A QUICK glance at the sire and broodmare sire combination of any horse can provide us with a lot of instant data about its potential aptitude or distance range, albeit only a very rough guide.
We can tell that it is a flat pedigree or a National Hunt one, that it suggests speed, or middle-distance ability, or the later maturity that we might associate with a three-mile chaser, for example.
When you cross a classic-placed Group 1 winning sprinter with the daughter of another sprint star then you might expect that the resulting produce will show speed too, perhaps even precocity.
It could be a potential two-year-old winner, but probably not a middle-distance horse or, even less likely, a National Hunt stayer. Or could it?
Obviously there is a considerable amount more involved in assessing the pedigree of a thoroughbred, for any purpose, but these two factors will often be the first thing to catch the eye.
MYSTERY
A first glance at the pedigree at Taglietelle might raise eyebrows and surprise at how he came to win the Grade 3 Injured Jockeys Fund Handicap Hurdle over three miles, 110 yards at Aintree recently, and a second glance might not offer much explanation either.
He is a son of the classic-placed Group 1 winner Tagula (by Taufan), a noted speed influence, and he is out of a seven-furlong scorer by the talented sprinter Averti (by Warning).
All of his dam’s other winners have come on the flat and the best of them show distance preferences in keeping with that of their own sires. Rawaki (by Phoenix Reach), for example, is a middle-distance horse who stays a bit further, and his pattern placing came over 12 furlongs at Newbury a year ago.
The celebrity among the siblings is the millionaire and international globetrotter Side Glance, a 10-furlong Group 1 winner by the talented miler Passing Glance (by Polar Falcon), although he is not the only Group 1 star in the family.
AUSTRALIA
Averami is out of a non-winner called Friends For Life (by Lahib) and although only two of her 10 siblings managed to win a race, one of the unsuccessful ones went on to a notable career at stud in Australia.
Fetoon (by Persian Bold) was placed twice as a two-year-old but her son Markham (by Salieri) won the Group 1 South Australian Derby and the races in which he was placed featured the Group 1 Melbourne Cup, so he stayed well.
His half-sister Hospitable (by Luskin Star) was multiple blacktype placed before becoming the dam of Fubu (by Last Tycoon), a Group 2 scorer who was runner-up in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and in another Group 1 contest at that same venue.
Friends For Life is also a half-sister to Divina Mia (by Dowsing), a one-time scorer whose daughter Antediluvian (by Air Express) was unbeaten in three starts, including a mile contest at Sandown, but it is when you go back another step in the pedigree and look at the siblings of Taglietelle’s third dam, that you find the horse who is the biggest star in the family.
That third dam, the unsuccessful broodmare with just two winners from 11 foals, is Hardihostess (by Be My Guest), a dual scorer who was third in the Group 3 Oaks Trial Stakes at Lingfield and in the Listed Lupe Stakes at Goodwood.
Her half-brother Shirley Heights (by Mill Reef), however, was a dual Derby hero in 1978 before going on to a hugely influential career as a stallion, leaving a legacy that is still strong today.
The presence of Shirley Heights and Markham in his pedigree may assist understanding as to how Taglietelle could get his flat wins over 12 and 15 furlongs, despite being the son of Tagula, but even their distant relationship to the five-year-old cannot explain why an extended three miles over hurdles should apparently suit him so well.