Source: Hippomundo.com

When we look at the top 100 best stallions, there are a lot of names that start with the letter C. Is this just plain coincidence or do they have something in common? Hippomundo did some research to find the answer for you.

Two ancestors

We started off by listing all the stallions whose names start with the letter C and appear in the top 100 of Hippomundo's Stallions ranking which is based on the prize money won by their offspring over the past 365 days. This revealed that all pedigrees lead to two main ancestors whose names start with the letter C, specifically Capitol I and Cor de la Bryère. Both stallions are in the top ten of the Hippomundo Power value ranking, which is based on the average level of the offspring of a particular stallion.

Find more information about the Hippomundo Power Value here.

Cor de la Bryère

Cor de la Bryère, born in 1968, descends from the thoroughbred stallion Rantzau xx out of a Lurioso mother. The stallion, with a Hippomundo Power Value of 1.55, has a number of impressive offspring. Compared to Capitol I, Cor de la Bryère, by far, has the most approved stallions in his line. These descendants of Cor de la Bryère are shown in the figure below.

 

Only the pedigrees in the top 100 are shown in the figure. All stallions listed in the top 100 are shown in green. The way their pedigree goes back to Cor de la Bryère is shown in blue.

The line of Cor de la Bryère consists of five main branches. Firstly, we have Calypso II, who is the father of Contender. With five direct and indirect descendants becoming approved stallions and reaching the top 100, as well as many offspring performing at the very highest level, Contender can be described as an outstanding stallion.

Branch two and three start with breeder Klaus Martin Both, who crossed the mare Deka with Cor de la Bryère. Out of this came the two approved stallions Caletto I and II. The branch of Caletto I leads to the much-discussed progenitor Chacco-Blue, who currently claims second place in the stallion rankings. After his successful performance at the highest level, it is now up to his offspring, for example Explosion W, to perform in the ring. In Chacco-Blue's pedigree Cor de la Bryère appears twice, as he is a son of Chambertin whose dam is also a descendant of Cor de la Bryère. Chambertin is also the sire of Catoki, who is in the top 100. Out of the branch of Caletto II come, amongst others, as sons of Caretino, the foundation sires Casall ASK and Cooper van de Heffinck.

Three generations originating from Corrado I are in the top 100. Clinton is the sire of the progenitor Cornet Obolensky. With more than 80 approved stallions at various studbooks, Cornet Obolensky in turn passed on his genes to Comme Il Faut, who also claims a place in the top 100 stallions.

The stallion Corland, who had a successful sports career under Wout-Jan van der Schans, continued his breeding service in the Netherlands, where his offspring no longer received names starting with the letter C.

Capitol I

Capitol I himself is a son of the stallion Capitano out of a mother of Maximum. Capitol I's line is a lot smaller than Cor de la Bryère's, as you can see in the figure below.

Nevertheless, there are nine stallions from this line in the top 100, which are marked with in green. First off, we have the direct offspring of Capitol I, Cassini I and Cassini II, bred by Johann Hermann Claussen out of the mare Wisma. Carthago Z himself is not in the top 100 anymore, but four of his (in)direct offspring are. Surprisingly, the Colman-son Contagio with only 67 registered offspring also has a spot in the top 100. Cento and Clearway both have one approved descendant in the top 100.

Besides the fact that Capitol I as direct father has several approved stallions in the top 100 best stallions, this line also performs very well on the dam's side, as described earlier in this article. Crossing the Cor de la Bryère line with the Capitol I line also produces good stallions. The top-class progenitor Clinton, for example, has Capitol I as his dam's sire and Carthago Z is the dam's sire of Calvados Z and Conthargos.