This Side Up: A Loss that Takes Us to the Epicenter

“The Derby gods.” It's a device that tells us rather more about us than them. We know there's no such thing, really; and that if they did exist, they would find sadistic satisfaction in stringing us along in the delusion that they will ultimately even out their torments and benedictions, only to let the ground fall away beneath us just as we reach for the stars.

But that's actually how our way of life-inherently so frivolous, just a herd of ponies running round in circles-connects us with the fundamentals of our place on this planet. To some among the lucky few to have sieved a horse all the way down from a foal crop of 20,000 into those 20 coveted gates at Churchill, the GI Kentucky Derby will unfold in conformity to some divine dispensation largely unreadable by us mortals. For others, no doubt, it will merely condense the random forces that determine where we finish up in the roulette wheel of life.

To be fair, the Derby gods are pretty flexible about these things. Setting any spiritual convictions to one side, you might say that they serve as shorthand for either “fate” or “destiny”. Fate implies that things are going to happen the way they're going to happen, and that there's no point trying to rationalize why. Destiny, in contrast, might suggest that our fortunes-while indeed inexorable-obey some kind of coherent narrative.

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So which side are you on? If you're not quite sure, then ask the same question another way. After what happened to Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), are you now looking to those Derby gods to clear a path for Epicenter (Not This Time)?

Because if you were directing our little world from on high, right now you would surely be feeling pretty disgusted with yourself. Of all horses, you chose Midnight Bourbon!

His loss was attributed to some out-of-the-blue “gastrointestinal event”. Well, if even those of us who admired him from afar felt some empathetic nausea, on hearing the news, how must it feel for those closest to a creature that had, until that moment, appeared the very incarnation of physical majesty in the Thoroughbred?

Because if we were in the business of perceiving some latent pattern in the chaos around us, then we would have to discern some almost witting purpose in the alacrity with which Midnight Bourbon salvaged our community, at an especially vulnerable moment, from fresh disaster.

Moreover in that split second when he somehow retrieved his balance in the GI Haskell S. roughhouse last summer, Midnight Bourbon exhibited a blend of athleticism and courage, exceptional genetic attributes of body and soul, that promised a further redemption. And that was to the sire-line extending through Tiznow to Man o' War and ultimately the Godolphin Arabian.

Now, sadly, that heritage has again been rendered precarious. We have lost something precious, equally, in Midnight Bourbon's maternal line: his mother was bred from a mare who duplicated the 29-for-45 Bayou legend Monique Rene not only as her own second dam, but also as that of her sire Yes It's True.

Not too many breeders would have doubled down there, and fewer yet would have combined the result with Tiznow, himself son of the Cinderella blue hen Cee's Song. But the result was such a physical paragon that he raised $575,000 as a yearling and then earned nomination at least as Best Supporting Actor in the sophomore crop.

Midnight Bourbon (inside) misses Travers victory by a neck | Credit: Sarah Andrew

In running Essential Quality (Tapit) to a neck in their duel for the GI Travers S., Midnight Bourbon confirmed himself the perfect foil to a nearly robotic rival. Their respective win ratios could scarcely have been in starker contrast: that day Essential Quality went to eight-for-nine, while Midnight Bourbon has now exited with just two wins from 16 starts. Yet he yielded little to his rival, in terms of merit or consistency.

Instead he volunteered himself as a champion for those of us uncomfortable with the exorbitant value our industry places on first place, distilled in the bitter axiom “second sucks”. There's something so engaging, romantic almost, about a horse whose strivings tend to be as unavailing as they are unmistakably ardent.

That's why Midnight Bourbon will have been especially cherished by anyone who responds to sport as a mirror to life; and why any such person will be imploring Epicenter, representing the same owner and trainer, to meet his cue at Churchill.

