Langfuhr 's stud career got off to a flying start thanks to 2003 Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando and 2004 Canadian champion older male Mobil, both of which emerged from the stallion's second crop. As of Sept. 29, he has sired 30 stakes winners, 10 of them graded, and is currently 13th on the list of leading American sires. His standing reflects the modern tendency towards huge books as much as it does quality, for his 30 stakes winners represent 4% of his 781 foals of racing age. Nonetheless, as long as he continues to get headliners like Wando and Imperialism, he will no doubt continue to be popular.Langfuhr comes by speed honestly, for his sire Danzig showed brilliant ability before being forced into retirement by a knee injury. Now pensioned, Danzig was capable of getting Classic runners but was best known for siring sprinters and milers, among them Green Desert, Danehill, Anabaa, Dayjur, and Lure.Langfuhr may also have drawn some of his speed through a 3x3 inbreeding to Danzig's grandsire Nearctic, sire of both Northern Dancer and of Langfuhr 's broodmare sire Briartic. A brilliant sprinter who stretched out to win the 1958 Michigan Mile in track record time, Nearctic also sired the good stallions Icecapade and Explodent, both good sources of speed.Imperialism's dam Bodhavista never won but is also the dam of multiple stakes winner White Beauty (by Robyn Dancer). Her sire Pass the Tab (by Al Hattab) stayed well enough to win the Ohio Derby (gr. II) over nine furlongs but was better at shorter distances, winning the Carter Handicap (gr. II) at seven furlongs and the Jamaica Handicap (gr. III) at a mile.One for All, the sire of Imperialism's second dam Fia, was another story. Canada's champion grass horse in 1970, One for All was best at distances of 10 furlongs or more. A son of Northern Dancer (to whom Imperialism is inbred 3x4) and an unquestioned source of stamina, he is doubtless a factor in the versatility that Imperalism has shown during his career.Imperialism is much the best horse to emerge from his female family in recent generations, but his sixth dam is Untidy, generally considered the American champion 3-year-old filly of 1923. Broadly speaking, this family has been more a source of stamina than sprinting speed, its members including the Saratoga Cup winner Cochise and the Prix Vermeille winner and champion 3-year-old French filly Casaque Grise, but in this case, the infusion of speed from a top-class sprinter seems to have produced a horse with similar gifts.Like father, like son.
American Classic Pedigrees by Avalyn Hunter
In American Classic Pedigrees, author Avalyn Hunter examines the pedigrees of the winners of the five American Classic races from 1914 to 2002: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Oaks, and Coaching Club American Oaks.
Readers can trace the rise and fall of various sire lines through the decades as Hunter shows how the Thoroughbred breeding market often dictated which bloodlines had a stronger chance of surviving and gaining prominence.
Available online now from ExclusivelyEquine.com, the official store of The Blood-Horse.
