by Jennifer Styskal
Breeders are forever searching for ways to best the competition, whether it be in a new crossing of bloodlines or simply breeding to the top producing stallion. The Saddle Horse Report has added one more factor to a breeder’s calculations: the Breeders’ Report.
Implemented at the beginning of 2007, the Breeders’ Report is fashioned after our successful High Point Report. Points earned by this past season’s show horses are attributed to their sires and are then tallied. Points are broken down by division and category, so breeders can see who is not only breeding the most successful show horses overall, but also who is the top-producing in each division.
With results accumulated from 243 horse shows across the nation, as well as in Canada, it is a great way to keep track of the success of individual sires through their offsprings’ achievements in the show ring.
Breeders and owners can stay up to date on their stallions’ rating throughout the show year by visiting the Breeders’ Report section at www.saddlehorsereport.com.
Now for an overview of the top 20 overall sires of 2008.
When a stallion’s influence persists long after his death, then breeders know he was one of the greats. Two years after his passing, Futurity French Command still holds a commanding lead on our Breeders’ Report, accumulating over 3,000 points more than the closest stallion. His impact stretches across multiple divisions as he tops the English pleasure, classic pleasure and hunter pleasure divisions. He placed second on the pleasure driving chart with top 10 accolades in park saddle, in hand and western pleasure. By Carlyle Command and out of the Noble Command daughter, Nobelle, French Command will continue to be a well-felt presence for many years to come.
Some of the offspring who propelled French Command to the top of the charts include Le French Renaissance, MEM La Vida Loca, Medomak French Invasion, Queen’s Proud Mary, MEM Playboy, Fait Accompli, GLB Perfect Harmony, SPR French Twist, Indian Creek Double R and Think About It MEM in English pleasure. Numbering among his pleasure driving entries are MEM Say My Name, Dantree Night Call, Ponzio’s Palermo, Kingsgrove French Elegance and CVH Celtic Challenger. In hand get include RRG Windsor, Marno’s French Mystery, MEM Just Alike, Queen’s Johnny Angel, GLB Leader Of The Band, Century Oak Acadia and Key Oscar Night.
MEM Once Again, Cabot Betty White, MEM Virtual Insanity, Lucky Strike, MEM Bailamos, Apostrophe, MEM Virtual Reality, Cabot Custom Order and KN French Commandante are but a few who earned points for their sire in the hunter pleasure division. Some classic pleasure notables include RJM French Revival, C’Est La Vie, Nicoria, Med E Oka French Morocco, Cabot Carte Blanche and Cabot Cut Above. MEM Heart And Soul and NDT French Impressionist were chart-toppers in the park saddle division while MCA Seawind Serenade, SPR French Twist, Pondview Picante, Garland French Authority and ECP Pretty Woman put French Command in the top 10 of western sires.
Ultra’s Special Agent made a big jump from last year’s sixth place standing to second in 2008. By Tug Hill Commando and out of the Tedwin Topic mare Up Hyre Serene Topic, Special Agent also made an appearance in the top 10 of the English pleasure, classic pleasure, in hand, western and hunter divisions. Annette Nickle Smith’s stallion has made great headway in the last few years to become one of the more recognizable stallions in the breed. Putting Special Agent in second place as an in hand sire are Ah La Lucie, Ultra’s Now And Forever, Milagro’s Dark Victory, Ultra’s High Definition, Ultra’s Frequent Flyer and Dreamaker Moon Shadow. Special Agent also placed second on the hunter pleasure chart with Stone Pine Dana, Ultra’s Play It Again, Cadence Allure, Springmill Madison, SPR Patriot, Ultra’s Xtra Special and Ultra’s Now And Forever earning some points.
Ultra’s My Girl, Ultra’s Bodyguard, LPS Ultra Sweet, Ultra’s Spirit Of Play, The Specialist and Ultra’s High Definition put their sire in the top 10 of English pleasure sires. Classic pleasure offspring include Ah La Lucie, The Specialist, Ultra’s Superlative and Ultra’s Special Trademark. Rounding out his points in the western section are Bear’s It All, Maxwell Smart, Bear’s Covergirl and Ultra’s Special Tribute.
