By Anne Peters
apeters@threechimneys.com

Smarty Jones's pedigree suggests that he should cross with a wide range of mares from all the major bloodlines, commercial and otherwise. He's got Mr. Prospector far enough back along his tail-male line that he can be bred to mares carrying Mr. Prospector without a worry regarding close inbreeding (his cross would be in the fourth generation of the resulting foal). Mr. Prospector lines that have done well with inbreeding back to the source include Fappiano and Conquistador Cielo.

Northern Dancer possibilities

The first strains to consider for Smarty Jones are those that are crossing best with his sire, Elusive Quality. Elusive Quality has sired 16 stakes winners to date (Sept. 20, 2004). His best nick has been with Northern Dancer-line mares, which accounts for eight, or half, of his stakes winners. Of these, three have been from mares by sons of Danzig, including two out of different mares by Dayjur, and one by Ascot Knight. The others have been from mares by Deputy Minister, Mari's Book, Citidancer, Generous, and Once Wild; the latter two descending from Northern Dancer's son Nijinsky II. Because Elusive Quality is out of a mare by Hero's Honor (by Northern Dancer), this nick also constitutes inbreeding to Northern Dancer 4x5 or closer.

Smarty Jones is not bred on this Northern Dancer nick, which suggests that he'd also do well when crossed with mares from this prominent male line, or with mares carrying Northern Dancer elsewhere in their pedigrees. Danzig should also be a prime nick here, in particular via his American-based sons Chief's Crown and Honor Grades, both bred on the Danzig/Secretariat cross. These entail inbreeding to Secretariat, found in the dam of Elusive Quality's sire Gone West, which is proving favorable. Smarty Jones also looks interesting crossed with mares by Summer Squall and Storm Cat, both bred on the Storm Bird/Secretariat nick.

Bold Ruler linebreeding and Seattle Slew

Elusive Quality's next best nick is illustrated by the four stakes winners he has produced from Bold Ruler-line mares. They include mares by Raja Baba, Taj Alriyadh (by Seattle Slew), Hawkin's Special (by Great Sun), and American Legion (a grandson of Secretariat). Since Smarty Jones has three crosses of Bold Ruler -- through Secretariat, Boldnesian, and What a Pleasure -- this is a key strain for him. As suggested above, doubling Secretariat by using Chief's Crown, Honor Grades, Summer Squall, or Storm Cat, as well as mares by Summer Squall's half-brother A.P. Indy, would all serve this purpose well.

A.P. Indy is a son of Seattle Slew, which should be a particularly good cross for Smarty Jones due to the presence of Slew's grandsire Boldnesian. Smarty Jones's dam, I'll Get Along, is a daughter of Smile, and Smile was by In Reality out of the top producer Sunny Smile, by Boldnesian. Other desirable sources of Boldnesian include Super Concorde, Bold Ruckus, and Skywalker, who is bred on a similar cross as Smile, being by In Reality's son Relaunch out of a mare by Boldnesian.

Smarty Jones's third cross of Bold Ruler is through What a Pleasure, who is the dam's sire of Gilded Time, and is also found in the dam of Charismatic. One might also try What a Pleasure's full sister Bold Princess, found as the dam of Sovereign Dancer (by Northern Dancer).

Using the reverse logic, bloodlines that have crossed well with Bold Ruler may also do well with Smarty Jones. These include In Reality (see below), Damascus (in Gilded Time, Skip Trial, Time For a Change and Fly So Free, Desert Wine, Bold Badgett, Cutlass, etc.), Round Table (and his sire Princequillo), and Wild Again.

Repeating In Reality

Elusive Quality's best nick by earnings is with Smarty Jones's own dam's sire Smile, a son of In Reality, and In Reality also appears as the sire of the second dam of Elusive Quality's stakes winner Baba Gonzo. In Reality's sire Intentionally appears as the sire of the dam of Citidancer, a successful Northern Dancer-line broodmare sire noted above.

