Pierro

I'm as impressed as can be at how Persan took such a horrifying fall as a juvenile, shook it off, and raced a week later. Then he developed into a racehorse anyone on this board would be delighted to own.  

I'm also impressed as can be with Verry Elleegant.  The trip is everything in a 3200m race with an 8000 horse field, and she didn't get the trip.  I still think she's the best horse to run in that field by a good ways and hopefully we see her in the Auckland Cup later in the season.

I've noticed that before also KM . Have a look at the pedigree of Russian Revolution as another example 

Dancing Show -Nijinsky = Northern Dancer x Omaha 

Storm Bird - Northern Dancer x Chop Chop 

Nureyev - Northern Dancer x Flares 

Franreluche - Northern dancer X Chop Chop 

I'm not sure wether you could call it a coincidence or a pattern . The Chop Chop family is the same as Success Express 17b and SE mares may well fit in also . 

There is no Redoutes or Sir Ivor BUT Frosted does have Secretariat and Sir Gaylord as well as menow via Tapit which is all Sir Ivor families.

Three years on and with Persan having an extraordinary spring so far, I thought I'd review this list.  It's the weekend and I'm bored, so here we go.

Pierro's 24 stakes winners (including HK and SAF SW's) are:

Action Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Arcadia Prince Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Arcadia Queen Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Bellvue Hill Exceed and Excel Yes -- Marauding  

Commander More Than Ready No

Dragon Leap Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady, Sir T, Ivory Dawn

Furore Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Gamay Canny Lad No

I Like It Easy General Nedyim Yes -- Rolls *

Kentucky Breeze Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Levendi Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady  

Octabello Secret Savings No

Persan Mossman Yes -- Marauding

Pierata Flying Spur Yes -- Rolls, Zabeel *

Pinot Zabeel Yes -- Zabeel

Reelem In Ruby Giant's Causeway No   

Regal Power Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Rock Fastnet Rock Yes -- Marauding

Roy Had Enough Elusive Quality Yes -- Ivory Wand

Sacramento Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady *

Satin Slipper Flying Spur Yes -- Rolls, Kaapstad, Green Desert *

Shadow Hero Casino Prince Yes -- Rolls ( x 2)  *

Tulip Rock of Gibraltar Yes -- Grande Luxe *  

Untamed Fastnet Rock Yes -- Marauding

Stakes-placed horses:

Aecee Tong De Elusive Quality Yes -- Ivory Wand

Femme Fireball Fastnet Rock Yes -- Marauding

Folk Dress Snow Ridge No

Gayatri Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady, Zabeel

Holbien Danehill Dancer No

Quintessa Street Sense No *

Poseidon's Pool Exceed and Excel No

Princess Pierro Exceed and Excel Yes -- Bates Motel 

Rainbow Girl Fastnet Rock Yes -- Marauding   

Rendition Lion Hunter No  

Rome Exceed and Excel No

Sikorsky Rock of Gibraltar Yes -- Grande Luxe *

Spencer Smart Strike  No  *

True Magic Redoute's Choice Yes -- Show Lady

Wheelhouse Fastnet Rock Yes -- Marauding

Obviously, the cross with Redoute's Choice is something spectacular.  

Out of 39 total stakes winners/placed, 29 (74%) have an extra cross to Sir Ivor in some way.  All five of his Gr-1 winning horses have an extra cross to Sir Ivor, from multiple different sources.

Most (11) are through Redoute's Choice's 3rd dam Show Lady.  Pierro has 39 named foals of racing age out of Redoute's Choice mares, and 10 of them have black type for a stunning 25% stakes horses from FOALS on that cross.  That's also 10% Gr-1 winners from FOALS on that cross (counting Furore).  I mean, wow.  I expect this number to drop in his future crops because with bigger foal crops and more RC mares, he will be seeing a lot more middling-to-meh RC mares.  It might drop from 24% stakes horses to something more reasonable, like 12-15%.

Moving on, 7 have a cross to Marauding, mostly via Fastnet Rock but one is the mare Ambiguous, 3rd dam of Bellvue Hill.  That's interesting because out of the four black-type horses with Exceed and Excel as broodmare sire, Bellvue Hill is the only stakes winner.  

Pierro has a total of 6 foals of racing age out of three individual Elusive Quality mares, for one Gr-3 winner in South Africa and one Gr-3 placed winner of over $200,000.  Five of the six are winners and two of the three winners who aren't black-type are both metro class runners.  That's a strike rate approaching Redoute's Choice, albeit with a much smaller sample size.

There are a couple of other patterns that show up here.  The mares Ciboulette and Victoriana show up pretty frequently in Pierro's stakes horses.  Most of the foals with Ciboulette (which means scallion, by the way, a fun play on words with her sire Chop Chop) descend from Grande Luxe, by Sir Ivor -- but not all.  Some descend from L'Enjoleur.  Any mares with Night Shift would be worth a try here.  

The other one that shows up, and I can't figure out why, is the Poker (USA) mare My Charmer, dam of Seattle Slew, Lomond, and Seattle Dancer and the mare Clandestina.  Lomond appears primarily through Exceed and Excel, but also through Citidancer (IRE).  

Based on all of this, I'd also say that putting Pierro mares to Frosted might be an interesting pedigree play.  Frosted is linebred to Seattle Slew, so double My Charmer, and has Victoriana via Deputy Minister.  In fact, Pierro's son Commander is out of a mare whose dam Fleeting Touch is a 3/4 sibling to Frosted's dam Fast Cookie.  Additionally, if any mares by Midshipman (USA) make it to Australia, especially if they have Deputy Minister or Vice Regent anywhere in their pedigrees, Pierro (or Pierata, or Bellvue Hill) are worth a punt.  Bernardini mares might also be worth trying with Pierro for this reason, as well.

We now return to our normal, non-pedigree-geek weekend activities...

Even so.  Just like it was surprising how quiet Pierro was at the beginning of the season.

It's also surprising that when they're getting beaten, most of them are getting beaten badly.  7 of 7, 10 of 10, 7 of 9, 9 of 11, 7 of 8, etc.  Demonetization, Villermont, and All Too Huiying are doing their best to fly the flag, but...like I said, surprising.

Compare to Pierro, who for every 9 of 11 (fiddlesticks stop running that NZ filly in stakes, she's over her head) he has a 1 or 2 of 10 since mid-November, or Ocean Park, who is positively en fuego. 

You point out that so many of his superior performers are line-bred to Sir Ivor, Sir T or Zabeel, which is of course his sire line.  And then you suggest he's throwing hard to his damline, which to me would appear to represent something of a contradiction.

Would appreciate clarification of my possible misunderstanding.