HVK Bell Flaire steps up into the third place slot, siring 63 who showed in 2008. Owned by Barbara and Arthur Jones, Bell Flaire made the top 10 in five out of eight of the divisional rankings. He topped the charts in park harness, pleasure driving and in hand, and placed in park saddle and English pleasure. Some of his offspring credited for earning him points in park harness are JW That Special Flaire, SLB Da Vinci, Bellerophon, The Alchemist, Dragonsmeade Fusion, Cingate Instant Karma and Rare Piece. Those who can be counted in his group of English pleasure winners are Basic Black, Tara’s Firewalker, Cedar Creek Cariad, VVM Dare To Dream, VVM Just The Ticket and Acheron. Pleasure driving offspring include Intrepid Dynasty, Cedar Creek With Bells On, Indian Creek Bellagio, Dragonsmeade Infusion, Indian Creek Cipriani, JW Here I Am and Bellisimo.
Indian Creek Miss Margret, Dragonsmeade Spot On, Cedar Creek Cariad, Mizrahi, Precious Metal, JW Patty La Belle and JW Here I Am earned points in the in hand division for Bell Flaire. Placing him in the top 10 of park saddle sires are PAF Ecstasy, PPR Belly Dancer, No Contest, AMHF Belle Pepper and Bellerophon.
Tug Hill Whamunition stayed at the top again this year with 60 get bringing in 4,607 points. Helen and Bill Crawford own the Wham Bam Command son. Whamunition is probably best know for his English pleasure, pleasure driving, classic pleasure and hunter pleasure offspring as he placed in the top 10 of those divisions. Some of this year’s stars who made Whamuition stand out in the English pleasure division are Merriehill Times Square, Wendigo’s Tenderfoot, Boston’s Big Whammy, Paradigm Hot Chocolate, TE Ammunition, Perazzi, Twenty Two Magnum and UVM Made To Order. GI Jane, On Target, Merriehill Major League, Enthusiastic, Merriehill Times Square and RWJ Whamever represented their sire in the pleasure driving division.
A sample of Whamunition’s classic pleasure get are MS Dinah Might, Cherrydale Sudden Impact, Whispering Whammunition, AKM Armageddon and Liliachill Under Fire. RJMF The Great Bambino, Roadshow Jesse James, Chehalem Cassanova, Boston’s Big Whammy, Mirabel’s Dartanyan and CBMF Show And Tell round out his hunter pleasure offspring.
Liberation First Star kept his place in the top five from last year. The deceased sire who was owned by Jacqueline Clapp had 56 get represent him in the show ring this year to garner 4,234 points. Liberation First Star’s presence was felt in seven of the eight divisional categories, taking third in park saddle, seventh in park harness and in hand, fifth in English pleasure, pleasure driving and western pleasure and fourth in hunter pleasure. Some of the park saddle horses who can attribute their success to First Star’s bloodlines are Azeedad’s Lucky Star, Treble’s First Star, Set To Dance, BKC Valiant Star, AWS Candlelight, and MEM First Bell. Park harness get include MEM Ultimate Star, KJM Five Star, ALB Elusive Star, OnStar, Temptation’s First Star and JW First Dance.
Hylee’s Dannation, DAS Starcaster, SSLLC Prime Time, Brenda Starr and JW First Dance fill out the in hand section for Liberation First Star. English pleasure offspring are AWS Fruition, Partridge Hill Priority, BW Shrek, Battier, Cabot First Things First, MEM Casa Blanca, MEM Star Search, AWS Candlelight and A Winter Day. Carrying on their sire’s name in the pleasure driving division are MCS Bandini, AMHF Star Studded Event, Briar Oaks Armani, Still Thinking, Treble’s Starburst and Stardavari.
Placing First Star in the top 10 of western sires are CBMF Trading Up, MSV Ringo Star and MJL Rochallor. Some of his hunter pleasure stars are Graycliff Miss Liberty, Narragansett Bay, GLB Moonlight Sonata, Graycliff Jack Star, Briar Oak’s Patriot, HVK Domingo and Take The Stars.
