LEST WE FORGET NORTHERN DANCER !!!

And why bring it up ? Because despite all the latest “hot” methods – Beyer, Formulator etc. etc. – PEDIGREE is the root and source of everything!! And the way DRF promotes Tomlinson stats , is totally misleading!

Pedigree Traits are commonly found in at least these relevant racing factors:

Track surface preference, Track condition preference, Race distance preference, Racing attitudes, Athleticism and HEART !!!! … and more ….

Northern Dancer was an unsold yearling with a reserve of $25,000 – too small they said !! WOW – all you people with videos and tape measures, how did you miss him ?? The Horse of the Century !!! And progeny of extended families still dominate !!! Only 2 years ago, 2008, the top 3 finishers in the Ky Derby were all extended progeny of N. Dancer !

And Coolmore in Ireland, many of their great horses which dominate European Classics annually are founded in Northern Dancer.

Look at the Sword Dancer form at Saratoga, Sat. Aug. 14, eg. Marland – only good races are on turf – 280 Tomlinson; Al Khali – best races are on turf – 265 Tomlinson (both horses founded in the Dancer line) . Why does this rating occur ? I assume Tomlinson computes only what “did” happen and leaves out the “woulda coulda shoulda “ – eg. A horse with a good turf pedigree on the Ky Derby trail will never see grass before he gets hurt or retires – and he might have been the greatest grasser of all !! So his numbers will never contribute to a grass stat.

I could go on and on, the message is that there is no short cuts and no substitute for an accumulative knowledge of watching races. Have you ever heard of Tridessus ! An obscure son of Northern Dancer, One day a son of his was making his turf debut in a maiden race after several double digit losses on dirt. I keyed him in the late double and cashed $2,800 for a deuce at GP – about 20 years ago !

Just don’t get fooled by all the phony stats !!

jk