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THE DELTA PATTERN: FIRST DOWN DASH AND FIRST PRIZE DASH
By Larry Thornton
Courtesy Speedhorse Magazine
NORMAN, OK—JULY 15, 2013—I had a gentleman tell me one time that breeding horses was like throwing mud on a wall. Some of the mud would stick and some would splatter and fall on the ground. The mud that stuck was good and the mud that fell to the ground was no good, at least to the mud thrower. (After all he threw the mud to make it stick on the wall. Right!) I guess I would have to say that throwing mud on a wall for most of us is a waste of time, and so is following a breeding program that doesn’t have a plan.
The start of a good breeding plan begins with looking at the pedigree of the individual. Taking a look at what is there and how to proceed with it is a basic part of the breeding plan, and this is where pedigree patterns come into the picture. What do we see in that pedigree? Do we see breeding patterns that show us inbreeding, linebreeding, outcrossing, or a combination of these breeding patterns? Then, we use these breeding patterns to determine how we want to breed the next generation.
Of course the consistency of the mud would have a role in how much mud would stick on the wall, and this is where linebreeding comes into the picture in our breeding plan. The goal of linebreeding is to keep a high genetic relationship to an outstanding individual or individuals in the pedigree. The multiple crosses to these individuals increases the consistency of the mud, with more sticking on the wall, increasing the influence of the common ancestor or ancestors.
Linebreeding comes in many forms. Figure 1 shows us one type of linebreeding pattern. This pedigree pattern shows that Individual A is linebred to horse #5 with a breeding pattern of 3 X 3 X 3 X 3. This tells us that horse #5 is in the third generation of individual A’s pedigree four times. Thus, by linebreeding, we are giving ourselves a good opportunity to place a lot of the genes of #5 back into individual A; and that is our goal with linebreeding.
Another way to linebreed is through collateral relatives. Collateral relatives are full brothers and sisters or 3/4 brothers and sisters that appear together in a pedigree. By using these siblings in a linebreeding pattern, we increase the variety of genes the individual would inherit from a great cross or the common ancestors that made the great cross. The basic idea here is that brothers and sisters are genetically very similar, but still they each inherited different genes from their parents. Thus by linebreeding to siblings, we increase the potential to inherit a wider variety of genes from the great cross or the common ancestors that made the great cross.
The Delta Pattern
The success of several stakes winners at the 2013 Remington Park Spring Mixed Breed Meet has brought a little known breeding pattern to the surface. This is a breeding pattern that involves the great First Down Dash and his only full sister, First Prize Dash.
First Down Dash and First Prize Dash came into this world through a breeding partnership that started with B. F. Phillips Jr. of Frisco, Texas, and A. F. “Sonny” Stanley of Madill, Oklahoma. The partnership originally arose from Phillips’ desire to breed mares carrying the blood of Lady Bug’s Moon to Dash For Cash. Lady Bug’s Moon was bred and raced by Marvin and Lela Barnes. He was sired by Top Moon and out of Barnes’ great foundation mare FL Lady Bug.
Lela Barnes was Sonny Stanley’s sister. When Marvin and Lela Barnes started standing Lady Bug’s Moon, they developed Lady Bug Stallion Station in Madill, Oklahoma. Sonny became the manager. When Barnes sold Lady Bug’s Moon, Sonny Stanley bought the Lady Bugs Stallion Station and they have been in business ever since.
The Lady Bug’s Moon mare in this story is Rose Bug. This mare is a daughter of Casco Rose and Lady Bug’s Moon, and she was bred by Gordon H. Wilson of Grove, Oklahoma. Casco Rose was a match race mare that Wilson owned.
The first foal out of Rose Bug was First Prize Rose, by Gallant Jet. Gallant Jet was the 1972 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, with his big win that year coming in the Rainbow Futurity-G1. He was sired by Jet Deck and out of Leo Jewel by Leo. Gordon Wilson bred First Prize Rose.
First Prize Rose went to the track to earn her ROM with six wins, eight seconds and six thirds in 34 races. She was stakes placed with a second in the Three Bars Handicap Division I, and a third in the Sunland Park Fall Derby.
When retired from the track, First Prize Rose became the dam of seven foals with seven starters. All seven earned an ROM, with two stakes winners. One of the stakes winners out of First Prize Rose was First A Rose, by Marvin Barnes great All American Futurity winner Mr Master Bug. This sorrel mare was the stakes winner in the 1989 QHBC Sophomore Classic-G2.
First Prize Rose made her first trip to the Phillips Ranch in 1983, giving birth to First Down Dash in 1984. This son of Dash For Cash would find himself in the Phillips Ranch Sale in 1985 under the partnership of Phillips/Stanley. He would sell to Millie Vessels of the Vessels Stallion Farm.
First Down Dash was the second stakes winner for <First Prize Rose and he would enter the racing world taking home 13 wins in 15 races. He finished second once and was out of the money once. The highlight of his racing career was the 1987 Champion Of Champions-G1 that boosted him to the 1987 AQHA Racing World Championship as well as the 1987 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old and the 1987 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
First Down Dash retired from the racetrack, settling into the role of sire on the Vessels Stallion Farm to become the all-time leading sire of money winners. His foals have taken in over $79,000,000 in earnings. He is the sire of 235 stakes winners, 1,507 ROM runners, and 36 AQHA Racing Champions. His stakes winners include six All American Futurity-G1 winners, including No Secrets Here who has turned in the fastest time in this great event.
