well bred fillies

[sumitas]

Racing ability does not translate to breeding success. Very few sires ever produce an offspring better than themselves. So the entire pedigree needs to be evaluated in a mating, well beyond just the dam and sire, imo. Same for the great fillies, without the right mating it's hard to produve a successful foal. BW's dam Lady's Secret. Her off spring were mostly the result of continually inbreeding Bold Ruler or Nasrullah of her top line. None of the foals showed a great deal of success yet they continued to churn out similar matings foal after foal. And they kept selling and they kept disappointing on the track.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by sumitas

the entire pedigree needs to be evaluated in a mating, well beyond just the dam and sire, imo.

You are certainly right about that, but I do think horses that win HOY are generally EXPECTED to produce fairly decent offspring. Of course it does not always work out that way. I just think it is sort of funny that a horse with 2 HOY parents would run 16 times without breaking his maiden.
I don't know if I COMPLETELY agree with your statement that, "racing ability does not translate to breeding success." It does not ALWAYS translate, but it certainly can.
Anyway, I am not in the business, and I am certainly not an expert but I LOVE pedigree analysis/discussion. I just wish there was less inbreeding.