Despite having separate owner\/trainers with no relations whatsoever, a pair of promising fillies descended from the same female family were reunited via the entry box for a first level allowance race Tuesday in British Columbia. Both courtbo16’s Empress Rocks and rocinante’s Seaside Heliotrope share a second dam, the stakes winning A.P. Indy filly Forlorner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Empress Rocks was sired by second-crop sire Classic Empire and is produced from the stakes placed Out of My Rocker, a daughter of Harlem Rocker. Out of My Rocker earned over $385,000 in a 38-race career, winning eight races and finishing on the board in 27, including the lone attempt at blacktype. Sire Harlem Rocker added a second strain of Sham to Forlorner, whose broodmare sire is Mr. Prospector, with Sham as the third sire. Sending Out of My Rocker to Classic Empire creates a 7 x 7 breeding to one of my favorite broodmares, Best in Show, with both strains going through Sex Appeal and El Gran Senor (5 x 5). Empress Rocks breaks from post position one and is 9\/1 on the morning line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seaside Heliotrope’s Wikipedigree page is a paint wheel of colors due to the myriad of repeated sires and mares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It (the pedigree page) is a bit stunty looking,” admitted breeder joplus, “but the heart of it is the two strains of Lassie Dear. I was going for something along the lines of the Weekend Surprise breeding and hoping for a future broodmare.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A link to Seaside Heliotrope’s Wikipedigree page: http:\/\/derbyfever.com\/includes\/wikipedigree\/pedigreesim.asp?horse1=224314020&horse2=364212790&horse3=10403933&horse4=252531768&horse5=<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, the 3 x 5 cross to Lassie Dear is a bit more conservative than the 2 x 4 cross to Somethingroyal in Weekend Surprise, though both qualify as Rasmussen Factor (two strains of a superior mare through separate individuals in the first five generations of a pedigree) breedings. But that was the lone inbreeding in Weekend Surprise, who won seven of 32 starts for William Farish III. Further her sire and broodmare sire (Secretariat and Buckpasser, respectively) were both excellent broodmare sires, portending a promising future as a broodmare for Weekend Surprise. Even better, she was an out cross to two of the the most important sire lines of her time (Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector) and utilizing Seattle Slew would create just a 3 x 4 inbreeding to Bold Ruler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of the gate she produced Hopeful (G1) and Preakness (G1) Stakes winner Summer Squall (sire of Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness winner Charismatic, who had Rasmussen Factor to Somethingroyal through Secretariat and Sir Gaylord), the useful runner and sire Honor Grades, and Horse of the Year and 3-year-old champion and multiple grade 1 winner A.P. Indy, who’s sire line is still going strong. The first two were produced by Northern Dancer-line sires (Storm Bird and Danzig) and the latter by Seattle Slew. She would later produce Weekend Storm (by Strorm Bird), dam of multiple grade I winner Court Vision, and a mare who produced Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner Kip Deville. Further sons and daughters Weekend in Seattle, Tiger Ridge, Welcome Surprise, and Eavesdropper proved useful on the racetrack, the breeding shed, or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n