Farda Amiga is a 1999 filly by Broad Brush out of Fly North by Pleasant Colony out of Dry North by Temperence Hill out Northern Sunset by Northfields. Payson Stud bred Farda Amiga. She was sold for $45,000 at the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as Hip #324. Considering Broad Brush yearlings averaged $289,381 that year, Farda Amiga was a real bargain. This is the story of Farda Amiga from the beginnings of Payson Stud through the Keeneland Sale.

Payson Stables (later Payson Stud) is part of the original Greentree Stud, near Lexington, Kentucky along with parts of Elmendorf and Duntreath Farm. Payson Stables came into being upon the death of Mrs. Charles Shipman Payson, a partner with her brother Jock (John Hay) Whitney in Greentree Stud. There is a great picture of Jock and Mrs. Charles Shipman Payson (Joan Whitney) on page 154 of ‘The Great Breeders and Their Methods’ by Abram S. Hewitt. Upon Joan’s death her husband, Charles Shipman Payson, retained 130 acres of land and a share in the stallions, Stop The Music and Stage Door Johnny, but he sold the rest of his interest in the Greentree property to Jock, including the horses. While Charles was an equestrian he was not much involved in the thoroughbred industry. I’m sure that Charles knew more than he let on about thoroughbreds, but was wise enough to realize a little knowledge could be very dangerous. For example, looking at a Racing Form is a lot different than being able to competently apply the statistics found within, otherwise known as Handicapping. If Charles were to build his own thoroughbred operation, he would either have to develop an interest in racing or allow someone else develop that thoroughbred operation for him. That someone turned out to be his new wife, Virginia Kraft Payson.

Virginia had been a polo player in her 20’s. After graduating from Barnard College she spent 26 years as a professional journalist for Sports Illustrated where she rose to senior writer. At the magazine she covered shooting, game hunting (she has some great pictures of her on safari in the main house on her Lexington property), fishing, etc. She was a top sportswoman and hunter throughout the world. When I first met her I found out that Emperor Haile Selassie had given her dogs to her. She met and participated in expeditions with Generalissimo Francisco Franco, King Hussein from Jordan, and even was the first woman to compete in the World Championship Iditarod Dog Sled races in Alaska. She has authored at least five books. Virginia became interested in the thoroughbred industry when she learned the history of Greentree Stud and its connection to her husband and visited there on a trip to see the Kentucky Derby.

Charles’ marriage to Virginia has had an impact that may be described as significant on the thoroughbred industry in Kentucky. It did not start out that way. Virginia was interested in continuing the success of Greentree Stud, but she and Charlie essentially had to start from scratch with the exception of stallion shares. They did not experience beginners luck. Their original ventures whether it inexpensive (Romanair, first purchase for $17,000) or expensive did not result in horses worth what they paid.

‘As Virginia said to Sue Finley in Profiles in Racing, "We spent a lot of money and we bought a lot of garbage. The transition from being a writer to breeding horses was a very logical and useful one. As far as I’m concerned, a writer is really a researcher who goes to as many sources as possible to extract the salient points of a story then puts them all together and comes up with a point of view and a conclusion." The theory at which she arrived together with George William Smith, a breeding specialist from Edmonton, was that Americans were breeding too much speed into their pedigrees in the pursuit of early success.’

Financier Charles had been around the block many times, each time leaving the block better than he found it. He was known to like women. He was on the list of the 400 richest Americans in 1985 the year he passed away and it took at least $160 million to make the list. He owned the New York Mets with his former wife in 1969 when they stunk. This did not help Charlie’s reputation for clear thinking. Responsible for stainless steel for aircraft, etc., Charles had very deep pockets and like many with deep pockets was a very generous person. Charles donated 17 paintings by Winslow Homer, which resulted in The Charles Shipman Payson Building (designed by I.M. Pei and Partners, no less) and now houses the Portland Museum in Maine. Among other donations to museums was George Bellows’, ‘Romance of Autumn, 1916’ to the Farnsworth Art Museum.

When I first met him, Charles still golfed, was healthy and fit, but he was not a young man. Wouldn’t it be great if Virginia and Charlie as she called him could have a lot of fun together with thoroughbreds? Virginia would do anything for Charles. The love and affection that flowed between them was not hindered by the differences in their ages. Her love for Charlie enhanced Virginia’s drive to make him happy. "Sorry about the elegant stationary. My husband is still in the hospital, but improving I believe—and I am using the edge of his bed as an office." From my personal experience, when Charlie was happy, the gleam in his eye lit up any room. Virginia thrived on that gleam. Virginia began learning as much as she could about the thoroughbred business.

Charlie and Virginia began in the business with head start over most breeders. Land that had raised some of the best horses in North America, deep pockets and an interest in breeding and racing top-class performers. Head starts do help in this business at the beginning but does not ensure success. Failure in the thoroughbred industry is often the result of thinking knowledge gained in another business is transferable to the thoroughbred industry. Those that have money are almost under constant attack by those who want it and are willing to promise the moon to get it.

The thoroughbred industry has a long history of successful breeders and clever owners hiring experts to maximizing their chances of success. However, masquerading amongst them has always been a large number of people whose ideas and implementations have resulted in the loss of many hard-earned fortunes. Those with deep pockets are often the targets of such charlatans. After all, why try to sell a horse worth $1,000 to a person of limited means for $1,200 when you can get $100,000 from a person with deep pockets who is not directly involved (read not knowledgeable).

The key to success in the thoroughbred industry is industry-specific knowledge. Much as the ability to read and write requires learning each letter of the alphabet, the combinations that form words and what the words mean in the context that they are written, interpreting pedigrees correctly requires even more effort and time. In fact, interpreting pedigrees and implementing breeding strategies is far more difficult because there are no rules like "I" before "E" except after "C". Full brothers are often completely different in ability and type. To completely befuddle even the most knowledgeable thoroughbred analyst, a stallion may produce foals whose best distances are at the other end of the spectrum from that of the stallion himself (sprinters produce plodders, plodders produce sprinters).

Those with deep pockets can buy the knowledge of others through the hiring of experts. However, the knowledge of the expert cannot be absorbed directly through the skin, eyes, ears, etc., of those wishing to learn. A pedigree expert can teach knowledge, but the process is so intense and time consuming that such transfer is rare. Knowledge can be learned independently by those with deep pockets and there are examples over the last century, but most of those with deep pockets in the thoroughbred business eventually ‘drop out’ and rely on the advice of hired consultants.

I became involved when Virginia responded to an ad I had placed in the Blood-Horse magazine in 1980. From our phone conversation, I understood that she wished to purchase some broodmares to be bred to her stallion shares. Even now, 22 years later this request is still very rare. Most requests are from breeders with broodmares seeking to find the right stallions for their mares. We began a plan to purchase specific mares for her stallion shares. "The objective was to purchase four quality broodmares that will raise potential classic horses and that such broodmares should be compatible (or their progeny) to these four stallions (Stop The Music, Stage Door Johnny, Foolish Pleasure, and Dun Scotus." Virginia and Charlie had lost enough money in the business to learn an important lesson: listen, learn, and apply.

