© JLL-LeTROT – Face Time Bourbon the American
APPEARED IN TROT INFOS
Face Time Bourbon is an attraction beyond old Europe. In Canada and the USA, the champion’s performances arouse the greatest respect, as do his origins, dating back to an … American mare. Owner and pedigree expert, Norman Hall, the originator of crossbreeding software initially developed for the standarbred breed (www.pedigreematching.com) details the ancestry of the new Mondial trotting star. It was in one of his blogs, published in early March 2020.
In 250 years, through four comings and goings on both sides of the Atlantic and a presence in five different countries, Face Time Bourbon’s pedigree has reached a status that places him among the best trotters in the world. His 21 successes, eight of which acquired at Group I level, culminating in a first America’s Prize won at the age of 5, are already so many prestigious stamps on his international passport.
About his dam line and in particular his grandmother Etta Extra
(…) This line dates back to the 1750s and is represented by the family number 46 in the English stud book. Very quickly, this line gets a significant boost in the form of a mare imported to North America, a certain Letitia. This is distinguished by its double inbreeding on the exceptional mare, Amorett from Bartlets Childers. She produces a daughter, descended from Dungannon also descended from the maternal line of Amorett. The latter is introduced to Lance, an American stallion whose mother is inbreed on another distinguished daughter of … Bartlets Childers, Miss Colville. This cross will be at the origin of one of the first stars of American races, in the person of Bertrand whose maternal line is the same and goes back to Miss Colville. This is an unprecedented accumulation of mixed blood, the origin of factor X, the ancestor Spanker Mare. Sophie, a daughter of Edwin Forrest, is mated to Happy Medium (Hambletonian) whose mother is by Dictator. The latter comes from a consanguineous mother on American Star. The result of this union is at the origin of the world champion, Nancy Hanks born in 1886, undefeated, who was the first second hand in 2’05 (1’17”2) in the history of trotting races. . Nancy Hanks, after entering stud, is introduced to Peter The Great whose dam line also goes back to the mare Bartlets Childers. She then meets Pilot Jr, the father of Miss Russell, “Queen Among Queens,” the subject of my book of the same name describing the maternal origins of the Standardbred breed. This cross gives birth to a daughter, Markala who, mated to Vice Commodore whose mother is also a daughter of Nancy Hanks, a maternal imbreeding 3×3. Markala will then be mated to Baronmore, whose dam line also goes back to Bartlets Childers, with another inbreeding at stake on Mambrino Patchen. (….)
The troubles of the twentieth century
The following three dams are a source of controversy as they were all raised in the same stud, under suspicious circumstances. The first of these mothers, Sonata, born in 1940, is the main question mark. Officially, she is registered as the daughter of Gaël (Intermède). But this Gaël was known to be practically sterile, having had only two foals in 1936 and none in 1937. In fact, Gaël has the status of a “ghost” stallion and here is why. At the end of the 1930s, it was indeed decided by the French authorities to close the stud-book in order to constitute a full-fledged breed, called the French Trotteur and consequently, to prohibit the introduction of new American lines, males and females. Bought by Henri Masson and imported to France in 1934 at the age of 4, Calumet Delco was then performing in competition in France. Born in 1930 on the famous Calumet (Kentucky) farm, Calumet Delco is the full brother of Star’s Pride’s dam, the latter being inbreed 3×4 on the San Francisco stallion. Champion of the State of Wisconsin at 3 years old before being sold and exported to France, Calumet Delco won 24 races there and won 350,000 francs (a good sum for the time), his career including a 5th place in the Prix d’Amérique 1938. But it is as a stallion that he will have the most impact. Indeed, although not authorized to produce foals / fillies registered under the new rules, but due to its soft character, Calumet Delco is used at the Ginai stud farm (Orne) as a blower. From there, there is only one step to take to replace the failing Gaël and cover the fiancées who are promised to the latter. However, only three products have been officially registered as from Calumet Delco, which does not correspond to reality, far from it. Quiroga II and Quiproquo II (who will become stallions) and a mare, Quinauderie are these three official products and among their direct descendants, we find some great horses like Hadol du Vivier, Flambeau des Pins, Galopin du Ravary, Ilster d’Espiens, etc. … But that’s not all. Gaël, who had fertility problems with only one foal in 1936 and none in 1937, suddenly regains “vigor”, with three foals registered in 1938, six in 1939, four more in 1940 and his last in 1941 when, Coincidentally or not, Calumet Delco reappears as a stallion in Germany after four years of obscurity. The reality is quite different: these products are indeed from Calumet Delco and not from Gaël, which was confirmed a few years later – and under oath – by the son of the owner of Haras de Ginai, René Veslard. Gaël’s name remains in the official studbook archives, however, although Calumet Delco’s legacy and maternal link to the head of breed Star’s Pride have clearly left an indelible mark on French maternal lines, including those by Face Time Bourbon. The mother of the great champion Ourasi, Fleurasie, claims the blood of Calumet Delco on both sides of her pedigree, with Quiroga II on one side and Stele (Gaël), born in 1940, the same year as … Sonata . (…)
Rainer Engelke’s choices
(…) But the work of the breeder was only just beginning. With Etta Extra as the “stock” mare from his stud farm in Saint Martin, newly bought in France, Rainer Engelke looked for crosses which allowed him to bring back the Star’s Pride and Speedy Crown lines. His second offspring, the filly Kamera Bourbon (by Cezio Josselyn, a grandson of Speedy Crown with a dam from the Star’s Pride line), met these criteria (inbreed 3×3 on the first and 4×3 on the second). Another advantage of Kamera Bourbon, winner of 196,000 euros in competition: Cezio Josselyn’s mother, Quezira, also dates back to the two Belle Poule, the old and the new! Quezira is also the second dam of the exceptional Belina Josselyn (Prix d’Amérique 2019) and we also owe her Uza Josselyn and Flèche Bourbon (consanguineous on Quezira), winner of the President of the Republic’s Prize. Etta Extra was then mated to Love You, giving birth to the classic Qualita Bourbon (3rd in the Prix d’Amérique, nearly 1.5 million euros in earnings). This success then prompted Engelke to introduce Kamera Bourbon to Love You, to reinforce the presence of Speedy Crown and Star’s Pride in the pedigree to come. What he might not yet know is that Love You’s mother is also inbred on Belle Poule and bears the maternal influences of Gladys and Perce Neige. The added bonus of Love You’s North American maternal line is being traced back to a San Francisco daughter and American Star ancestry. (…) Consanguineous, maternal side on Speedy Crown and Star’s Pride, from a consanguineous father on Florestan with an inbred mare on Arlette III, from a maternal line rich in great champions who have evolved on both continents, Face Time Bourbon had everything to become a king.
– .
