dancer through Natalma. I'm not sure how Sunday Silence influences Meisho Yoshihisa's pedigree, but it seems clear that Norther Dancer and Dehere cross very well.

So, what is the best version of this cross?

Well, for our purposes, the best version of this cross would be through a horse that can produce something comparable to the great Secretariat. I'll put forth three sires: Giant's Causeway, Medaglia d' Oro and Duke of Marmalade. Since we can agree that they are all great from a nicking standpoint, I will judge them purely on what types of foals they usually throw.

Giants Causeway was quite the runner back in England and some say he could've won the Breeder's Cup Classic with a little bit of luck. Most of his horses can run all day, and they seem to like both the dirt and the turf. He stands in Kentucky and led the general sire list last year. If Eskendereya's earnings help carry him through, he'll lead the list again this year. Though none of his offspring have won the Kentucky Derby, they are mainly distance types with good turn of foot. I know that all too often we play the what if game, but if Eskenderaya was healthy for the Derby, he might have given Giant's Causeway his first Derby winner.

Medaglia D' Oro has really given the racing world some gifts as of late. Between Rachel Alexandra and Champagne D' Oro, Medaglia D' Oro might just single handedly produce all of the starters for the B.C. Distaff- and therin lies the problem. As great a sire as he his- and I like him more than Giants Causeway- his fillies are miles ahead of his colts. Of course I point this out as a negative even though the two best horses in the country- Rachel and Zenyatta are both female. There is no doubt that Medaglia D' Oro is a great sire, but the fact that his colts aren't as could as his fillies concerns me.

Duke of Marmalade I'm pretty sure that his foals haven't raced as yet, but he is by Danehill and you have to admit that this horse could run. He didn't fire in the Classic, but that was probably because he doesn't travel well. He's proven on turf and the fact that he has Kingmambo in his pedigree might cause people to lose confidence in his ability to throw a dirt horse, but could you have predicted Cigar, Barbaro and Big Brown's affinity for the dirt by looking solely at their pedigrees? Of course, I DO NOT claim to be an expert, but Duke of Marmalade had a lot of natural talent so if his foals are anything like him, and he nicks well with Dehere broodmares, Duke of Marmalade could sire the closest thing we've seen to Secretariat in a long time.