Cedar Creek Harlequin moved up a few spots from last year’s rankings to take sixth. The late I Will Command son, owned by George Schott, continues to hold his place in the top 10 sires even after his passing, proving the strength and vitality of his bloodlines. Adding to his accomplishments as a sire, Harlequin also made it into the top 10 in the park saddle, English pleasure and hunter pleasure divisions. Placing Harlequin in seventh on the park saddle list are Graywood’s Kera and VVM Mad About You. Representing him in English pleasure are Cartier, French Kristoph, MEM Twisted Sister, MEM Bad Boy, MEM Have You Ever, MEM Attache, LGH Destiny’s Treasure and TES Capital Gain. Numbering among his hunter pleasure offspring are Ladies Night, KJM Moulin Rouge, Freddie Mercury, ESS Harlequin’s Promise, Powerpoint, MEM Look At Me and Attn Postmaster.
Tug Hill Commando is not only the proud sire of our second ranked stallion, Ultra’s Special Agent, he is also on the chart at number seven. Jerome and Shirley Modell are the owners of the Waseeka’s In Command son, who had 34 get in the ring during the 2008 season. Tug Hill Commando topped the western chart with ECP The Seventh Stone, Mtn Laurel Election Day, Chase Manhattan, Treble’s Tanqueray, Grand Cru Beaujolais, Merlot and Batton’s Maestro as some of his top get. Other notable winners by Tug Hill Commando include RWJ Commanding Topic, Paradigm Pageantry, Festival Rock N Roll, ESP Brass Commando, Born Yesterday, NBN Cochise and Rampaige.
Deceased for only a few years now, Nobility still maintains his spot in the top 10, taking eighth in 2008. Keeping his influence alive, most of Nobility’s get were top winners in park saddle, park harness, English pleasure and hunter pleasure. Also owned by George Schott during his last years as a sire, Nobility had 42 get in the show ring this year. Representing Nobility in the park saddle division are Key Biscayne, RER Popcorn, Stoneledge Chancellor and JW Authority. In the park harness division, RER Popcorn and Key Biscayne brought in the points. Paradigm Tokyo, Robert E Lee, En Possession NKS, Noteworthy’s Noble Heir, JW Maine Dame, MEM Lets Go Girls and NBN Out Of The Blue are a few who earned points in the English pleasure division. Rounding out the hunter pleasure section are Legendary Nobelle Roz, HVK Proud Nobility, Eire Crest Splendid Lady, High Stakes Tuff Enough, Legendary And Noble, Willowick Neon Lites, JW High In Command and Matinee Idol.
Rising up from 12th place last year to make it to ninth, Stonecroft Masquerade jumps up into the top 10 in 2008 with 31 offspring representing him in the show ring. Representing another father-son team on our Breeders’ Report, Masquerade is by Cedar Creek Harlequin and out of the Wham Bam Command mare Carillon Command. Bred and owned by Stonecroft Farm, Masquerade placed third on the pleasure driving chart and fourth in classic pleasure and in hand. TRE Master Of Disguise, Stonecroft Notorious, Stonecroft Byzantine, Whispering Masquerade, Stonecroft Liza and Whispering Worthy earned points in the pleasure driving division for their sire. Classic pleasure get include Whispering Masqued Man, Stonecroft Voodoo, Total Recall and Stonecroft Antidote. Attributing points from the in hand section are TRE Master Of Disguise, WTS The Joker, Stonecroft Byzantine, Stonecroft Notorious, Whispering Masqued Man, Whispering In Your Dreams and Hylee’s Noel.
Mizrahi made a huge jump on the Breeders’ Report to join his sire, HVK Bell Flaire, in the top 10 overall sires. A fairly young breeding stallion, Mizrahi has been balancing a life in the breeding shed and in the show ring. Thirty-four of his offspring joined him on the road around the country, racking up the points for the Playmor-owned stallion. Mizrahi placed second as a park saddle sire and third in the in hand section. Promoting their sire in the park saddle division are Dragonsmeade Bulgari, Dragonsmeade Icon, Queen’s Guardian, ECP Scandalous, Queen’s Lady Ashley and Queen’s Victorian Lady. Mastroianni, Dragonsmeade Balenciaga, Dragonsmeade Zegna, Indian Creek American Girl, Queen’s Newport Storm, The Couturier and KGA Montego Bay following in their sire’s hoofsteps by succeeding in the in hand section.