Step 1 One of my first tasks was to go through the Keeneland November Sale and find mares that should produce good foals to the shares owned by the Payson’s. I graded the mares from 1 to 10. While I searched through the catalogs, Virginia also had her young trainer, Blaine Holloway and several vets go through the barns and choose their favorites. Since, there were a lot of horses in the Keeneland November Sale the vets and trainer split the list, went through different barns and compared notes later.

Step 2 was that wonderful phone call at 5 a.m. I live in the Mountain Time zone, two hours earlier than Kentucky. We exchanged lists.

Step 3 was that I took a look at their choices and noted which of their choices I could live with and which I could not. They did the same thing with my list. If a mare appeared on the lists of all, the plan called for another look at her by all concerned.

Step 4 was for Virginia to make the call of which mares to buy. It was her money and her plan. She bought four mares at the sale for $1.5 million. This was the last sale where deep pockets talked. In future sales, Virginia realized that price paid often bore no resemblance to value. They would have surrogates bid for horses they liked to keep the price down. Many consignors would run up the bids when they had seen Virginia bid.

The four mares were Donna Inez, His Squaw, Maria Line, and Star Gala. His Squaw, in foal to Riverman, ranked best with all and was purchased for $810,000 to be bred to Stage Door Johnny. The foal by Stage Door Johnny was later named Travelers Room. He was stakeplaced at four. At the time she was carrying a Riverman foal that was later named Riverscape. Riverscape won in the United Kingdom and was sent to Norway where he won their 2000 Guineas and some of the top races in Scandinavia.

Donna Inez was purchased for Foolish Pleasure. She was in foal to Tell, later named Liturgy. He was a winner. The mating to Foolish Pleasure produced Brief Romance, a filly that started but twice. Donna Inez went on to produce three stakeplaced runners and the daughter produced significant blacktype under them, but not Brief Romance. Two years later the dam of Donna Inez produced Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner.

Star Gala was purchased for Stop The Music. She was in foal to Master Derby, later named Rosarian Star. Rosarian Star became a SW of $101,577. Star Gala’s Stop The Music colt died shortly after foaling. Star Gala became the dam to Etoile Eternelle (stakeplaced winner of $146,625), dam of Lago-G2 placed and full brother to the 2yo colt in training that Virginia and I co-own, and named Cache At Hand.

Maria Line was not purchased for Dun Scotus, but because "she was a good looking individual and went for, in this insane market, a reasonable price and she goes well with both Stage Door Johnny and Stop The Music." She was carrying a What A Pleasure foal that was later named Vocation. Vocation was unraced. Vocation was later sold and produced at least one SW after being exiled to Panama. Later, Maria Line would produce Freezing Line and Cue, whose foal by Pleasant Colony just won a MSW at Belmont in May, 2002. Freezing Line only produced 3 foals, all with lots of ability.

The Payson’s also bought Mindy Malone at this time. The foal she was carrying was named Wind’s Will by Vertee. Wind’s Will was a winner in 10 starts. Two years later, Virginia and I took a lot of flack because she bred Alleged to Mindy Malone and arrived at a colt called Milesius. Milesius was inbred purposefully to Prince John 3,3 through a daughter and a son. Milesius was a Grade 1 winner of $800,923 and is now standing at stud at Gestuet Hernstein, Osterreich (Austria) in 2002.

Subsequently Croix de Vienne was bought for the share in Dun Scotus. This foal was named Scottish Cross, a stakeplaced runner of $61,232. Croix also produced blacktype with her next two runners (Hickory Creek by Lothario, $133,878 and Viennese Cross by Overskate, $217,767. "I have made arrangement to move her to Gallagher Stud to go to Lothario on the basis of your advice in Sept, 1981 that mating her with Lothario proves ‘Excellent’."

After that 1981 Keeneland November sale, Virginia extended me an invitation to visit her and Charlie in Florida. She would interview me personally. "I am very anxious to meet you and have an opportunity to explore your theories at greater length. I have been reading books on genetics non stop—even got my hands on an original Bruce Lowe (1895), but would enjoy yakking with a pro." She was taking an active role in her own success. She hired Ted Carr. "An excellent and much respected chap to manage the broodmares in KY (managed Domino for 18 years)."

Virginia flew me by private jet to Miami and then by limousine to her residence at Hobe Sound, Florida. The only passenger, I was not alone. The pilot and copilot pleaded with me on the flight to get this lady some good winners. Apparently, Virginia was not the easiest to live with when her horses were running badly. Her horses were running badly.

During the time I spent with Virginia and Charlie that December she spent many hours picking my brain. I also learned a great deal about their operation and what they were attempting to accomplish. The conversations were high quality and fruitful. I learned. She learned. I remember that Virginia thought I was younger than my chronological age at first because she knew I was a high-class athlete, running in international races at the time. She had been burned in the industry. She would seek out younger advisors that were on the way up and willing to work to earn their money. I saw the look in her eye (disappointment) to find that I was 37. By the time I left Florida, Virginia and I had entered into a five-year plan. She and I would work together for five years and if at the end of five years she was not happy with the results, the link would be severed and we would each go on our way. She would not penalize me for being 37. I was now a full member of the team.

As the Payson’s had deep pockets, commerciality was not a major factor. They were breeding to race and prove their own stock. Having been burned at the sales from the beginning, the plan called for breeding their own and racing the progeny.

From the start, Virginia and I focused on getting classic winners. I knew that it was likely that it would take more than one generation with the mares we bought to get a classic winner, so we often celebrated the birth of a nicely conformed daughter. We understood that America was ‘speed-crazy’ and getting more speed-crazy. We would aim at producing foals that had both soundness and stamina. If we needed speed, we could find it everywhere and put it into our pedigrees.

We were aware that when you breed for a classic winner, the horse is not likely to win early in the racing year so those lucrative 2yo stakes were not part of the plan. We were also aware that the search for a classic winner was likely to produce horses that could go a distance of ground, but not of sufficient speed to win quality races and cheaper stock that had some speed, but not enough stamina to get classic distances. We would cull the mares that failed to live up to their pedigrees and our expectations.

I knew that top-class stamina sires often showed high-class speed themselves as 2yo’s (Prince John, Stage Door Johnny, Hail To Reason, etc.). With the right mix and match using this type of sire, a late-developing high class 2yo has a terrific chance into becoming a classic winner. Farda Amiga is the direct result of our original plan.

In December 1980 at Tattersalls’ Newmarket Sale, Northern Sunset was sold for 10,500 Guineas. She was resold to Virginia for $105,000 at Keeneland January Mixed Sale in 1982. She was on top of my list to buy for the following reasons. First, her sire was Northfields. I had followed his career since the quality of his half brother, as a sire, Habitat became known. In my original analysis, I noted that Northfields was now the sire of 15 SW’s. Initially, I had been disappointed with the results of Northfields as he was not living up to my expectations as a sire. But, in the year previous to the sale, Northfields showed strong activity in Europe and was now highly commercial.

