Respected pedigree analyst Kristen Manning has delved deep into the bloodlines behind regally bred Group 1 galloper Johannes Vermeer (IRE), who has plenty to offer the broodmare owner - his pedigree one of class and depth... meaning that he suits a good variety of mares.
Johannes Vermeer is standing at Wyadup Valley Farms in Victoria this spring at a fee of $8,800.
He is by Galileo, best son of the legendary Sadler's Wells whose family has well and truly proven its worth as a line-breeding influence.
Sadler's Wells has always combined exceptionally well with strains of his high achieving 3/4 brother Nureyev... the great broodmare Special duplicated.
Galileo has continued on with this; he and Nureyev coming together in the pedigrees of 485 stakes winners, 72 of whom are Gr.1 winners including the Melbourne Cup winners Half Yours, Cross Counter and Twilight Payment.
Others bred this way who've been able to win major local contests include Autumn Glow, Aeliana, Humidor and Observer whilst international success stories include Bow Echo, St Mark's Basilica and Rip Van Winkle.
The Nureyev line has been well represented in Australia by the likes of Starcraft/Star Witness, Peintre Celebre, Spinning World and Stravinsky (from the same Stolen Kiss family as Johannes Vermeer's third dam sire Dancing Brave).
And Nureyev has made his local mark as the dam sire of Zabeel - and that great stallion has combined with Galileo in 38 stakes winners including ten Gr.1 horses.
Sadler's Wells also fares well with strains of his full brother Fairy King and Galileo has continued this trend... that combo represented by 36 stakes winners, eight Gr.1 winners. Sixteen of those stakes winners and three of the Gr.1 horses have Encosta de Lago as their Fairy King strain.
The Encosta de Lago line continues to thrive and its members are exciting prospects for Johannes Vermeer whose dam sire Holy Roman Emperor is a grandson of Northern Dancer's finest daughter Fanfreluche... the fourth dam of Encosta de Lago.
Encosta de Lago's Champion Sire grandson Zoustar has sired two stakes winners out of Holy Roman Emperor mares, noting that Zoustar's sire Northern Meteor is from the same family as Sadler's Wells and Fairy King... his fourth dam Rough Shod being Special's grandam.
Zoustar line mares are of further interest with his dam sire Redoute's Choice having as his fourth dam the famed matriarch (and high class line-breeding subject) Best In Show whose grandson Try My Best is the sire of Last Tycoon, in turn sire of Johannes Vermeer's second dam sire Marju.
More on Best In Show later!
Aside from Northern Meteor, several members of the Rough Shod (and her dam Dalmary and grandam Simon's Shoes) family have stood in this part of the world including Headwater, Captivant, Fiorente, Smart Missile, Wrote, Golan, One Cool Cat, Almaarad, Tate Gallery, Jade Robbery, Dusty Boots, Geiger Counter, Yeats, Bachelor Duke, Fiorente, Captivant and Perugino (3/4 brother to Sadler's Wells); sire of Testa Rossa.
Also worth seeking out are strains of Lt Stevens, Lorenzaccio, Windsor Slipper, Petoski, St Jovite, Archipenko, Blame, Ridan, Reform, George Spelvin, Apalachee, Thatch, Thatching, Dutch Art, Drums Of Time and Topsider.
Sadler's Wells is out of a mare by Bold Reason whose Kentucky Oaks winning dam Lalun also produced Never Bend - sire of the champion Mill Reef to whom Johannes Vermeer's dam is line-bred 4 X 3. Further Never Bend and Bold Reason strains are desirable as are strains of Snippets whose dam sire Grand Chaudiere hails from the same Sunshot family as Lalun.
Which brings us back to Redoute's Choice whose five time Australian Champion Sire Snitzel is out of a Snippets mare.
Redoute's Choice (whose outstanding sire son The Autumn Sun is out of a Galileo mare) loves Last Tycoon strains... in fact this is the most successful way to duplicate Best In Show, noting that the two stallions have combined in the pedigrees of 139 stakes winners including 20 Gr.1 horses.
Several stallions of the Redoute's Choice sire line also have Encosta de Lago, providing the opportunity to line-bred to Fairy Bridge and Fanfreluche... Invader, Alabama Express (from the Best In Show family) and Sword Of State whilst Spill The Beans is out of a mare by Fairy King's son Falbrav.
Other Redoute's Choice line horses to match up particularly well with Johannes Vermeer include Jukebox (line-bred to Best In Show's granddaughter Dancing Show), Trapeze Artist (already 6 X 6 Best In Show) and Sooboog (out of a Topsider line mare) as well as Fast N' Famous, Time For War and Burgundy who are all out of Zabeel mares.
