The Thoroughbred has had a bit of a spotlight shone upon it again at Badminton and I thought it might be interesting to have a look at the bloodlines of those who have performed well and see which TB lines really shone through.
I have a penchant for certain TB lines, when you look at lots of the top class eventers the same lines often appear because they produce sport horses which perform. I do not profess to be an expert but I am a keen student who looks at a fair few pedigrees to learn more.
Princequillo is a name which appears several times. He was an Irish TB and was known as a horse to add stamina and correct conformational faults. Princequillo appears in lots of sport horse pedigrees – the stallion Shaab has both Bold Ruler and Princequillo as an example.
Bold Ruler is another we see a lot of and he descends from Princequillo. You could argue that both Princequillo and Bold Ruler were the stallions of their generation (like Sadler Wells now) and that is why we see so much of them. But time and again we see the same names appear in TB lines in horses which are either great national hunt performers or eventers. All my favourite eventers and national hunt horses seem to have Bold Ruler in them.
Galley Light has a strong sport horse line through Sisania, which consistently produce amazing eventers. High Top is prominently featured in several eventers bloodlines with one of the most successful being Miners Lamp who produced Miners Frolic.
Derring Do produced High Top and we see Derring Do appear in some of the very best eventing pedigrees including Stan the Man who produced La Biosthetique – Sam FBW, Shear L’eau, and Dirk Shrades mare Sindy.
I have listed a few in black which always make me really happy to see. I am not a big fan of Northern Dancer which appears in Galley Lights pedigree through Fairy King but it’s very hard to avoid now as you will see from all the others we look at.

Gemma Tattersall and Arctic Soul
Arctic Soul has an amazing eventer pedigree. Princequillo runs through both his sire and dam lines. If I looked at this horse on paper I would think Eventer. The Miss Penguin lines via Arctic Chimes has produced eventers most notably Flash Gordon. Luso the sire of Arctic Soul has also produced Running Order who competed at 3* level.
Sir Gaylord appears in several notable eventers including La Biosthetique – Sam FBW, Shear L’eau, and Dirk Shrades mare Sindy through their sire Stan the Man. Sir Gaylord produced Sir Ivor. The 4* French bred horse Manoir De Carneville and advanced stallion Take It 2 The Limit are by Gaub who is from Sir Ivor lines.
Star Witness was bought as a 3yo from Doncaster sales. Tina has admitted publicly that this is a horse has kissing spines and pelvis issues. He takes good management in order to keep him on track. Through the damline is the stallion Deep Run who was prolific as a National Hunt Stallion. Deep Run produced amazing racehorses in Dawn Run and Morley Street. Through Deep Run is the Prince Chevalier line which has also appeared in top class showjumpers Gem Twist, Ryans Son and Starman. The Prince Chevalier line is also found in the prolific stallion Stan the Man who was highlighted earlier.
The Lyphard line through Dancing Brave has produced the stallion Ghareeb who has many eventing offspring to his name including Coolio, Trig Point and Paul Tapner’s 4* ride Kilronan among others.
Sir Rockstar has several names which I have already mentioned. What is a little unusual about him is that his lines are fairly old ones. Rockamundos sire Key to the Mint was a 1969 foal and How Unusual was born in 1977. Sir Rockstar is now 18 and has never been the easiest horse in the dressage but is a real jumper. He is also not very big.
There is nothing better than a decent Thoroughbred for speed, stamina and bravery. It is great to see these wonderful ex-racehorses performing at the highest levels and having an opportunity to shine.