Apparently, Northfields was now being booked to more compatible stock. To me, he always had the makings of a top-class broodmare sire on paper and a probable source of stamina, unlike his half brother Habitat who looked to be more of an influence for speed. His recent improvement as a stallion was ‘icing on the cake’.

Second, in my broodmare analysis of Northern Sunset she scored 8 ½ out of 10, which was an exceptionally high score at the time. The average broodmare score at the time was between 3 and 4. I was very conservative with my scores.

Third, Northern Sunset was in foal to Darby Creek Road. He was bred to Northern Sunset in his second crop. His sire, Roberto was already known at that time as a stamina sire. Darby Creek Road was a top-class 2yo that developed into a very nice racehorse and could stay. He fit the profile. Darby Creek Road was being well promoted so I knew he had a chance to make it. His first crop I would find later had 3 SW’s from 27 foals.

Fourth, the sire of the dam of Northern Sunset was Ballymoss, a stamina chef de race of mine so I believed that Northern Sunset was stamina upon stamina through a winner. Virginia and I loved the fact that she raced over hurdles and she took a lot of flack in those tight Kentucky circles for paying so much for a ‘hurdler’. The fact that she hurdled and was a ½ sister to two stakeplaced runners that both turned out to be jumpers was a definite added plus in the stamina and soundness departments. Northern Sunset’s sixteen starts over two seasons confirmed the soundness. Virginia had already cut back on the amount she was willing to pay for untested broodmares. The fact that she paid $105,000 indicated how much her advisors and I liked the mare, since she was sticking with a $50,000 average at the time.

The Darby Creek Road foal was named Salem Drive, the street of the Payson residence in Saratoga. He earned over $1 million in NA and Japan. He earned Virginia a trip to the Japan Cup as a 6yo. "He had a brilliant win in the Fuji Cup. If you can’t win the big one, there is certainly much to be said about winning the prep."

I began planning our first mating to Northern Sunset. In my broodmare analysis I had recommended eight stallions that looked like to be compatible to her, according to my Sire Selection program: Pleasant Colony, Kirtling, Temperence Hill, Explodent, Fairway Phantom, Sweet Candy and Riverman. Upon close examination, I felt that with Northern Sunset’s pedigree background she needed to be mated to a stallion that was a good 2yo and later developed into a top-class colt as a 3yo and had a pedigree of stamina with Intermediate chefs de race in the pedigree.

I had my own dosage system in 1982, having expanded on the dosage systems of Colonel Vuillier and Dr. Varola. I worked on that dosage system for over ten years. This was well before Dr. Roman’s Dosage System, which is now in vogue to some. It is only appropriate to note that I later threw away ten years of dosage research when the only way I could get the data to show significant reliability was to continually change the classification of key chefs de race to fit the system. Dr. Roman found no problem changing the classification to have the data fit the system. Later I renamed the Intermediate grouping as the Versatile grouping. A horse that can stretch his speed over classic distances or has lots of stamina, but enough speed to compete successfully in shorter distances, versatile seems a more appropriate term.

Northern Sunset had the Versatile chefs, Northern Dancer, Nearctic, and Nearco through Northfields, but only Nearco through her dam, Moss Greine within a couple of generations. I searched for stallions whose dam had Versatile chefs up close.

It so happened that Pleasant Colony burst on the racing scene in 1980 by winning the Remsen and a 2^nd in the Pilgrim Stakes. He also ran a decent race over 7 furlongs, but did not win. He developed into a top class performer in 1981, missing the Triple Crown by finishing 3^rd in the Belmont Stakes. Pleasant Colony’s pedigree and racing performance had stamina written all over it. Pleasant Colony’s dosage fit the stamina profile we were looking for.

Pleasant Colony scored high in my Stallion Prediction program. He had everything going for him in the characteristics that my program looked for to become a successful sire. The possibility that he could also become a classic influence meant that he fit right in our program. I advised Virginia to buy a share in Pleasant Colony for Northern Sunset. Virginia bought a share in him. Shortly after she was disappointed to find that Bill Oppenheim, of Racing Update "does not have Pleasant Colony on his recommended new-retired stallion list." However, in Racing Update (10/19/81) he gave Pleasant Colony a "recommended" rating after noting that "this seems to us an eminently reasonable figure ($50,000 Stud fee)." I remember noting that he was not ‘highly recommended’ or ‘very highly recommended’. For a horse that many thought of as ‘plain’ and likely to produce ‘plodders’, Oppenheim’s recommendation was encouraging.

Pleasant Colony was a perfect fit for Northern Sunset. His dam was by Sunrise Flight who was acting like a Versatile chef and a son of Double Jay, a Versatile chef. The 2^nd dam was by Cockrullah, a son of Versatile chef de race Nasrullah. Nasrullah would also connect the top and bottom pedigrees through his sire Nearco. Both sides of the pedigree were also linked through crosses of Gainsborough and Mahmoud. I was convinced that Ballymoss blood would cross nicely with Pleasant Colony. I felt that there would be a propensity (now fashionably known as nicking) for Pleasant Colony to cross well with Stage Door Johnny daughters, as his broodmare sire was Ballymoss. Daughters produced by the Stage Door Johnny share could be used to breed to Pleasant Colony.

"Northern Sunset was acquired for the specific purpose of being bred to Pleasant Colony in whom Mrs. Payson had acquired a share. Mrs. Payson noted that her chief breeding consultant, George William Smith, saw things in this pattern, the way these families fit. Everyone thought we were crazy, but we both like the fact that she had gone over hurdles. We knew that this was going to be a sound, sound mare throwing sound foals." Jim Bolus, Thoroughbred Racing Action, August 5, 1992.

I had not yet formulated my rule in choosing stallions for mares without foals of racing age. This rule states that young mares need to be mated well-established sires that have had positive results at stud. Since most new stallions fail, putting a (near) maiden mare to an untested stallion is not a good way of maximizing chances of producing a classic runner. Breeders/owners can check out the foals of a well-established sire and compare what their young mare just produced from him and get a better idea of what the mare contributed to the match. Northern Sunset had not yet dropped her first foal and here I was recommending buying a share in Pleasant Colony for her October of 1981. Dumb. Faith that I was right and the faith of Virginia in me produced Lac Ouimet.

On October 22, 1981, Virginia wrote me and stated, "Another concern of mine is breeding untried mares to untried stallions—This doubles the risk of what may be produced. I should probably limit such matings to no more than 50% of my new mothers." I am glad this rule was not yet written in stone.

Before Lac Ouimet was foaled, Northern Sunset was put in the Fasig-Tipton Sale in January 1983 as hip #264. During a phone call with Virginia she said that she had found out that the farm manager had put Northern Sunset in the sale. I asked her why and she said Northern Sunset didn’t have the greatest set of front legs. Her conformation bothered her.

I had the distinct impression that someone had put the idea into her head. To say that Virginia had a busy life was to underestimate her energy level. It was not uncommon for Virginia to drop out of the day-to-day operation of her thoroughbred business. On such occasions, things would happen that were not part of the plan.

