RIP I remember standing at Longchamp watching his Arc win in barely raceable conditions, very talented and brave horse and a huge loss to breeding
What's with all this talk of in-breeding. No good to anyone and therefore no-one would do it. Whereas correct line breeding, with occasional (correct) outcross where appropriate is how you produce consistently good off spring. Continued outcrossing is hit and miss. Hence a lot of what looks like a fantastic pedigree produces disappointing foals. Successful breeding is all about conformation and temperament maintained through generations and such consistency can only be achieved by careful line breeding.
Good conformation equals a sound horse equals the chance to fulfil their potential equals a good horse equals good results. Usually.
A sad loss. Although most people would say Galileo was the better sire, some would argue that Montjeu was equally as good. He had a better stakes winners to runners ratio than Galileo. The point has been made that Galileo probably got the better mares to cover. Did he cover any mares at all this year in the few weeks of the covering season? Or was he too unwell to do so? I saw him in his last race at Newmarket when he went down to Kalanisi. There were some comments that day that he went up in a lot of people's estimation as he really showed a lot of fight in defeat. Found those comments surprising.
QUOTE=Ron;2546128]What's with all this talk of in-breeding. No good to anyone and therefore no-one would do it. Whereas correct line breeding, with occasional (correct) outcross where appropriate is how you produce consistently good off spring. Continued outcrossing is hit and miss. Hence a lot of what looks like a fantastic pedigree produces disappointing foals. Successful breeding is all about conformation and temperament maintained through generations and such consistency can only be achieved by careful line breeding.[/QUOTE] Ron, you've left yourself wide open with this one! If conformation and temperament must be maintained, the how did I come about?[ PS. My wife would undoubtedly agree with you!
Probably the finest English owner-breeder of the 20th Century, Lionel B Holiday, would agree with you Ron. He rarely had close in-breeding, but 3 X 4 inbreeding wasn't unusual. He did weed out horses even if they won races. But if the conformation and temperament wasn't there off they went. Some of the in-breeding we are seeing today is very close. Having said that the finest horse he bred he didn't enter for the Derby because he was a small foal, and then his son decided he should go to the sales. But that's a story we've already run.
