A few weeks ago, we went out to visit Private Terms.  It was a quiet day at Claiborne, but then most are, for at no other farm does there seem to be such a hush over everything, a sort of reverence. I believe that this is the tangible feel of history, at least Thoroughbred history.  And Private Terms is history personified.

A “No Apologies” Pedigree

Consider just the bare bones of Private Terms’s pedigree – his sire is by Damascus out of a Buckpasser mare from *La Troienne’s family.  His dam is a Bold Ruler half sister to Ruffian.  If there is not a book’s worth of stories in that pedigree, I’d like to know where there is.

About a week after we visited this black beauty, his retirement from breeding was announced.  We thought this would be a good time to reflect on his accomplishments and to make suggestions for keeping this grand bloodlines alive.  There’s not a bad line in this pedigree; it should be preserved.

A Very Fine Runner

Private Terms, it should first be remembered, was a very good racehorse.  He went into the gate in the 1988 Kentucky Derby unbeaten in seven starts, the most important of which was the G1 Wood Memorial.  I was absolutely mad for him, even though he was not the most perfect physical specimen in the world.  (Charlsie Cantey once said – prior to the Derby - that while his legs were not set on perfectly that he “put one in front of the other faster than all of his opponents to date.”) 

Obviously, Private Terms’ unbeaten record fell in the Kentucky Derby, where he ran ninth behind Winning Colors, beaten just under 6 ½ lengths.  He returned in the Preakness and ran fourth behind Risen Star, Brian’s Time and Winning Colors.

He did not contest the Belmont, which Risen Star won, but did win the listed Governor’s Handicap at Pimlico.  He then ran fourth behind Forty Niner, Seeking the Gold and Primal in the Haskell. 

It looked like he might be a threat in the Super Derby when he won the Prelude, but he ran fourth in the big stake behind Seeking the Gold, Happyasalark Tomas and Lively One.  That event marked the end of his sophomore year. 

Private Terms ran again at four, making four starts and winning all but one of them.  One of those wins was the G2 Massachusetts Handicap, the other two listed stakes – the appropriate named Damascus Handicap at Laurel and the Never Bend at Pimlico.

The almost black colt retired with 12 wins in 17 starts and earnings of $1.2 million.  He never hit the board except for his wins, and owned not a single second or third.  He was a true “all or nothing at all horse”.  And as such, though in a far less tragic way, he called to mind his dam’s three-quarter sister Ruffian.

To Stud – To Carry On?

Private Terms was never bred to the bloated books that sires see today.  To date he has 16 crops containing 623 foals – an average of 39 foals per year.  Fourteen of those crops are of racing age and he has gotten 75% starters, 54% winners and 4% stakes winners.  He has also sired 3% stakes placed horses.

The closely related Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Deelites are his two best runners.  Soul of the Matter avenged his sire’s loss in the Super Derby of 1994 and won or placed in eight other graded races, including a second in the Dubai World Cup.  Sadly, he was exported to Japan where he did not do well at stud, and is now in California where he is unlikely to see many top mares. He has yet to sire a stakes winner.

Afternoon Deelites has done better.  Now at stud in Louisiana, he previously stood at Airdrie Stud in the Bluegrass.  He’s sired 4% stakes winners and has consistently led the sire list in his new home state.  However, he has not seen the kind of mares that are likely to give him a son to carry on the male line.  So that means that both of Private Terms best sons are in trouble.

Now there is one more horse, at least in everything we have he is listed as an entire horse, and that is La Reine’s Terms, a now 11-year-old son of Private Terms out of La Reine Elaine.  La Reine Elaine is a full sister to La Reine Rouge, the second dam of Barbaro. 

La Reine’s Terms has done most of his racing in Maryland-bred events and at the time of this writing, has won 16 of 40 starts and $804,591.  We can’t find him listed in any stallion book, nor is there an article about his retirement, so we don’t know if he’s actually a gelding or not.

There is another horse who fits into this category, and that is Private Lap, which is also listed as a colt.  This fellow, out of the Dynaformer mare Just Like Jill, has won almost $700,000 and is a listed stakes winner.

Next in line come a couple of geldings – P Day ($683,023 and a G3 winner) and B Flat Major ($490,480 and a listed stakes winner). The ridgling Connecting Terms who won the Lone Star Park Handicap and placed in the G3 Tesio S is listed as standing at stud in Texas.

