As you know for many years now horse breeders have relied on the old tried and supposedly true breeding methods of in and line breeding, golden crosses, breed the best to the best and hope for the best and of late the Rasmussen Theory. Breeders have also been expected to believe that it mattered when a Sire or Dam was born (Cycle Breeding) and that this would make some kind of amazing difference to the subsequent foal. More importantly none of these breeding methodologies assess if these duplications in the pedigree have the capacity to enable the subsequent foal to have the potential to be a successful racehorse. The majority of these breeding systems revolve around having "big name" horses in the pedigree duplicated, without considering the importance of the position these horses hold in the pedigree. The position to be able to transfer the performance enhanced X Chromosomes to their progeny.

Perhaps a brief but glaring example as to the total inadequacies and false breeding reliability of in and line breeding, lets look at two very well performed US bred stallions in Island Fantasy and his half brother Island Glow.

Island Fantasy was a winner of $1.3 million in stakes and was a 1.50.1 winner of 15 races. Island Fantasy was by Life Sign (who was line bred to Adios and Knight Dream on the Y Chromosome line) out of the mare Three Mile Island who was herself line bred to Tar Heel and Good Time. Island Fantasy was bred to be a total OUTCROSS.

The half brother Island Glow was a winner of 25 races, $646,895.00 in stakes and a best time of 1.50.0. This horse was by Dragon's Lair who was himself in bred to Tar Heel and line bred to Adios, Good Time, Billy Direct and Leta Long. The union between Dragon's Lair and Three Mile Island on this occasion produced a horse that was in bred to Race Time and line bred to Good Time, Most Happy Fella, Tar Heel, Breath O Spring and Meadow Cheer.

Perhaps the fact that Three Mile Island is extremely well bred carrying a dual affinity from her sire No Nukes and dam Racy Kathy has been a little underestimated by anyone who still believes there is any credence in the theory of line or in breeding or any derivative of it.

To elaborate further the theory of line and in breeding has been a popular way of trying to reproduce the characteristics of the sire and the dam in their offspring for many years. This theory has gained recognition over the years as some great racehorses appear on face value to have gained their outstanding gene pool from being line or in bred to certain great horses in their pedigree.

We have established that a mare has twelve possible genetic sources (some maybe excellent and some poor) from which they convey their genetic qualities to their foals. We feel it is very important that they are bred to the right sire, otherwise they run the risk of passing on the lesser traits of one of her poorer genetic sources. This is often the case with champion horses that are bred to be total outcrosses as they are reliant on the genetic spin of the wheel as to which genetic source they receive.

A classic case of this is the breeding of the Australian champion Westburn Grant, who was bred as a total outcross. His mare Westburn Vue has had ten foals by such sires as French Chef, Holmes Hanover, Windshield Wiper, Falcon Seelster, Out to Win and three foals by Westburn Grant's sire Land Grant. Yet the only horse of any real note was Westburn Grant - 1.55.6 and $2,374,016 in stakemoney.

As a further example some other well known horses that fall into the same category as Westburn Grant being all outcrosses are: Adios, Bret Hanover, Matts Scooter, Preux Chevalier, Mount Eden, Jack Morris, Golden Greek, Niatross, Thorate, Hondo Grattan and Our Sir Vancelot. What is interesting about the majority of these other horses, they again were the best performers by far from their dam. Granted some of the other progeny did win races and some where very handy horses, but few of the siblings ever emulated the racetrack ability of their illustrious champion relations.

In most of these cases these champions were subject to that random and lucky spin of the genetic wheel taking the one and in most cases the only top class genetic source that the mare possessed. This fact has been proven as many of the dams involved have also been bred back to the same sire and have failed to produce another top quality racehorse. It is not unreasonable to assume that many mares will only throw to their one good genetic source once in their stud career unless they are mated with a stallion that is compatible or enhances their own genetic makeup and encourages the chance of inheriting her excellent X Chromosome source.

Perhaps the only past breeding theory that is worthy of any recognition is that of Golden Crosses, if you have 5 to 10 years to wait until one appears.

