Examining Superior Runners by Non- Leader Board Stallions

It is always interesting to me when a sire who has been a little disappointing to-date - or in the past few years - throws up a classy racehorse.  What genetic kick in the ribs did the dam's pedigree give him?
A couple of cases in point are the recent stakes winners SOUTHERN SPEED, SKYERUSH and SINCERO.

Southern Image (USA)

Southern Speed is by Southern Image, a son of Halo's Image.  He stood out here for four seasons to 2009, his oldest being Southern Hemisphere four year olds.  To-date he's had 49 runners here for 23 winners, 22 of them vastly inferior to Southern Speed, winner of this year's Caulfield Cup.  What makes that mating tick?  Her dam Golden Eagle is by Zabeel - not only a leading broodmare sire but when combined with the pedigree of Southern Image, he creates a reverse Sir Ivor / Northern Dancer cross to that in Southern Image's dam.  Golden Eagle's damsire is Danehill, who was always touted as being a great cross for Southern Image.  He reinforces Halo on Southern Image's sire line, both tracing back to ALMAHMOUD, as does Danehill's grandsire Northern Dancer  (present three times in this mating).  Not only that, but his Northern Dancer / His Majesty cross is also present in Southern Image's dam.  A bit of Colonial speed is also injected via the tail female line, the granddam being a sister to Golden Slipper winner, Ha Ha.

Super Jet (USA)

Skyerush, recent winner of the Gosford Belle of the Turf Stakes (Listed), is by Super Jet, a beautifully bred son of Dayjur (Danzig) out of a granddaughter of a half sister to Mr. Prospector.  To-date he hasn't set the world alight, having produced 121 runners for 60 winners, however Skyerush is also Group 2 placed and four times Listed placed.  His next best runner is the Group 3 placed Afterburn.  Anybody with a grain of respect for the Rasmussen Factor or indeed merely sex balanced inbreeding, would think Skyerush's pedigree a very pretty mating.  Her sire Bellotto is a son of Mr,. Prospector, thereby creating 4f x 4m inbreeding to Mr. Prospector's dam Gold Digger.  Meeting up with his half sister Myrtlewood Lass on Super Jet's tail female line is a great pattern, complemented by the fact that Mr. Prospector also appears through a daughter (to sex balance the son, Bellotto) in Super Jet's sire, Dayjur.

Umatilla (USA)

While Sincero is by Umatilla, a stallion who has produced many classy runners over the years (19 Group winners), it's been a long time between drinks.  Four of Umatilla's six Group 1 winners were born in 1994, the other in 2000.  Recently deceased at the age of 23 years, Umatilla served his last mare in 2009.  In the year Sincero was conceived (2007) Umatilla produced a healthy 57 foals with fertility statistics over 85% in that year and all those preceding.  So what was special about As Always, dam of Sincero?
What caught Umatilla's genetic attention appears to be the presence of a sister to Umatilla's third dam, the predominant BEST IN SHOW, on As Always' tail female line. BEST IN SHOW is a taproot member of the TORPENHOW family, which is also represented in Umatilla's pedigree by his damsire, Nijinsky II.  It's interesting that another of Umatilla's Group 1 winners, Bohemiath, also carries Nijinsky II, creating sex balanced inbreeding to that icon.