Fair Play

100 Years of Sport Excellence
And Still Going Strong

If you breed sport horses in America, especially jumpers, hunters or eventers, then you need to be aware of the genetic excellence of Fair Play. A bright chestnut horse, 15.3 hands tall, with a distinctive majestic front end and high head set; Fair Play is still a power line in equine sport today.

"Even in recent years, some 60 percent of American stakes winners have carried the blood of Fair Play, and there is no better source for soundness and stoutness among the American strain than he." (Hewitt, bold type mine)

Sport Horse breeders should take heed to the above quote. Do you yearn for the old style Thoroughbred, the real sport horse, which was sound and tough and could go all day? If you have an American bred Thoroughbred or part-Thoroughbred, you most likely have the incomparable Fair Play in its genetics already.The two most powerful branches of Fair Play come through his sons Display (sire of Discovery) and Man O'War.

Between the amazing Discovery daughters behind the most successful modern race lines (Bold Ruler/Native Dancer/Intentionally/Hasty Road/Traffic Judge), to the multiple Man O'War sons and daughters (War Admiral/War Relic/American Flag/Salaminia/Speedboat etc) that are part of the fabric of the American Thoroughbred, you have with the Fair Play lines the best sources for sport, stamina and soundness in the world.

How can we reactivate the Fair Play magic? By reinforcing the bloodlines! Bring in more lines of him, sex balanced, and find a closer conduit of these lines. This bloodline is still very active in the USA, and even in Europe. We already have this great genetic material in our horses. We don't have to look further; we just have to recapture the potence, and bring it forward so it will manifest in our sport foals.

Fair Play, born in 1905, was by the bad tempered Hastings out of the Bend Or daughter Fairy Gold. Fair Play physically resembled Bend Or and his further ancestor on his dam side, Hermit- bloodlines known to transmit jump as well as racing ability. He had prodigious amounts of energy, and he was sound and fast, a very good racer. Full of spirit and courage, he was considered a stayer of high class. Yet he was only rated 3rd best of his year, because he raced against the undefeated Colin and his fast brother Celt. They however, were not sound horses, and retired early with problems, and from then on Fair Play led the rankings.

His career as a sire far surpassed his racing record. Fair Play was the first stallion in the US to sire 6 winners of over $100,000, and this was back in the 1920's when $100K was a fortune! He produced a immense 18% stakes winners, which included the supreme Man O'War. [Percentage number of winners is a evaluating tool used in the Thoroughbred racing industry to judge a sires potency- anything 10% or over is considered "great".]

Also significant is that 5 of those 6 super stars were out of Rock Sand daughters. This is what is called a "nick" in the racing industry, when two sires have a genetic affinity. Their percentage of winners was 30% together, but if we look at only their sons it is an unheard of 63%. Most of the daughters from this combination were never raced, therefore, the 63% is actually a more accurate accessment of their combined potency.

You can read a full history of Fair Play on this link.

The other side of this incredible "nick" is Rock Sand, another strong source of stamina and jump. His English grandson: Cottage, produced 3 Grand National winners, and a Cottage daughter gave the sport world Cottage Son, the premier jump line (also a great dressage line) in Holstein. Rock Sand is the sire of the valuable Tracery and his full brother Trap Rock, plus Rochester (found in Cottage Son) and the good American sire, Pilate. The genetic powerhouse of Rock Sand, combined with the amazing Fair Play made one of the most successful crosses the racing and sport world had ever seen.

Link to more about Rock Sand

Sport Horse breeders can collect these lines in multiples easily. Each excellent on their own, Rock Sand and Fair Play were dynamite together- take a look at a few of their shared progeny: Mad Hatter/Mad Play/Hard Tack(sire of Seabiscuit)/Chance Play/Chance Shot/Sporting Blood/Chatterton, and the pinnacle of the nick: Man O'War. One genetic aspect of their power was the build up of the super mare Pocahontas who between them have her 6x6x6x7x6x6x6. This is the equivalent of having her sitting in the 3rd generation. When you add multiples of desired ancestors you increase their portion of genetic power that come forward to your foals.

Peter Birdsall, in "Bloodlines of Hunters and Jumpers in North America" lists 57 jumpers that carry Fair Play, and several of them have more than one line of him, plus 14 that carry Rock Sand- remember these horses were born 100 years ago! He lists 111 descendants of their combined masterpiece Man O'War. I hope you are getting the picture, that this might be a very fertile genetic pool for your sport horse goals.

Both Rock Sand and Fair Play transmitted the large heart gene to their daughters. Man O'War, who carries the large heart gene from his dam Mahubah (Rock Sand daughter) was mentioned by Marianna Haun as having a distinctive physcial type he passes along with the large heart. "Man O'War had high, pronounced withers with a rounded appearance that reminds me of a 'dowagers hump', His front end had an upright appearance, although he was by no means straight shouldered."(Haun). The muscular rounded wither comes from his dam Mahubah, but the distinctive front end is all Fair Play.

