NEWS
Tartan's finest flower
Posted: Saturday, April 07, 2001
Aspidistra, who ran for a $6,500 claiming price, produced champions Dr. Fager and Ta Wee
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 showed good early speed, considering the class of her races, and in nine of her next races led at least until the half-mile pole. However, she usually stopped rapidly once the field turned into the stretch.
In the February 12 allowance, she led for a half-mile but faded rapidly in the last quarter, finishing seventh, 17 lengths behind Kentucky Roman. She ran a similar race in another allowance at the same track four days later, finishing fifth, 5 1/2 lengths behind Storm Cloud.
Her race three days later-in her fifth start in 20 days-was a bit better and was perhaps her best effort though she did not win. Aspidistra set a pace of :22 4/5 and :474/5 and led into deep stretch before going down by 1 1/2 lengths to Colonel Zeus in 1:13 4/5. She ran a similar race a week later, finishing third, beaten three lengths by Show Man.
In her seventh and final start at the Fair Grounds meeting, Aspidistra scored her second victory, holding on by a neck in a fillies allowance over six furlongs. In an irony that would not be appreciated for more than a decade, the filly who finished second was Rumpled, a full sister to 1951 Santa Anita Derby winner Rough'n Tumble.
Aspidistra ran once at Keeneland Race Course, finishing fifth by seven lengths in a six-furlong allowance race. At a distance that should have been perfect for her, she showed absolutely nothing in her one effort at five furlongs, running tenth throughout in an allowance race at Thistledown. She ran second in her second Thistledown race, leading into deep stretch before Mrs. K L ran past her to win by 1 1/4 lengths in another six-furlong allowance.
In her first Chicago start, a September 13 purse race at Hawthorne Race Course, Aspidistra raced in the name of her trainer, Monte Preston. At some point during this period, trainer John Sceusa purchased Aspidistra for the 3M group that presented her to McKnight.
Aspidistra did little in that race to recommend her, leading for a half-mile before fading badly. Her first start in the name of Tartan Stable was even worse. She showed a bit of speed in a $6,500 claiming race, running second into the stretch before retiring to finish fifth, beaten seven lengths. She ran without a tag in an optional claimer on October 5 at Hawthorne but again faded after showing speed early.
Aspidistra's best effort for Tartan came in her final start on October 16 at Sportsman's Park. Second for the first half-mile, she held on a bit better around Sportsman's sharp turns and finished third, beaten six lengths for a $6,500 tag.
Cheap speed
Among the many cliches that abound in Thoroughbred racing, one of the most damning is to refer to any horse as "cheap speed," and yet that dismissive description fits Aspidistra's racing pattern perfectly. In nine of her 14 starts she led for at least a half-mile, and in three others she ran second for the first half-mile. Except in her maiden win, which came against very modest opposition, she faded badly in the final furlong of every race.
It is possible, of course, that the old prejudice against survivors of barn fires could have had a physical basis in smoke damage to the lungs that could have affected Aspidistra's stamina. It is also almost certain that other physical ailments intervened.
"She stopped because she was hurting," said Nerud. "Her knees had been broken. Chipped knees in those days grew bulgy and hard. We didn't have arthroscopic surgery, and there wasn't much you could do. I never worried about her racing record when I had her, because it was too late to worry about that, but I'm sure that's what stopped her. It would stop you too if you were hurting.
"She was a good-looking mare, but she was very high strung and so were all of her get. The farm manager said she would never have a good colt because she's chicken. She'd get upset if you got after her. Dr. Fager was the same way. He didn't like being hit.
"She was broad, and she had good bone. She probably had a little trouble with her ankles, too. Her legs were good and straight and had good flat knees except for the bulges from those chips."
Given her deficiencies on the racetrack, Aspidistra's first mate at stud, the Argentine-bred *Esmero, was probably about as good as could be expected. The result of that obscure mating, the 1960 filly Perplexing, won 4-of-24 starts and earned $9,520.
