Luger Twenty-fifth Danehill Inbred Black-type Winner

Every influential sire gets in due course into a situation when breeders, intentionally but sometimes out of lack of choice, opt for inbreeding to this stallion. Danehill can hardly be an exception and he is a very good example of a situation when breeders, Australians in this particular case, use inbreeding not just intentionally but simply because the influence of Danehill on broodmares in the country is so large that other ways are very difficult to find. As Danehill’s influence shifts to other generations there are more and more horses who have Danehill’s influence in both parts of their pedigrees.

The Sunday winner Luger became the twenty-fifth black-type winner inbred to Danehill, although it is not quite exact, since this number includes the New Zealand Gr.2 winner Steel Rose, daughter of Montjeu’s son Guillotine, who has inbreeding to Danehill in the pedigree of her dam Aga Panther. Nevertheless Luger is a milestone – he is full brother to the winner of the 2010 Blue Diamond Prelude Psychologist, who was the very first black-type winner inbred to Danehill. A thoroughbred inbred to Danehill, however, scored on the black-type scene four years earlier when Our Shakira by Cullen (Danehill), whose granddam Lorelei’s Song is by Danehill, finished third in the Canterbury Belle Stakes at Riccarton Park.

So far the most successful horse inbred to Danehill is the six-time group winner Guelph by Exceed And Excel, whose granddam Camarena is Danehill’s daughter. The connection of Danehill’s son with a mare whose dam is by Danehill has produced, besides her, four more black-type winners – Leitir Mor, Florentina, Burnstone and Eagle Island. This combination is an example of sex-balanced inbreeding, which is, albeit in other than the aforementioned case, represented among black-type winners more numerously than inbreeding by two Danehill’s sons. The ration is 13 to 11. Statistically against the whole population inbreeding to Danehill provides better results than inbreeding through two of his sons. Quite exceptional is the case of the Irish-bred two-time winner of the Carlingford Stakes (L) Paene Magnus by Teofilo out of Danehill’s daughter Luminaria, in whose pedigree Danehill’s influence is carried by two of his daughters. So far he is the only such black-type winner but thoroughbreds who have managed to place in a black-type race include the third from the Tetratch Stakes Intensical by Intense Focus. Both were bred by Jim Bolger.

Blacktype winners inbred to Danehill

It comes as no surprise that most of black-type winners inbred to Danehill were bred in Australia. Nineteen of them, to be precise. The mentioned Steel Rose, who has the Danehill inbreeding in the pedigree of her dam, is New Zealand bred. In Europe, five black-type winners have been bred so far but their number is likely to grow since only among the first crop by Frankel there are seven horses inbred to Danehill. Galileo’s sons out of dams by Danehill, such as Frankel but also Teofilo or Intello, are likely to play key roles in the European spreading of inbreeding to Danehill. The model of combining an individual of the Galileo x Danehill nick with a different influence of Danehill in the pedigree already has successful precedents, as is proved not just by the above mentioned Teofilo’s son Paene Magnus, but, reversely, by the Gr.3 winner Leitir Mor by Holy Roman Emperor, whose dam Christinas Letter is a daughter of Galileo out of a dam by Danehill, or Australia-bred Eagle Island po Fastnet Rock, who dam comes from the same combination as Leitir Morova.

So far the largest share among black-type winners inbred to Danehill was provided by his son Redoute’s Choice whom we will find, on different positions, in pedigrees of nine black-type winners, followed by Danehill Dancer with five presences.

Miloslav Vlček