The classic cross of Tar Heel over an Adios mare or Albatross over a Bret Hanover mare are now considered almost industry standards when assessing or comparing breeding crosses. However when you think of the genetic base material from either of these two crosses for example, it is fairly obvious that the gene pool available is outstanding and should in many cases produce quality horses. The Albatross/Bret Hanover cross as an example produced horses of the calibre of: Ball and Chain 1.49.0 - $1,435,390.00, Conquered 1.54.3 - $856,273.00, Dolce 1.52.1 -$310,563.00, Embrace Me 1.52.1 - $614,251.00, Fan Hanover 1.50.4 - $969,724.00, Jaguar Spur 1.49.2 - $1,806,473.00, Salute Hanover 1.52.2 - $489,340.00, Sonsam 1.53.2 - $820,104.00 and Tucson Hanover 1.51.3 - $1,071,683.00.

Presently there is no selection method known that can categorically guarantee that the mating between a Sire and Mare will definitely produce a successful racehorse. Obviously there are other variables to consider such as that are extremely important such as: conformation of the foal, soundness, the rearing process, courage of the individual, the selected trainer and so on. However, the fact remains that there are many stallions and mares that do not have the genetic capacity to produce quality horses, unless mated with a compatible partner. The genetic makeup that has made them successful racetrack performers is not necessarily what they will pass on to their progeny and this is where the weak sources are in the current methods of breeding racehorses throughout the world.

Another very important aspect to consider for stallion owners is the stallions location. While to a certain degree this problem has been minimised with the Standardbred industry with semen transport, it is a real problem for the thoroughbred industry where artificial insemination it not approved. However even with the Standardbreds, many breeders use a local stallion for ease of transport and handling involving wet mares or to ensure the mares foals are eligible for local state stakes races.

How many times have you noticed that a non performing stallion falls from favour and is moved to a different state and sometimes country. Miraculously, all of sudden he starts to produce winner after winner. Why, because the preceding broodmare sires have left a genetic legacy with their mares which now carry a genetic makeup that has an affinity with the stallion.

An example until recently was in New Zealand, with the very well credentialed US stallion Jaguar Spur. This stallion was based in that country for a few years and has on face value an appalling stud record.

Since standing in New Zealand this stallion has now produced 293 horses of racing age, 83 in 1996, 79 in 1997, 63 in 1998, 63 in 1999 and 5 in 2000 for only 66 (22.52%) winners. His progeny as at May 2004 have had some 1430 racestarts for only 114 (0.07%) wins.

No one would dispute that on face value this is disappointing. However lets look in more depth at the broodmares and their respective sires that have been made available to him, bearing in mind that most of the mares involved would not have a maternal line which would not be compatible, being made up of mainly older New Zealand bloodlines.

The majority of mares he has covered have been by the following stallions: Able Bye Bye, Adover Rainbow, Armbro Del, Bo Scots Blue Chip, Don Baker, Dryham Lea, El Patron, Elegant Hanover, Flying Lord, Gaines Minbar, Lordship, Lumber Dream, Majestic Chance, Mark Lobell, Meadow Skipper, Micron, Nevele Holiday, Noodlum, Out To Win, Plat Du Jour, Sapling, Slugger, Smooth Fella, Transport Chip, Tricky Dick, Tuapeka Knight, Tudor Hanover and Young Charles.

What's important about this list of very good stallions is that none carry any compatible blood whatsoever from their X Chromosome sources, which have an affinity with that of Jaguar Spur. After querying our database for remaining horses by compatible broodmare sires, we are left with twenty-five horses of which ten are fillies. Nine of these were born in 1999 and five in 1998. Of these 25 horses he has produced winners from mares by Berry Hanover, Clever Innocence and Nero's BB, broodmare sires with which he does have an affinity.

For years we have all compared our own children or relatives and tried to quantify why two brothers or sisters could be similar in some ways but so very different in others. Think about it for a second. My two sons for example are similar in looks, but one is blessed with above average sporting ability, while the other struggles somewhat. Horses are no different and our system will hopefully help you to identify not only the capacity of your mare and the potential capacity of any stallions chosen to cover your mare.

We have established that there are three obvious focal points for the transfer of genetic material via the X Chromosome. These are the sire's maternal line, the mare's paternal and her maternal line. What then exactly are the major attributes we are trying to capitalise on when we choose a stallion to cover our mares.