Another Waseeka’s In Command son, Immortal Command, came in at 11th. Out of a UVM Flash daughter, UVM Vision, Margaret Preston owns this elegant black stallion who also placed ninth on the classic pleasure and western pleasure charts. Classic pleasure offspring include Rum Brook Immortal Mystic, Festival Flamenco, Rum Brook Immortal Prince, Rum Brook Immortal Waltz, Red Barn Immortal Lass, Maximum Command and DRF Immortal Mae. Bringing home top ribbons in the western division were Rum Brook Immortal Valor, Northwest Barrister, Morgan Valley Takecommand, Festival Casanova, Seaway St. Lawrence, Cedarcrest Eleazar, Andrea’s Radiance and Sir Black Ty N Tails.
Even he has been deceased for nine years now, Man About Town LPS continues to maintain a foothold on the Breeders’ Report, coming in at number 12. By Tug Hill Celebrity, Man About Town had 30 get in the show ring to remind us of his presence. He also ranked seventh in the hunter pleasure section. Some of his top hunter pleasure offspring are Talk Of The Town LPS, Lone Star Bill, LIV Man Of Steele, Townshend Pep Is In Town, Aja, SPR Don Juan and Moonrun Metropolitan. Other winning get include Properly, CPM Man Oh Man, Sardes Manistique, KD Hot To Trot, RN Champagne Summer, Man In Command, Playmor’s Town Commander, Out On The Town, Park Place Dominion and B My Playmate.
The second Noble Flaire son to make the top 20 list is HVK Noble Obsession, coming in at 13. Owned and bred by Kohler Stables, Noble Obsession had 24 get achieve success in the ring in 2008. Some of these include HVK Drive Em Crazy, Movado, HVK Sweet Obsession, Boxford Unbridled Passion, Whispering Obsession, Cherrydale Monterey Bay, HVK Wild Obsession, HVK Reverberation, Rare Obsession, HVK Baymarch and The Last Don.
Making it three generations of top breeding stallions, Stonecroft Byzantine joins his sire, Stonecroft Masquerade, and grandsire, Cedar Creek Harlequin on the Breeders’ Report. With 29 offspring in the ring, the Playmor owned stallion comes in at number 14, four spots higher than last year. A reserve world champion and grand national champion himself this year in pleasure driving, Byzantine also made it into the top 10 of pleasure driving, classic saddle and western pleasure sires. Some of his top pleasure driving get include Intrepid Behold, Ryan’s Valentino, RMW Free Rein, GLB Amazing Grace, KH Show Byz, Starboard’s Big Daddy and Firewind Venetian. Classic saddle champions include Stonecroft After Midnight, BMF To Die For, Kingsgrove Dynasty, Sarde’s Samurai, Tomeri Tatiana and Judgement Day. Putting Byzantine in the top 10 of western sires are Briar Oaks’ Pep In My Step, PLK Shamrock Spirit, Briar Oak’s Frisky Byzness, Lake Holiday Taboo, Tanzania and Stonecroft Love Potion.
Noble Flaire’s third son, HVK Courageous Flaire, comes in at number 15. Owned by Heidi Kunkel, Courageous Flaire had 26 get showing for him this year with several putting him in the top 10 of English pleasure and pleasure driving sires. Representing him in the English pleasure division are Comiskey Park, Ready To Rumble, Cherrydale Acappella, Sarde’s Sinful, HBF Dynasty Flaire, MWR Who’s Your Daddy, Stoneleigh Flair For Life, Flairageous and GLB Sanatra. In the pleasure driving section, Courageous Flaire sired FRF Seattle Reign, VVM Wrapped In Roses, VVM By Design, RRG French Twist, Flairageous and Stoneleigh Flair For Life.
