Chief Bearhart: The Power of Linebreeding

by Jay Leimbach

Although Chief Bearhart did not quite repeat his dominant performance of 1997, he still managed to become the first horse since Overskate in 1979 to win back to back Horse of the Year honors in Canada.

His pedigree offers a textbook example of linebreeding. Chief Bearhart is inbred 4x3 to the great sire Bold Ruler, and linebred 5x4x5 to Nasrullah, the sire of Bold Ruler. This beautifully illustrates the old adage of "returning the blood of the broodmare-sire". Chief's Crown, is out of a mare by Secretariat--a son of Bold Ruler. When Chief's Crown was mated with Amelia Bearhart (3x4-Nasrullah), she thus returned the blood of his broodmare-sire through Bold Ruler once and Nasrullah twice. (See pedigree)

Many racing greats of the past featured a similar pattern. Buckpasser, Damascus, Dr.Fager, Ruffian, and Spectacular Bid are just of few of the top horses who demonstrate the principle of returning the blood of the broodmare-sire. The underlying logic here is that the cross that produced the sire should be repeated to maintain that genetic magic. Not every sire benefits from inbreeding, obviously, but those that do have often produced spectacular results with this particular pattern.

In the broader perspective, pedigrees of many breeds of horse and animal livestock suggest there is an ideal level of genetic variety in any breed. Too much variety (repeated outcrossing) will undo years of selective inbreeding. Too little variety (repeated inbreeding) will often produce the birth defects, unsoundness, and poor temperament associated with close inbreeding. An ideal balance is usually needed.

In the case of Chief Bearhart, neither his sire Chief's Crown, nor his grandsire Danzig, show any close inbreeding. Chief's Crown therefore was likely to need an infusion of inbreeding or linebreeding from his mares to maintain his genetic strength. He certainly got this when mated with Amelia Bearhart. Although not closely inbred, Chief's Crown does show linebreeding of 4x5x7-Nearco. Amelia Bearhart herself is 4x5-Nearco. Thus their offspring, Chief Bearhart, was linebred 5x7x8x5x6-Nearco, in addition to being

4x3-Bold Ruler and 5x4x5-Nasrullah. And because Bold Ruler and Native Dancer are both out of Discovery mares, he is also linebred 7x6x5-Discovery.

His sire Chief's Crown was America's two-year-old champion in 1984, winning six of nine starts and five stakes, including the inaugural Breeder's Cup Juvenile. After a three-year-old season that included wins in the Flamingo, the Travers and the Marlboro Cup, Chief's Crown retired to stud with 12 wins in 21 starts, over $2,000,000 in earnings, and very high expectations.

He was a son of the brilliant sire Danzig, out of the mare Six Crowns--she a daughter of the Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Chris Evert. Six Crowns was a stakes winner of $136,274, and her dam Chris Evert was champion filly in 1974, the year she won the Filly Triple Crown in New York. Six Crowns produced two stakes winners from ten foals including the filly Classic Crown (by Mr. Prospector), winner of the Frizette (G1) and the Gazelle (G1).

Chief's Crown like Danzig was a smallish horse, and one of the few American stallions in recent years to consistently produce stamina. He passed away in 1997 and now has 33 stakes winners (8% of foals) to his credit, 18 of them graded. The average winning distance of his offspring stands at 8.4 furlongs, among the highest of all North American sires. Many of his best offspring raced on the grass overseas, however, and he never became fashionable with North American breeders.

Nevertheless, his first crop included five group or graded winners: Chief Honcho (Brooklyn-G1), Be My Chief (Racing Post Trophy-GI), Azzaam (Sidney Cup-G1), Crowned (Delaware H.-G2), and Dr. Somerville (Prix de Conde-G3). After several lean years, his foal crop of ‘91 included Erhaab (English Derby), Grand Lodge (Dewhurst-G1, 2YO Highweight in England), and Key of Luck (G3), all European runners. His other recent stakes winners include Concerto, a multiple graded winner who won the Jim Beam (G2) at three. Significantly, many of the best offspring of Chief's Crown show inbreeding similar to that of Chief Bearhart. Chief Honcho is 5x3-Native Dancer and 7x6x5-Discovery. Grand Lodge and Be My Chief are both 4x4 to Somethingroyal--the dam of Secretariat, while Mukaafah is 4x4-Bold Ruler and 4x3-Somethingroyal, etc.

Chief Bearhart's dam, the cleverly named Amelia Bearhart, was bred by Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky. She has become an exceptional producer and won the Sovereign Award for Broodmare of the Year in 1996. On the racetrack she was a winner only once in 13 starts, however, running third in the Bumsville Handicap and retired with earnings of $24,211.

Her second foal, Memorized (by Ziggy's Boy), was a stakes placed winner of $292,184, and her fourth foal Explosive Red (by Explodent) won the Hollywood Derby (G1), the American Derby (G2), and $864,931. Her fifth foal, Ruby Ransom by Red Ransom, won $60,487 and the Ontario Colleen Stakes. Chief Bearhart, her sixth and best foal, was bred in Canada by Richard Maynard.

Chief Bearhart's second dam is Myrtlewood Lass, by Ribot. She was a modest winner of 2 races in 14 starts, good for $19,722. Her eight foals include three who were stakes placed, but no stakes winners. Chief Bearhart's third dam, however, was Gold Digger--the dam of the great Mr. Prospector. Remarkably, Gold Digger produced six full-siblings to Mr. Prospector: four never raced, the other two each won but a single race. (As Jimmy Jones, trainer of Citation once said: "Mrs. Dempsey had seven sons, but only one Jack.")

From an inbred dam who threw multiple stakes winners, by a sire who produced primarily stamina and grass specialists, it is no surprise that Chief Bearhart followed in this tradition. His strong linebreeding only reinforces these traits, and should serve him well at stud.