The inheritance of speed is an obvious attribute, as is the soundness of the horse, but why is a heart with a large stroke volume so important in the overall scheme of things. The horse's heart's coronary network (the distribution and size of blood vessels within the heart) is genetically determined, as is the branching pattern of blood vessels, which lead into the lungs.

The volume of the heart's left ventricle is the key internal chamber which sends blood to the muscles which in turn transports oxygen to the muscles. Apart from transferring larger quantities of oxygenated blood around the body more quickly, a large heart can also assist in controlling the by-product of energy production - lactic acid. This by-product concentrates in the muscle during strenuous exercise (especially over longer distances) and is responsible for fatigue. Studies have revealed that approximately 80-85% of energy is supplied aerobically (through the use of oxygen), which is transported via the blood.

The remaining 15-20% is contributed by the anaerobic systems, but this is also a critical metabolic system and is very important depending on the length of the race and the workload the horse has to perform during the race. If the aerobic capacity is greater, it means there will be more oxygen available to the working muscles and this should delay the onset of lactic acid at a given work intensity.

A horse's anaerobic threshold is the point at which lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles and is considered to be somewhere between 85% and 90% of the individual horse's maximum heart rate. From this we can glean that the horse with a smaller heart will almost certainly have a lower anaerobic threshold than one with a larger heart. It must be stressed at this point that a large heart is not a "silver bullet" for guaranteeing super performance. While it is an extremely important component in the high-class racehorse's makeup, there are other factors, which are also very important including conformation, soundness, being properly trained, temperament and actually wanting to race.

Perhaps it is best said that a large heart alone does not make a champion, but all true champions have a large heart and that elusive something else.

Given that the X Chromosome will come from the mare from either the paternal or maternal side of her bloodline, it is a little clearer why mares can impart a different heart sizes and ability to their individual progeny. This is where the true "double copy" mare (one that carries a strong X Chromosome on both lines) is worth her weight in gold.

Our computer system is unique in the world and does not involve pure guesswork or the reliance on old outdated theories, such as line breeding. We have designed our system from scratch and have continued to improve the data and it's capacity for many years. To our knowledge we are the only breeding consultancy in the world that assesses the bloodlines based on the capacity of the X Chromosome. Our database of horses is ever growing and our computer system has the capacity to identify the genetic sources of any horse in the world, all horses that may have also inherited this genetic source and the genetic make up of any potential cross of any stallion and mare.

There is of course an element of luck as only Mother Nature knows which particular one of the mare's six X Chromosome sources will be conveyed to any given male horse. However, your chances of breeding a successful racehorse can be greatly enhanced by the selection of a genetically sound stallion for your mares. The sire also has six X Chromosome sources any of which he can impart to his filly foals, thus as you can see a filly foal is much more complicated as she has anywhere up to twelve prospective genetic X Chromosome sources.

Another very important aspect with filly foals (especially ones bred with no affinity between the sire and dam) is of course which of her two X Chromosome's will be dominant, her paternal X Chromosome from her sire or her maternal one from her dam.

This becomes especially important if either the sire of the dam are not well genetically structured themselves. Should the resultant filly foal take the poorly structured X Chromosome from say her dam as an example, it is almost certain that she will be blessed with little or no ability.

Even when fillies are bred with an affinity between their sire and dam they will sometimes still not excel on the racetrack. This is something that must be always considered when assessing fillies, as many will not have the temperament or the physical demeanour to cope with the rigors and demands associated with racing. Invariably these mares do go on however to produce good quality stock in the breeding barn, providing their individual temperaments are sound.

Perhaps a good example of this would be Western Hanover's dam Wendymae Hanover, a winner of $8,887.00 in stakes and 4 wins on a way to a life time best mark of 1.57.0.

Wendymae Hanover is a half sister to the talented Walton Hanover $802,741.00 and 1.53.2 and her full brother is Walt Hanover $239,086.00 - 1.53.1.

Both Walt Hanover and Wendymae Hanover were endowed with a single genetic affinity from their sire Albatross and dam, Wendy Sue Hanover. On face value the male showed abundantly more ability that the female, but both were endowed with a strong genetic structure. In the case of Wendymae Hanover, she would have the capacity to impart this strong X Chromosome to her foals, which would be more strongly evidenced with her colts as they can only take their X Chromosome from their dam's.