I told Virginia that there was no reason to sell her. We had both liked her. We had spent a year praising her for her soundness and now her conformation was a problem. It didn’t make sense to me. Her first foal, Salem Drive, was outstanding and there was lots of positive talk about him at the farm. The mare was in foal to Pleasant Colony and that mating looked every bit as promising. There were no pressing monetary concerns or culling needed at this time.

I’ve always felt free to tell Virginia what I thought. For example, in a letter dated November 1, 1981 I stated, "I have just finished analyzing ‘Best Moment’ and the best thing I can say about this filly is that I like her name. She must have had excellent conformation for you to purchase her but even a short glance at the catalogue page shows this mares does not come close to standard let alone your standards." She eventually produced 4 foals, none of which won. I got it right with this mare. Whew! Would have hated to eat those words.

It was unusual for Virginia to put horses in a sale and then change her mind. However, this was not the case with Northern Sunset. From that phone call it was evident that Virginia had just learned that Northern Sunset was in the upcoming sale. On the other occasions, since entering horses in a sale requires lengthy advance notice, sometimes it is very prudent to enter them and then withdraw them later if circumstances or judgment changes. From my records, both Salem Drive and Lac Ouimet were put into sales as yearlings, but withdrawn.

I faxed Virginia, "I would urge you not to be too hung-up on minor conformation flaws if I or your other advisors think the foal has a lot of potential. On the other hand, if a foal is so badly conformed as to make racing highly improbable, donating the foal is a kind and wise decision. If the foal is a filly with high potential as a broodmare, but has poor action or fluidity of stride, I would keep the filly. I have found that fillies with poor action, from compatible matings and mated to compatible sires are very fertile and throw foals with nice action. Since in the past you have often kept the fillies you have raised it is much easier to keep your operation under control ‘number-wise’ if you keep more colts than fillies. This way you may not be tempted to enroll another in the broodmare band."

When she got off the phone, she arranged an immediate flight back to the farm and pulled the mare from the sale. Interestingly, she bought Mighty Lura on the day before (Jan 11^th) at Keeneland for $117,000 who was consigned by Ted Carr, though Thorobred Genetics signed the slip so it is possible that she bought Mighty Lura privately after the sale. There is nothing in my files to suggest otherwise.

Lac Ouimet was every bit as good on the track as Salem Drive even though the two were completely different in type and performance at stud. Lac Ouimet earned $817,863 from 12 wins in 40 starts over five seasons from ages 3-7. Lac Ouimet was unraced at two. Virginia had decided to not race her horses in the future at two because too many of them broke down in training. I tried unsuccessfully to change her mind as I believed 2yo racing and winning are part of the crucible test that makes a successful stallion.

Salem Drive and Lac Ouimet both went to stud in the same year (1991). Virginia suggested a stud fee of $1500 for both and I heartily agreed even though their half brother Norberto by Roberto was placed in the Grand Prix de Paris Louis Vuitton-G1 in 1989 (died in 1990). I reasoned that the lower stud fee would allow Virginia and her advisors to carefully screen the books of both stallions and improve their chances of success.

I could not have been more wrong. The $1500 stud fee kept the better mares from Lac Ouimet and Salem Drive, as influential breeders believed they would not be commercial at that price. While I did screen Virginia’s own broodmare band for each stallion, she did not take me up on my offer. I had offered to screen outside mares at a fee of $35/mare. I pulled the $35 fee out of the hat, because the fee would have been much too low for my research time. But I was willing to do the screening to help her establish her stallions as a good source of income while increasing my own reputation as a pedigree analyst. I was very disappointed to be left out of the equation at a critical time, but it was her decision and she had always treated me well. Interestingly, I later fought hard to keep Lac Ouimet’s stud fee reasonable after he was a known success. "Raising Lac’s stud fee above $5,000 will lose you those quality mares owned by very conservative, small-time breeders (still in the business because they must carefully screen their mares and watch their dollars) who made Lac Ouimet in the first place (June 13, 1997).

Like so many thoroughbred operations, Lac Ouimet and Salem Drive did not have their books screened by someone capable of assisting them to become better stallions. On a trip to Payson Stud in November 1992 to help Virginia buy a mare or two for her newly retired St. Jovite I inspected the Lac Ouimet and Salem Drive weanlings at the farm and faxed the following to Virginia. "These were very bad looking weanlings (Lac and Salem) and most have no racing future at all, they had so many conformation deformities. Most were boarders, but I feel sorry for the owners of these weanlings. Their owners should be told it is not worth the board bill to keep them. Perhaps, time will prove me wrong, but I am not hopeful for a lot of breeders that bred to either Lac or Salem with the wrong type of mares." I still did not get to screen those outside mares even though screening greatly helps improve the chances of a stallion to become a successful sire.

Almost everyone in the operation at that time thought Salem Drive would make the better stallion. He was better looking and more compact. Lac Ouimet was more plain and taller, but still nice. I was told that viewers faulted Lac Ouimet for somewhat upright pasterns, but did not hold that opinion myself.

When their first foals hit the ground, word that I received from the farm and those who had seen the foals was that Salem’s were nicer than Lac’s. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. They expected Salem’s foals to be better and to them they were. Without screening Lac Ouimet became successful 10 SW’s (1 and 9) in first two crops and only one of them from Virginia’s mares. A lack of screening, on the other hand has not been kind to Salem Drive. Salem sired 4 SW’s (2 and 2) in his first two crops, two of them out of a Payson mare. Lac did get more mares in his second crop because of St. Jovite.

Despite my pleas, I was not asked to screen the book of Lac Ouimet’s full brother, St. Jovite (1992 Horse of the Year in Europe), when he went to stud in 1993. Virginia’s mares headed to the stallion with the highest stud fee. Ironically, Virginia was making the same decision that other breeders made against Lac and Salem when they stood for $1500. The reasoning is better runners make better sires and since St. Jovite was a great runner (Horse of the Year in Europe in 1992), he would make a better sire. This is a common mistake made by those not doing their homework and waiting to see what the stallion would throw in way of quality. Virginia is now recovering from that mistake.

St. Jovite produced 2 SW’s in his first two crops, despite bookings to some of the best mares in North America. None were out of Virginia’s mares, though there were some quality foals that earned blacktype. In the defense of St. Jovite, since his mares were not competently screened the fault may not be that of St. Jovite. He may yet make a significant addition to the thoroughbred gene pool either as a sire or as a broodmare sire. Indeed, the racing type of his foals indicates that he will make a significant broodmare sire if his daughters are bred to the right type of stallions.

For the second of our matings to Northern Sunset, Virginia and I chose Kirtling as the stallion. A filly from that mating, Ashford Evening was foaled in 1984. Unfortunately, this filly died at two before stepping foot on a racetrack. I am not proud of my choice of Kirtling, since he was not an established sire at that time, another case of Russian Roulette on my part. He was chosen as the success of Shergar and the Great Nephew sireline was much in vogue and Grundy, the sire of Kirtling, was Horse of the Year at 3 and Champion at 2. Second in the Gold Cup-G1 at 3, Kirtling won the Gran Premio d’Italia-G1 at the classic distance of a mile and a half. I was pretty naïve at the time thinking that an Italian Grade One meant as much as a Grade One in France, Ireland or England. A strong proponent of inbreeding to significant stallions I also liked the mating as the filly carried Northern Dancer 4,3 through two of his best sons (Nijinsky II and Northfields). Kirtling also had the Versatile chefs I was seeking through his dam (Northern Dancer, Nearctic and Nasrullah). Interestingly, Northern Sunset was bred to Kirtling on March 25, April 11, and April 27, 1983 and missed each time. Finally, she was bred to him on May 24^th and caught. Ashford Evening was foaled on April 29, 1984, indicating she only caught on the fifth heat cycle. Perhaps the mare was trying to tell us something. We will never know.