Perplexing was also reasonably successful as a broodmare, producing two stakes-placed runners from six foals. Her daughter by Royal Union, Baffling Queen, is grandam of minor stakes winner Nalees Wonder, by Nalees Man.
The first mating that Nerud planned for Aspidistra was with First Cabin, a stakes-placed son of Sun Again standing near the newly formed Tartan Farm in Ocala. That foal, A. Deck, a 1961 colt, produced immediate dividends for Tartan, winning the Ponce de Leon Stakes at three. Tough and consistent if not overwhelmingly classy, A. Deck raced through his eight-year-old season, winning 23 of 86 starts and earning $126,185.
Aspidistra's third foal, the 1962 Needles colt Chinatowner, possessed a bit more class. A winner of eight of 23 starts, mostly on dirt, at ages two to four, he developed into a good horse on turf at five in 1967, winning the Canadian Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park. Chinatowner died the following year without getting an opportunity to show what he could do at stud.
Nerud knew that he needed a quality stallion of his own to make Tartan Farm into a first-class breeding operation, and he found the right horse in 1961 when he purchased Intentionally from Brookfield Farm for a reported $750,000. Intentionally covered Aspidistra in his first season at stud in 1962, and she produced the colt Aforethought in 1963. Aforethought was a good allowance horse but not quite of stakes caliber, winning five of 24 starts and earning $40,645.
Given an opportunity at stud because of the glamour that was soon to be associated with the names of Aspidistra and Intentionally, Aforethought failed miserably, siring three minor stakes winners from 71 foals.
Son of the wind
Nerud liked the foals of Ocala Stud's crippled stallion Rough'n Tumble, and he bought five shares in the horse in 1962. Hampered by a prosthetic foot applied as a remedy for a club foot, Rough'n Tumble found it difficult to cover mares, but in Aspidistra he found the perfect mate.
The big, leggy, slab-sided bay colt born in April 1964 from that mating might as well have been the son of the wind. Named Dr. Fager after the Boston neurosurgeon who had saved Nerud's life after a fall from a racetrack pony, Aspidistra's fourth foal was quite simply one of the four or five best racehorses ever seen on an American racetrack.
Born with two clubby front feet, Dr. Fager won his first four starts at two in brilliant fashion but was upset in the Champagne Stakes by Successor when Bill Shoemaker was unable to control the big, powerful, strong-willed colt.
"One foot was very clubby and the other was a little bit," Nerud said. "We packed that foot with Coppertox or something like that every morning and put cotton up in it. We kept it very, very clean because I was afraid if it ever got infected we'd lose him. The frog on that foot was an inch off the ground. That all comes from Rough'n Tumble. He had a club foot. It didn't slow them down any."
Dr. Fager was beaten on the racetrack on only two other occasions in a 22-race career, and in each case the free-running colt was run into the ground by the "rabbit" Hedevar, one-time joint world-record holder for the mile.
Dr. Fager defeated his arch rival Damascus in the Gotham Stakes, his first start at three, but Nerud never was fond of the Kentucky Derby and passed up that race for an easy score in Withers Stakes.
In all, Dr. Fager won seven races at three, including the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, the Arlington Classic Stakes, and the Rockingham Special Stakes. He set a Rockingham track record at 1 1/4 miles (1:59 4/5) and locked up champion sprinter honors with a victory in the Vosburgh Handicap. Dr. Fager finished third in a championship showdown with Damascus and older champion Buckpasser in the Woodward Stakes when Hedevar and Buckpasser's stablemate Great Sun induced him to run much too fast for the first mile.
Horse of the Year season
Dr. Fager's four-year-old season remains one of the most memorable in the history of the sport. He suffered his only loss in eight starts, losing again to Damascus in the Brooklyn Handicap after Hedevar softened up Aspidistra's son. A
long the way, Dr. Fager set a world record for one mile of 1:32 1/5 while carrying 134 pounds in the Washington Park Handicap despite winning eased up by ten lengths; he won the United Nations Handicap in his only start on turf; and he carried 139 pounds to a seven-length win in the Vosburgh, setting a track record of 1:20 1/5 for seven furlongs.
