Sir Archy:  God Blessed America

SIR ARCHY is a son of Diomed, a 1777 model and winner of the first English Derby 3 years later. Diomed, prematurely judged mediocre at stud, was shipped to Virginia for a pittance just after 1800 and settled finally in North Carolina. He left a 3/4 brother named Dragon, a 3/4 sister named Young Juno, a full sister named Fancy and the prolific producer, Young Giantess behind in UK to spread his seed. And did they ever?

Fancy and Young Giantess each produced a trio of full sisters by  Trumpator: Rally, Remnant and Rattle from Fancy and Julia, Cressida  and  Derby/Oaks winning Eleanor from Young Giantess, she the dam of  Sorcerer by Trumpator as well as the dam of Langar. Julia produced  Derby winner Phantom, Eleanor produced Muley and the dam of Picton  whilst Cressida checked in with Derby winner Priam and is the third dam  of The Cure. I am talking quality.

Quantity is served as this sums to seven sires in three generations to  multiply and linebreed to and accumulate over the years. The brilliant  Selene descends from Rattle and without her, there is no Native Dancer  [Sickle], read Northern Dancer, as he is out of Natalma by the Grey  Ghost, or Buckpasser [Pharamond II] or Hyperion.

By the time Diomed sired Sir Archy, perhaps some regrets were setting  in as much of the above transpired in the interim. But Sir Archy was  brilliant, retired for "lack of competition", soon sired fast horses galore  and they were quickly doubled in pedigrees of still more fast horses. No  words can describe the impact over time of the male strain of Diomed in  Sir Archy and other males by Diomed as the gaggle of close kin and  their produce were to accumulate in the gene pool on the other side of  the pond for as long as 125 years without ever seeing a male strain of  Diomed but when that vacuum was eliminated, some of the greatest  horses of our time resulted. Hold this thought.

By mid 1800's Lexington came along. What a wonderful name. His  pedigree featured 3 lines of male Diomed including a double of Sir Archy.  Lexington led the American sire list 16 times - sixteen. Late in the  century came Domino, IMHO, the best American horse of all time  considering both racing and impact at stud. He ran 6 in 1:09 at 2 and it  was not over a customized polytrack. In 2007, no foal born in the USA  will be void of Domino. Few, if any, in the world will be. He is now  endemic to the breed. All this from 20 foals, mind you and 2 sons who  bred on: Disguise and Commando.

Having held the thought from above, let me give you this to mull over.  Have you ever wondered why La Troienne was such a producer? Are  you aware that she dwarfs all other mares her age as the premier  distaff ancestress of good horses? Well, it is a fact La Troienne has  hundreds of lines of the Diomed gaggle mentioned above collected in  her pedigree over more than 125 years after birth of Diomed, but not a  single drop of blood from a single male strain of Diomed. Not one!

It is also a fact that she was never bred to a horse void of Domino -  hence male Diomed was common to all her foals. It is worth noting La  Troienne was owned by legenday Col. E.R. Bradley, hardly a man given  to helter skelter behaviour. Olin Gentry, a bona fide genius, was in the  mix as well at Idle Hour Farm. My opinion is the male Diomed, principally  Sir Archy, principally found doubled in Lexington who is tripled in Domino  is the root cause. Every single foal from La Troienne was the result of  the first introduction of male Diomed. Many of her second generation  offspring were the result of crossing male Diomed for the first time.

I went back and looked deep in the gene pool and found others like the  offspring of La Troienne. They include Nearco, Mahmoud, Menow, Count  Fleet, Man O'War, Roman, Gallant Fox, Whirlaway, Bold Venture,  Exterminator, Regret, Tourbillon, Djebel, Disguise, Cap & Bell, she the  first American bred victress in the English Oaks, as well as others.

Then there are those like the second generation offspring of La Troienne with male Diomed in each parent. They include Tom Fool, Nasrullah,  Royal Charger, War Admiral, Assault, Omaha and others including the  very special sisters Striking and Busher.

Even though the last named are among the legion of second generation  offspring of La Troienne, I mention them here for special recognition.  Striking was Broodmare of the Year and Busher was Horse of the Year  and they are 3X3 in FG Oaks winner, My Charmer, she the dam of our  only unbeaten Triple Crown winner to date - maybe ever, Seattle Slew  who had four Grade 1 winners out one year near the end.

We started with high quality, never changed the subject and we are still talking about the best born, including 7 Triple Crown winners, during a  window of time when the first infusion and subsequent first crossing of  male Diomed were possible.

Indeed, did anybody breed any better anywhere during that time?
We are blessed in many ways and Sir Archy is one of them.

Update: More Sir Archy
Involving Alexander, Don Quixote, Xantippe and John Bull

There is a play on Sir Archy that was also accumulating for years until he came along also too. Forgive the sick humor, but this can be just that confusing, as pedigree research is not an easy game.

Sir Archy's fourth dam was an unnamed sister to Grecian Princess, she the dam of Alexander, Don Quiixote and their sister, Xantippe, she the dam of John Bull. Thus we have Alexander, a very prevalent sire with a brother and sister when John Bull is in play, as John Bull is the only strain of the sister, Xantippe.

Alexander did some damage thru daughters as he left no son. He sired sisters Boadecea and Berenice, they the taproot of most of family 14. He sired an unnamed mare who gave us Bronze, an Oaks winner, and sister to 3 brothers: Rubens, Castrel and the important Selim. Bronze is ancestress of Teddy, Gainsborough, Spy Song, Peter Pan and Key to the Mint and others. Point is, there was no lack of Grecian Princess prior to Sir Archy getting involved in the biblical sense.

When he did, he might not have gotten returns of Grecian Princess, but by the time he worked his way back into the third generation and beyond, it was easy for him to lash up with a sister to his fourth dam. When Alexander was involved, it became a son [Alexander] and daughter [third dam of Sir Archy] cross of full sisters - a son and daughter of both parents. This is a good thing. Indeed, few things in linebreeding can beat it except a simplistic rule of mine: if one is good, the two is better.

Now Lexington is the darling of the Sir Archy cross and Domino is the flagship of the Lexington cross. Watch this! Domino is by Himyar out of a mare by Enquirer, out of Lizzie G. Himyar's sire and dam have 6X Alexander and 3X Sir Archy, respectively. Enquirer's sire and dam have 4X Alexander and 3X Sir Archy, respectively. Lizzie G. has 3X each of Alexander and Sir Archy.

So Domino has 9 crosses of Sir Archy’s fourth dam and her sister. They made a positive contribution to the unique pedigree of a great runner and progenitor.

Deep depth.

Les Brinsfield
les@pedigreegroup.com
www.pedigreeGroup.com

Note: Full brothers and sisters cannot exist unless breeders repeat  matings. Breeders have a responsibility to future generations in this  regard.

As always,  http://pedigreequery.com  and  http://tbheritage.com 
used to flesh out the pedigrees above.

Copyright (c) 2007  Les Brinsfield ~ les@pedigreegroup.com

I will try to make all articles worth the money. This one on Sir Archy is  gratis on this page, but lists for $6.99 at freeiq.com.  As we speak, none  are priced higher and $1.99 is the lowest and will get a Predict A Nick or  Bargain Basement Broodmare Sire.

The Two Step is simple and contains few words, but gives an explosive idea to produce quality horses. It is offered free as well: just click the link.

It is hoped you find these articles helpful,  as well as a good value.

However, no information, no matter how valid, has any value unless it is utilized.

Les Brinsfield