In-breeding to produce a broodbitch

In-breeding can be a very powerful tool in the production of racing class, but it seems even more so when it comes to producing a quality broodbitch. Let's take for instance the bitch Watusi Rose (Ungwilla Lad-Watusi Lane). Bevan Williamson at Greenbank trained Watusi Rose for most of her career and speaks of her even today with huge admiration.

"She won from 366m at Capalaba to 704m at the Gabba and won quite a few races around the Gabba. She was a really beautiful bitch, white with black spots, and quite a big bitch but had a great temperament," said Bevan. Williamson trained the bitch for Graham and Linda Hooper at Ipswich.

"Graham was in the Air Force at the time and tripped around quite a bit," said Bevan. "The bitch hurt a hock at the Gabba and we retired her and she went home to Graham and Linda. Eventually she drove them mad wanting to race again so Graham sent her back and we won a FFA at Capalaba beating a really top field." This is her pedigree:

At first note, it will be obvious that Watusi Rose is in-bred 3x2 to Thunder Lane, as the damsire of Ungwilla Lad, and the sire of her dam Watusi Lane. The position in which Thunder Lane appears seems an extremely powerful influence in a pedigree specially for a broodbitch.

That legendary broodbitch Elsie Moss is in-bred 3x2 to Chief Havoc is exactly the same position. But a further, closer look at the pedigree of Watusi Rose produces some very heavy in-breeding to very influential ancestors.

Let's take a look firstly at her sire Ungwilla Lad that great sprinter and Australian Cup winner who was an influence at stud without setting the world on fire. His son Black Aztec was a success in the US. Significantly, Ungwilla Lad's second dam Dilkara Girl carries a 3x3 double-up of the famous litter brothers Sunview and Rookie Rebel (Dream's Image-Lady Janellen).

NB Sunview and Rookie Rebel and brothers by Dream's Image-Lady Janellen.

The significant name in Dilkara Girl's pedigree is Mary Wanda who is a half sister to the champion Spotted Lightning, the dog in-bred 3x2 in the pedigree of Watusi Rose. Thus when Ungwilla Lad was mated to Watusi Lane to produce Watusi Rose, it not only brought in a double to Thunder Lane (and to his own sire Spotted Lightning) through two daughters, but also an important triple to the famous broodbitch Flighty Moon. It's obvious Flighty Moon's influence in Watusi Rose is huge.

It gets stronger when you see that Ungwilla Lad is in-bred 4x3 to Spotted Lightning and sex balanced (through the female Fired House, and the male Thunder Lane). But there are two sides to every story and in Watusi Rose it also includes her own damline down to her fifth dam Regina Cole. This bitch is in-bred to the sister and brother Thelma's Mate and Bobalong Kent (Robert Kent-Silver Dell).

Thelma's Mate happened to make history as the dam of legend Chief Havoc.

Regina Cole is perfectly balanced to Thelma's Mate (coming through a son in Chief Havoc) and Bobalong Kent (coming through a daughter Yorkshire Maid). So by the time this pedigree had all come together to produce Watusi Rose, it was the product of some fabulous in-breeding to highly influential females. Ellen's Lane (dam of Thunder Lane) also carries a very important cross of the influential broodbitch Daisy Valley who herself stems from that grand damline produced by Frances Colleen and which includes legend Temlee.

By the time it came to mating Watusi Rose, there were a multitude of options open to her owners. She had litters to Wild Port, Little Blade, Tempix and Acacia Park and produced winners in all. The litters to Little Blade and Tempix (both sires carrying Temlee) had to be a success because they would be linking with the couple of crosses of Daisy Valley through Ellen's Lane in Watusi Rose.

These matings produced high class gallopers like Just Jane (by Little Blade) and Group 2 finalist Sky Trax.

But the best of her progeny was Acacia Ablaze (by Acacia Park). Putting Watusi Rose to Acacia Park brought in yet another cross of Thunder Lane, but this time significantly through a son in Kid Springdale to balance the mating. Watusi Rose had two crosses of Thunder Lane (both through daughters). But, and again significantly, Acacia Park also brought in yet another cross of Spotted Lightning in his damline.

Acacia Ablaze is almost always described as a "colonial outcross". He became a more than useful sire and today his son Hotshot has been an extremely good broodbitch sire. Is it any wonder considering the powerful influence of female lines in much of his pedigree. Acacia Ablaze had a real affinity with the Pretty Short line. This meant a double-up of Ungwilla Lad. We've already seen just how in-bred Ungwilla Lad is to famous lines.

One of the most intriguing off-shoots of this damline comes through Just Jane's daughter Plain Jane, one of the most magnificent looking greyhounds one could see. She was an outstanding galloper with a hugely in-bred pedigree.

NB Newmore's Secret and Bonnie Secret are litter sisters by Newmore King*-Secretly.

When Plain Jane went to stud, a mating to Hopeful Supreme (Chariot Supreme-Hopeful Victory) produced the Vince Curry winner Eira Gwyn, ironically trained from the Bevan and Elaine Williamson kennel. Plain Jane was in-bred 3x3 to Temlee and Ungwilla Lad. The mating to Hopeful Supreme brought in a daughter strain of Temlee, and also a double of Benjamin John (sire of Ungwilla Lad). This was a cross that had already worked to Group level.

Hopeful Supreme -Just Jane produced the National Distance champion Just A Charm (sex balanced to Temlee 3x3 through the middle of this pedigree).

Just A Charm's daughter Cetaceous (by Balligari*) produced flying sprinter Ace Boy, by Yo Yo's Boy who carries the double-up of litter brothers Pretty Short and Dark Pretender (and thus Ungwilla Lad) to link up with the saturation of this blood in the damline.

This damline, however, does not appear to do well when mated within itself i.e doubling Watusi Rose, even though there have been great instances of a double-up of Acacia Ablaze working. The sensational sprinter Fly Fast was bred this way.

Fly Fast produced quality gallopers Awesome Cole (to Awesome Assassin who carries another cross of Acacia Ablaze) and Fast Lee (to Brett Lee who carries both Little Blade and Pretty Short to link again with the Watusi Rose damline).