The star of the show at Royal Ascot on Day 3 was blue-blooded young stayer Kyprios, who became the third Group I winner from his blue hen dam Polished Gem when taking out the Group I Ascot Gold Cup, so we thought it might be interesting to see if the new Pedigrees 360 software could shed some light on the genetic magic behind this exceptional family.
A homebred for Moyglare Stud, four year-old Galileo stallion Kyprios is the final foal from revered matriarch Polished Gem, who has had 10 foals to race and all are winners, eight of them stakes-winners as listed below:
Kyprios (Galileo) G1
Search for a Song (Galileo) G1
Free Eagle (High Chaparral) G1
Custom Cut (Notnowcato) G2
Sapphire (Medicean) G2
Valac (Dark Angel) G3
Falcon Eight (Galileo) Listed
Amma Grace (Galileo) Listed
A winner over 7f at Leopardstown at two from just five starts, Polished Gem is a full sister to Group I winner Dress to Thrill, who was a much better racehorse on the track, but has failed to match the deeds of her sister as a broodmare.
The Pedigrees 360 profile on KYPRIOS reveals he has three very rare components to his pedigree.
1. He has four clusters 'off the charts', a pattern very rare in modern racehorses
2. His dominant ancestor back to nine generations is TEDDY, quite extraordinary to see 19 duplications of TEDDY in a modern day horse
3. His dam, the blue hen POLISHED GEM, also has an extraordinary profile, also having three clusters 'off the charts'. Other blue hens that also have three or four clusters off the charts include SOMETHINGROYAL, LA TROIENNE, and DANCING SHOW
You can see from the chart below that POLISHED GEM has high duplications of not just one or two but FOUR dominant ancestors TEDDY, FAIR PLAY, SPEARMINT, and AJAX, unheard of in modern mare pedigrees. It does explain her potency, and it's not just with GALILEO, she has also produced the Group winner SAPPHIRE by MEDICEAN which is a completely different sireline.