First Prize Dash was born in 1988 from the mating of Dash For Cash and First Prize Rose. First Prize Dash went to the track to become a stakes finalist in the 1990 Heritage Place Futurity-G1 and the 1991 All American Derby-G1. She started 11 times with five wins, two seconds and three thirds.
First Down Dash became the all-time leading sire, and First Prize Dash has lived up to his record as a successful producer in her own right. She is the dam of 41 foals, 33 starters, 24 winners and 27 ROM. She is the dam of five stakes winners and three stakes placed runners.
The 1998 and 2000 foals out of First Prize Dash were the stakes winners Heza Fast Dash, winner of the 2000 Blue Ribbon Futurity-G2, and Fast FIrst Prize, winner of the 2002 Heritage Place Futurity-G1. Both of these runners are sired by Heza Fast Man. Heza Fast Dash is now a million dollar sire with his foals earning over $2,000,000 with stakes winners like Senor Seabolt, winner of the Lee Berwick Memorial Futurity and the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile-RG3. Fast FIrst Prize is the dam of a number of stakes horses, including Fast Prize Zoom, who set a World Record at Sunland Park going 300-yards in :14.870. More on Fast FIrst Prize later in our look at the Delta Pattern.
In 2006, First Prize Dash became the dam of two Grade 1 stakes winners and one grade 1 stakes placed runner when her foals First Carolina won the Heritage Place Futurity-G1, First Prize Robin won the Remington Park Futurity-G1, and First Prize Perry was second in the Texas Classic Futurity-G1. They were all sired by Mr Jess Perry. These three foals gave First Prize Dash the 2006 AQHA Broodmare of the Year Award and she became an AQHA Dam of Distinction – a fitting title for the full sister to the all-time leading sire in Quarter Horse racing.
First Prize Dash followed up her success in 2006 by producing First Prize Leesa in 2007. This full sister to First Carolina, First Prize Robin and First Prize Perry went on in 2009 to be the Remington Park Futurity-G1 winner. Some of the stakes placed runners out of this family are First Prize Stone, second in the Mr Master Bug Handicap, First Prize Paris, second in the 2008 Black Gold 330 Futurity, and First Prize Timer, third in the Black Gold 330 Futurity.
The success of both First Down Dash and First Prize Dash means that it is only a matter of time until this full brother and sister would end up in a pedigree together. It just so happens that they appear together in the pedigree of three stakes winners from the 2013 Remington Park spring meet, in what is termed the Delta Pattern.
My exposure to the Delta Pattern came through my study of the work of Rommy Faversham and his mentor, the late Leon Rassmusen. Much of the work of these two pedigree analysts has centered on “Inbreeding to Superior Female Lines.” This is the breeding practice of inbreeding to females instead of males. The literature provided by Faversham and Rasmussen on the Delta Pattern indicated that this a very rare linebreeding pattern.
The Delta Pattern is a linebreeding pattern to a full brother and sister that combines the siblings by way of the sire line and the tail female line. In this case, First Down Dash is in the sire line and First Prize Dash is in the tail female line of the foals produced.
The power of First Down Dash in the sire line is well represented by a number of his sons. But for our look at the Delta Pattern, and with a couple of exceptions, we will focus on his sire line through his son Holland Ease, who sired Corona Cartel – and his son is PYC Paint Your Wagon. Holland Ease was the winner of the Golden State Derby-G1 and is now the successful sire of runners that have earned over $12,000,000 with 83 black type winners. His son Corona Cartel was a top racehorse with wins in races like the Los Alamitos Million Dollar Futurity-G1. Corona Cartel is at the top of his game with his foals earning over $41.3 million with 128 stakes winners. Corona Cartel’s son PYC Paint Your Wagon started on the track as a stakes winner in races like the Texas Classic Futurity-G1. He is now following along as a representative of the First Down Dash sire line as the 2011 AQHA Leading Freshman sire with his foals earning in excess of $9 million dollars through his third foal crop.
The first runner we will look at is Coronado Cartel. This 2011 colt is sired by Corona Cartel and out of First Down Prize’s daughter First Carolina. He is the winner of the 2013 Remington Park Oklahoma Bred Futurity-R. He is a perfect three for three so far this year as a money winner of $309,428. Thus, he is our first representative for the Delta Pattern through First Down Dash and First Prize Dash because he is from the First Down Dash sire line and he traces in the tail female line through his dam First Carolina to First Prize Dash.
Coronado Cartel isn’t the only runner from this cross to earn black type. Denver Pass is a 2009 full brother to Coronado Cartel. Denver Pass earned his black type in the 2011 Rainbow Juvenile Invitational Stakes, and he was a finalist that year in the All American Futurity. First Carolina has put six foals on the racetrack. They are all ROM with five of them sired by Corona Cartel with the sixth ROM being sired by PYC Paint Your Wagon.