In 1984 we decided to breed Northern Sunset to Temperence Hill. That mating resulted in Dry North. I loved Dry North when I saw her in paddock as a 2yo in August 1987 with my friend and fellow pedigree analyst, Barton Frauenfeld. We both felt that she was going to make a significant contribution to the breed. She had suffered a setback in her training and was being given time off since it was August. She had nice withers and hip, smooth-looking, good size, and toed in slightly. One of the only ‘A’s ever given.

Dry North raced for three seasons, winning races at three and four and unplaced at five in eight starts. She earned $66,053. She was below stake class. Toward the end of her racing career she was sent to Philadelphia, Garden State and Finger Lakes to earn blacktype. She failed each time. However, her SSI was a very nice 2.58, which means she was getting beat by fillies in those stakes that were better than she was.

Temperence Hill was a natural selection for me. I loved the Hail To Reason line and he was both a good sire and broodmare sire in case we got a daughter. The sire of Temperence Hill was Stop The Music who at that time was a significant sire and broodmare sire. Stop The Music’s reputation suffered a bit in old age, but a comprehensive look at his entire stud career shows a pretty nice stallion.

Temperence Hill had won the Jockey Gold Cup-G1 at the classic distance of a mile and a half and the Belmont Stakes. He had been voted Champion 3yo and by the time he retired had earned $1,567,650. Temperence Hill carried Nearco 5,5 through Royal Charger and his ¾ brother Nasrullah. In his dam’s pedigree I viewed Owen Tudor (sire of the broodmare sire) and Princely Gift (sire of the 2^nd dam) as Versatile chefs de race so he fit the profile I was looking for. The major knock against the mating was that in 1984 it was his third season at stud (more Russian Roulette, especially since Northern Sunset had also no foals to race at the time). Temperence Hill had not raced at two.

The stud career of Dry North has been a roller coaster. First, she failed to get in foal to Mrs. Payson’s Carr de Naskra after being bred to him on Feb 28, April 10, and April 26, 1991 and failed to catch. We chose this mating as Carr de Naskra was her own home stallion and for other good reasons.

Interestingly, when Carr de Naskra was being sold as Hip 362, his pedigree was so bad that 4 generations were on the catalog page and only four blacktype performers on the entire page. His mom, Cornish Runner earned blacktype but once and $112,224 so she was sound in her 33 starts. We were led to believe that this was a pretty nice colt. I believe that he was at Payson Park at the time. He was the property of Robert C. Sansing, Ted Carr agent. Ted was farm manager for Virginia and later did wonders for Allen Paulson in the same role. Carr de Naskra was named after Ted. Virginia raced him in her colors and the win in the Travers Stake at the classic distance of a mile and a quarter clinched him for the mating to Dry North.

I liked the way their pedigrees fit and it was purely on theoretical grounds as Carr de Naskra’s the pedigree was not commercial (Star de Naskra-Cornish Prince mare-Royal Gunner mare-Ardan mare-Peace Chance mare). Carr had three SW’s from his first crop (Sir Richard Lewis, Candid Cameron and Mercedes Miss). This certainly made the decision an easier one for Mrs. Payson. In a Valentines Day fax, Virginia said, "I only intended to breed two of my mares to Carr de Naskra this year, Dry North (Pleasant Colony next year if she produces a decent foal) and Quiet Pansy.

The first mating to produce a foal out of Dry North was to Pleasant Colony. The filly foaled from this mating is Fly North, a foal of 1993. The previous Carr mating had not produced a foal and Carr would be a free mating, but Northern Sunset had now been elevated to superior status with the success of Salem Drive, Lac Ouimet, Norberto, and St. Jovite. The family obviously worked well with Roberto and Pleasant Colony.

Virginia was already going to use Pleasant Colony for Northern Sunset, but thanks to a bonus season on the share she could the other for Dry North. We knew that the logical choice was Pleasant Colony as the foal would be ¾ to Lac Ouimet and St. Jovite.

At stud the consensus was that Dry North produced the nicest looking foals on the farm. Dry North had a diagram that was ‘BISS’. (B)rilliant, (I)ntermediate in the speed wing and a double (S)tout in the stamina wing to balance that speed. I don’t use these abbreviations any more, but I can tell you that mares with the ‘BISS’ were few and far between. They often threw top-class runners and were quite versatile in that they went well with many different types of sires.

I thought the same. Dry North did produce the nicest foals on the farm. Her first foal was Fly North. I was with a group of breeders when I first saw Fly North as a weanling. Everyone in the group agreed that this was the nicest looking weanling on the farm. I commented that if Dry North throws more like Fly North, she might make as good a broodmare as Northern Sunset.

Before I continue on with what is now my Farda Amiga saga, I will finish the rest of the breeding career of Northern Sunset. I’ll be brief.

In 1985 Salem Drive was now showing promise on the track, but had yet to run in any stakes. Since Darby Creek Road was by Roberto and the old man was a better sire than the son was, we could expect a top-class foal if Northern Sunset was bred to Roberto. That mating produced Norberto. His pedigree would be interesting and smacked of potential. It carried Nearco 5,55 through three different sons, Blue Larkspur 55, entirely through the sire and the pedigree was also connected 5,5 through two sons of Bull Dog. This is the type of inbreeding I like to see in a colt. In fact, Norberto, as he was named, was a top-class runner that died just after turning four when he was coming into his own. I hated those phone calls that came from Virginia to tell me of another tragedy with her horses (lightning killing this one, spooking a horse into a fence, etc.)

Northern Sunset was not mated in 1986.

In 1987, I advised a mating to Alydar. The foal was named Alysunset. Alydar had the nice group of Versatile chefs de race in his dam’s pedigree (Nasrullah, Nearco, Pensive) that I was searching for. Alysunset carried Nearco 5,55 through three different sons with Bull Lea 55 through two daughters, and the pedigree linked through the now famous nick of a son of Native Dancer (Raise A Native) and a daughter (Natalma). Alydar was a top sire. Salem Drive was now a top class colt and Lac Ouimet was developing nicely. Time to step up with a major sire. Alysunset was put through the Keeneland July Sale but was bought back for $550,000. The success of Northern Sunset’s progeny changed Virginia’s mind. From that sale on, she would not contemplate selling any of Northern Sunset’s daughters. This was a smart move.

From Norberto’s expedition to race in Europe, Virginia had decided to send her better 2yo’s to race there. The training in Europe was much more conducive to young, developing horses than in North America. Plenty of gallops, more base work, up and down hills to strengthen those young skeletal structures and muscles. The success of Norberto helped convince Virginia that this approach was best for her horses.