At the end of that season, he recorded an unprecedented sweep of every championship category for which he was eligible-older horse, grass horse, and sprinter-and was voted Horse of the Year.
Dr. Fager retired to stud at Tartan in 1969, but he had always been susceptible to colic attacks and succumbed to one in 1976 after only eight full seasons at stud. (He had one foal, a filly that did not win, in 1969.)
If he was not quite as great a sire as he was a racehorse, Dr. Fager really suffered from only one failing: He never sired a colt to carry on his line.
His best son, Dr. Patches, champion sprinter of 1978, was a gelding, and his best stallion son, Dr. Blum, was only a modest success. Still, Dr. Fager sired 35 stakes winners (16% from foals), including champion juvenile fillies Dearly Precious and L'Alezane and was leading sire in 1977. His genetic legacy lives on mostly through his daughters, who have produced influential sires Fappiano, Quiet American, and Cure the Blues.
Pretty girl
Aspidistra returned to the court of Intentionally in 1964 and produced the filly Captivate in 1965. Winner of two of seven starts, Captivate produced three winners from four foals, but none made a lasting impact.
Captivate's 1966 full sister, however, was an entirely different story. Named Ta Wee, a term Nerud remembered from his Nebraska childhood to mean "pretty girl" in a local Native American dialect, the filly won two of four starts at two. At three, Ta Wee blossomed into a champion while trained by Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer, whom Nerud had hired to take over Tartan's horses.
Small and extraordinarily powerfully built, Ta Wee won eight of ten starts at three, culminating with a victory in the Vosburgh Handicap, a race in which she gave Rising Market, a five-year-old male, three pounds of actual weight. It was the third straight Vosburgh victory for the offspring of Aspidistra, and Ta Wee was voted champion sprinter in 1969.
Ta Wee was just as good at four and set new weight-carrying standards for a filly. In the Fall Highweight Handicap, she toted 140 pounds to a neck victory, giving runner-up Towzie Tyke 19 pounds. Ta Wee was voted champion sprinter for the second consecutive year, giving Aspidistra's offspring four straight championships in that category.
Retired to Tartan with a record of 15 wins in 21 starts and earnings of $284,941, Ta Wee was an effective broodmare as well, producing four stakes winners from only six foals.
Her first foal, Great Above, by Minnesota Mac (by Rough'n Tumble), was very closely related to Dr. Fager. Although nowhere near Dr. Fager's class, Great Above was a tough and capable sprinter, winning the 1978 Paumonok Handicap (G3) after setting an Aqueduct track record of 1:09 2/5 in winning the 1977 Toboggan Handicap. Great Above also made a significant if belated contribution at stud, siring 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull in his 12th crop. Great Above died in 1998.
Ta Wee's two foals by What a Pleasure, the colt Entropy and the filly Tax Holiday, were both good sprinters, but neither has made a significant contribution to the breed. Ta Wee's daughter by Secretariat, Tweak, was a better stayer and a minor stakes winner, and her branch of the female line appears to be breeding on better. Ta Wee's winning daughter by Iron Ruler, Thill, has also produced a stakes winner.
"Ta Wee was a very blocky type, more like Intentionally," Nerud said. "She also didn't want to be hit. I slapped her hard on the belly one day, and she got me down flat in the stall and was kicking at me.
"She was an extremely fast filly, but she couldn't go very far. I thought she'd be a great broodmare but she wasn't. She got some good horses, but nothing like what she should have. Maybe I bred her wrong."
It's Magic
Aspidistra slipped in 1967 but produced a full brother to Dr. Fager in 1968, Highbinder. A modestly talented colt who could never escape the shadow of his famous brother, Highbinder won nine of 29 starts from two through five and earned $129,304. Highbinder never managed to win a stakes, though he was good enough to run second in the 1971 Withers Stakes and the 1973 Vosburgh Handicap (G2).
