Commander Carrigan Lee gives a hint at his pedigree through his name, and his pedigree is most impressive. WGC CH Wing Commander appears twice on his pedigree, and since he appears as great grandsire, this assures that any colt sired by Commander Carrigan Lee will also place the great Wing Commander on that colt's papers. Twice! Wing Commander sired many wonderful horses, and perhaps none were better than his son WGC CH Yorktown, who is the paternal grandsire of Commander Carrigan Lee. Wing Commander's other offspring on this pedigree is his daughter Raven Wing, a black beauty who made contributions to the breed though her offspring. Raven Wing was the only foal produced by her famous dam, but she in turn produced a dozen colts, including 2 breeding stallions, 3 reserve World's Champions, and some good breeding daughters.
Besides having CH Wing Commander as a great grandsire, Commander Carrigan Lee had two other five gaited great grandsires. Oman's Anacacho Rhythm was a World's Champion in the 5 Gaited Stallion Stake. Owned for most of his life by Garland Bradshaw, Oman's Anacacho Rhythm transitioned from show horse to breeding stallion and sired among others, Reserve World's Champion 5 gaited Stallion Rhythm's Ragtime, the maternal grandsire of Commander Carrigan Lee. The final great grandsire was Gold Note, owned by Mrs. JR Sharp who also used him as a breeding stallion.
That brings us to the four great granddams listed on the pedigree of Commander Carrigan Lee. Two were show mares, and two were in the Broodmare Hall of Fame. Oman's Anacacho Maytime was the dam of CH Yorktown, and Wild Ginger was the dam of the previously mentioned Rhythm's Ragtime, as well as CH Latin Rhythm, a long time winner in the 5 gaited show pleasure division. The other two great granddams were two of the best known 5 gaited show mares of the 1950's. World's Champion CH Beloved Belinda was the beautiful gray mare shown in amateur classes by her owner Joan Robinson Hill. CH Beloved Belinda later produced three colts, but only her daughter, Joan's Linda Lee continued her legacy by producing colts of her own. The final great granddam, the 3rd dam of Commander Carrigan Lee, was none other than a 4 time 5 gaited World's Grand Champion, CH Lady Carrigan. When CH Wing Commander ended his 6 year reign as 5G WGC in 1953, CH Lady Carrigan began her string of wins in 1954, also winning in 1955, 1957 and 1958. Interestingly, the winner of the 5G WGC in 1956 was Wing Commander's full sister, CH Dream Waltz. And fittingly, Lady Carrigan's only foal, Raven Wing, was sired by Wing Commander.
Are we hearing a theme of 5 gaited horses in the pedigree of Commander Carrigan Lee? We sure are, and let's continue. His 4th generation contains two shots of Reserve World's Champion Anacacho Shamrock (Sire of 5G WGC Wing Commander and Dream Waltz plus 5G RWGC Star of the Show and Glamorous Lucretia), two crosses to Anacacho Denmark (sire of 5G WGC Denmark's Daydream plus 5G RWGC Afire and Broadland's Captain Denmark), and Society Rex (sire of 5G WGC Lady Carrigan). Other sires of note in the 4th generation are Reverie's Bourbon Gale and Wild Genius. Fourth generation dams include BHF's Flirtation Walk (twice, and dam of 5G stars CH Wing Commander, CH Dream Waltz, CH Lover's Lane, CH Primrose Path and Private Contract), CH Mountain Raven (dam of 5G WGC Lady Carrigan and Zinka Raven, and herself a WGC in Fine Harness), Pennypack's Pride (2nd dam of WGC Yorktown) and CH Belle of Boyle who was herself a standout in Fine Harness.
The 5th generation of Commader Carrigan Lee is no less impressive with 4 crosses to 5G WGC Edna May's King, 3 crosses to CH King's Genius (5G WC), 2 crosses to Kalarama Rex (FH RWGC), Bourbon Genius (FH WGC) and Torpedo, who was sired by Bourbon King. The 5th generation on the distaff side is equally dynamic, with BHF's Sally Cameron twice, Spelling Bee twice, Jane Black twice, Spoonbill and the all time great Wild Wind. Wild Wind was dam of 5G WC Front Page Lady, CH Heavenly Daze and WCC As Beauty Does. Generations later, Wild Wind is on the dam line of 5G WGC Marc of Charm, 5G WC Harlem Globetrotter, FH WGC Foxfire's Prophet and many others.
Leestown, son of Yorktown and sire to Commander Carrigan Lee, also sired a number of nice show horses including WC Colonel Clarence. Pictured below are many of the horses in the 4-generation pedigree of Commander Carrigan Lee, and as noted above, his pedigree carries the tops in 5 gaited horses. Breeding is always a gamble, but a good pedigree can't hurt your chances. It might be a blueprint to another 5 gaited star!
Commander Carrigan Lee
Commander Carrigan
stands at stud in Iowa.
WGC Wing Commander
WGC CH Yorktown Oman's Anacacho Maytime BHF
Leestown
Gold Note
Joan's Linda Lee WC Beloved Belinda
Commander Carrigan Lee
WC Oman's Anacacho Rhythm
RWC Rhythm's Ragtime Wild Ginger BHF
Raven's Video Report
WGC CH Wing Commander
Raven Wing WGC CH Lady Carrigan
First Generation on the pedigree
Leestown
Yorktown X Joan's Linda Lee
no picture of dam Raven's Video Report
Second Generation on the pedigree
WGC CH Yorktown
WGC CH Wing Commander X Oman's Anacacho Maytime BHF
no picture of Joan's Linda Lee
Rhythm's Ragtime
Oman's Anacacho Rhythm X Wild Ginger BHF
Raven Wing
WGC CH Wing Commander X WGC CH Lady Carrigan
Third Generation on the pedigree
CH Wing Commander
CH Anacacho Shamrock X Flirtation Walk BHF
no picture of Oman's Anacacho Maytime BHF
Gold Note
Reverie's Bourbon Gale X Selma Shannon
CH Beloved Belinda
Pinehurst Star X Glorious Flash
Oman's Anacacho Rhythm
Anacacho Denmark X CH Belle of Boyle BHF
no picture of Wild Ginger BHF
WGC CH Wing Commander
CH Anacacho Shamrock X Flirtation Walk BHF
WGC CH Lady Carrigan
Society Rex X CH Mountain Raven BHF
Fourth Generation on the pedigree
CH Anacacho Shamrock
Edna May's King X Sally Cameron BHF
Flirtation Walk BHF
CH King's Genius X Spelling Bee BHF
Anacacho Denmark
Edna May's King X Jane Black BHF
no picture of Pennypack's Pride BHF
American Ace X Jean Acker
Reverie's Bourbon Gale
Bourbon Genius X Patsy Gale
no picture of Selma Shannon
Rex Shannon X Selma Peavine
Pinehurst Star
Peavine Fancy X Rose J
no picture of Glorious Flash
Silver Flash X Althark
Anacacho Denmark
Edna May's King X Jane Black BHF
no picture of CH Belle of Boyle BHF
Kalarama /Rex X Jennie Belle
Wild Genius
CH King's Genius X Wild Wind BHF
no picture of Stonewall's Grand Lady
Grand Stonewall X Missouri Chief's Belle
CH Edna May's King X Sally Cameron
Flirtation Walk BHF
CH King's Genius X Spelling Bee BHF
Society Rex
Kalarama Rex X Spoonbill BHF
CH Mountain Raven BHF
Torpedo X Chief's Rose
Here's a 2020 foal sired by Commander Carrigan Lee
Another handsome offspring sired by Commander Carrigan Lee
Sadly, Commander Carrigan Lee passed away September 2021
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