Wendymae Hanover's only colts of racing age produced thus far are Western Hanover the winner of $2.5 million in stakes and a lifetime best mark of 1.50.4 and Winstreak Hanover by Cams Card Shark 1.55.4. Western Hanover was also blessed with a single affinity between his sire No Nukes and Wendymae Hanover. Interestingly Western Hanover's full sister, Wendy M Hanover was the winner of $337,132 in stakes and a best time of 1.54.0.

Wendymae Hanover's breeding dynamics mirror is some ways the breeding of two other very classy mares in Lismore (dam of Albert Albert 1.52.1, Lahar 1.50.3, Lisryan 1.52.0, Lisheen 1.52.3 and Curragh 1.51.4) and Three Diamonds (dam of Life Sign 1.50.3, Threefold 1.51.1, Trinity Lobell 1.54.4 and His Alibi 1.52.2.).

Our research has revealed that the really top class horses have a definite affinity between the sire and the dam or are from mares that carry a superior genetic makeup.

While there are some mares who are so genetically well conformed, that they can produce top line colts from a variety of sires, these are very rare exceptions. For all intents and purposes, most mares must have an affinity with the sire to produce a good quality racehorse. This is where the Sire is vitally important as his X Chromosome carrying the performance traits may be dominant over the mares X Chromosome in the case of a filly, thus producing in some cases a poorer and in some cases a better quality progeny. We feel also that the sire can almost certainly enhance the genetic makeup of the mare and this can be evidenced in the case study below.

If you have any doubts, consider Cam Fella as an example. His mare Nan Cam produced 7 (6 colts) foals by sires such as Albatross, Direct Scooter, Niatross, Set Point and Most Happy Fella, so there was no disputing the quality of stallions that covered her. Cam Fella was the only foal by Most Happy Fella and the only one to break 2.00 (1.53.1 - $2,041,367.00 in stakes), with all of remaining foals failing to earn more than $16,000.00 in stakes. Why - because Most Happy Fella was the only sire that had an affinity with genetic sources of the mare and more importantly we know which source!

Genetic material is rather like beads on a string, strung along Chromosomes; in the case of horses along 32 pairs of Chromosomes in each cell. Each bead or gene normally exists in the same place on the same Chromosome. These positions, or sites, are called the genetic loci. At any locus, one series of alleles may be found. Alleles are alternate genes at identical sites on the Chromosomes. As the loci are paired (one locus being on each of a pair of Chromosomes), each horse has two allelic genes present form those available in the series. In humans, 90 different alleles at one locus have been found. In horses 2 alleles for any one characteristic is the norm. The genes may be described as programs carried by the DNA molecules of each cell, which determines the kind of products the cell will manufacturer.

If the cells do not manufacturer the right things at the right time in the right place, living may be impaired, abortion may occur soon after conception, or the foal may die. It is important then that the message imparted by the genes comes across loud and clear. This is a simple process if the alleles at each paired locus are the same, for each gives the same message. But what happens if they different? Each allele then gives a conflicting message and somehow this conflict must be resolved. The simplest way this difficulty is overcome is if one gene completely overshadows the message of the other, masking it as if it were not even there. A masking gene is known as the dominant allele, while the gene that is hidden is known as the recessive gene.

This action is known as Mendelian inheritance, named after Austrian monk Gregor Mendel who started this great study with his experiments with garden peas in the 1860s. His studies led to the eventual proof of the fundamental principal of genetics: genes are NOT diluted or lost in breeding, but are carried on through the pedigree. Horses which possess different alleles in any gene pair are referred to as heterozygous and those which have the same alleles are called homozygous. Heterozygous individuals have the genetic blueprint of one masking gene (the dominant gene) and one hidden gene (the recessive gene).

Because the recessive gene is hidden, the heterozygous horse will appear outwardly exactly like a homozygous horse. However because it is a carrier for the hidden recessive gene the heterozygous horse can breed differently. A horse displaying the quality of the recessive gene is always homozygous, since by definition if it were heterozygous, the dominant gene would have been expressed. Hopefully this brief explanation will give you a clearer picture of what we are about, in attempting to find stallions that have a genetic affinity with your mares.