Desert can be fertile terrain for inbreeding

The idea of inbreeding to a particular stallion does not appeal to everyone. In an era where bloodlines have become ever more contracted, however, repetition of an influence – particularly Northern Dancer – often proves inevitable. And the fact is that inbreeding back to a certain horse has long been regarded by various successful breeders as a helpful solution to the bloodstock puzzle.

Juddmonte, for instance, evidently had few fears over sending the Sadler's Wells mare Concentric to Nathaniel, and were rewarded with Enable. That brilliant filly, who is duly inbred 3x2 to Sadler's Wells, has well and truly turned the spotlight on a pattern that has attracted its share of suspicion over the years – yet is also found in some kind of variation in the backgrounds of Cliffs Of Moher, Eminent and Cunco.

Inbreeding to a horse such as Green Desert was also likely to become more prevalent over time, given that the stallion and his descendants invariably offer that element of speed craved by the modern market. With sons such as Invincible Spirit, Oasis Dream and Cape Cross admired as fine conduits for speed, it was never going to take long for his name to double up in pedigrees – even though the son of Danzig did not stop covering at Nunnery Stud before 2011.