A problem with Alysunset may be that Alydar was a dirt sire, not suited European racing unless Northern Sunset overrode his genetics in this area. True, Salem Drive did eventually turn into a top turf runner, but that played no part in sending Alysunset to Europe. She would be brought back to race in North America as a 4yo. It just didn’t happen. Alysunset won one race in four starts in two seasons in Europe. I often wondered if Alysunset raced on dirt whether she would have shown more of the quality I expected. Perhaps not, as Northern Sunset’s daughters were not as good as the colts. Before Alysunset was brought back to North America, I recommended that she be bred to Sadler’s Wells. That filly, foaled in 1993, was named Sunset Wells. Alysunset died young after producing only five foals.

In 1987 while a houseguest of Virginia’s at Saratoga with Barton Frauenfeld, we discussed at great length the next mating to Northern Sunset. Many stallions were mentioned, but each time Barton and I mentioned that Lac Ouimet may not be the best foal possible out of a mating of Northern Sunset to Pleasant Colony, Virginia was more agreeable to the idea of repeating the mating. By now you know the rest of the story of that mating, St. Jovite (1989), European Horse of the Year in 1992.

In 1989 we agreed that Northern Sunset should be bred to Chief’s Crown. Chief’s Crown won a Grade 1 at the classic distance of a mile and a quarter in the Travers and many other nice races. He was also a Champion 2yo and by the top-class sire, Danzig. Chief’s Crown’s ½ sister by Mr. Prospector (Classic Crown) had won a Grade 1 in 1988. It was expected that Chief’s Crown would add lots of stamina to the pedigree, similar to Pleasant Colony in that regard. I liked the fact that the foal would be inbred to Northern Dancer 3,3 through two of his best sons. There was no problem selling inbreeding this close to Virginia as we had produced Milesius. Chief’s Crown fit our original profile.

I don’t consider it reckless to inbreed to a chef de race that has positive AEI/CI ratios as a sire and as a broodmare sire. It must be noted here that in subsequent correspondence with Virginia over the next several years that I wavered like a yo-yo between liking the mating and worrying about it. Chief’s Crown was not acting as he should as a sire, according to my Sire Selection program. Ultimately, Chief’s Crown became a better sire in Europe and proved he could be a home run Classic type of sire and I relaxed.

The foal by Chief’s Crown was named Charette. She won her only start in England and two other races after being brought back to North America. She earned $46,579 with a SSI of 2.81. In 1997 she was mated to Broad Brush on my recommendation and produced the 2002 SW, Powder. "For Charette, if I was to choose from Broad Brush and Devil’s Bag, I would choose Broad Brush without hesitation. You just don’t have any of that type of blood in your broodmare band and he is highly compatible on his own. He should also throw more speed."

I have always wanted to breed a colt that carried on the Domino sireline. This is a sireline that has been hanging on by a thread. Broad Brush was from the Domino sireline. I was delighted when Charette produced a 2001 full brother to Powder. Powder has already shown lots of speed and the Domino line is famous for speed. In 2002, Charette produced a Crafty Prospector filly. Charette was bred to A.P. Indy in 2002, which was a great move as now she has a stakewinning daughter to her credit. The foal will be a solid commercial prospect.

In 1990, Virginia wanted to try Carr de Naskra to Northern Sunset. I was in favor of going back again to Pleasant Colony since St. Jovite was well put together. However, the crosses of the ¾ brothers Nasrullah and Royal Charger intrigued me and I gave the ‘thumbs up’. After all, he was a classic distance winner and his AEI/CI ratio was excellent. I’ve always had the distinct feeling that if I said ‘no’ to the mating, Virginia would have done it anyway. The resultant foal was named L’Carriere. Typical of Northern Sunset, he matured later and was top-class by age 4. He earned almost every nickel in a distance race and proved to a lot of people that Carr de Naskra could sire horses that raced well at classic distances. My friends got rich when he ran 2^nd in the Breeder’s Cup classic at 44-1. L’Carriere earned $1,326,175 from 8 wins in 22 starts. He was gelded. I searched my files, but could not find when the gelding was done.

In 1991, I heartily encouraged a mating to one of my favorite stallions, Halo. After, Pleasant Colony, Halo was my #1 choice. This was a bad choice on my part in retrospect, as Halo has produced nothing but plodders from Northern Sunset blood. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time, but stamina to stamina can often do that. Halo’s dam had some Versatile blood, but further back in the pedigree. Mont Laurier was a winner of two races in 13 starts with a SSI of 1.85, but not anywhere near the class of Northern Sunset’s other colts. Mont Laurier carried Almahmoud 3,5 through two daughters and Nearco 5,55 through 3 different sons while also carrying Blue Larkspur 55 through the sire and Phalaris 5,5 through a son and a daughter. Mont Laurier was exported and is now standing at stud in Argentina.

In 1992, I was successful in convincing Virginia to go back to Pleasant Colony, but by then we knew that St. Jovite was going to be special so I should not take any great credit. The foal, named St. Adele, followed the pattern of Northern Sunset’s fillies of having less racing ability. She had one third in Europe and one second in North America on the turf. She was unplaced on the dirt in one start. She is in foal to Crafty Prospector on an early cover in 2002. Hopefully, he will add all that Versatile speed that he has in his pedigree and link up nicely with the stamina in her pedigree.

In 1994, we repeated the mating to Pleasant Colony and got a nice colt in Laurentide. Laurentide was a big, good looking, strong, athletic bodied horse, a little heavy and exercise was advised to get some weight off him. He would certainly get more exercise in Europe. Laurentide was 2^nd in the Queen’s Vase-G3 at two miles by a nose in England. He turned out to be pure stamina and did not fare well in North America when asked to run in two turf races and two dirt distance events. Laurentide is now standing at stud in Puerto Rico. The possibility that he could turn out to be a good sire encouraged Virginia to keep part of him. Here’s hoping he sets Puerto Rico on fire.

In 1995, we went back to the well again with Pleasant Colony. The mating produced a filly, Sun Princessa. From the beginning it was apparent that Sun Princessa had ability. At 3, Sun Princessa won two of her five starts and was stakeplaced in the Bayakoa S. when she finished 3^rd. Injured, she was sent to stud. She missed to Unbridled’s Song on a May 18^th cover in 2001. She was to be bred to Capote this year.

Northern Sunset’s 1999 colt by Carr de Naskra was euthanized from contracted knee damage. She was bred to Red Ransom in 2002, but no word whether she got in foal.

