Deputy Minister

This evening I started looking at the past performances of the Belmont Stakes contenders and something unusual jumped off the page at me. Deputy Minister shows up closely in the pedigree of 5 of the 12 participating colts. He is the broodmare sire of both Jazil and Bob and John. He is also the "grandsire" of Deputy Glitters, High Finance and Oh So Awesome.

I did some research and it apparently isn't a fluke. Deputy Minister was a most impressive race horse and sire. A champion in both the U.S. and Canada. The leading sire for two consecutive years. Sire of three champions and a classic winner.

Although he died in 2004, it seems that the prominence of the Deputy Minister sire line is increasing. I am no Pedigree Guru, but to a lesser degree, this reminds me of something that Byron said recently regarding the great sire Danzig.