The mitochondrial haplotype D1b is a most unusual one. Representing little more than 1% of the Thoroughbred population, this female line—traceable through the mitochondria, which are passed on only in the matrilineal line—descends from the same root as cold-blooded/cold climate breeds such as the Shetland Pony, and most closely, the Norwegian Fjord and Icelandic Horse.
The earliest named ancestor of all Thoroughbreds from that stem from the D1b mtDNA line found in the Stud-Book is Miss West, a 1777 mare by Matchem, out of a Regulus mare whose first three dams were unnamed daughters of Crab, Childers, and Basto. It was that sequence of stallions that caused Miss West to become incorrectly attached to the Bruce Lowe #5 family in the fifth edition of the General Stud Book, published in 1891.
In the 18th century, however, stallions were far more used as private sires by their breeders, and it wasn't unusual to see successive generations of different families covered by the same sires. For example, at the stud of the Duke of Devonshire, who stood both Basto and Childers, there are three mares by the former who had foals by the latter. It would appear that the Miss West branch stems from an unnamed daughter of Basto, rather than the Basto mare, Old Ebony, a daughter of the Bruce Lowe #5 family founder, The Massey Mare to which the family was erroneously attached, a mistake not discovered until research into the mitochondrial origins of the breed began around a decade ago.
The scarcity of the D1b haplotype obviously made it difficult for mares from this family to cross with stallions carrying individuals from the same haplotype, thus increasing the likelihood of their receiving the "right" nuclear DNA to interact with the mtDNA. That did, however, happen on one notable occasion in the 1930s, with breed-altering consequences that are still impactful today.
The outstanding English stallion Blandford carried a representative of the D1ba haplotype in the great racehorse Gladiateur, a French-bred called "The Avenger of Waterloo." When Blandford was bred to the D1b family mare Simon's Shoes, the result was Dalmary, winner of the Yorkshire Oaks (now a group 1 event) in 1934. Interestingly enough, every branch of the Blandford line that extended beyond a generation did so with the help of D1b-influenced mares.
One example is the Epsom Derby winner Blenheim II—later leading sire in North America—who was by Blandford out of a mare by D1b family horse Charles O'Malley, a three-quarter brother to Simon's Shoes, the dam of Dalmary.
When the closely related Blenheim II and Dalmary came together at 4x2 in the mating between Nantallah and Dalmary's daughter Rough Shod II, it proved to have historic consequences. The results of that union included Moccasin, who earned a U.S. Horse of the Year title as a 2-year-old filly; Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Ridan; Lt. Stevens, a stakes winner who is broodmare sire of Lear Fan and Alysheba; and Thong, who produced four winners of four major stakes and who is granddam of Nureyev, and third dam of Sadler's Wells and Fairy King.
Just as bringing back the D1b strain to the female line through Blandford, then again through his offspring Blenheim II and Dalmary, proved extremely productive, so has combining relatives descending from the Nantallah-Rough Shod mating—for example, Sadler's Wells and Nureyev appear together in more than 150 group or grade 1 winners—and we had the latest example at the highest level when Forte took the Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Labor Day.
Going Further Into Hopeful Stakes Winner Forte
Forte is from the sixth Northern Hemisphere crop sired by Violence and is his 28th stakes winner, and follows Dr. Schivel , No Parole , and Volatile as his fourth grade 1 winner.
Violence has also sired 10 stakes winners from his Southern Hemisphere crops in Argentina, two of those being grade 1's. Violence was himself a grade 1 winner at 2, when he took the Nashua Stakes (G2) and CashCall Futurity (G1). On his reappearance as a 3-year-old, in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), he was caught late and beaten a half-length by Orb. Violence emerged from the race with a fracture to his right front medial sesamoid, an injury that ended his career.
Forte is out of the Blame mare Queen Caroline, winner of four black-type events on the turf, including the 2016 Indiana Grand Stakes. She is out of a daughter of Forestry, Queens Plaza, winner of the 2004 Sorority Stakes.
The third dam is the extremely well-bred Kew Garden. She was by Seattle Slew out of Fappiano's multiple graded stakes winning daughter Jeano, which made her half-sister to Contrive, the dam of Folklore (herself granddam of Champion 2-Year-Old and 3-Year-Old Colt Essential Quality and Japan Triple Crown winner Contrail), to Never a No Hitter, dam of graded stakes winner Tizahit (dam of grade 1 winner Come Dancing); to Queen's Lady, the granddam of graded stakes winner Biddy Duke; and to Stormy Antics, the dam of stakes winner Student Body.
Jeano is out of the 1985 Delaware Handicap (G1) scorer Basie, whose dam, Stolen Base, also appears as third dam of Champion Smarty Jones. Stolen Base is from a branch of the La Troienne family, tracing to that famous mare through the well-known matrons Bases Full, Striking, and Baby League.
Forte's duplication of relatives from the D1b haplotype comes through Sadler's Wells, the great-grandsire of Violence, and that horse's three-quarter sister Bound, the granddam of Forte's broodmare sire, Blame. Forte is the third stakes winner to feature Sadler's Wells and Bound, but Bound also appears in several other stakes winners where she is combined with other offspring of her dam, Special, including grade 1 winner Archipenko, and that horse's grade 1-winning offspring Huetor and Madame Chiang.
We'll also note that Forte's pedigree reinforces his own haplogroup, with Violence, his grandsire, El Prado, and Arch, the sire of Blame, all stemming from the same 'N' female line as Forte himself.
