The American Saddlebred: 2021

Saturday, December 25, 2021

12/19/21 Undulata's Nutcracker, the King of the 21st Century

Undulata's Nutcracker foaled in 2001, and celebrated his 20th birthday this year. He has lead the Saddle & Bridle Sire rating for nine straight years since 2013 with absolutely no end in sight. His sire CH Caramac lead the rating for three years and another Caramac son, Designed, has been in the Top 5 stallions for 10 years which just ended with his recent death. When did Undulata's Nutcracker crack the Sire Rating for the first time? Who are other long term residents of the top five? Let's take a look.

The Saddle & Bridle Sire Rating is published in February each year, and has been since the mid 1930's, but is based on the show records for each stallion's offspring from the previous year. So, we'll start with the Sire Rating from 2002 which uses the data from 2001, the year Undulata's Nutcracker foaled. It's interesting to watch the trends, the repeaters and the legends. The actual sire rating lists the top 50 stallions, but this list only shows the top 5. An asterisk* indicates a sire's last year on the list because they were deceased and moved to the deceased sire listing for the following year.

2002 1. Supreme Heir, 2. Champagne Fizz *, 3. Caramac 4. Sultan's Great Day 5. Harlem Globetrotter

2003 1. Supreme Heir 2. Caramac 3. Sultan's Great Day 4. Harlem Globetrotter 5. Phi Slama Jama

2004 1. Supreme Heir* 2. Caramac 3. Sultan's Great Day* 4. Harlem Globetrotter 5. Catalyst

2005 1. Caramac 2. The King of Highpoint* 3. Periaptor 4. Harlem Globetrotter 5. Phi Slama Jama

2006 1. Caramac 2. Periaptor 3. Harlem Globetrotter 4. Catalyst 5. Merchant Prince

2007 1. Periaptor 2. Caramac 3. Merchant Prince 4. Harlem Globetrotter 5. CF First Night Out

2008 1 Caramac 2. Periaptor 3. Callaway's Blue Norther 4. Harlem Globetrotter 5. Merchant Prince

2009 1. CF First Night Out 2. Periaptor 3. Caramac* 4. Callaways Blue Norther* 5. Santana's Charm*

2010 1. CF First Night Out 2. Catalyst* 3. Periaptor 4. I'm a New Yorker 5. Harlem Globetrotter (Sir William Robert first appeared at #15 in 2010)

2011 1. CF First Night Out* 2. Periaptor 3. I'm A New Yorker 4. Merchant Prince 5. Gypsy Santana (Sir William Robert was #10 and Undulata's Nutcracker first appeared at #13 in 2011)

2012 1. Sir William Robert 2. Undulata's Nutcracker 3. I'm A New Yorker*4. Periaptor 5. Designed

2013 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Designed 3. Sir William Robert 4. Gypsy Santana 5. Periaptor

2014 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Sir William Robert 3. Designed 4. Periaptor* 5. Desert's Supreme Memories

2015 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Designed 3. Sir William Robert 4. Attache's Royal Asset 5. Callaway's Northern Kiss

2016 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Sir William Robert 3. Designed 4. Callaway's Northern Kiss 5. Attache's Royal Asset

2017 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Sir William Robert 3. Designed 4. Callaway's Northern Kiss 5. The Mystery Writer

2018 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Sir William Robert 3. Designed 4. Callaway's Northern Kiss 5. The Mystery Writer

2019 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Sir William Robert 3. Designed 4. Callaway's Northern Kiss 5. The Mystery Writer

2020 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Designed 3. Sir William Robert 4. Callaway's Northern Kiss 5. Undulata's Heir Apparent

2021 1. Undulata's Nutcracker 2. Callaway's Northern Kiss 3. Sir William Robert 4. Designed* 5. I'm First

For this 20 year time period, Undulata's Nutcracker was in the top spot nine times. The next closest stallions were ranked in first place for three years each. They were Supreme Heir (he also was #1 in 2000 and 2001), Caramac, and CF First Night Out. Also earning the top honors once apiece were Sir William Robert and Periaptor. Not every horse can be in first place, but top five honors were won multiple times by a number of sires. Undulata's Nutcracker, Designed, Sir William Robert and Periaptor each had 10 times in the Top Five, Caramac and Harlem Globetrotter earned eight trips to the Top Five and Callaway's Northern Kiss has been there on seven occasions. This shows amazing consistency by these stallions to earn these top rankings year after year during this 20 year time frame.