"He was kind of a gawky horse," Nerud said. "He didn't have the leverage and the length Dr. Fager had. He couldn't run much. He didn't look like a stake horse should look."
Highbinder was a complete failure at stud, siring one stakes-placed runner from 129 foals.
Aspidistra had spent her entire stud career in Florida, but in 1968 Nerud sent her to Kentucky to be covered by the great racehorse Buckpasser in his first season at stud. In 1969, Aspidistra produced a lovely Buckpasser filly named Magic, who never raced but became a productive broodmare.
"Magic had a club foot so bad that you couldn't get her to the races," Nerud said. "She was a beautiful mare, but I just couldn't train her."
Magic's only stakes winner, her Graustark filly Magnificence, was a turf stayer who won the 1978 Queen Charlotte Handicap. A tall, rangy, rather narrow mare, Magnificence produced nothing of merit.
However, Magic's three other daughters-Magaro, by Caro (Ire); Charedi, by In Reality; and Mazurka, by Northern Dancer-all have made significant contributions to the breed.
Coolawin on grass
Magaro's first foal was Coolawin, a tough and consistent daughter of Nodouble who won nine races and $661,376. Her victories included the 1990 Orchid Handicap (G2), '89 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Handicap (G2), '90 Bewitch Stakes (G3), and '89 Poinsettia Stakes (G3). A top-class filly on turf, Coolawin set a course record of 2:24 1/5 for 1 1/2 miles on grass in the Orchid.
Magaro was sold to Japan for $250,000 at the Tartan-Nerud dispersal in 1987 and produced 1995 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Tayasu Tsuyoshi to the cover of Sunday Silence. Tayasu Tsuyoshi earned $3,392,998 and is now at stud at the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Japan.
Magaro's daughter Sister Chrys, by Fit to Fight, has produced a good stayer in Silver Rhapsody, a Silver Hawk filly who win the 1998 Princess Royal Stakes (Eng-G3).
Charedi, by Intentionally, was closely related to Ta Wee but shared only a little of her three-quarter sister's speed, winning three of 14 starts and earning $35,080. A small, blocky mare with the calf knees and upright pasterns so common in the offspring of In Reality, Charedi produced two stakes winners by sires out of daughters of Dr. Fager. The racing career of Pentelicus, by Fappiano, the better of the two, was hampered by a wind infirmity, but when he was right he was a very fast horse, setting a track record of 1:14 1/5 for 6 1/2 furlongs at Arlington Park.
A very blocky, powerfully built horse, Pentelicus was essentially a larger, male version of Charedi. He has proved a useful sire at Ocala Stud in Florida, siring 15 stakes winners (4%), including graded winners Hair Spray, Dontletthebigonego, Penny Blues, and How About Now.
Charedi's daughter Gana Facil was just short of stakes class, winning five New York allowance races. An entirely different physical type than her dam, Gana Facil closely resembling her tall, massive sire, *Le Fabuleux, and her first two foals were both top-class runners.
Unbridled
Unbridled, by Dr. Fager's maternal grandson Fappiano, was the best three-year-old colt of 1990, winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Sold for only $70,000 as a weanling at the Tartan dispersal because his right front foot turns out markedly, Unbridled is a tall, massive horse who tends to get progeny that are either very, very good or almost useless.
His first crop included Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Unbridled's Song and Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, and he has continued to produce a top-class horse in virtually every crop. His 21 stakes winners represent only 6.7% of the foals in his first six crops, but his best offspring-such as Banshee Breeze, Anees, Manistique, and Red Bullet-are so brilliant that Unbridled now is one of the most popular stallions in the world.
Unbridled's year-younger full brother, Cahill Road, was an even larger and more unsound racehorse. Unraced at two because he was simply too large and ungainly, Cahill Road broke down while scoring an impressive win in the 1991 Wood Memorial Invitational Stakes (G1) and never raced again.