Not because winning the Derby would serve as any kind of salve to their present pain, even for a trainer whose resume contains so few other omissions. No horseman would even begin to understand the notion that there might be any kind of equivalence between this disaster and any such triumph-other, that is, than as the famous “twin impostors” of Kipling's poem.

And that's the point really. The Derby gods can't actually redress what happened on their home patch this week. All they can do is make us shake our heads and thank the Thoroughbred, not for piecing together a puzzle we can never solve, but just for taking us closer-through all the joys and sufferings they bring us-to the mystery and wonder of life.

A bit like, say, when you sit out on the deck at Saratoga on a sultry summer night and gaze at the stars as you tinkle the ice in your midnight bourbon. Yes, even his name was perfect. Here was a horse that reminded us of the shared margin between grandeur and spirit in the elite racehorse, and rebuked our puerile obsession with first place.

How heartbreaking, that this living hymn to vitality should have been so abruptly, so cruelly, reduced to the most harrowing indignities of mortality. Midnight Bourbon has been denied the legacy he deserved, in the breed itself, and must make do with a less tangible immortality in our memories and hearts.

These, too, will be finite. In the meantime, however, let's raise a midnight toast to the lesson he bequeaths. For while those racing gods may not be interested in what horsemen may or may not “deserve”, here was a horse that at least showed us what it is to be worthy.

The post This Side Up: A Loss that Takes Us to the Epicenter appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Tiznow’s Pensioning And The State Of The Godolphin Arabian/Man ‘O War Sire Line

One of the hard and fast rules of the stud book is a Thoroughbred must have descended through its male lines from one of the three foundation sires: The Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, or the Byerley Turk.

The Byerley Turk sire line that gave us the mighty Lexington dried up in the U.S. in the 1990s; its final gasps being snuffed out when champion sprinter Precisionist was found to be practically sterile and Breeders' Cup Classic usurper Arcangues was sent to stand in Japan with minimal success. With the recent announcement of champion and leading sire Tiznow's pensioning from stud duty, the Godolphin Arabian line is now left facing a similar peril, without an established North American figurehead and a dwindling number of contenders for that throne.

At a point in the North American timeline where the deficit in hybrid vigor has driven The Jockey Club to limit stud book sizes for present and future foals, it's fair to find the potential of losing another core outcross option concerning. A flagging sire line can't be turned around if the stallions themselves can't adequately pass on their own racetrack and commercial success at a high level, but the Godolphin Arabian still has a few cards to play before folding his hand.

Tiznow represents the most prominent and prolific North American branch of the male line that traces back to the Godolphin Arabian and bottlenecks through the great Man o' War. Legend has it, the Godolphin Arabian was born in Yemen around 1724 and he passed from owner to owner through Africa and France before ending up in England, where he became Great Britain and Ireland's leading sire on three occasions.

Fourteen generations later came Man o' War, who was named North America's Horse of the Year in 1920. He was the continent's leading sire six years later. Man o' War's status as a great runner and sire is unquestionable, but his legacy as a sire line-extender is a bit murkier. He's the pivot point for any significant member of the Godolphin Arabian sire line standing today, but his tree doesn't fan out as widely as one might expect from a horse of his stature. If it did, this conversation would be moot.

Tiznow leaves stud duty without a firmly established son to carry the line into the next generation, leaving the responsibility of preserving one of the North American breed's most important bloodlines to a relatively small handful of largely unproven and regional stallions.

Before looking at the present, though, one must look to the future. Tiznow has 194 combined yearlings and 2-year-olds of 2020, and two more crops behind them. Given Tiznow's propensity to sire high-caliber runners, there is always a chance that one or more of them will be the one we've been waiting for to grab the reins and drive the line into future generations.

Among his active runners, Tiznow's best shot at a line-extender is Grade 3 winner Dennis' Moment, who returned to training in September after a seven-month freshening up.

