The success of the full-brothers Sadler's Wells and Fairy King, plus their three-parts brother Nureyev, has instigated a wave of inbreeding to the great mare Special, dam of Nureyev and grandam of Sadler's Wells and Fairy King.
There have been just over 9,000 runners foaled in the Northern Hemisphere inbred within five generations to this sister of top-class sprinter Thatch, and they include some of the sport's most iconic racehorses. El Condor Pasa, Rip Van Winkle, Workforce, Henrythenavigator, Ribchester, Ruler Of The World and Camelot are names that just trip off the tongue. It may surprise you to know that only 3.9% become black-type winners. But what stallions have offered the best access to Special? All bar three of the sires on our table have higher than average ratios among their Special runners. The Galileos are clearly best at 16.8% black-type winners, but Diktat takes the prize for the best upgrade on his career mark of 3.7% black-type winners. His runners inbred to Special include an excellent 6.7% black-type winners.
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