Pedigree analysis like almost everything else has come a long way since the days of scouring through books and periodicals. Technology has changed a lot in the way professionals analyze data.
Alan Porter, pedigree analyst at BloodHorse and owner of Pedigree Consultants, views technology as an indispensable tool compared to the olden days.
"Catalogs were still being written by hand at that point. So, I think the key difference for me is the amount of information I can consider, the accuracy of the info, and the speed at which you can find that info."
But there is so much more to pedigree analysis than just newer technologies. Anyone can observe a horse's five-generation pedigree on sites such as Equineline.com. However, Byron Rogers of Stable Analytics takes a closer view of how he analyzes the five-generation pedigree, in this case, of 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty .
"From a data viewpoint, I tend to look at what's inherited, and if I look at a pedigree like this, I'm looking at the ancestors from the viewpoint of, is that the best version of that ancestor? Say, for example, a broodmare sire Bernardini, he's a son of A.P. Indy. If a different son of A.P. Indy was there that wasn't as high quality of an animal, that would have an influence on the way that I'd be thinking about the pedigree.
"I think the Aga Khan really looked at the four grandparents of any horse and said, 'They're the pillars of the pedigree. They have to be bulletproof.' And when you look at a stallion like (Sovereignty), you've got Leslie's Lady was a fantastic producer. You've got Bernardini there, you've got Mushka, she was a fantastic racemare. All four of the grandparents of this pedigree are really solid, solid horses, both racehorses and producers. So, he doesn't have a lot of holes in terms of his pedigree.
"And, let's say, if it was out of a mare by a moderate son of A.P. Indy and the next dam was by a moderate son of Unbridled. I'd have a very different opinion about this pedigree."
Another way to view a horse's pedigree comes from sales catalogs. The panelists had very concise views of catalog pedigrees and how they differ from the five-generation pedigree.
"It's basically an advert for the consigner or the horse being consigned," Porter said. "It is not a real analytical document because it doesn't tell you everything. It's edited. It gives you a snapshot of the families as to whether it's produced class. It also has nothing about the aptitude of the horse either. (It) doesn't tell you if they were turf or dirt or sprinters or anything like that, too."
Anne Peters, the Pedigree Goddess, made an interesting point about sires Tapit and Into Mischief, in terms of how the mares they mate with can play a critical role.
"You got to pay attention to dominant genetics. If you have a Tapit mare that doesn't look anything like Tapit, but looks a lot more like something else, then you have to pay attention to that. And there are some stallions that are not as prepotent as other stallions. And you got to pay attention to that, too.
"Some stallions throw back a lot to the mares they're bred to. And I think Into Mischief is doing that. His stocks rose dramatically when he started getting bigger, lankier broodmares. And his original crops were small, compact, chunky looking things. But now he's getting these big scopey classic-type horses."
TrueNicks was also a topic discussed. The TrueNicks rating is a score that reflects the degree of affinity between the sire and broodmare sire (or sire line and broodmare sire line) of the subject horse or hypothetical mating, according to its website.
Porter mentioned how the ratings of horses should not be determined based on apples to oranges, but rather apples to apples.
"If you're looking at, say, Into Mischief, Not This Time, Gun Runner or Nyquist, perhaps, you're interested in how the mating compares between those four stallions, not how it compares with a $5,000 stallion. On the other hand, if you're in a regional program and you're only spending $5,000, you're interested in how those stallions compare with each other, not with Into Mischief or Nyquist."
Finally, the panelists were asked about what sort of advice they would give to newcomers in relation to how they should use pedigree and research tools for breeding and buying decisions. They all agreed that newcomers should become familiar with pedigrees themselves, but it is best to partner up with someone who has considerable expertise in the field.