Looking at Tiznow's current sons at stud, one of his most likely successors is Breeders' Cup Mile winner and fellow WinStar Farm resident Tourist, whose first foals are 2-year-olds of 2020. Strong Mandate, a resident of Three Chimneys Farm, has three crops of racing age and a sizable pipeline of young horses to find a suitable heir. However, both stallions are still seeking their first North American graded stakes winners in their young careers.

Regionally, Tiznow's sons are led by Gemologist, who began his career at WinStar Farm before relocating to Louisiana in 2019; and popular New Mexico resident Sporting Chance. Colonel John was given a fair chance at stud in Kentucky, as well, before being sold to stand in Korea in 2017. He left behind Pennsylvania stallion Airoforce to extend his branch of the line.

Tiznow

With no obvious heir apparent for Tiznow, there is suddenly an increased chance that the Godolphin Arabian line could survive through another conduit – the Grade 2 winner Put It Back.

The son of Honour and Glory was exported to Brazil, but his hopes of landing a serious Kentucky stallion lie with a Brazilian Triple Crown winner – Calumet Farm's Bal a Bali. Also a multiple Grade 1 winner in the U.S., Bal a Bali has 96 yearlings in his first crop that will begin hitting the track in 2021.

The Calumet Farm operation has a history of keeping its stallions' books well-populated with its deep roster of broodmares, and a solid debut from his first juveniles could set him up to be supported by outside breeders, as well. Bal a Bali was a Group 3 winner as a 2-year-old in his native Brazil, offering some hope that they could come out running.

Put It Back is also the sire of In Summation, a regular presence near the top of Florida's sire ranks. His crops have dwindled to a trickle as his career has reached its coda, which means the responsibility of keeping the sire line going through In Summation will all but certainly fall on young Indiana stallion Calculator.

Both Tiznow and Put It Back connect to the same branch of the Godolphin Arabian/Man o' War line through Relaunch, who is also the pivot point for a line that runs through Skywalker, then Bertrando, and finally spreading out today through a quartet of California sires: Coach Bob, Sierra Sunset, Stormy Jack, and Tamarando. That group covered a combined 25 mares in 2020, 18 of which were bred by Tamarando.

The Bertrando line got a fizzled boost from Officer, who sent a pair of sons to stud: Boys at Tosconova, who began his career in New York and was exported to join his sire in Korea; and Elite Squadron, who entered stud in Kentucky and has since shuffled around regional markets.

The Godolphin Arabian and his favorite cat, by George Stubbs.

The pickings get even slimmer when one ventures away from the Relaunch branch of the Godolphin Arabian sire line. Relaunch is by In Reality, who is also the sire of Valid Appeal.

From the Valid Appeal branch, the burden lies primarily on the pensioned Successful Appeal and his sons. The star of that group is Kentucky Derby runner-up Closing Argument, who spent time in Florida and Kentucky before arriving in Louisiana. Though he's had a number of prosperous runners, the sons of Successful Appeal to enter stud have been scant, and the ones that did have been marginal residents in regional markets.

Successful Appeal's other son of note at stud is J P's Gusto, who stood seven seasons in Florida before being sent to Korea without a son at stud.

The Valid Expectations offshoot from Valid Appeal sees its last flicker of hope from veteran Louisiana stallion The Daddy, who bred five mares in 2020.

All it takes is one good sire producing another good sire to keep a line alive for another generation. If he can produce several good sires, the line has an even better chance of surviving. Tiznow has put plenty of good runners on the track and he's sent plenty of sons to stud, but there remains work to be done by those sons as their patriarch kicks up his heels in retirement.

It will certainly be an uphill battle, but recent history offers a glimmer of optimism. Upper-crust sires Unbridled's Song and Giant's Causeway exited stud duty without a true heir to their respective lines, but their final few crops provided a late flurry of viable candidates that could alter their legacies as sires of sires.

Just because there's now a finite number of real chances to preserve one of the breed's core lines in North America doesn't mean every option has been exhausted. It's just closer to that point than it's probably ever been.