Doubling up to In Reality has proven a successful strategy and should work with Smarty Jones. As suggested with regards to Boldnesian, Skywalker is also bred on the In Reality/Boldnesian cross, being a son of Relaunch, and both he and other strains of Relaunch (including Bertrando, Waquoit, Honour and Glory) should be useful.

Look for other sources of In Reality including Valid Appeal, Known Fact (from the same family as Gone West), Crafty Prospector (dam by In Reality), Glitterman (dam by In Reality), Unbridled (second dam by In Reality), Rubiano (second dam by In Reality and inbred to him) and others.

Linebreeding to Tom Fool

Another key strain for Smarty Jones is Tom Fool, to whom he is linebred through two sources, via Tim Tam (sire of Tamerett, the second dam of Gone West) and Fool-Me-Not (the dam of Foolish Pleasure). Look to duplicate either of these strains (Tamerett is also found in Known Fact and Tentam; while Fool-Me-Not had a good daughter in Nowmepache), or find other Tom Fool crosses, including Buckpasser, Jester, Stop the Music, and Hatchet Man.

More War Admiral and La Troienne

Smarty Jones also has two crosses of the important broodmare La Troienne. One is through Elusive Quality's dam's sire, Hero's Honor, whose third dam, Searching, was a War Admiral/La Troienne mare. The second one is through Smarty Jones's own tail-female line, going back to his fifth dam, Striking, also bred on the War Admiral/La Troienne cross.

This is another good reason why Seattle Slew (whose dam is inbred to this cross, once through Striking) and Buckpasser (his dam is bred on this cross) should provide good nicks for him. Look for other strong sources of War Admiral/La Troienne through the dams of Private Account, Easy Goer, and Woodman, to name a few.

Somethingroyal

Elusive Quality is inbred to another important broodmare, Somethingroyal. She is the dam of Secretariat (in the dam of Gone West) and Sir Gaylord (sire of Sir Ivor, in Elusive Quality's second dam, Ivory Wand). The fact that Smarty Jones's dam has no further Somethingroyal crosses means that he'll probably do very well with returns of that important mare.

Mares with returns to either, or both, Secretariat or Sir Gaylord should be useful. Sources of Secretariat have already been discussed. Duplicating Sir Gaylord can be achieved by using his sons, which include Habitat, Sir Ivor, Drone, and Lord Gaylord. Or one can duplicate Sir Gaylord through his many good daughters, which have produced Dr. Blum, Lassie Dear (second dam of A.P. Indy, Summer Squall), and Ride the Trails (dam of Cozzene) among others.

Elusive Quality's dam, Touch of Greatness, is by Hero's Honor (by Northern Dancer) out of Ivory Wand by Sir Ivor (by Sir Gaylord). Look for mares carrying other combinations of this prominent Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord cross, including El Prado, Shareef Dancer, and Grand Lodge.

13-c family

There are other aspects to Smarty Jones's pedigree that when exploited, may also have positive results. One is that he has several crosses of the 13-c female family, from which descends Mr. Prospector, Touch of Greatness, Sunrise County, and Tourbillon (inbred in his second dam). Seattle Slew is also a member of this famous family, as is Djeddah, found in Never Bend, Mr. Leader, and Proud Clarion.

Mixed Marriage

Another the presence of the mare Mixed Marriage, found in Gone West. Linebreeding to this mare is proving profitable, in the case of Gone West's good son Johar, whose second dam was by Sharpen Up, whose sire was Atan, another Mixed Marriage descendant. Gone West and his sons have been successful with other Sharpen Up crosses as well. Look to exploit this nick with Sharpen Up, although something similar can be achieved with Known Fact, already noted as a source of In Reality.

Again, it's important to remember that Smarty Jones has "hooks" into a lot of different pedigree backgrounds and so should cross with a wide range of broodmare bloodlines. This would hopefully ensure his success as a sire in the years to come.