General Comments

Iffraaj appears to be the product of a pedigree offering strong reinforcements of the main speed influences in the pedigree of Zafonic, which are replicated in the pedigree of Pastorale. For example, Gold Bridge is present in the damline of Zafonic as sire of Vilmorin and also as sire of another speed influence in his damline, Denturius. Reinforcement of Gold Bridge is famously influential for speed in pedigrees, and the pedigree of Iffraaj appears no exception.

 Added to this is very strong reinforcement of the influential Tudor Minstrel through male and female ancestors, and this is another asset that looks to be worth exploiting.

 We have found also over the years that a stallion’s direct female line when reinforced can be a major influence for speed, as appears to be the case for instance in our recommended mating that produced Europe’s champion sprinter last year, Reverence. Closer to home, I have no doubt that the very strong reinforcement of the direct female line of Bletchingly contributed substantially to the success of Kingston Town. With the direct female line of Iffraaj descending through the same line as Nearctic, this would seem to offer plenty of scope for exploitation, given that it is also the female line of Donatello, Great Nephew, Count Rendered, Duccio, and Romantic. It is noted also that the direct female line of champion racehorse Fantastic Light is inbred to this same line.

 It should be stated at this point that every effort has been made to concentrate on broodmare sires readily available in New Zealand, but where a broodmare sire stands out in pedigree terms, he has been included despite his likely availability to be within Australia rather than New Zealand.

Specific Broodmare Sires From the above analysis we can conclude that a good starting point in identifying prospective broodmares sires is through broodmare sires with pedigrees reinforcing Gold Bridge and associated ancestors.

 Examples of these reinforcements are now discussed below:-

 Category 1 - Reinforcement of Gold Bridge and other speed influences in the pedigree of Iffraaj.

 Sample 01: Deputy Governor is by Master Willie from Hyperion’s sireline. Master Willie is inbred himself to Hyperion and has as his damsire Set Fair, whose grandsire is Gold Bridge. Set Fair himself is by Denturius also present in the damline of Zafonic. In addition, Vice Regent has Victoriana as his grandam, and she is dam of Victoria Park, the damsire of The Minstrel. The direct female line of Iffraaj is also reinforced through the presence of Nearctic in the sireline of Vice Regent.

 Sample 02: Rancher introduces much the same affinities, and is included despite the fact that Rancher mares are more likely to be found in Australia than in New Zealand. Nevertheless, Rancher has a pedigree that is highly compatible with that of Iffraaj and he is another that can be strongly recommended, given the presence of Gold Bridge (twice over) and Denturius through inbreeding to Golden Cloud and the presence of Democratic in the pedigree of Brave Lad. Tudor Minstrel is also strongly reinforced through the damline of Gone West, and through the sireline of Virginia Gentleman.

 Sample 03: Fantastic Light has a female line inbred to the direct female line of Iffraaj, through Nearctic and through a sixth dam that is a full-sister to Great Nephew from the same line. It is noted also that the dam of Fantastic Light is by Nijinsky, very closely related to The Minstrel as damsire of Zafonic.

 Sample 04 with Straussbrook combines in a rather different sort of pedigree, in that damsire George Spelvin has a pedigree closely related to the dam of Nureyev. Given the presence of Hyperion also several times over in the pedigree of the dam of Straussbrook, the Nureyev connection is further enhanced. Matings with mares by this sire would appear to be attractive from a pedigree viewpoint.

 Sample 05 with Prince Ferdinand reinforces speed influence Vilmorin by Gold Bridge, and also linebreeds to Tudor Minstrel.

 Sample 06: Stark South has another highly attractive pedigree, where his dam Miss Stark is inbred to Hyperion in a similar fashion to the inbreeding in Nureyev’s pedigree. 

Category 2 - Introduces the close affinity between the pedigrees of Gone West and Sir Tristram and also Nureyev and Sir Tristram.  

Sample 7: Zabeel has a pedigree that can act as a sort of prototype for matings between Iffraaj and mares by stallions by Sir Tristram. In addition, Zabeel has Nureyev as his damsire, and also has Val De Loir from the same female line as Nureyev as his second damsire.

 Sample 8: Grosvenor provides another example of the Sir Tristram sireline compatibility, and it is also noted that his damline introduces another strain of Hyperion through Aureole. The latter’s pedigree also introduces Donatello (from the same female line as Iffraaj) as damsire of Aureole. We can probably generalise the fact that because these stallions by Sir Tristram were for the most part successful racehorses, the bottom half of their pedigrees would by default be compatible with that of Sir Tristram.

Category 3 - Introduces other compatible broodmare sires involving a variety of close affinities.

Sample 9: Sudurka reinforces the close relatives The Minstrel and Nijinsky in the fourth and fifth generations, while other close relatives Nureyev and Perugino are present in the third generation. 

Sample 10: Hawkeye linebreeds to the close relatives Skymaster and Martial in the sixth generation, yet again reinforcing the direct female line of Iffraaj through the presence of Nearctic in the sireline of Danehill.

 Sample 11: Kingdom Bay has Golden Plume by Golden Cloud by Gold Bridge as his damsire, and introduces further strains of Hyperion through his damline and through the sireline of Biscay. Sabaean in the damline of Otehi Bay also descends through Hyperion’s damline.

 Sample 12: Telesto has a damline including Great Nephew from the same female line as Iffraaj in his third generation, while Fair Trial, as damsire of Innocence, the fourth dam of Iffraaj, is well reinforced through the pedigree of Bletchingly.

 Sample 13 River Rough linebreeds to Hyperion, Gold Bridge and the direct female line of Iffraaj through his dam Romantic Glory, by Romantic. In addition, the pedigree of Brigand is also endowed with the presence of Count Rendered, descending through Sister Sarah from the female line of Iffraaj. 

Broodmare sires in alphabetical order

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