Now for some pictures of these top sires, and a mention of a few of their winners.

Undulata's Nutcracker

Sired by Caramac, a former #1 sire

His get include WGC's CH Don O'Neill, CH Lady Mandolin, CH Macadamia, HS Daydream's Headsup, Nutcracker's Nirvana, Soul Desire and The Crowd Wents Nuts.

Also included are full brothers who are RWGC, We Must be Nuts and We Must Really be Nuts.

Designed

Sired by Caramac

His get include RWGC's CH Swing an Singin and CH Glenview's Excellante

Sir William Robert

Sired by Santana's Charm

His get include WGC Sir Silver Night, RWGC CH Let's Talk and WC CH HS Baby Steps

Periaptor

Sired by Courageous Admiral

He sired WGC CH Platinum Moon

CH Caramac

Sired by Will Shriver

He sired WGC CH Callaway's Annabel Allisonn.

He has also sired 7 BHF's including Callaway's Zerelda and Callaway's Carousel

Harlem Globetrotter

Sired by New Yorker

His get include WGC CH Garland's Dream BHF

Callaway's Northern Kiss

Sired by Callaway's Blue Norther

Among his get is WC CH Heir to a Kiss

CF First Night Out

He was sired by Night Prowler

He sired WGC CH Yes it's True and RWGC CH Honey Badger

Merchant Prince

He was sired by Mountain Highland Memories

Among his get are full siblings WGC CH A Sweet Treat and RWGC CH Rejoice

Catalyst

He was a grandson of New Yorker

Among his get are CH Colonel Hoss and WC CH Last Cat Standing

I'm A New Yorker

was sired by New Yorker

He sired WC CH Freaky Links and CH Caraway's New York Minute

Sultan's Great Day

He was sired by Supreme Sultan

His get include WGC's CH Along Came A Spider, CH Simply Mahvelous,

CH The Daily Lottery and CH Winter Day

Supreme Heir

He was another sired by Supreme Sultan

He topped the Sire Rating for 5 years from 2000 to 2004

Among his get are WGC CH An Heir About Her BHF,

6 time WGC CH Callaway's Copyright and WGC CH One For the Road

The Mystery Writer

Was also sired by Callaway's Blue Norther who topped the sire rating himself.

Among his get is WC CH Cloverleaf Freedom Writer

Attache's Royal Assets

His grandsire was Attache

His best get includes WC CH Divine Asset

Callaway's Blue Norther

Sired by Will Shriver

Among his many get are WGC CH Callaway's Forecaster

and WC CH Callaway's Born to Win

Gypsy Santana

His sire was Sultan's Santana

His get include WC CH A Cinderella Story and WC CH Expresso Noir

Phi Slama Jama

He traced to Ridgefield's Genius on his sire line

He sired WC CH It's Phi Day and WC Ampli Phi

and a lot of other Phi's.

Champagne Fizz

Sired by Supreme Sultan

He sired WC CH Heir to Champagne

Desert's Supreme Memories

He is a grandson of Courageous Admiral

He sired WGC CH Real Action, WC CH Bono

and WC CH Memories of Cabo

I'm First

He was sired by former #1 sire CF First Night Out

He sired WC Walterway's Why Not Me

Santana's Charm

Sired by Sultan's Santana

He sired WGC CH Our Charming Lady BHF and WC CH Amusing

CH The King of Highpoint

He was a grandson of Supreme Sultan

Among his get were WC CH Cherished King and WC CH Coco Loco

Undulata's Heir Apparent

He is sired by #1 sire Undulata's Nutcracker

Among his get are WC My Christmas Prince

Many of these top sires were World's Champions themselves, including Supreme Heir, CH Carmac, Sultan's Great Day, Harlem Globetrotter, CH The King of Highpoint, Merchant Prince, Callaway's Blue Norther, Santana's Charm, Desert's Supreme Memories, Undulata's Heir Apparent, I'm First, Designed and Sir William Robert. Reserve World's Champions in this group were CF First Night Out and I'm a New Yorker. It's also interesting that at the beginning of the 2000's, Supreme Sultan and his son Sultan's Santana were dominant sires of those on the list. This gave was to the Wing Commander sire lines of New Yorker, Attache, Courageous Admiral and of course, Will Shriver.