Simply Maserati had 28 get compete for him in 2008 and earned him enough points to place him at number 16. Jennifer Keuhn and Nicole Panek own this son of Dancity Sojourn who is this year’s number one park saddle sire. Some of his park saddle get include Lamborghini In Black, Patchwork Simply Amazin, Watch Me Dance, Flintlick’s Testarosa, CRD Bugatti, SLB Andiamo, Whispering Wild Flower and Mazatlan. Other winning offspring are VVM Mark My Words, BEF Ivan, RIG Park Avenue, Dragonsmeade Divine Miss M, Flintwood Destiny Driven, DM Bugatti Royale and JNP Simply Delorean, among many others.
Making an appearance on the Breeders’ Report top overall 20 sires is late Treble’s Willy Wild. By Windy Hill Willie and out of the Donlyn Of Wind-Crest daughter, Junhill Fascination, Willy Wild had 19 offspring in the ring to bring him in at 17 on the list. Not only is this his first appearance on the overall top 20, Willy Wild is also the second western pleasure sire and eighth classic pleasure sire. Among his winning western pleasure get of the year are Grand Cru Maker’s Mark, Gulfwind Sir William, HVK Wild Delivery, Gulfwind Wild Finale, THK Wild Adonis, Gulfwind Wild Again, Gulfwind Wild Solitaire and Treble’s Wild Imagination. Latours I’m Willy Fancy, Grand Cru St Emilion, Gradell’s Wild Reflection, Dial Wild, SEM Eternally Yours and Bud The Wiser are all classic pleasure champions sired by Willy Wild.
Another newcomer to the Breeders’ Report is sire number 18, Born To Boogie. By TVM I Promise and out of J’st Coastn Countness by Wing Ding, Born To Boogie is the sixth top classic pleasure sire of the year. Nineteen get represented this popular stallion whose impact in the breeding world continues following his many show ring feats. Some of his top classic pleasure offspring are Boogie Nights, Lucky-U, Sioux’s Boogie Knight, Syncopation, FSM The Promise Keeper and SME Foolish Affair. Other standouts by Born To Boogie are Little Bit Of Reggae, Let’s Boogie, Jane’s Addiction, LPS Last Dance and Graywood’s Boogie Boy.
Three Wishes remained at number 19 from last year’s list, rounding out the last of the Noble Flaire quartet to make it to the top 20 overall chart. Bred and owned throughout his life by Cheri Barber, Three Wishes was also out of a Treble’s Willy Wild mare. With such great bloodlines, Three Wishes remained in the top 10 of western and hunter pleasure sires once again. Putting him in sixth as a western sire are Grand Cru Hollywood’s Wish, Gradell Delightful Wishes, PTR Ms Behavin and DWS Wind Dancer. Hunter pleasure get include Grand Cru Valentino, PTR Wish In Time, Heartmeadow By Request, Till There Was You, PLF Wishful Thinking, MXM Midnight Annie and Hylandacre’s Dynamic Wishes.
Sire of four of the top 20 overall stallions this year, Noble Flaire himself continues to make his mark on the breeding world through his show get as well as his sons, even after his passing. The famed stallion of Kohler Stables remained in the top 10 as park saddle, park harness and English pleasure sire. In addition to his world champion producing sons, Noble Flaire offspring also include HVK Flash Back, Flaming Flair, HVK Vibrance, Exceptionallee, HVK Hot Ember, HVK Lord Of The Bluegrass, HVK Acclamation, HVK Man Of Distinction, HVK Gemini, Favorite Son, HVK Noble Flame, HVK Noble Prince and Carlyle Upper Caisse, among many others.
The Breeders’ Report continues to be populated by sires living and deceased, old and young, showing that many variables are at play in breeding for that next champion. Whether one is looking for that extra edge or is just curious about the latest trends in show horse breeding, the Breeders’ Report is a reliable tool for anyone. Visit www.saddlehorsereport.com during the coming season to see how the offspring of the top producing stallions move their sires up and down the charts.