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PR Special Keeneland November: A Foundation Sire Line In Jeopardy

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The focus of the bloodstock community shifts across town for the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, and the Paulick Report has the reading material you need for the day in the PR Special.

Today's issue, like every edition of the PR Special, offers exclusive, detailed bloodstock content not yet seen on the rest of the website in a pdf format that's easy to read and print.

With the recent pensioning of champion and leading sire Tiznow, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills assesses the state of the foundation Godolphin Arabian sire line – one that runs through the great Man o' War – which is left without a clear heir in North America.

Spendthrift Farm's Coal Front is the subject of this issue's Stallion Spotlight, with Mark Toothaker explaining what makes the globetrotting son of Stay Thirsty an appealing prospect for breeders. In a time when major catalog updates can be found throughout the sale catalog, Bryce Burton of Muirfield Insurance discusses when and how to change a horse's insured value in Ask Your Insurer. Then, Nevills takes a look at the new weanling sires in the Keeneland November sale in First-Crop Sire Watch.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS EDITION OF THE PR SPECIAL

Thanks as always to the sponsors of the PR Special. Your support is invaluable to the functioning of our publication.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS EDITION OF THE PR SPECIAL

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Study: Did Thoroughbreds Really Descend From Arabians?

One of the hard and fast rules of the Thoroughbred breed is that a registered horse must have descended from one of three foundation sires: The Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, or the Byerley Turk. A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests those stallions might not have been Arabians at all.

The study, led by Ben Shykind of Prevail Therapeutics and Elissa J. Cosgrove and Raheleh Sadeghi of Cornell University examined the genetic makeup of 378 Arabian horses from 12 different countries to see how Arabians related to other horse breeds and found “no significant genomic contribution of the Arabian breed to the Thoroughbred racehorse, including Y chromosome ancestry.”

However, the study did find “strong evidence” of Thoroughbred blood in recent generations for Arabians used in flat racing.

The three foundation stallions that are the basis of the modern Thoroughbred were imported to England from the Middle East in the early decades of the 1700s. However, analysis of Y chromosome haplotypes (genes inherited from a single parent) for the Darley Arabian found his lineage actually traces back to the extinct Turkoman horse, an ancient breed from the Middle East and Central Asia under the same grouping of “Oriental Horse” breeds as Arabians, but a different offshoot.

The study does not doubt the existence of Thomas Darley's stallion purchased from the Middle East who went on to shape the modern Thoroughbred, but it does suggest that “its breed was likely of yet unknown genetic origin,” and that the horse's nomenclature carried on the idea that the horse was indeed an Arabian, thus his descendants sprung from that breed. Doubts about the true genetic origin of the Thoroughbred breed, it is noted in the study, were brought up two decades ago in Alexander Mackay-Smith's book “Speed and the Thoroughbred: The Complete History.”

In plotting the 378 horses included in the study by their use – including endurance racing, flat racing, and showing – the 34 Arabians used for flat racing shared the most genetic makeup with Thoroughbreds, while those bred for show purposes traced back to the Egyptian branch of the Arabian breed, and endurance runners tracked with the Polish wing. The researchers found genomic segments in racing Arabians tracing back to Thoroughbreds ranging from two percent up to 62 percent, with some near-full length chromosomes coming from Thoroughbreds.

Five of the 10 male Arabian racehorses traced directly back to the Byerley Turk though their Y chomosomes. Another three shared Whalebone, a significant Thoroughbred sire in the early 1800s, as a common ancestor.

“The presence of Thoroughbred-specific Y chromosome haplogroups among Arabian racehorses indicates that the large chromosomal blocks of Thoroughbred origin detected in flat racing Arabian horses are likely derived, at least in part, from crosses with Thoroughbred stallions that occurred after the emergence of the “Whalebone” haplotype in the 1800s,” the study reads.

Read more about the study, Genome Diversity and the Origin of the Arabian Horse, here.

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