Undulata's Nutcracker seems to hold clear title to the #1 sire position for the foreseeable future. He has tons of sons, but like Supreme Sultan and Wing Commander, not all of the sons will succeed in the breeding shed. Only time will tell.

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Since the last two posts were about Bourbon King and Rex Peavine, rivals from a century ago, I counted the crosses to each of these stallions on Undulata's Nutcracker's 9 generation pedigree. Rex Peavine won hands down, 40 times to 29 times for Bourbon King. Never under estimate the bottom line.

Friday, November 5, 2021

11/6/2021 Rex Peavine and how he improved the bottom line

The last post looked at Bourbon King, who is on the sire line of the majority of modern Saddlebreds. W. Jefferson Harris had written a book in 1934 regaling the exploits, virtues, and impact of Bourbon King. So why didn't he write a book about Rex Peavine, the other influential sire of the day? After looking at the impact that Rex Peavine had on the breed, he certainly deserved to have a book written about him. In a flat out comparison of show horses, Rex Peavine produced far more World's Grand Champions and Reserve Grand Champions than Bourbon King and several times more Broodmare Hall of Fame daughters. Perhaps the reason that Rex Peavine didn't get his own book is that many of his stars of the show ring came about a decade before Jeff Harris developed his statistical sire rating, timing which benefitted rival Bourbon King. Jeff Harrs died before he was able to write more volumes, which he surely intended to do. So let's take a look at Rex Peavine and all he has done for the American Saddlebred breed.

Rex Peavine

Rex McDonald and Daisy 2D, sire & dam of Rex Peavine

Bred by Dr. W.L. Hockaday of Silver Creek Kentucky, Rex Peavine was sired by Rex McDonald and out of Daisy 2d who was sired by Peavine 85, and foaled in 1899, just a year before Bourbon King. He changed ownership only once, when Dr. Hockaday passed away and he was transferred to his son James Hockaday, so he remained under the same family's ownership his entire life. Although Rex Peavine did not have the extensive show record as his rival Bourbon King, he too was crowned World's Grand Champion 5 gaited horse in 1903 when he was just a 4 year old. He was used as a breeding horse early on, and his stud fee was as high as $200 in his later years, which was quite a sum in the 1920's. His book was always full, even at that price. Like Bourbon King, Rex Peavine sired great horses when crossed with mares that were sired by Chester Dare, Highland Denmark, Peavine 85 and Rex Monroe. Rex Peavine also crossed well with mares sired by Bourbon King and his full brother Montgomery Chief. Bourbon King was described a horse with great speed at the rack and trot, and beauty which he passed to his offspring. Rex Peavine on the other hand, was somewhat coarse, but sired colts that were better than himself in that respect. He possessed great motion well into his old age which he also passed to his offspring, but most of them never rivaled his ability to do, and none of his sons surpassed him as a sire.

Rex Peavine began his career at stud at an early age, and was 26 when he died in 1925. Here are his offspring that were WGC or RWGC. WGC CH Edna May (BHF) was the 5Gaited WGC in 1909. That same year, Golden Glow was WGC in Fine Harness. In 1911, Diana of the Lea was 3 Gaited WGC and Jack Straw was RWGC 5 Gaited. 1912 again found multiple winners, with Jacqueline WGC in Fine Harness and Rexola (shown as the great Hazel Dawn) was 5 Gaited WGC, which she repeated in 1913. Lady Beautiful was Fine Harness WGC in 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920 and 1921. Liberty Girl was WGC in the 5 Gaited division in 1919 and her full sister Liberty Princess was RWGC in the same division in 1925. One of his best sons, Mass of Gold, was 5 Gaited WGC in 1920, 1921, and 1923. Another great son, Dark Rex, also a gelding, was 5 Gaited RWGC in 1926, WGC in 1927 and 3 Gaited WGC in 1928. Finally, his stallion son Kalarama Rex was RWGC in Fine Harness in 1929. Bourbon King may have produced more winners at Louisville when counting his in-hand weanlings and yearlings, but he didn't compare to Rex Peavine as a sire of WGC's and RWGC's.

