Barbaro's "full" brother?

Question

I have heard & read different people say that Barbaro indeed has a full brother named Nicanor. Others say that it is NOT his "full" brother. Can anyone clear the air for me on this one? Are they full brothers or not?

And thank you to the person who answered my previous question. It had to be deleted due to my lack of explanation!

Answer 1

yes Nicanor is 100% Barbaro's full baby brother! but Barbaro also has a new baby brother born on April 20 that (if he's good enough) will go on to race in the 136 Kentucky Derby in 2010. then Nicanor will race (if he's good enough) in the Derby of 2009 which is the 135. I can't wait to see how good both horses will do! and now i heard that La Villa Rouge is pregnant AGAIN!!! lol, maybe this time she will bring a filly for us...!

~!so yup!~

-melissa

RIP Barbaro

Answer 2

Nicanor is a full brother to Barbaro, foaled in 2006, and La Ville Rouge foaled another full brother to Barbaro in April.  Both these colts are sired by Barbaro's sire, Dynaformer, and out of his dam, La Ville Rouge.

An explanation to those who are unfamiliar with the terminology of bloodstock:  "full" siblings are sired by the same sire, out of the same dam.  "Half" siblings share the same dam.

Now here's where it gets complicated:  "full sibling in blood."  This is a horse that shares all four grandparents with another horse, but not the same parents.  Example:  La Ville Rouge, Barbaro's dam, has a full sister, Lucky Lavender Gal.  If Lucky Lavender Gal was bred to Dynaformer, the resultant foal would be a "full brother/sister in blood" to Barbaro.  If Dynaformer had a full brother (he doesn't) and this theoretical full brother was bred to Lucky Lavender Gal, that would also be a "full brother/sister in blood" to Barbaro.

If Barbaro had a half-sister (i.e., out of his dam, La Ville Rouge), and that half-sister was bred to his sire Dynaformer, that resultant foal would be called his "three-quarter brother/sister in blood".

It gets complicated.  When a horse becomes a champion, breeders who own fillies or mares from the same female family will sometimes try to duplicate the cross that produced the champion in order to maximize the marketability of the resultant foal.  You can bet your boots that anyone who owns a mare from the same female line as Barbaro will be looking at crosses to Hail to Reason-line stallions, since that was the line that produced Barbaro when crossed with La Ville Rouge.  The resulting foals will be advertised as "bred like Barbaro".  

Sometimes these similar crosses strike gold, more often they do not.  FWIW many great horses have had full siblings that didn't amount to much.  Man O' War and Secretariat both had full siblings that couldn't beat a fat man in a race downhill.  

It's hard to know where the lightning will strike that makes a champion.  That's what makes breeding racehorses such a challenge.

(PS-- to make the terminology of breeding even more crazy, horses with the same sire are not referred to as "half brothers/sisters".  They are called "by the same sire.")

Answer 3

Yes, Nicanor and Barbaro are full brothers. They have the same parents on both sides, like all full siblings of any spieces.  Nicanor will start training with Michael Matz sometime this fall and will debut on the track next spring or summer, if all goes well. Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Barbaro and Nicanor were both sired by Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge...  since it's the same father and mother, Barbaro and Nicanor are full brothers.

Barbaro has a half brother named Man in Havana...  you might remember him in the news last year...  when Barbaro broke down and became a permanent resident at New Bolton Center, Barbaro's stall in the training barn was filled by Man in Havana...  they didn't like it standing empty and they thought his brother should have it.  Anyway, Man in Havana is a half brother to Barbaro, meaning they're out of the same dam (La Ville Rouge).  Barbaro was sired by Dynaformer and Man in Havana was sired by Quiet American.  Since they have the same mother, they're called half brothers.

Barbaro has another full brother actually.  He's a foal who was born on April 20...  so today, he turns 2 months old!  Since he's just a foal, he doesn't have a name yet.  But he too was sired by Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge, making him full brother to Barbaro and Nicanor.

You can see a picture of Nicanor and La Ville Rouge here: http://www.pedigreequery.com/la+ville+ro...

you have to move your mouse over the little circled i.  then a big box drops down and you can see the picture there.

Also, you can see more pictures of Nicanor as well as a picture of the new foal who's a full brother here: http://www.millridge.com/barbaro.asp

I recommend this video of Barbaro's full brother, the new foal...  you'll have to run your mouse down the right listing of videos...  the Barbaro one is the second to the bottom...  it shows the foal playing and eating and just hanging out in the field like a foal should do...  http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/derby/2...

Answer 5

Yes Barbaro does have a full brother named Niconar.Niconar has just started his training. Barbaro also has a half brother but he is still very young (less than a year old).