Mares by Russian Revolution are also of great interest - he being out of a Nureyev line mare whilst his fourth dam is Fanfreluche.
The Not A Single Doubt (Grand Chaudiere is his second dam sire) branch is faring very nicely; especially his son of Extreme Choice who is out of a mare by Hussonet... and that stallion hails from the prolific Maid Of Masham family (as does Tom Rolfe, sire of Hussonet's second dam sire Hoist The Flag).
Maid Of Masham is also ancestress of Galileo and of Prince Chevalier, Asterus, Bull Lea, Alchimist, Fair Play and Agio... all of whom appear in Galileo's pedigree.
Making further strains highly desirable for Johannes Vermeer... such as Hussonet and Tom Rolfe plus Foxwedge, Free Eagle, St Reims, Ekraar, Primo Dominie, Robin Goodfellow, Honeyway, Correlation, Roaring Lion, Cyllene, Zafonic, Wharf, Goya, Alzao, Chieftain, Sham, Sun Again, Clear Choice, Thirty Six Red, Tawfiq, Mister C, Tom's Shu, War Pass, Wicked Style, The Brothers War (second dam sire is Johannes Vermeer's relation Shirley Heights), Fierce Impact, Anders and Slew O'Gold.
Returning to Best In Show - strains of El Gran Senor, Spinning World (by Nureyev), Hurricane Sky, Umatilla, Good Journey, Xaar, Masterclass, Al Maher, Denon, Dr Johnson, Domesday, Bated Breath and Gielgud are all of interest for Johannes Vermeer.
Same goes for Manhattan Rain, Echoes Of Heaven, Niagara and Rubick... all Best In Show descendants by Encosta de Lago.
Other Encosta de Lago line horses of interest include Maschino (out of a Redoute's Choice mare), Needs Further (third dam sire is Nureyev), Fighting Sun (line-bred to Special's dam Thong) and Road To Rock (second dam sire Welsh Saint is a descendant of Maid Of Masham).
As well as Sun City whose dam sire Flying Spur is out of Encosta de Lago's grandam Rolls (granddaughter of Fanfreluche).
Rolls is a proven line-breeding force with her son and grandson combining in 38 stakes winners including the Gr.1 gallopers Fangirl, Alligator Blood, Streisand, Delago Deluxe, Mizzy and Speak Fondly.
Flying Spur strains are most easily found via his son Magnus (out of a Snippets mare) whilst his daughter Purespeed produced Sebring. That horse is by More Than Ready whose sire Southern Halo hails from the same Lea Lark family as Galileo's dam sire Miswaki.
Also of interest are mares by Sebring's sons Dissident (his second dam sire Western Symphony is a grandson of Mill Reef's dam Milan Mill) and Supido (from the family of Danehill, he has Nureyev is his second dam sire).
Flying Spur is also dam sire of Pierata who is line-bred to Zabeel.
The influence of the Fanfreluche family can also be tapped into via strains of Night Shift (second dam sire of Harry Angel's sire Dark Angel... and sire of Align whose dam sire Red Anchor is from the same Black Ray family as Mill Reef; also sire of Azamour who has Rough Shod's son Lt Stevens as well as Shirley Heights... more on him below), Snaadee, Brazen Beau, Van Nistelrooy (dam sire of Grunt), Home Affairs, L'Enjoleur, Kheleyf, Charm Spirit, Archregent, Spieth (grandson of Spinning World), Wayed Zain and the already mentioned Russian Revolution.
Another lovely mare to duplicate is the classy broodmare Belle Sauvage whose grandson Lombard is Galileo's second dam sire. She is also the grandam of the star galloper Vaguely Noble who has combined with Galileo in the pedigrees of 136 stakes winners including 23 Gr.1 winners.
Belle Sauvage is also the sixth dam of Toronado whose daughters also provide for a Sadler's Wells cross as well as duplications of Best In Show's daughter Sex Appeal (dam of El Gran Senor) and Johannes Vermeer's fifth dam Hardiemma.
That mare produced the Epsom and Irish Derby champ Shirley Heights who is easily found in the local broodmare population via his sons Darshaan (dam sire of High Chaparral and sire of Dalakhani... noting that the Darshaan/Galileo combo has been well represented by 185 stakes winners including 30 Gr.1 winners) and Deploy (dam sire of Dubawi... noting that Too Darn Hot is 4 X 5 Shirley Heights)
Shirley Heights is the third dam sire of Pierro (Zabeel line). Whilst Hardiemma is also the third dam of Pentire whose son Xtravagant is out of a Zabeel mare.
