There is a saying about "the exception that proves the rule" and as far as Thoroughbred breeding is concerned, it's just about guaranteed that any time you try and establish a rule, a number of exceptions will soon appear. The most recent weekend offered, quite literally, a pair of classic examples of that phenomenon.
It's been often observed that inbreeding via the immediate sire line of the sire and dam produces below opportunity results. Even the greatest influence of them all, or at least of the modern era, Northern Dancer, couldn't defy that principal. Over a decade ago I conducted a study on Northern Dancer, which at the time found just over 19,000 horses inbred to Northern Dancer 4x4 or closer through the sire line of the sire and dam. That found the cross had produced 2.57% stakes winners, compared with 3.60% stakes winners when the sires of those horses were crossed over all other mares, and 4.09% when the dams of those horses were bred to all other stallions. What's more, every one of the nine selected most prominent branches of the Northern Dancer line had performed worse as a sire line and broodmare sire line with Northern Dancer as a whole, than with all other sire lines. Of course, even then there were some exceptions where individual versions were concerned, one—the Sadler's Wells/Danzig cross—presaging the greatest exception of all as far as Northern Dancer is concerned, that of Galileo with mares by Danehill.
As chance would have it, Galileo is involved in the first of our "classic exceptions," the Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) victor, Mac Swiney. He is by New Approach, a son of Galileo, out of a mare by Teofilo, another son of Galileo. That makes Mac Swiney, the only black-type winner from 23 starters by a Galileo line stallion out of a Galileo line mare. Of course, Mac Swiney is bred and trained by Jim Bolger and runs in the colors of his wife: Bolger is a man for whom a better saying would be "rules are meant to be broken" and working with an equine genetics company in which he's a part owner, has had considerable success with some daring inbreeding, something we looked at last October.
The second rule proving exception is Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1) heroine, Uberleben. She is by Gold Ship, whose grandsire, the Halo horse, Sunday Silence, wrought a tremendous advance in the international standing of the Japanese Thoroughbred. Given the proliferation of his bloodline in Japan and the importation of other Halo line horses, it's inevitable that there would be crosses of Halo line stallions on Halo line mares. As far Sunday Silence line stallions are concerned, there have been 1,176 starters from matings back over mares by other Halo line stallions, and just 15 stakes winners (1.32% stakes winners to starters) and just nine graded winners (0.74%), three capturing grade 1 events.
The Yushun Himba was the first black-type victory for Uberleben, and in fact was only her second win in the six starts she'd made since breaking her maiden last June. She had, however, firmly established herself as one of the leaders of her crop, as she had been beaten just a neck when second in the Sapporo Nisai Stakes (G3), and the same margin when third in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) at 2, both times behind juvenile filly champion Sodashi. This term, Uberleben had made two previous starts for good thirds in the Flower Cup (G3) and Sankei Sports Sho Flora (G2), and she clearly appreciated the opportunity to stretch out to 12 furlongs for the first time.
Gold Ship, the sire of Uberleben, was by one of Sunday Silence's international stars, Stay Gold, who saved his best efforts for races outside Japan. Stay Gold defeated European champion Fantastic Light in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority & Dubai Ports Authority Dubai Sheema Classic (G2) and ended his career with a triumph in the Hong Kong Vase (G1), an achievement that made him the first Japanase horse to win a race at that level. Stay Gold was a very successful sire, and Gold Ship was among the best of his offspring, taking 11 graded events, six of them grade 1, including the Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas), Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), Arima Kinen (Grand Prix), Tenno Sho Spring (Emperor's Cup), and two runnings of the Takarazuka Kinen. Uberleben is from his second crop, and he's also sired the graded winner Black Hole and Win Mighty, a stakes winner who took third in last year's Yushun Himba.
Uberleben's dam, Meine Theresia, stems from the Halo line, via the U.S.-trained Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (G1) victor Roses in May (by Devil His Due, a son of Halo's champion 2-year-old colt, Devil's Bag). A winner at 2, Meine Theresia, is out of the stakes-winning Brian's Time mare, Meine Nouvelle, a sister to stakes winners Meiner Hourglass and Meiner Charles.
The third dam of Uberleben, Meine Pretender, was a winner at 3 in Japan. Imported from New Zealand, Meine Pretender was by the great New Zealand sire, Zabeel, a son of the mighty Sir Tristram. Meine Pretender's dam, Giladah, had an unusual background. Foaled in Ireland, she was by one of the all-time greats of European breeding, Mill Reef, out Nouvelle Star, an Australian-bred and raced mare who was a group 2 winner in her native country, and three times second in group 1 events while racing males. Giladah failed to win in two starts, but was far more successful as a broodmare, producing Double Reef (inbred 3x2 to Mill Reef), a three-time graded winner in South Africa; and Australia graded scorer Star of Nouvelle; and she is ancestress of several other major winners, including Inspirational Girl, successful last year in the Kirin Railway Stakes (G1) in Australia. The family arrived in Australia with Nouvelle Star's dam, Bonne Nouvelle, a daughter of the sprinter Be Friendly. Her dam, Europeana, had some fairly obscure names in her distaff pedigree, but the pedigree did get an upgrade when Drum Taps, out of a half sister to Europeana, won the Ascot Gold Cup (G1) in both 1992 and 1993.
In addition to the two crosses of Halo, the pedigree of Uberleben also has a double of another influential son of Hail to Reason, in Roberto, and a fifth cross of Hail to Reason's sire, Turn-to, which comes via Sir Ivor, a horse with a very similar background to Halo.
