Standardbred Trotting Sire Lines 101 - Speedster and Volomite

During the first decade of the 21st Century of harness horse racing, Breeders Crown-calibre stallions all descend from three 20th Century Foundation sires:

Hal Dale
Speedster
Volomite

Whereas the 3 primary standardbred pacing sire lines (Western Hanover, Artsplace, Cam Fella) all come from Hal Dale, the premier trotting line (Valley Victory) descends from Speedster and the other two dominant lines (Garland Lobell, Stars Pride - Super Bowl) are from Volomite:


Speedster - Speedy Scot - Speedy Crown - Baltic Speed - Valley Victory - Muscles Yankee

Volomite - Victory Song - Noble Victory - ABC Freight - Garland Lobell

Volomite - Worthy Boy - Stars Pride - Super Bowl


Alright, now let's take a few steps back and see how these trotting lines descend from Hambletonian son Happy Medium:

Hambletonian - Happy Medium - Pilot Medium - Peter The Great - Peter Volo - Volomite

Hambletonian - Happy Medium - Pilot Medium - Peter The Great - Peter Scott - Scotland - Spencer Scott - Rodney - Speedster

Though they descend from Star's Pride, sires like SJS Caviar and Kadabra are considered outcross sires as they have emerged from the once perceived as semi-dormant Hickory Pride and Nevele Pride lines respectively.

Trotting Outcross lines:

Stars Pride - Hickory Pride - Yankee Bambino - Photo Maker - SJS Photo - SJS Caviar

Stars Pride - Nevele Pride - Madison Avenue - Meadow Raod - Primrose Lane - Kadabra

Speedster - Arnie Almahurst - Arndon - Pine Chip - Chip Chip Hooray

Speedster - Arnie Almahurst - Florida Pro - Magna Force

Breeders looking to raise a stakes-caliber Standardbred may want to do two simple calculations when choosing between two sires:

A) Count the number of appearances of Speedster and Volomite in each stallion

B) Count the number of times Valley Victory, Garland Lobell and Stars Pride appear in each stallion

Of course it is also crucial to look at conformation and the match with your mare's own breeding, plus trends in marketability of yearlings, however the process of adding more greatness to what's already there in your mare can be magnified by focusing on the most proven names in the breeding shed.