I have on my desk a metal container the shape of a dessert plate. The label reads “R3 Newmarket (3/5/80) - 2000 Guineas”. The can holds a reel of 16mm film which sealed the fate of 13/8 favourite Nureyev in the Classic. Ridden with total disdain for the Rules of Racing, Nureyev’s jockey Philippe Paquet barged through a non existent opening, almost bringing down his opponent Posse. Nureyev did get up to beat Known Fact by a head, but predictably lost the race, the first horse ever to do so in the history of the Guineas, established in 1809. Following the Guineas Nureyev was ante-post favourite for the Epsom Derby, but a virus prevented him from taking part. He never raced again, retiring unbeaten in 3 starts, with a Timeform rating of 131. At his owner Stavros Niarchos’ stud in France as a 4yo, his fee was £10.000 nomination and £10.000 live foal. Compare that to the A$525.000 which Lithuanian’s current connections paid for him as a yearling twenty years on (his dam had gone through the ring carrying him, at A$330.000 in ’98). In the interim, Nureyev had become hot property, and today has countless sons at stud the world over.

The dam of Lithuanian is US-bred, but has her roots firmly in France. Her third dam is the mare Midget, a topclass miler at 3 in France and England (TFR 125). A half sister to successful stallion Vimy, Midget was by Djebe (in South Africa known as the sire of Joy II). We note at this point that Midget’s pedigree make-up makes her a close genetic relative of Vimy’s daughter Sans le Sou, dam of Busted and grandam of Elliodor.

Midget was bred to Aureole’s son Saint Crespin III to conceive a daughter, Midou, a useful performer up to a mile in France. Midou had three daughters who became dams of stakes winners, one of them Lithuanian’s grandam Vallee Secrete. This mare was by Secretariat, whose third dam Cinquepace was a genetic sibling of Midget’s damsire Black Devil, giving a 4x4 double in Vallee Secrete. She produced four stakes winners, of which sires Fruits Of Love (TFR 127) and Mujadil (TFR 119) stand out. Fruits Of Love’s
best runner Road To Love (TFR 118) is inbred 3x4 to genetic equivalents Midou and Cariole (involving Djebe, Donatello, Hyperion, Aurora, Bahram, etc). Exactly the same elements, in the same place, are found in Mujadil’s best offspring, Galotea (TFR 119), who doubles Midou and Cafe au Lait 3x4. Fruits Of Love is a full brother to Doe, the dam of Lithuanian. It seems not unreasonable to expect that she too might respond well to doubling of the elements from Midou.

The combination of Nasrullah, Princequillo and Djebel (Tourbillon), so prominent in Vallee Secrete, strongly resembles Mill Reef (Never Bend’s Nasrullah & Djebel, on Milan Mill’s Princequillo & Count Fleet). Encouraging to see that Sagamore, a stakes winning half brother to Mujadil & Fruits Of Love, is by Simply Great - a son of Mill Reef.

To recap, important elements to tie in with the bottom female line of Lithuanian appear to be Djebel/ Tourbillon, Donatello, Hyperion (Alycidon, Aureole, Acropolis). These lead to Elliodor/Busted, Mill Reef. And then there’s Secretariat’s third dam Cinquepace (who makes for inbreeding in Vallee Secrete) also is the third dam of Secretariat’s half brother Sir Gaylord.

n to Nureyev. He’s the sire of Miesque, dam of Gr1 producing sires Kingmambo and Miesque’s Son. The latter pair sired Gr1 winners out of the same mare, Myth To Reality, by Sadler’s Wells out of a Mill Reef mare. Nuryev and the dam of Sadler’s Wells are both out of the mare Special, whose dam is Thong by Nantallah. The latter makes up a genetic relative trio with Sadler’s line of Bold Reason, and Never Bend.

Nureyev’s sire son Fasliyev is out of Mr P’s Princess, a mare by Mr Prospector, the next dam by Never Bend. One of Fasliyev’s best offspring is Carry On Katie, whose dam is by Woodman (giving Mr P 3x3), the second dam by Sadler’s Wells (giving Nureyev & Sadler’s 2x3), while the third dam is by Busted. Shades of Lithuanian?

Another topfilly by Nureyev was Gr1 winner Sonic Lady (TFR 129), whose grandam was by Busted, and who carried a line of Midget’s genetic equivalent Le Lavandou in the bottom female line. This leads us to the pedigree of Casey Tibbs, who is by Sadler’s Wells, his dam by Mill Reef, his grandam by a son of Le Lavandou.

Interestingly, Busted and Le Lavandou combine in the mare Stufida, grandam of successful sire Pivotal (by Nureyev’s son Polar Falcon)

MATING SUGGESTIONS