Mad Hatter, a son of Fair Play
with the distinctive front end.

This line of horses can jump. In the 1930's American Steeplechasing was dominated by the Man O'War son: Annapolis- who was 4x5x6x6 to Hermit. He was the first of the Man O'War sons to win as a jumper- many more followed. Kept as a stallion by his owner Marion Dupont Scott, he is sire of many jumpers himself, including hall of famer: Neji.

Hall of Famer Neji

Neji dominated Steeplchasing in the 1950's, winning the American Grand National three times. He was a great weight carrier- winning with 173 lbs on his back.

Then there was the absolutely amazing Blockade, son of Man O'War out of Rock Emerald, a Trap Rock (son of Rock Sand and full brother to Tracery)daughter. Blockade won the toughest steeplechase held in the US: the Maryland Hunt Cup, three years in a row!

Man O'War sired another hall of famer in Battleship, who not only was a champion in this country, but was the first American horse to win the Aintree Grand National (1938). Battleship was also the first stallion to win Aintree in 25 years. This remarkable small horse of 15.3 hands, was 11 years old and carrying 160 lbs. when he won the Aintree Grand National- now that is tough little horse! Battleship was very much in the Fair Play mold-

Battleship also carried on the Fair Play legacy by siring a huge 19% winners, including the steeplechase champions Shipboard (out of an Annapolis dam) and War Battle, plus the American Grand National winner Sea Legs.

Okay then, how do sport horse breeders bring this greatness back to the genetic foreground in their foals?

It is not going to be as hard as you think. The Discovery daughters are all over the modern Thoroughbred. Discovery descends directly from Fair Play with no Rock Sand added. Then there is War Admiral (Fair Play/Rock Sand combination) who is one of the premier broodmare lines, plus a major transmitter of the large heart gene. War Admiral was a good sire (11%), and jump breeders should take a look at his many daughters- especially those out of La Troienne or her family because this is a jump line also. This combination gave us Busanda, the dam of Buckpasser, plus the good broodmares Searching and Striking, and horse of the year Busher, who beat colts as easily as the fillies.

One of the easiest ways to build up the Fair Play/Rock Sand power lines is to add lines of War Relic an inbred horse being 1x2 to the 3/4 brothers: Man O'War and Friar Rock. War Relic is interesting for a number of reasons- first he is typical of many inbred horses in that he was moderate at sport, but then he is unusal in that he only had 5% success as a sire.

Yet from War Relic comes the most active and potent branch of the line today. Even with only 5% winners, he managed to produce some very good sons: the champion Battlefield, Relic- an important sire in France, and the versatile Intent.

Relic, a black horse bred from Bridal Colors, a Black Toney daughter, was a good runner, and a decent sire (9%). In America he left the good sire (10%) Olden Times, who was also a useful race horse. While in France Relic produced a superior daughter, Relance, who won 6 races herself, and became the dam of the excellent stakes winners: Match II, Relko (Epsom Derby winner) and Reliance; you will find Reliance and Relko in the Chef-de-race lists as sources of stamina.

War Relic

His son, Intent, was a versatile runner, winning at 7 furlongs upto 1 3/4 miles. Intent was a moderate sire, yet he produced the super Intentionally. While Intent could stay the distance, Intentionally was purely a sprinter, but was devastating to all upto 9 furlongs. Intentionally was out of a Discovery mare (like Bold Ruler and Native Dancer) and this made him 4x4 to Fair Play, and 5x5x5 to Fairy Gold.

With his tight breeding, Intentionally brought potency back to the line, his average being 11% winners, and he sired many great horses including the phenomenal In Reality and super broodmare Ta Wee.

In Reality is the red hot Fair Play line in the US now, with 16% winners, which includes Known Fact, Relaunch, Believe It and Valid Appeal- all great sires.

His daughter Ta Wee carries on the potency as she is the dam of several stakes winners, including Great Above the sire of Holy Bull. Ta Wee is out of a War Admiral dam (more Fair Play/Rock Sand).

Full siblings in a lineage insure the genetics are emphasized, and produce lasting pre-potency. So you linebreeders be aware that Fair Play had a full brother: Flittergold. And War Relic also had 3 full sisters: Speedboat, War Kilt and Anchors Ahead. War Admiral had 5 full sisters: War Brush, Military Brush, Admiralette, War Hysteria and Our Colors- he also has a 3/4 brother War Glory and two 3/4 sisters- Harrannette and Marching Along. Man O'War also had full siblings: My Play, Masda, Playfellow and Mirabelle. With all these active line representatives it should not be too difficult a task to bring the Fair Play power back to the fore.

The Fair Play line is here with us still, either standing alone or combined with Rock Sand, it is available and ready for us to concentrate and return to our sport foals its soundness, stamina and sport ability.

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