Nicking
Definition
In its most basic form, nicking is the crossing of a sire with the daughters of another sire in hopes of reproducing favorable results from earlier matings. Breeders speak of a 'nick” occurring when a sire does significantly better with the daughters of a particular sire than with his other mates. Another indication that a nick is working is that the daughters of the broodmare sire in question are producing significantly better with the sire involved in the nick than with their other mates.
Some breeders also refer to a wider affinity between two lines as a nick. For example, the Nasrullah/Princequillo nick is generally accepted as applying not just to the cross of Nasrullah to Princequillo mares but also to the cross of Nasrullah's sons to Princequillo's daughters and granddaughters.
Why do nicks work?
Generally speaking, when a nick works, it does so because the sires involved have traits of conformation and temperament that complement one another. Nasrullah, for instance, was a tall, rangy horse with a fiery disposition; Princequillo tended to transmit substance, soundness, a somewhat more compact type and a calmer disposition. Some nicks also create beneficial inbreeding or line breeding to one or more quality ancestors. Not all “nicks” are what they seem, however. A sire/broodmare sire cross may look better than it really is due to propinquity, the influence of a few key mares, or a statistical fluke.
Pseudo-nick #1: Propinquity
Sometimes an apparent nick is created by simple availability. If two stallions are inmates of the same farm's stallion barn and one is substantially older than the other, it is only natural that the younger stallion is likely to see many of the older stallion's daughters as mates. Further, inferior daughters of the older stallion are more likely to be sold off than their superior sisters. In this case, the apparent “nick” is created by the fact that the younger stallion is seeing only the better daughters of the older stallion as mates. The giveaway is when the daughters sold away have significantly inferior production records to those of the daughters retained by the stud without considering the foals sired by the stallion involved in the “nick.”
Pseudo-nick #2: A few good mares
If most of the best runners produced by an apparent nick are the produce of two or three particular mares, then the “nick” may be a case of a stallion taking advantage of repeated matings to a tiny number of superior producers who happen to be by the same sire. An example is the Phalaris/Chaucer nick. While this cross had good enough results across the board to be considered a genuine nick, it nonetheless owed its very best successes to just three Chaucer mares: Scapa Flow, dam of the high-class runners and sires Fairway and Pharos and the Classic winner Fair Isle; Canyon, dam of the high-class brothers Colorado and Caerleon; and Selene, dam of the important sires Sickle and Pharamond II. Selene in particular was a remarkable blue hen who also produced Hyperion (by Gainsborough) and Hunter's Moon (by Hurry On), while Scapa Flow produced the good gelding Highlander to the cover of Coronach.
Pseudo-nick #3: The statistical fluke
By far the most common cause of apparent nicks is small sample sizes. A cross that has produced 25% stakes winners from foals may look wonderful, but if it is based on only eight foals of racing age, there is probably insufficient evidence to conclude that a nick exists—especially if both stakes winners are out of the same mare (see #2 above). In these cases, it's worth doing some digging to discover whether the sire/broodmare sire cross in question brings together complementary traits or bloodlines; if it does, the odds that the results represent more than pure chance are improved.
In its most basic form, nicking is the crossing of a sire with the daughters of another sire in hopes of reproducing favorable results from earlier matings. Breeders speak of a 'nick” occurring when a sire does significantly better with the daughters of a particular sire than with his other mates. Another indication that a nick is working is that the daughters of the broodmare sire in question are producing significantly better with the sire involved in the nick than with their other mates.
Some breeders also refer to a wider affinity between two lines as a nick. For example, the Nasrullah/Princequillo nick is generally accepted as applying not just to the cross of Nasrullah to Princequillo mares but also to the cross of Nasrullah's sons to Princequillo's daughters and granddaughters.
Why do nicks work?
Generally speaking, when a nick works, it does so because the sires involved have traits of conformation and temperament that complement one another. Nasrullah, for instance, was a tall, rangy horse with a fiery disposition; Princequillo tended to transmit substance, soundness, a somewhat more compact type and a calmer disposition. Some nicks also create beneficial inbreeding or line breeding to one or more quality ancestors. Not all “nicks” are what they seem, however. A sire/broodmare sire cross may look better than it really is due to propinquity, the influence of a few key mares, or a statistical fluke.
Pseudo-nick #1: Propinquity
Sometimes an apparent nick is created by simple availability. If two stallions are inmates of the same farm's stallion barn and one is substantially older than the other, it is only natural that the younger stallion is likely to see many of the older stallion's daughters as mates. Further, inferior daughters of the older stallion are more likely to be sold off than their superior sisters. In this case, the apparent “nick” is created by the fact that the younger stallion is seeing only the better daughters of the older stallion as mates. The giveaway is when the daughters sold away have significantly inferior production records to those of the daughters retained by the stud without considering the foals sired by the stallion involved in the “nick.”
Pseudo-nick #2: A few good mares
If most of the best runners produced by an apparent nick are the produce of two or three particular mares, then the “nick” may be a case of a stallion taking advantage of repeated matings to a tiny number of superior producers who happen to be by the same sire. An example is the Phalaris/Chaucer nick. While this cross had good enough results across the board to be considered a genuine nick, it nonetheless owed its very best successes to just three Chaucer mares: Scapa Flow, dam of the high-class runners and sires Fairway and Pharos and the Classic winner Fair Isle; Canyon, dam of the high-class brothers Colorado and Caerleon; and Selene, dam of the important sires Sickle and Pharamond II. Selene in particular was a remarkable blue hen who also produced Hyperion (by Gainsborough) and Hunter's Moon (by Hurry On), while Scapa Flow produced the good gelding Highlander to the cover of Coronach.
Pseudo-nick #3: The statistical fluke
By far the most common cause of apparent nicks is small sample sizes. A cross that has produced 25% stakes winners from foals may look wonderful, but if it is based on only eight foals of racing age, there is probably insufficient evidence to conclude that a nick exists—especially if both stakes winners are out of the same mare (see #2 above). In these cases, it's worth doing some digging to discover whether the sire/broodmare sire cross in question brings together complementary traits or bloodlines; if it does, the odds that the results represent more than pure chance are improved.