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        BREEDING FORUM >> Pedigree Matters No3 Dream Ahead
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TOPOFTHEHILL



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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:01 am

Dream Ahead (Diktat ex Land of Dreams x Cadeaux Genereaux) proved to be one of the most effective sprinters of recent times and has now retired to stud. His first crop are foals of 2013.

His sire Diktat proved to be a moderate sire but one that has done well with mares that have Northern Dancer in their background although not necessarily those with a Northern Dancer sire line. He has proved successful with mares carrying Sharpen Up too.

Mares by Cadeaux Genereaux have shown a strong affinity with stallions from a broad range of backgrounds but especially the Northern Dancer sons Danzig and Nureyev and his dam Special (Forli ex Thong).

Dream Ahead is inbred to Northern Dancer (4x5) and to Balidar (5x4). Balidar was a very quick horse. Dream Ahead is a prime example of a cross between Warning and Sharpen Up. Both trace back to the mare Mixed Marriage,the dam of Atan (Sharpen Up’s sire) and the dam of Tamerett, who was the dam of Warning’s sire Known Fact.

This cross is seen in the pedigree of Alfred Noble, Rajeem and promising new sire Air Chief Marshall.

Also present (in Dream Ahead) but less prominent is a cross involving close genetic relatives Klairon and My Babu, (also include in this mix Ambiorix another very close genetic relative when looking at suitable mares for Dream Ahead). Borderless Scott is a contemporary example of this cross as is Octagonal.

I make no excuse for mentioning too that Dream Ahead’s pedigree also displays a cross involving Ahonoora and Derring Do. I have no intention of delving much further into the relationship between the two except to draw the attention to the admirable speed sire Compton Place who is of course by Ahonoora’s son Indian Ridge.

Compton Place has a steady record for stakes winners for a stallion standing at £6.5K and 37% of those stakes winners have dams with Derring Do within 5 generations in their pedigrees.

All of the above may provide a useful guide to the type of mare Dream Ahead should do well with. A more detailed analysis reveals opportunities for breeders with mares to inbreed to Danzig or Green Desert although some caution to soundness issues need to be considered. Great Voltiger winner Monitor Closely is inbred to Green Desert and it should be noted that inbreeding to Danzig does not always result in bringing forward speed influences. Some horses with Danzig duplication have required extreme tests of stamina to register success.

I would imagine mares carrying Pivotal and Nureyev will work well with Dream Ahead. Multiple stakes winning Lady Gloria is by Diktat ex a Pivotal Mare. Her dam Tarf is by Diesis (Sharpen Up) so she is another live example of the Warning x Sharpen Up cross and linebreeding to Mixed Marriage. Further analysis supports the Sharpen Up cross particularly when found through Diesis.

Mares with Riverman should work well with Dream Ahead and those with him working through Irish River even more so as he will introduce another line of Klairon. Anabaa might be a strong possibility too as his second dam is by Riverman and he carries an additional strain of My Babu.

Ahonoora ( and Indian Ridge) will of course also introduce another line of Klairon, although you might not expect too see this cross commonly attempted it has worked and in fact Diktat has a listed winner Prianca (ex an Inchinor mare) who is 4x3 to Ahonoora. Shinko Forest would work in a similar way too.

Mares carrying Mr Prospector should do much better than the bare analysis suggests and particularly those that involve Kingmambo and Gone West. Kingmambo was ex Miesque x Nureyev and Gone West 2nd dam is Tamerett ex Mixed Marriage linking with both Warning and Cadeaux Genereaux in Dream Ahead.

Another line which I think needs to be ‘tagged’, but not neccessarliy tried at this time, is Rainbow Quest. The data is only marginally favourable but I have a suspicion that this is a cross that has been under utilised. The fact that Warning and Rainbow Quest were in the same ownership and stood at the same stud (Warning only stood a few seasons before being sold) may be significant. Juddmonte didn’t try it more than 3 times as both stallions were considered a bit weak through the fore limb but as they get further back in the pedigree with a very correct mare it should be OK. There is a degree of high quality commonality between them through the elite mare Where You Lead, who is the second dam of both.

If a new stallion is able to rely on a diverse group of mares for success then Dream Ahead has every chance to succeed.
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