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Some of the more fascinating pursuits involve searching for the origins of things as well as the forces through which they evolved.

Anthropologists, for example, are currently embroiled in the issue of whether Neanderthal Man’s gene pool ever mixed with that of his successor, Cro-Magnon Man or simply became an evolutionary “dead end”.

For the student of thoroughbred pedigree analysis, a litany of stud books as well as stallion and family tables serve as ongoing documents that tell of male and female lines that carried on, but much more commonly, did not

What, then, are the genetic patterns that often lead to perpetuation of the line? To our mind, the most auspicious to be identified is female family inbreeding, particularly when the individual demonstrates two or more distinct strains of a matriarch within five generations (what we have come to call the ‘Rasmussen Factor’).

One of the best examples of this is the viable pathway taken by the male line of the Godolphin Arabian. Together with the Darley Arabian and the Byerly Turk, they formed a triumvirate through which all thoroughbreds would eventually descend in tail-male line. While mainly overshadowed through the centuries by the lines of the Darley Arabian (through Eclipse) and the Byerly Turk (through Herod), the Godolphin Arabian line (through Matchem) has reached the twenty-first century albeit through a relatively tenuous branch. It is this author’s view that the breed would, indeed, be diminished if the line of Matchem or the equally attenuated line of Herod were ever to become completely extinguished.

The following chart demonstrates the continuous weave of female family inbreeding patterns along the surviving male line of the Godolphin Arabian. Individuals inbred to female ancestors within five generations (within Rasmussen Factor criteria) are noted in bold. Inbreeding to the families of sires appearing along the male line are capitalized.

Where is the future of the male line of the Godolphin Arabian and Matchem?

A most plausible stallion to have continued on this line was 1982 U.S. Juvenile Champion, Roving Boy (Olden Times-Black Eyed Lucy by Prince Royal II). His paternal great grand-sire, War Relic was a full brother to his third dam, War Kilt. We refer to this pattern of inbreeding to brother and sister along respective tail-male and tail-female lines as the Delta Pattern.

Tragically, Roving Boy was destroyed after suffering injuries as a three year old. He remains the best example of inbreeding to the family of War Relic to have appeared. Breeding strategies that include crossing the contemporary representatives of this sireline with War Relic’s full sisters (War Kilt, Speed Boat, etc.) would be an endeavor to recreate this auspicious inbreeding pattern.

Inbreeding to My Dear Girl, the dam of In Reality would be another current means of inbreeding to a family along the tail-male line

Continuation of the Matchem line has also been supported by the creation of inbreeding patterns to other successful contemporary families not linked to the tail-male line. This process, as has been demonstrated, has also been instrumental in the perpetuation of the Godolphin Arabian’s sireline.

Given all of this, it could certainly follow that Coolmore’s, Honour and Glory, just beginning his stud career, represents one of the best opportunities to carry on his legendary male line.

Honour and Glory, a son of Relaunch (by In Reality) is inbred 5X5 to La Troienne’s daughter, Big Event. She appears as the grand-dam of The Axe II, Relaunch’s broodmare sire, as well as the grand-dam of Francis S., the sire of Honour and Glory’s second dam. He is, therefore, inbred to a key branch of what is regarded as the most prestigious family of 20th century American matriarchy, that of La Troienne.

Honour and Glory’s track record does nothing to dissuade this projection. A U.S. graded stakes winner at two, he was the best sprinter/miler of his generation at age three. His most impressive victory was in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap when beating his elders in stakes record time. In this writer’s opinion, he was, also, the toughest of his generation. Retired with earnings in excess of US$1.2 million, Honour and Glory shuttles between Ashford Stud in Kentucky and Coolmore Farm in Australia.