Lady Aurelia shows doubling down on Storm Cat can pay off

Can there ever be too much of a good thing? Inbreeding has been employed by various breeders with great success over the years, particularly by Marcel Boussac, for whom the idea was one of the cornerstones of his operation.

Today, inbreeding to Northern Dancer is almost the norm. But, in turn, his line has become defined by different branches, whether it be the faster type generally associated with Danzig or the middle-distance influence of Sadler’s Wells and Galileo.

We’re seeing more and more breeders experiment - probably in some cases not by design - with inbreeding to Danzig. To take one example, it is a pattern that has done Kodiac no harm, featuring in the make-up of Tiggy Wiggy (3x4) and Kodi Bear (3x4).