The Six Generation Stallion:

The Fallacy of the Pedigree Pundits

   In looking over the year-end general sires list, do you ever wonder what happened to the sixth-generation sire?  You know, the stallion who possesses all those mythical qualities in his six-generation pedigree that pedigree pundits are always talking about.

     If patterns of linebreeding, inbreeding, nicking, and female families are in fact precursors to a magical genetic virility, we would have seen the six-generation stallion success story by now.

     But it never happens that way.  Sure, there are plenty of anecdotes in favor of the six generation stallion, but in each case, the stallion has other attributes working as well, most importantly, talent.  Pundits will always point out successful stallions, often times attributing that success to a phenomenon found in the depths of the pedigree, and seldom attributing success to the individual’s merits.

     So then the question becomes, has there ever been a measurable number of success stories that had only the alleged mythical powers found in a six-generation pedigree? Or for that matter, has there been any at all?

     In other words, has there ever been a stallion who couldn’t run  a lick, but was successful at stud because of traits found within an extended pedigree?

     The knee-jerk response is that non-winning stallion prospects seldom receive the proper management and support needed to rise to prominence, which is absolutely true.  But at the same time, even when facing such hurdles, shouldn’t we still see at least one of these stallions break into prominence at some point?  If these six generation theories have any validity, then shouldn’t we have seen an instance where in isolation, these theories led to success?

     After all, we’ve seen several stallions overcome limited opportunities and find a spot on the leading sires list.   Stallions like Silver Ghost, El Prado, Saint Ballado, and In Excess had difficulty gaining respect early, but the respect would come later by way of their progeny’s performance.  And what do all of these stallions have in common? They were very talented individuals.  Even Silver Ghost, who earned a paltry $42,400, demonstrated his talent by equaling the 6.5 furlong track record at Belmont. 

     Just once, pedigree pundits who argue the importance of factors found in six generation pedigrees should be able to point to a success story that is independent of other variables.  Specifically, they should be able to point to a successful stallion that rests all of his laurels on their theories.  After all, theorists who advocate individual merits over pedigree can point to numerous success stories that rely exclusively on their theories.

     We’re not saying that pedigree pundits can’t or won’t acknowledge the significance of a stallion’s race record.  That is obviously not the case.  But relative to their usefulness, the pundits spend too much time discussing six generation theories.  Once isolated from the help of other factors, variables found in six generation pedigrees can’t point to a single success story.

     While it may be fun to sit down and study your horse’s pedigree several generations back, it’s important to make the distinction between ‘fun’ and ‘useful’.  It is no doubt enjoyable to research a pedigree, simultaneously learning about the history and development of the breed.  Unfortunately, if the same task was useful, we’d see the occasional emergence of an unplaced stallion success story, which is yet to happen in the modern era.