And now back to the saga of Farda Amiga. Dry North, the dam of Fly North has been hexed in the breeding shed. She produced Aura of Glory in 1994, a small, late filly by Halo. Aura Of Glory had a lot of quality to her that did not translate for some reason to the racetrack. She was not pregnant in 1995 to Kris S. Put back to Kris S. she produced the hard luck Palander in 1996. She produced the nice, but injured and 1 start, Classique by Pleasant Colony in 1997. She aborted a Seattle Slew in 1998. She produced the beautiful and talented filly Spinning by Spinning World in 1999 that was injured (slab fracture) before getting into a race as a 3yo earlier in 2002. She aborted a King of Kings on August 1999 and aborted an A.P. Indy on June 2, 1990. She was scheduled to produce a Thunder Gulch colt on April 14, 2002 and to be bred back to Aptitude. In summary, she got the high-class Fly North, the plodder Aura of Glory but possibly top-class broodmare and 1 start Classique to the track.

In regard to Classique I wrote to Virginia, "This mating has already produced a good SW (Fly North) who, unfortunately was retired early after not coming back as good after a condylar fracture. The foal would be outbred and fits the nicking pattern wonderfully with the family of Northern Sunset. There is no reason not to repeat this mating." Dry North was bred to Pleasant Colony on 3/2, 4/6, 4/8 and 5/10 before she conceived.

Virginia, in a brilliant move, pulled Classique (Fly North’s full sister) from the sale in which she was consigned after she was injured and kept in her broodmare band. Remember this was before Farda Amiga burst on to the scene and Virginia was trying to cull her mares or recently retired maiden fillies. As a weanling, Classique (she might be very well named) was rated highly all concerned. Classique has a bay colt by Silver Deputy that was foaled on Feb 20, 2002. She was bred to A. P. Indy in another brilliant move. Boy, I hope she caught. Could be a sale topper anywhere.

Fly North is a bay mare foaled on February 7, 1993 in Kentucky. Fly North is a ¾ relative to both Lac Ouimet and St. Jovite. The mechanics of the mating has been mentioned earlier in this story. Fly North was sent to race in Canada, not because any lack of quality, but because Virginia had decided to foal out some of her horses in Canada to take advantage of the lucrative ‘province bred’ restricted purses. For example, she sent Cue to foal out Divine Insight in Canada in 1994. Woodbine has a first class race track and Fort Erie had some nice stakes for young fillies. Fly North won the Ontario Debutante S. at Fort Erie in her second start.

‘Fly North Flies Past Field’ by Robert J. Summers ‘Payson was here to do more than admire the flowers in her first visit to what she called the "prettiest little track I have ever seen". With jockey Robin Platts aboard, Fly North broke from the No.1 post, took the lead at the top of the stretch and pulled away in the 6 furlong dash. The margin could have been more than the 1 ¾ lengths and the time could have been faster than the 1:11 3/5. But the win could not have been easier. "You could not have asked for a better trip. Never," said Platts who tucked the whip away at the 1/16^th pole. Right after that race, Virginia was offered a mid-six digit offer for Fly North, but said no. Fly North ended up winning 3 of her 8 starts while earning $114,026. She won two sprints and one distance event. When she failed to fire in the Stormy Blues S. at Laurel in November 1996 and had no word from the trainer how she did, she faxed me, "She has a G3 to her credit so I see no reason to run another year. Add her to my list for this breeding season."

Fly North was bred to Rahy on my advice and produced the filly Wingover on January 28, 1998 as her first foal. I had trying for years to get Virginia to breed the Northern Sunset fillies to Rahy and was pleased that she sent Fly North to him. I saw her often during my 2000 Keeneland trip as she was paddocked opposite the office. Wingover was a nice chestnut filly that was recuperating at the farm. As a baby she was pretty much liked according to the foal reports I have and she has raced well enough. She won her first two starts at Calder as a 3yo. She has not been out as a 4yo and at last report was at Ocala. She earned has earned $30,980.

Virginia took my advice and mated Fly North to Broad Brush in 1998 that resulted in Farda Amiga being born on February 1, 1999. For many years previous I had been trying to get Virginia to buy a share in Broad Brush, but after some bad experiences with stallion shares to complete duds she went through a period of time of buying only seasons. Some of those stallion shares were bought on my advice so I do not skate on this issue. But they were with untested stallions when I was young and dumb. Broad Brush was a solid stallion. A no-lose stallion share if he lived more than three years. I am glad that she overcame her fears and invested in a share.

Broad Brush got better, if possible, after she bought the share. The question then became where to use the share since it was so valuable. "Fly North to Broad Brush; looks great and he is still going strong as a sire and will have a good year in 1998 and even better years later." In my Mix and Match sheets with stallions across the top and the mares down the side, I ranked the Broad Brush mating as the BEST. "Your 1999 foals who are on their way are outstanding theoretical matches and for that reason I urge you to keep these mares until you see the results of your thoughtful decisions. Looking at the possibilities of the following matches should give you a much more powerful purpose on earth that paying training and board bills: Broad Brush-Fly North (yippee)..."

Farda Amiga weighed 115 pounds when she was foaled at Payson Stud. Interestingly, Farda Amiga (name means Friendly Silks) was rejected the first time around in the naming game until the "meaning of name" was clarified to the Jockey Club. The last breeding date of her mom was February 29^th, a leap year conception.

As is normal at Payson Stud, her early development was well monitored. The comments were designed to help Virginia make those tough decisions to keep or sell and which sale. With Virginia now selling all her foals the comments will now probably be used to determined where to sell the foals.

From one month after her birth through the Keeneland Sale in 2000, Farda Amiga was inspected 16 times for conformational strengths and weaknesses. Normally, I would not mention those comments to anyone, but the fact that this Grade 1 winning filly sold for only $45,000 cries out for a reason. After all, Farda Amiga was the 2^nd foal out of a stakewinning ¾ sister to Lac Ouimet and St. Jovite and by a stallion with a stud fee of $40,000 at the time of conception that was considerably more expensive at the time of the sale. I will not identify any person to any particular comment as this would be counterproductive in future years to get accurate statements from Virginia’s advisors. It is important that Virginia gets honest opinions and not what the advisor thinks Virginia wants to hear. I give these comments only to give the reader more of an understanding of the sale price of $45,000. As you all are aware, horses change a lot from birth to age 2.

Readers should be cautioned that it is hard to look at a horse and get it right. People think it is the easiest thing to do, but it is not. These reports reflect what each saw. Some saw her wrong and that’s obvious. I just wish the only person I trust on conformation would seen the filly before the sale and wrote his comments into the files and was on record what he thought. He is my guru. While he must get it wrong occasionally, he is the best I known of when dealing with functional conformation. Charles McGinnes of Thornmar Farm, why didn’t you see that filly and write down what you thought?

At one month the comments show an average foal with nice hip and shoulder, slight tending to toe in.

At 2 ½ months she was back in one knee, toes out slightly, good hip, slightly upright, nice bone.

At 3 months, Farda Amiga had good bone, well-proportioned body, throws feet out somewhat as she walks.

At 6 months, Farda Amiga was out in the right front, nice hip, powerful shoulder and hip, nice wide chest, average filly, will improve.

At 8 months, enormous hip, wings out right front, left knee rotated, big, good-looking filly, long-bodied, alert, very good bone, out both knees, left worse, keep toeing out, improving.

At one year, Farda Amiga had impressed one of the individuals so much so that they wrote, "This has turned into the best yearling on the farm. Out right front, not bad. Most improved—Stake Filly—Very Nice."

