Great trainers have at best a mixed record when they attempt to translate their horsemanship skills into building a breeding establishment.

George Lambton, trainer for the 17th Earl of Derby, is justly famous for having laid the foundations of the Aga Khan's stud by purchasing 20 yearlings in 1921 and '22, but Lambton was buying racehorses first and foremost. The accomplishments of Mumtaz Mahal, Cos, and Friar's Daughter, among others, as broodmares constituted something of a lifelong bonus for his client.

Federico Tesio, perhaps the most famous breeder of all time, trained all of his own horses, and his intimate knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses was an integral part of his success as the breeder of Nearco and *Ribot.

In America, John E. Madden, breeder of five Kentucky Derby winners, also trained his own horses at various times in his career, but his true metier lay in the breeding and selling end of the business, not in training.

A role model for American trainers with ambitions as breeders was Hirsch Jacobs, leading American trainer by money won in 1946 and leader by races won in 1933-'39 and 1941-'44. With partner Phil Bieber, Jacobs began claiming and buying fillies to use as broodmares in the mid-1930s. By 1965, Bieber-Jacobs Stable was the country's leading breeder and maintained that position for the next three years. Hail to Reason, the best colt bred by Bieber-Jacobs, was leading sire in 1970.

John A. Nerud never ranked at the top of the trainer's lists, but his influence on the breeding industry has been just as profound and far-reaching as that of Jacobs. Born and raised in Nebraska, Nerud first developed his horsemanship skills as a rodeo rider and horse trader in Nebraska before beginning to train some of the horses he acquired for bush-track races in the 1930s.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, Nerud took a job as assistant trainer for Frank Kearns, who trained Herbert Woolf's Woolford Stable. Nerud succeeded Kearns as trainer for Woolf and guided Woolford's top horse, Delegate, to champion sprinter honors in 1949.

Delegate's success attracted more clients, including Ralph Lowe and Joseph Roebling. Nerud trained *Gallant Man to win the 1957 Belmont Stakes for Lowe and helped Roebling develop the famous family of Foundation Mare Portage-a family that includes Fall Aspen.

Nerud's success brought him to the attention of William S. McKnight when the founder of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M) entered racing in 1957.

As general manager and 25% owner of McKnight's Tartan Stable, Nerud was responsible for both the breeding and training of the great Dr. Fager, Horse of the Year in 1968 and leading sire in '77.

Dr. Fager was the best horse bred by Tartan, which led the breeders' list by money won in 1990, the year Tartan-bred Unbridled was champion three-year-old for Tartan client Frances Genter. The vast majority of that success derived from two mares McKnight had already acquired when he hired Nerud to build his breeding operation and train his horses in 1957. One of those, Cequillo, third dam of Fappiano, previously was profiled as a Foundation Mare (Thoroughbred Times, August 12, 2000).

Tartan's other Foundation Mare was Aspidistra, a $6,500 purchase by McKnight's staff in 1957 who was given to the 3M chief executive as a gift on his 70th birthday. A racemare of modest talents from an ordinary female line, Aspidistra produced not only Dr. Fager but also his champion half sister, Ta Wee, thus establishing herself as one of the great broodmares of the 20th century.

Although her family is younger and less numerous than those of many other mares honored in this series, Aspidistra's line through Dr. Fager and Unbridled already has exerted a significant influence on North American breeding.

"Aspidistra" is defined in Webster's International Dictionary as "a genus of Asiatic herbs with large, handsome basal leaves and tetramerous flowers borne close to the ground." The equine Aspidistra bore flowers that were indeed handsome but soared far and with incredible swiftness above the ground.

Tough as Teak

Aspidistra was bred in Kentucky by King Ranch in 1954 and was the only foal of the 1951 Prioress Stakes winner Tilly Rose. By the obscure stallion Bull Brier out of minor stakes winner Tilly Kate, by Draymont, Tilly Rose came from a line of mares more noted for toughness and early speed than real class. Her grandam, Teak, by Tea Caddy, a staying son of *Rock Sand, raced 59 times, and her 15 victories included the 1926 Rex Handicap at Fair Grounds.

Tilly Kate was a bit higher quality, winning four of 20 starts on the Midwestern circuit, including the 1938 Hotel Gibson Handicap. Tilly Kate produced only five foals, and Tilly Rose was by far the best.

Bred by the Riedinger Brothers, Tilly Rose was purchased by King Ranch after winning her first two starts as a two-year-old at Keeneland in 1950. She vindicated that judgment by winning divisions of the Prioress Stakes at three and the Colonial Handicap at four. She won seven of 23 starts and earned $45,017.

Tilly Rose was covered in her first season at stud in 1953 by King Ranch's Better Self. Rated 1947's joint second-best two-year-old colt (with the great sire Relic) behind the great Citation, Better Self trained on into a tough, consistent high-class racehorse, winning 16 of 50 starts and earning $383,925. Effective at every distance from six furlongs to 1 5/8 miles, Better Self ran a distant second to Calumet's champion in the 1948 Belmont Stakes, in which Citation completed his Triple Crown sweep.

By Bimelech out of Bee Mac, by War Admiral, Better Self was not the most fertile of stallions and was only moderately successful at stud, siring 14 stakes winners (8%) from 174 foals. His best son, Time Tested, was a very good sprinter, winning eight stakes races for owner-breeder Ogden Phipps. Time Tested's stakes-winning full sister, Foundation Mare Lady Be Good, turned out to be far more influential at stud, founding a family that includes Seeking the Gold and Polish Precedent.

Largely because of the prowess of Lady Be Good, Aspidistra, and the excellent broodmare Prayer Bell (dam of champion Silent Screen), Better Self ranks much higher as a broodmare sire. His daughters produced 52 stakes winners, but his three best mares produced 23% of his stakes winners, and their progeny earned 22.5% of his total earnings as a maternal grandsire.

One season of racing

Aspidistra did not race at two, and by the time she made her debut at Fair Grounds on January 30, 1957, King Ranch had sold her privately. She made her first ten starts running in the silks of E. H. Lane and trained by Monte Preston; in her 11th start, Preston alone was listed as her owner.

"I always thought it was odd that my grandfather sold Aspidistra, because he went out of his way to buy Tilly Rose and Aspidistra was her only foal," said Helen Alexander, granddaughter of King Ranch owner Robert Kleberg. "All I remember is he said something about her being in a barn fire. They had a lot of old-fashioned prejudices then, and one of them was that a horse that had been in a fire wasn't going to be any good."

Aspidistra must have shown a bit of speed in morning workouts because she made her debut in a six-furlong allowance race. She raced third for the first half mile before fading to finish ninth, eight lengths behind winner Sharp Note, a three-year-old colt.

She learned from that experience and won her second start a week later in a six-furlong maiden race, also against males. She led throughout under rider Clarence Picou and won by four lengths in 1:14 3/5 on a slow track.

Aspidistra's next race on February 12 at Fair Grounds established a pattern that she would follow for most of her remaining starts-ten more races at six furlongs and one at five furlongs. She consistently sho