Written May 2001
With first season progeny such as Charm Scene Land, Mrs Pennymoney and Lure of London among only a few runners to hit the track, commercial breeders who have preferred to see what this grandson of Roberto was going to achieve at stud can now confidently add him to their list of sires to consider.
Analysis of lines which have worked with his sire, Kris S. shows that broodmare sires whose pedigrees have Prince John, Eight Thirty and/or Bold Ruler form a very successful cross.
Brocco himself upholds this pattern, as his granddam Hold Hands is inbred to Eight Thirty.
We can exploit this pattern further with the knowledge that Eight Thirty works extremely well with fellow family member War Admiral (also present in Hold Hands), as well as Prince John and Bold Ruler, who have similar genetic backgrounds.
By Hold Your Peace, a grandson of Prince John whose damsire is Eight Thirty, SUCCESS EXPRESS not only offers these carrots to Brocco, but has others up his genetic sleeve.
Success Express’s maternal grandsire Nijinsky is also a powerful compliment for Brocco’s grandsire Roberto. Nijinsky is bred on a Nearco / Bull Lea / Blue Larkspur combination, as is Roberto’s dam. Roberto’s sire Hail to Reason further supports this pattern, being bred on a Nearco / Blue Larkspur cross.
Positive linebreeding is created by Success Express’s tail female line as well as Nijinsky’s contribution of Omaha. Both trace to the influential mare FLAMBETTE, reinforcing fellow family member Johnstown in Roberto.
Success Express’s dam Au Printemps has Challenger II 4 x 4 in her pedigree. He traces to SANDAL, also ancestress of Sainfoin and Sundridge, who both appear in significant doses further back in Brocco and Success Express’s pedigrees. To add icing on the cake of this linebreeding, Brocco’s maternal grandsire Grass Court traces to a sister to the dam of SANDAL.
A strong background of the brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad III tops off the attractions of a Brocco / Success Express cross.
With Success Express still very much active at stud, it is feasible that in a couple of years’ time he could be called upon to ‘reverse’ this cross by serving mares by Brocco.
A bountiful supply of commercially bred MARSCAY mares means that Brocco has plenty of opportunity for compatible matings in Australia.
Although there are some obvious family reinforcements in this hypothetical cross, digging deep reveals some genetic bonuses.
Marscay’s damsire To Market has much in common with Roberto. To Market’s grandsire Broker’s Tip is a three quarter brother to Roberto’s third dam and while To Market is bred on a Broker’s Tip / Johnstown cross, Roberto’s’ dam is bred on a cross of Johnstown over Broker’s Tip’s three quarter sister.
Further back. Roberto’s two lines of Black Toney (who has a Ben Brush / Commando cross) are reinforced by Black Toney and another Commando / Ben Brush cross in To Market.
As discussed in Success Express’s analysis, Brocco’s granddam Hold Hands is inbred to Eight Thirty, who appreciates the presence of War Admiral in matings. War Admiral appears twice through Marscay’s granddam Accroche Coeur. Hold Hands and Accroche Coeur also have Beau Max in common (Accroche Coeur being inbred to Beau Max’s dam, Bee Mac).
War Admiral provides another asset when reinforced for Brocco. He has the prepotent ancestress FAIRY GOLD on his third remove, and while this is one thing he shares with Eight Thirty, it also boosts Brocco’s second damsire Anyoldtime, who traces to St. Lucre, a half sister to Fairy Gold.
Although getting on in years now, there are still plenty of beautifully bred ZAMAZAAN mares in circulation. A mating with Brocco creates some interesting line breeding and exploits a section of his pedigree which can be overlooked. Grass Court was a solid miler who was exported from England to Argentina for stud duties. He sired Brocco’s dam sire, Aurelius, who also excelled over a mile before being exported to America as a four year old, contesting with success the Longacres Mile and the Detroit Sweepstakes Handicap before retiring to stud in that country.
Grass Court is a half brother to the dam of Zamazaan’s sire, Exbury, therefore Brocco over Zamazaan’s daughters combines a son and a daughter of Grass Court, a ‘sex balanced’ pattern which often boosts the speed element in family reinforcement.
The MAID OF MASHAM family, who is principally represented by Bull Lea (twice) and Anyoldtime in Brocco, gets a boost from Zamazaan’s third damsire, Easton. His sire Dark Legend is also a descendant of MAID OF MASHAM.
Bull Lea’s sire Bull Dog, who makes another appearance in Kris S. along with his brother Sir Gallahad III, should enjoy the presence of half brother Bois Roussel in Zamazaan.
Likewise, Kris S. and his maternal great-grandsire Prince Rose trace to BEESWING, who is positively reinforced by Vieux Manoir on Zamazaan’s third remove.
Royal Charger, Nasrullah and Badruddin in Brocco can benefit by the contributions of Zamazaan’s second damsire Pherozshah, whose grand dam Mumtaz Mahal appears close up in the backgrounds of all three, while Fair Trial in Brocco is a grandson of her dam LADY JOSEPHINE.
Depending of course, on the contributions of the distaff pedigree of a daughter of Zamazaan, a mating with Brocco has the potential to produce a classic performer.