While Bourbon King had 2 daughters in the Broodmare Hall of Fame, Rex Peavine sired 7 BHF daughters. Notable daughters included Clay Willis, the 2nd dam of Veiled Prophet, Easter Gift, a full sister to Kalarama Rex, 2nd dam of Colonel Sport and 4th dam of Buddy, Best Ever Saddlebred. Lelia Rex was the dam of RWGC siblings Joanna Jones and Rex Lee Bourbon, Rexie Madison was dam of Ware's Sensation BHF. Sweet Kitty Bellairs was the dam of Queen of Cloverdale and Galli Curci produced Captain King. Rex Peavine's BHF daughters were WGC CH Edna May,the dam of WGC Edna May's King, Fanny Fern, the dam of Astral Peavine, Flashing Peavine, the dam of RWGC Flashing American, Gloriann the dam of the great Stonewall King, Kate Peavine, the dam of RWGC Sweet Lavender and American Maytime (who produced WGC Garrymore), Peavine's Pearl, the dam of Captain Couragous and Mountain Peavine, and Spririt of Kentucky who was the dam of Reverie's Desdemona BHF and Genius of Kentucky.

Rex Peavine sired great show horses, and fabulous daughters to be sure, but he also sired many well known breeding sons. Many of them made lasting contributions, although like most stallion lines, the majority have died out when it comes to being on the top side. Here is a recap of 28 of Rex Peavine's top sons from youngest to oldest. The most influential are bolded, or at least in my opinion.