The winner of the 2013 running of the Eastex Handicap G2 at Remington Park was Fast Prize Mike. Fast Prize Mike earned his first black type last year when won the Evangeline Downs Derby 1st Division. He was also stakes placed last year with a second in the Dash For Cash Derby G2. His sire is PYC Paint Your Wagon.
One Fast Wagon is a full sister to Fast Prize Mike. This 2010 bay mare is stakes placed with a second in the TQHA Sale Futurity-G2. She was also a finalist in the Texas Classic Futurity-G1. The next full brother to Fast Prize Mike and One Fast Wagon is PYC Look At Me. This gelding is an ROM runner.
The dam of these three runners is Fast Mans Prize. This 2004 mare is a full sister to Heza Fast Dash and Fast First Prize. She was sired by Heza Fast Man and out of First Prize Dash. Fast Mans Prize was a non-winner in three starts. She is the dam of nine starters on the track with nine ROM. A third stakes placed runner out of Fast Mans Prize is Prize Jive by Country Quick Dash by Royal Quick Dash by First Down Dash. Prize Jive was third in the Foxy Lady Stakes at Hialeah Race Track in 2011. This gives us another Delta Pattern.
The next Remington Park stakes winner we will look at is Fast Prize Jordan. Fast Prize Jordan is a two-time Remington Park stakes winner in the 2013 Mighty Deck Three Handicap and the 2013 Mr Jet Moore Stakes, and he is stakes placed in the 2013 Sooner Stakes-RG1 with a second place. This 2009 son of PYC Paint Your Wagon is out of Fast Prize Doll, a daughter of Fast First Prize by Heza Fast Man and out of First Prize Dash. Giving us our third 2013 Remington Park stakes winner with the Delta Pattern in the pedigree.
Fast Prize Doll is the dam of Fast Prize Doll Too. This 2009 bay mare is stakes placed in the 2011 Black Gold 350 Futurity with a third place finish. Her sire is Finding Nemo by Fishers Dash by First Down Dash. Yet another Delta Pattern to First Down Dash and First Prize Dash.
One more runner out of Fast First Prize that we will look at is Coronas Fast Prize. This daughter of Corona Cartel is a stakes finalist in the Remington Park Futurity-G1 and the Jack Brooks Stakes-RG3. Her race record shows that she has four wins in nine starts and one of those wins is a Track Record at Lone Star Park going 300-yards in 15.039 seconds. Fast Prize Ribbon is a stakes finalist in the Remington Park Futurity-G1 and she is a full sister to Coronas Fast Prize.
The main mechanism or how the Delta Pattern makes its special contribution has to do with how certain genetic factors are inherited. Such things as genes being brought into the scheme of things through the sire line or through the tail female line. This is especially true for the sex-linked genes or genes that are carried on the “Y” chromosomes.
What makes the sire line so unique is the “Y” chromosome is passed down generation after generation from sire to son. So all of the direct sire line descendants of First Down Dash have his “Y” chromosome. This opens the door to the sex linked genes that are supplied through the “Y” chromosome because the “Y” determines which foals will be males.
The next factor comes from the tail female line and the Mitochondrial DNA we all inherit from our mothers. The Mitochondria are the organelles outside the nucleus of the cell that is the source of energy on the cellular level. The mitochondria have their own genetic information that allows it to function as that source of energy, and like any set of genes the mitochondrial DNA genetically directs this process. One of the theories being tested in the world of genetics has to do with how the mitochondrial DNA affects the horse’s ability to perform. This is a widely studied situation even in human athletic performance in and what makes a champion stand out from the rest.
Thus the Delta Pattern of linebreeding brings the “Y” from the brother and that is First Down Dash in this case down the line. Now that “Y” is only passed down from father to son, so it is not passed on through the daughters of First Down Dash who trace in the sire line to this great stallion. Plus, each of the foals bred on this pattern carry the same mitochondrial DNA that First Down Dash carries, and that can only be possible when the dam is a direct tail female line descendant of First Prize Dash.
The part that makes the genetics of the sire line and the tail female line so predictable is that both the “Y” chromosome and the mitochondria DNA are passed down carrying what are called haplotypes. Haplotypes are a series of genes that are linked together and then passed down generation after generation with very little change in them. This is how the geneticist uses the “Y” to identify where we came from or the migration pattern our ancestors followed to get us to where they settled.
The same is true as to how they can trace our mitochondrial DNA back to the taproot mare or foundation mare in that tail female line. They do it through these haplotypes. Research indicates that mitochondrial DNA does mutate a lot and that is where many of the mitochondrial diseases come from. But those genes in the haplotype category stay in tact generation after generation to determine where we came from.
Thus, our 2013 Remington Park stakes winners Coronado Cartel, Fast Prize Mike and Fast Prize Jordan all carry the same basic “Y” chromosome and mitochondrial DNA that First Down Dash carried. Thus through linebreeding with the Delta Pattern, we have reproduced these two parts of the genetics of First Down Dash into the stallions that descend from this great stallion and his sister. The Delta Pattern then gives us a way to reproduce an important part of a great ancestor that we would miss out on with other linebreeding patterns.