Hardiemma is a descendant of the influential matriarch Prunella as are a number of influential stallions... such as Star Kingdom, Street Cry, Shamardal, I Am Invincible, Frankel and More Than Ready... as well as Harry Angel, Spirit Of Boom, Farnan (by Not A Single Doubt), Hellbent, Magnus (by Flying Spur), Testa Rossa, Shalaa, Hanseatic and Street Boss.
Another descendant of Prunella is Drone, the dam sire of Johannes Vermeer's third dam sire - the champion Dancing Brave. Drone's dam Cap And Bells is the grandam of El Prado who has made his presence felt in the southern hemisphere via Artie Scholler (sire of Flying Artie) and Medaglia d'Oro.
Johannes Vermeer's second dam sire Marju is also from a prolific family, that which has the influential Aloe as its matriarch. The great Round Table - grandsire of Marju's dam - is also from this family.
Other strains are easily located... Doutelle, Aureole, Tell (sire of Pompeii Court), Song Of Tara, Tale Of The Cat, Alcide, Above Board, Nashwan, Unfuwain, Gone West, Known Fact, Atan (in I Am Invincible), Deep Impact, Voodoo Rhythm, Red Tony, Second Empire, Ihtiram, Kingstone, Johannesburg and Pulpit (noting that Justify has the latter two close up).
Johannes Vermeer's dam sire Holy Roman Emperor is by Danehill - you can line-breed successfully to him (the Redoute's Choice branch already discussed) and one of his best sons to use is Fastnet Rock who boasts such an outstanding record with Galileo (14 Gr.1 winners amongst 65 stakes winners).
Choisir also does a good job with Galileo - seven Gr.1 winners amongst 26 stakes winners with that combination. Choisir's sire Danehill Dancer also works very well.
Danehill also picks up extremely well with strains of his relations Halo and Machiavellian (sire of Street Cry).
Danehill's dam sire His Majesty is also from a family worthy of duplication - his relations including Graustark, Crowned Prince, Whiskey Road, Majestic Prince, Daiwa Major and Brave Smash.
The latter has a strain of Shantung who hails from the same Schiaparelli family as Marju's sire Last Tycoon. Look for relations Masthead, Dogger Back, Idle Hour, Ragstone, Celtic Swing, Sassafras, Salmon Leap, Denizen, El Cuite, Assert, Blue Vermillion, Djakao, Polar Falcon, Wiganthorpe, Glenstal, Sea Wolf, Le Havre, Forging Ahead, Hotel Grand, Outback Prince, Oak Ridge and Roi Dagobert.
Seattle Slew, Lomond (dam sire of Exceed And Excel), Darshaan, Elusive Quality, Shecky Greene, Jet Pilot, Bailjumper (in Medaglia d'Oro), Sunrise County, Bold Native, Seattle Dancer, Twenty Four Karat, Straight As A Die, Half Iced, Gold And Ivory, Baldric II, Bismark II, Roy, Tiger, Sing Sing, Roan Rocket (dam sire of Rory's Jester), Too Darn Hot, Artie Schiller, Jugah, Prince True, Bahri, Bahhare, Heart Of Darkness, Gold And Ivory, Mukaddamah, Bolt D'Oro and Daliapour are all descendants of the great mare Frizette... as is Mr Prospector, grandsire of Galileo's dam.
The two strains of Mill Reef in Johannes Vermeer have already been mentioned; that stallion has always combined very well with his relation Blushing Groom. This Black Ray family has also produced Western Symphony, Red Anchor, Fuji Kiseki, Khaled, Jacopo and Foray.
Johannes Vermeer's dam is also line-bred to Somethingroyal via her sons Secretariat and Sir Gaylord - more of both is good as are strains of their relations Gold Brose and Lord Kanaloa.
Secretariat is the dam sire of Storm Cat who has combined brilliantly with Galileo... 41 Gr.1 winners amongst 253 stakes winners. Other stallions with a proven affinity with Galileo include Pivotal (grandson of Nureyev by Polar Falcon who is from Last Tycoon's family), Oasis Dream (out of a mare bred on the same Dancing Brave/Mill Reef cross as Johannes Vermeer's third dam), Anabaa (dam sire is by Vaguely Noble), Green Desert (grandsire of I Am Invincible) and Kingmambo (out of a Nureyev mare).
