Anne Peters
P.O. Box 3926
Midway, KY 40347
(859) 846 - 9794
pedgoddess
@yahoo.com

Pedigree is the absolute essence of the Thoroughbred race horse, a breed whose origins lie in its name, being "thoroughly-bred" from the best racing ancestors. While the modern Thoroughbred is not a truely pure descendant of its many Arabian ancestors, its own genetic background has been maintained over 300 years of rigorous selection for superior racing ability. 

"The Thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended, not on experts, technicians, or zoologists, but on a piece of wood: the winning post of the Epsom Derby. If you base your criteria on anything else, you will get something else, not the Thoroughbred." [Federico Tesio]

What was Tesio talking about?  Quite simply, he
meant that the Epsom Derby was the standard and the goal of breeders around the world, and those runners that achieve this highest of standard of classic performance consistently proved to be outstanding breeding stock.  The Thoroughbred is the result of breeding for racing performance and nothing else.  Breeders that concentrate on any other criteria,
especially those that breed strictly to sell an attractive
sale yearling with what appears to be perfect conformation, are not breeding racehorses.

There are many factors involved in breeding
racehorses.  Every few years, someone announces a
new theory or a new line of analysis.  Some are
effective and some are not.  The truth of it is that there
is no one single method that will guarantee success in
this endeavour.  Breeders are encouraged to study the various breeding theories carefully, find the ones that make the most sense to them, and try to engineer
matings that satisfy theory from several different angles.  I've been working on a brief explanation of several of the most well-known theories and selection techniques. This is a work in progress and more articles will be completed as I have the time. 

Stating the Obvious:
     Breed the best to the best
     The racecourse test
     Proven versus unproven
     Market breeding
     Joe Estes' statistical analyses   

Freshman Sire Predictions
        2024
        2023
        2022
        2021
        2020
        2019
        2018
        2017

Standard Livestock Breeding Practices:
    Mating Rules of Thumb
     Inbreeding
          Why Inbreeding
          Inbreeding, by Boussac
          Inbreeding Trends
          Inbreeding to Deputy Minister
     Outcrossing / Hybrid vigor
          The Outcrossing Advantage
     Nicks or Not (and Nick Ratings)
     Stamina Index
     Sources of Stamina
          Kentucky Derby stamina 2020
          Kentucky Derby stamina 2019
          Kentucky Derby stamina 2018
          Kentucky Derby winners as sires
          Travers winners as sires
     Genetics
           Speed Gene Research
           Modern Speed Genes
     Conformation
           Is Bigger Always Better?
     Maternal Influences
     The Importance of Racing at Two

More Controversial Systems:
     Bruce Lowe's Figure System
          Kentucky Derby-winning Families
     Dosage in its various incarnations
          Vulliers
          Varola
          Roman
     The X-Factor (Large Heart Gene) 
     Inbreeding to Superior Females (Rasmussen Factor)
     Positional Analysis
     Astrology
     Nick Ratings

Biographies:
    Aerolite and Idlewild (orig. Idlewild and Aerolite)
    Awesome Again
    Black Caviar
    Blushing Groom
     Ben's Cat
     Bold Ruler
     Buckpasser
     California Chrome
     Candy Ride
     Centralinteligence/Smarty Jones
     Cinderella
     Colonel John
     Deputy Minister (Inbreeding to)
     Dunkirk
     First Samurai
     Glencoe
     Gone West
     Grey Eagle
     Honor Code/A.P. Indy
     Honest Pleasure
     His Majesty
     Idlewild and Aerolite
     Justify
     Karakontie (JPN)
     Kitten's Joy
     Lecomte
     Lemon Drop Kid
     Mizdirection
     Olympia
     Salvator
     Shakin It Up
     Spinaway
     Spring At Last
     Swaps
     Tapit
     Tiznow
     Tom Bowling
     Turn-to
     Wardelle and Wardoura
     Wicked Strong
     Wild Again
    Wise Dan

Myths and Legends:
     Inbreeding is bad
     Inbreeding is good
     Milers make the best sires
     Breed to race or breed to sell
     Saint La Troienne
     Native Dancer is Satan

Special Features:
     A Roan by Any Other Name
     Cluster affinities
     Sires of sires - the good and bad
     Sires of broodmares
     Broodmare sires of sires
     The atypical son