When we started Big Six Stables two years ago, we also started a blog. Well, life happens and after just two early blog posts nothing more was blogged about our journey. Two years and a national COVID-19 quarantine later, it's time to fire up the old blogspot.
For my first blog in almost two years, I figured I'd try my hand writing about a bit of pedigree research that I've done. I was inspired by the pedigree of our first broodmare, Queen of Rocknroll, a New York-bred mare that eventually found a home with us in the Midwest.
Queen of Rocknroll was bred by William Niarakis and sired by Rock and Roll, an earner of over $700,000 and runner in the 1998 Kentucky Derby. Rock and Roll won 10 times and was "in the money" in 27 of 38 races. Rock and Roll, bred by Pin Oak Stud, was out of Cure the Blues, a successful New York sire in the 80s and 90s. His sire, Stop the Music, was also successful in the breeding shed, having sired 45 stakes winners (including Temperance Hill). Stop the Music was ultra-successful on the racetrack, winning 11 times while "in the money" in 25 of 30 starts. He would probably be more well known had he not been from the same crop as Secretariat, though Stop the Music did win the 1972 Champagne Stakes after Secretariat was disqualified.
So hearin lies the question: is my mare's sire line now dead? Stop the Music and Cure the Blues were successful on the track and in the breeding shed, but are there any progeny left currently siring foals? Their sire line stems from Hail to Reason, whose line is doing just fine through the Halo (More Than Ready, Yoshida, etc.) and Roberto (Temple City, Blame, etc.) branches of his lineage. But I cannot find any current sires from the Stop the Music/Cure the Blues branch of Hail to Reason. Rock and Roll passed away in the late 00's, and American Chance, one of Cure the Blues' most successful stallions, has passed as well. Take Me Out, Tethra, and Incurable Optimist are other stallions from the branch, but I cannot find their lineage living on through stallions anywhere else.
So my research has come to a point where I must assume Hail to Reason's Stop the Music/Cure the Blues branch is now defunct. It is sad in that a branch of a great thoroughbred sire line is no longer in operation, but also unique in that we potentially have one of the last members of that lineage currently still used for breeding purposes. What did I get right, is there anything I got wrong? Don't hesitate to let me know. I am just an old football coach trying my hand at another passion of mine.
Thanks for reading,
Erik