Rex Peavine's Dare, 1925, out of a daughter of Kentucky Choice. He sired My Baby, a line bred Rex Peavine mare who was owned by my mentor, Dr Elrod. She produced the wonderful mare Lafitte's Gifted Lady. Google Lafitte's Gifted Lady to learn more from a previous post.
Moreland Peavine, 1924, out of a Highland Denmark daughter. He sired Luise Rainer and RWC Sally Carneal.
Shanty Pernell, 1923 out of Lura Chess by Chester Dare. He sired WC CH Royal Irish.
Oklahoma Peavine, 1923, out of Margaret O'Neil by Kentucky Highland. He sired WGC A Sensation and her full sister WC Love Affair BHF, and RWGC CH My Golden Dawn BHF.
Dare Peavine, 1923, out of the great producer Maxine Spencer by Col. Dare Major. He sold to California in the mid 1920's.
Kalarama Rex, 1922, out of Nancy Thurman BHF by Rex Monroe. One of Rex Peavine's greatest sons, he sired CH Belle of Boyle BHF, RWGC CH Blue Hawaii, WGC Nellie Pidgeon BHF, WGC Allen Adair, and breeding sons Society Rex, WGC Noble Kalaram and Royal Kalarama.
Mercer Rex, 1921, out of Edith Gatley BHF by Kentucky Choice. He sired CH Mahogany Finish and Corinna Cook BHF.
Rex Steptoe, 1921 out of a daughter of General Custer. He sired Queen Steptoe, the 2nd dam of the beautiful WGC CH Denmark's Daydream.
Rex Firefly, 1921, out of Golden Firefly BHF. He sired Sensation Rex (sire of Vanity's Sensation) and Sparkling Firefly who sired Sparkling Waters
Maid's Rex 1918, out of a Highland Denmark daughter. This beautiful black son of Rex Peavine sired Rex Lee Lewis, the sire of Conowingo.
Liberty Loan, 1917 out of a daughter of Highland Denmark. He also sold to California and was used at stud there.
Selworthy 1914 out of a Highland Denmark daughter. He sired Glad-I Mere King.
San Vicente 1913 out of Undine by Chester Dare. Out of less than a dozen colts, he sired the noted sire San Juan and Jane Black BHF, the dam of Anacacho Denmark.
Young Rex Peavine 1913 out of a daughter of Lynn Boyd. His only offspring was Pansy Lee BHF, the dam of RWC The Invasion
Anglo Rex 1913, out of a Chester Dare daughter. He sired Anglo Peavine.
King Vine 1911, out of Bourbon Belle by Bourbon King. He sired Spelling Bee BHF, the dam of Flirtation Walk BHF.
Richmond Choice 1910, out of a King Richard daughter. He sired Mamie Peavine BHF, the dam of Stonewall Supreme.
Solitaire 1910 out of Lady Preston by Preston WGC, making him a full brother to WGC Diana O the Lea. He sire WC I No.
Whizzim 1910 out of a daughter of King Richard. Out of only 3 colts, he sired WGC Peavine's Dream.
Bugger Boo 1909 out of Lady Dare by Chester Dare. He sired WGC Lulworth Victor and RWC Bugger Boo Rose.
Dr. Hockaday 1909 out of Bessie Shearer by Lynn Boyd, making him a full brother to Young Rex Peavine and Rexall Prince.
Jean Val Jean 1908 out of Pattie Stone by King Richard. He sired RWGC Beau Peavine and RWC Lucky Jean. Both sons were excellent breeding stallions.
Rexall Prince 1908 out of Bessie Shearer by Lynn Boyd. He died at a young age, but sired RWGC Dawn and Sibyl Burns, the dam of Grey Mac.
Star Peavine 1907 out of a Chester Dare daughter. He only sired 2 registered colts, but one was Princess of Melbourne, the dam of Peavine's Pearl BHF.
All Peavine 1906 out of Lucy Wells by Peavine 85. He sired RWC Powell Peaviine, Out To Be King, and Miss Frisco Gaines. Google her for more info in another post.
Chester Peavine 1905 out of Miss Madison BHF by Chester Dare. He sired Princess Eugenia BHF, dam of the breed builder, CH King's Genius
Jack Twigg 1903 out of Gladys Twigg by Chester Dare. He sired WGC Maydan and Silver Flash.
Red Rex 1903 out of a Kentucky Chief daughter. He sired the top ranked breeding stallion Peavine's Highland Chief.

Rex Peavine certainly had notable breeding sons and many sired WGC's and BHF mares. However, with only a few exceptions, they didn't sire many breeding stallions. Two of Rex Peavine's best sons were geldings, Mass of Gold and Dark Rex. Rex Peavine never sired any super star breeding sons as did his contemporary, Bourbon King. Rex Peavine's major contributions started sinking to the bottom side of the pedigree almost immediately. His daughters were his super stars, and kept Rex Peavine on the pedigrees of winners for many years. Without Rex Peavine's daughters, Bourbon King's success wouldn't have been nearly as powerful. Without Rex Peavine's daughters, Saddlebreds wouldn't be as we know them today. Rex Peavine proved the power of the bottom line.

Here are Rex Peavine's show ring stars

WGC Dark Rex

WGC Diana of the Lea

WGC Edna May

WGC Golden Glow

RWGC Kalarama Rex

WGC Lady Beautiful

WGC Liberty Girl

RWGC Liberty Princess

WC Man in the Moon

WGC Mass of Gold

WGC Hazel Dawn

And now for Rex Peavine's breeding daughters

Edna May BHF

Peavine's Pearl BHF

Spirit of Kentucky BHF

Some of Rex Peavine's breeding sons

All Peavine

Chester Peavine

Dare Peavine

Jack Twigg

Jean Val Jean

Kalarama Rex

King Vine

Liberty Loan

Mercer Rex

Moreland Peavine

Oklahoma Peavine

Peavine McDonald

Rex Firefly

Star Peavine

Finally, some of Rex Peavine's grand colts are pictured.

They are broken into groups, those with Rex Peavine on the top side, and those with Rex Peavine on the bottom side Both groups are pretty fabulous and explains why Rex Peavine was such an important link in the pedigree chain. And this is just a tip of the iceberg.

We'll start with the stallions and geldings sired by a son of Rex Peavine.