[QUOTE=Texarkana;7972879]
It does make me laugh when folks say that North American breeding has “ruined” thoroughbreds in this country because North American lines have become pervasive all around he world. Northern Dancer sons like Sadler’s Wells are the leading sires of he majority of grass horses worldwide these days.
Personally, I think you need to evaluate the horse in front of you. As you said, pedigree is just part of the picture. Also, the ability to run 6f or stay for 12f doesn’t mean squat for jumping ability or dressage ability. It is most important that the horse has the movement and conformation desired.[/QUOTE]
I agree with much of what Texarkana said.
So often we hear the same comment - about the dearth of sporthorse type TBs in NA, how NA has ruined the TB, how we need ‘stayers and turf horses’ to produce sport horses.
I disagree.
As Texarkana said, Northern Dancer, the horse that in many ways epitomizes the North American race horse and who has had more influence than possibly any modern stallion was himself considered Brilliant/Classic. It was believed when he was racing that he did not have the stamina, was not bred to go a distance.
But of course his influence has dominated TB breeding and racing not just in NA but in Europe. Many of those stayers and turf horses are ND blood.
And many of the most influential TB sires of horses of jumping ability/sport horses were horses like Nasrullah and Bold Ruler… who were considered ‘Brilliant’.
The TB gene pool is a closed book and the ‘type’ of horse - that horse with the conformation and the movement is out there on every track in NA, if you look.
I belong to a FB page that posts many of the great hunters and jumpers of the last century and most of them were TBs… TBs just. like. we have today.
A Fine Romance (for example) is a race-bred TB. His bloodlines and dosage index is weighted for speed. He is inbred 4x4 to Nasrullah and 5x5 to Princequillo. This ‘nick’ was one of the most popular in the that part of the last century. Speed + durability.
www.pedigreequery.com/a+fine+romance
He is a proven sporthorse himself, with an exceptional jump and movement, and he is a proven sire of horses with jump and a great gallop.
In terms of conformation he is built uphill, with a deep hip, and very sound.
Certainly there are different ‘types’ within the TB families, and some have proven themselves to be race better over certain distances - but - my belief is that the difference is not so much the pedigree, but the way in which the horses are trained and raced.
Horses are by definition ‘sprinters’ if they are only raced over 6f.
In NA the expense of racing and the ‘business of racing’ puts emphasis on precociousness, on early speed, on racing and winning at 2.
The pressure on owners and trainers (and the horses!) is to run short.
The races that are written are therefore primarily at shorter distances, primarily on dirt.
Who knows if that big colt could run so much better at 5 over longer distances, on the turf? Chances are he won’t get the chance.
But, again, those individuals are out there, at every race track in NA.