Wishfoal Sport Horses

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Here are some comments on Wishart’s ancestors:

Man O’War – Originally slated to be a steeplechaser. His offspring matured late, exhibited stamina and often inherited his stubborn streak.

Hyperion – Stood 15.2 hh – but as a sire he was a giant. He was interested in everything around him, had lovely action and was gentle natured even if he had a slightly independent character. Mark Todd’s mounts are often found to have multiples of Hyperion, Nasrullah or Nearco.

Nearco – This 16 hh son of Pharos was undefeated as a racehorse and destined to become the main progenitor of the most dominant sire line. His conformation was so balanced that observers thought him smaller than he measured, and his influence was for speed up to classic distances. He was self-willed and passed that quality in varying degrees to his offspring.

Sickle – a half-brother to Hyperion. Sickle was the grandsire of Polynesian, a bay that is most often associated with his grey son, Native Dancer, who was described as having a well sloped shoulder, powerful quarters, high withers, an intelligent eye, a clam disposition and a 29’ stride. Bruce Davidson has succeeded at Kentucky with several horses containing two crosses to Sickle and three crosses to Teddy.

Teddy – His photos show depth of hip and depth of shoulder, as do the photos of his get. Noted for stamina, Teddy became a sport influence through his daughters and sons, of which Sir Gallahad and Bull Dog (sire of Bull Lea and a speed influence) were the most prominent.

In the years from 1982 to 2002, Hyperion moved to the forefront in eventing pedigrees, with Blenhiem II and Nearco. Sir Gallahad held his place on the leader board and his full brother, Bull Dog, started to show up with regularity. Man O’War was still there, …

Although the ancestors used to illustrate the points thus far are all stallions, one should not assume that mares are without influence. By sheer number of offspring, stallions can exude more influence, and so it follows that when a mare is seen frequently in lineage of top performers, it is usually through her sons or the sons of her daughters.

Plucky Liege was one such mare, producing Sir Gallahad (by Teddy and imported to the US as a five year old after standing one season in England), Bull Dog (by Teddy), Bois Roussel (by Vatout), Admiral Drake (by Craig An Eran) Quatre Bras II (by Teddy) all stallions found in the ancestry of top eventers.

Selene is well known as the dam of Hyperion, but she also appears in the ancestry of eventers through Hunter’s Moon IV, Pharamond II, Sickle, and All Moonshine, whose sire was by Hyperion’s sire and out of a Hurry On mare.
As you may have noticed, there is a fair amount of line breeding evident, but not just any line breeding. When line breeding does appear, as it often does in the pedigree of a top eventer, the duplicated ancestor or ancestors are nearly always the very horses we have come to expect in the lineage of the world’s best competitors in the sport. Naturally some of the same ancestors were found in top racehorses, but certainly not in the same concentration as in the eventers.