At 13 months she was x-rayed and no significant lesions were found.

At 14 months, back at both knees (typical Broad Brush)—Course classy head—Very American, OK walker, big strong, impressive looking, beautiful head, intelligent look.

At 14 ½ months great airway, very mature for age, offset right knee, fluid in left knee right front knee straight, left front out, very strong upper body, nice head and eye.

At 14 ½ months + 2 days, real stout, lots of substance, good balance, back left knee and right knee tracks ok, slightly in left knee, good head for sire, slightly thick neck, good shoulder and hip, good body, close behind, consider internal blister on knees, most likely buyer racing person, SELL Keeneland September, B+,

At 15 months, nice mover, excellent attitude, lots of stamina, SELL?

Final verdict: Sell at Keeneland.

At 18 months, toes out left front at stand, walks well, decent size, good bone, strength, nice shoulder and hip, good body, great eye, walks close in front, cut under knees, very good for a Broad Brush, classy looking filly, like her.

At 18 ½ months, offset both knees, pancake feet, nice top line, left out, GOOD AIR, slight close, walks short behind, good size, back in left front.

At 19 ½ months, great big filly with good balance, slightly light on bone for her size, toes in with both front feet, flat in knee as well as tied in below the knee, short choppy walk.

After Farda Amiga won the Kentucky Oaks, published reports were that she had OCD’s in one stifle and that is why she was purchased so cheaply. I am not saying this is not true, but there wasn’t mentioned so much as a ‘boo’ about her stifle from her birth through the day of the sale except to infer from the comments, "walking short, short choppy walk" that there was a recent problem with her. Was this the result of OCD’s in the stifle?" If you wish to know more about OCD’s, there is a great article on the internet at http://www.las.utexas.edu/dawson/articles/lameness.htm#toppage .

First of all, I have always loved Broad Brush, just as I loved his sire Ack Ack. To me, his pedigree seemed a perfect fit (Ack Ack over Hoist The Flag over Turn-To over Dark Star over Nasrullah), if it were not for the inbreeding to Turn-To. Turn-To was a definite source of unsoundness in a pedigree, which is why he is in my Precocious chef de race grouping. Precocious chefs add brilliant and adaptible speed to pedigrees, but not the skeletal support structures to support that speed.

I did not worry about the cross of Turn-to through Ack Ack. He was a top-class runner, sire and broodmare sire. He had not inherited a lot of bad Turn-To unsoundness genes. I did worry about the other cross of Turn-to through Turn To Talent. Looking at the produce record of Turn To Talent did not alleviate my fears of this cross of Turn-To. Her produce record actually triggered more fears about the Broad Brush inbreeding to him. Turn To Talent produced Hay Patcher. Hay Patcher was a SW. I always prefer it when a stallion traces to the best foal of mare.

When Broad Brush raced successfully from ages 2-4 with a SSI of 97.59. It was apparent he had not inherited a lot of the unsoundness found in so many Turn-To’s. When he could run a mile at two in 1:35 and at age four could cover the classic distance of 10 furlongs in 2:00.8 in the mud, this showed me that he had inherited the best of Turn-To without the drawbacks. I now loved the close inbreeding 3,3 through two daughters.

From the time my Sire Selection program was updated to include Broad Brush, he set off all the bells and whistles that signal a significant stallion. His predictive score in my current program is 40.77, double that of most stallions.

Broad Brush lived up to my expectations as a sire. He had 5 SW’s in the first crop and 9 SW’s in the second crop. I dismissed the criticisms of him that were rampant in Kentucky, which was that he would fail if his owner (Meyeroff) stopped supporting him or didn’t have such a nice broodmare band. Broad Brush was for real. Broad Brush progeny showed good speed, which indicated to me that the Turn-To influence amongst others was influencing his foals. His 20% 2yo winners encouraged me to look at how his pedigree matched up with that of the daughters of Northern Sunset.

I recommended to Virginia that she breed the daughters of Northern Sunset or their daughters to Broad Brush since Northern Sunset’s main weakness was too much stamina. I have already discussed the mating of Broad’s Brush to Charette in this saga, but a look at the resultant pedigree is quite instructive into the way my mind works at times.

Broad Brush was inbred to Precocious chef de race Turn-To 3,3 through two daughters. Charette was inbred to my Versatile chef de race Northern Dancer 3,3 through two sons. I know that Roman has split Northern Dancer into two grouping, but I view that as pure crap. The foal (Powder) and her baby brother are thus the product of two inbred parents. It has been my experience the foals from this type of close inbreeding on both sides of the pedigree are either highly endowed with talent and good genetic strength or should be put down/given away. Since the close inbreeding on both sides of Powder’s pedigree are speed chefs de race, the give away on the strength of the pedigree of Powder or her brother should be that she shows speed or did as a foal.

Wouldn’t it be great if Powder’s brother develops into a top-class colt? He would sure have the best pedigree I have seen to continue the Domino sireline. Since Powder’s inbreeding to Northern Dancer is through Danzig and Northfields, her chances to be a significant broodmare are greatly increased. Currently, Broad Brush is not an outstanding broodmare sire, but that is not unusual for a 1983 foal in 2002. He should get better as breeders discover what stallions are best for his daughters.

Farda Amiga is a daughter of Fly North. Fly North is outbred through 5 full generations. She does carry Hyperion 5,6 through two sons (Alibhai and Owen Tudor), Nasrullah 5,6 through two sons. In addition, she has two extra crosses of Nearco ,66 through Nearctic and Mossborough and Mahmoud 66, entirely through Pleasant Colony. There is no question that she is a product of the nick between Pleasant Colony and Northern Sunset.

Fly North did not recover from a condylar fracture. She had speed. She may have had more speed than the other members of Northern Sunset’s family did. Broad Brush was known for toughness on the track and I had not seen any indication that his foals would be any different. So I assumed that Broad Brush would add soundness without a lot of unnecessary stamina. There would not be much to connect both sides of the pedigrees, but what there was looked pretty good to me.

Farda Amiga would be inbred to Turn-To 44,6. It was important that the extra cross of Turn-To came from Hail To Reason. Hail To Reason did not pass on the unsoundness of Turn-To. Farda Amiga would now be linebred to Turn-To through three wonderful crosses. Thus, in my diagramming of the pedigree of Farda Amiga, Broad Brush was hooked nicely with Dry North aspect of Fly North. The clincher was that the Pleasant Colony connection of Fly North hooked to Broad Brush through His Majesty by Ribot and Tom Rolfe by Ribot, thus giving Farda Amiga, Ribot 5,4 through 2 good sons. The additional pedigree hooks of Princequillo and Nasrullah found in the pedigree of Pleasant Colony and Broad Brush meant to me that almost the entire pedigree had positive hooks.

In Farda Amiga the dots connected as hoped. We were lucky. However, with Broad Brush over Pleasant Colony over Temperence Hill over Northfields over Ballymoss over Straight Deal by Solario, Farda Amiga could probably run 1 ½ miles faster than the colts. Why isn’t she nominated to the Belmont Stakes? She could be Horse of the Year!