Given his unsoundness, Cahill Road has been even more inconsistent at stud than Unbridled and has not transmitted much of the family's brilliance to his offspring. Cahill Road has sired 14 stakes winners (5%), but his best have been Puerto Rican Horses of the Year Mi Vereda and Social Request and Grade 3 winner Traffic Circle.
Mazurka did not produce a stakes winner of her own, but her daughter Direwarning, by Caveat, is dam of the plucky little gelding Cavonnier, by Batonnier, beaten only a nose by his relative Grindstone in the 1996 Kentucky Derby.
Barren in 1970, Aspidistra produced her tenth foal, the *Prince Taj colt Weyand, in 1971. He won only two of 19 starts, earned $21,760, and ended up at stud in New Zealand, where he sired only one stakes winner from 48 foals before his death in 1980.
Barren again in 1972, Aspidistra foaled a 1973 Bold Reason filly, Quit Me Not, who was unplaced in two starts but produced six winners from 11 foals. Her daughter by Secretariat, I'm Pretty, is dam of the useful racehorse Judge T C, by Judge Smells (by In Reality), winner of the 1995 Fayette Stakes (G2).
Aspidistra's 1974 Buckpasser colt, Pollinize, a full brother to Magic, never raced. Pollinize has sired five minor stakes winners at stud in the Southwest.
Aspidistra failed to produce a foal in both 1975 and '76, but in '77 foaled Auraria, by Minnesota Mac. A three-quarter brother to Dr. Fager, Auraria possessed only minor talents, winning three of nine starts before being exported to stand in Venezuela. Auraria sired five stakes winners, including two Venezuelan champions, and ranked as leading broodmare sire in Venezuela in 1999.
Barren in 1978, Aspidistra died later that year.
The test of inbreeding
Pedigree analysts have combed the genealogy of Aspidistra for years in search of an explanation for her extraordinary excellence as a broodmare, and they have little to show for their dusty peregrinations through the stud books.
The research has shown, though, that, like many great broodmares, Aspidistra is relatively inbred, with 4x4 crosses of *Teddy, 5x5 of Sweep, 4x6x6 of Peter Pan, 5x6x6x6 of Ben Brush, and 6x5 of *Rock Sand.
The same could be said of numerous other mares that are perfectly useless, however, and those multiple inbreedings are not close enough to deduce any powerful, necessary influence on Aspidistra's qualities as a racehorse or broodmare.
Her female line has been resident in this country for more than 100 years, since Aspidistra's ninth dam, *Non Pareille, by Kingston, was imported by August Belmont in 1871. Not once in that century-long period did the family produce anything remotely approaching Dr. Fager, Ta Wee, or Unbridled in racing ability.
Aspidistra's offspring and her descendants, on the other hand, seemed to derive considerable benefit from closer inbreeding. The immortal Dr. Fager was inbred 3x4 to *Teddy's son *Bull Dog and carries three crosses of Spearmint and Broomstick. Ta Wee is inbred 4x5 to Man o' War with an additional cross of his sire Fair Play and multiple crosses of *North Star III, *Rock Sand, Sweep, and Broomstick.
Aspidistra has very successfully withstood the test of inbreeding. Unbridled and Cahill Road are inbred 4x4 to Aspidistra (as well as Rough'n Tumble), and Pentelicus and Lloydminster are both 4x3 to Aspidistra. Vershinina, one of Cahill Road's best stakes winners, is inbred 4x4 to her daughter Magic.
The family descending from Aspidistra is not as numerous as most of the other families profiled as Foundation Mares, but the extraordinary high class and widespread genetic influence of Dr. Fager, Ta Wee, and Unbridled make it clear that this daughter of Better Self will remain a powerful influence in the stud book.
Aspidistra may have been short of class, stamina, and soundness, but for some reason her offspring and their descendants decidedly were not. And in Dr. Fager, Aspidistra produced a horse for the ages. He alone would have preserved her name in a place of great honor in the Thoroughbred breed.
John P. Sparkman is bloodstock/sales editor of Thoroughbred Times.
