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Ribot - page 2

Linebreedings to Voltaire

The union with St Angelo resulted in a pedigree which contains no less than five strong linebreedings to St Simon' s great great grand sire Voltaire, four linebreedings to the legendary Irish Birdcatcher, and two to Gladiator. The mating represents the first intensely linebred ("compatible") mating of this line for many generations, and became the cornerstone of a remarkable sequence of "compatible" matings which culminated in the birth of Ribot. St Lucia produced eleven foals, and it is without doubt more than just a coincidence that the best of these on the racetrack, La Soufriere, became the next link in the chain which produced Ribot.

Inbreeding to Galopin

Despite being the best of her dam's eleven produce on the racetrack, La Soufriere probably did not live up to her pedigree as a racehorse, as often is the case with fillies. She was by Robert Le Diable, and the result of a mating again of high "compatibility", reinforcing in more potent fashion still, St Lucia' s linebreedings to Voltaire. In this case it was the quality of the ancestors through which this was brought about which impacted most strongly on her progeny, central to her pedigree being a third and fourth generation inbreeding to Voltaire' s great grandson Galopin.

Linebreeding to Stockwell

Her pedigree also contained six linebreedings in her first six generations to Stockwell, arguably the single most influential stallion in the history of the Thoroughbred. La Soufriere had a relatively short career as a broodmare, dying at the age of eight years after producing just four foals. The first three of these were the products of the most uninspiring matings, and they ran a total of eighteen times between them for just one small win. In complete contrast, but in line with a most noticeable feature of previous generations, her last mating produced by far the most successful racetrack performer, from a most beautifully matched mating with the Polymelus stallion Corcyra, and as such it would seem, "qualified" to become Ribot's fourth dam. She was of course Volcanic, with her £ 2,200 prize money and her win in the Levant Stakes at Goodwood making her the third consecutive "best foal" of dams that would become the backbone of Ribot's pedigree.

Volcanic and Cyclonic

Yet again Volcanic was the product of five close up linebreedings to Galopin and his sire Vedette, further reinforcing the original linebreedings to Voltaire in St Lucia' s pedigree. This mating also includes three strong fourth and fifth generation linebreedings to Hampton (great great grand sire of Hyperion), and an interesting reinforcement of the brother and sister Bend Or and Rose Of Lancaster. Volcanic was the dam of the stakes winners Cyclonic and Typhonic as referred to earlier, but for some reason the closely matched pedigree of their half-sister Bucolic did not translate itself into racetrack success. Nevertheless, very strong linebreedings to Polymelus' s sire Cyllene, and further reinforcements of Hampton and his sire Lord Clifden, maintained high concentrations of key ancestors in her pedigree, and ensured that she was now the fourth successive compatibly mated mare in this female line.

Papyrus and Sunstar

In 1937 Bucolic produced an unimpressive looking foal by Papyrus which her owner decided to send to the Newmarket sales. As fate would have it, not only was Papyrus a favourite of Tesio, so also was Sunstar, sire of the weanling' s damsire Buchan. These features of her pedigree, probably combined with the more recent racecourse successes of her relatives Solfatara, Solfo, Cyclonic, and Typhonic were enough for Tesio to be convinced he was buying into a quality female line at a bargain price. Contrary to those analysts who attribute to Tesio a computer-like facility to visualise pedigrees of his breeding stock many generations back, I believe that it was not immediately evident to Tesio, or perhaps ever evident to him, that the filly he purchased was linebred six times to St Simon and his sire Galopin, maintaining for the fifth consecutive generation the powerful concentrations of their forefather Voltaire.

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