Three Regional Sons

There are three stallions besides Afternoon Deelites, Soul of the Matter and Connecting Terms by Private Terms listed at stud in the 2006 Blood Horse and Thoroughbred Times stallion books:  Jackson in New York, Treasured Gift in Washington, and Midterm in West Virginia.  None of them won a stake, though Treasured Gift was stakes placed.

Jackson is arguably the best of these.  He lasted 25 times and earned over $113,000.  He is a half brother to stakes placed Commander’s Flag by Spinning World and is tail-female to Winkle II (16-B).  Some of the sires this family has produced are Riboccare, Nininski, and Cyane.  There is a Sun Briar/Sunreigh cross and dam Gay Chiffon adds an extra line of *La Troienne to Private Terms’s double.  But his lack of a stakes win will hurt him. 

Treasured Gift placed in a minor overnight stake and earned over $118,000 in 27 starts.  He is a half brother to G3 stakes winner Fleur De Nuit by Woodman and to stakes placed Precious Pearl (IRE) by Peintre Celebre.  The family traces to Glencairne (1-T) and is very grassy.  His dam Pearl Bracelet by Lyphard won the French One Thousand Guineas.  Rather makes one wonder why he’s not at stud in Europe.

Midterm ran 23 times and couldn’t break $60K.  He is from the Good Morning family (9-A) that gave us Sultry Song, Prince O’ Morn and Strategic Command.  He is inbred to Lavendula and his dam adds a Quickly/Stepwisely cross, and a third line of *La Troienne.

Any of these horses might do well if properly supported, but we don’t hold out much hope for them in regional markets.  At this juncture, it seems that if Afternoon Deelites does not hold down the fort for Private Terms, his tail-male line is doomed.

As A Broodmare Sire

As a broodmare sire, Private Terms is in the exact same position as any horse:  His production as a broodmare sire is the direct result of the quality of the families of the mares to which he was bred.  This is because it is the tail-female line – the family – which controls the pedigree for the most part.

To date, and in large part because more commercial sires got the best mares, Private Terms looks weak as a broodmare sire, which is sad.  He has just 1% stakes winners from starters which translates to six stakes winners, two graded.  However, one of the graded stakes horses is Argentine =Terms Parade (ARG) by Parade Marshal.  This filly has some extra *La Troienne, a very American-bred sire (Parade Marshal is a Caro half brother to Buckaroo) and is tail-female to the Oola Hills family that also gave us Pappa Fourway.  We’d like to see her come here and confirm her form and these days that is not impossible.

The other graded stakes winner out of a Private Terms mare is Virden by Tactical Cat who won the G3 Senorita at Hollywood Park.  Tactical Cat is out of a Caro mare, so perhaps Caro is one key to helping Private Terms show his best since he also appeared in =Terms Parade.

Suggested Lines To Complement – and Hopefully Save — This Wonderful Old Bloodline

If we compare Caro to Private Terms pedigree, we see that it is the Private Account part of Private Terms that jells with him.  This cross gives us a War Relic/Speed Boat cross and also adds Rosern to Gainsborough.  Laughter, his dam, brings in more Nearco but little else – Nearco’s half sister Nervesa appears in Caro to balance all the Nearco.

It is our very strong feeling that Private Terms would likely do well with Icecapade-line horses like Wild Again and Clever Trick.  He should also do well with Seattle Slew-line mares and Mr. Prospector horses inbred to *La Troienne like Woodman.

Further, while reading through his broodmare sire report, we spotted a filly named Bobbie Use by Not For Love out of Private Account’s daughter Truth and Beauty (a full sister to the above-discussed La Reine’s Terms) from the family of Barbaro and During (Silver Betsy).  This filly won the listed Tropical Park Oaks and placed in the listed Miss Grillo at Belmont.

She is inbred to Numbered Account and if she were to be bred to During sometime in the future, she would have a Monarchy/Round Table cross as well as a double of Silver Betsy. 

 We know we probably aren’t going to save Private Terms by writing about him.  But we have to try, just like we have to drink water.  It’s a real need – we have to go down fighting trying to save a horse like this.

Right now a handful of descendents like Bobbie Use above and Afternoon Deelites seem to be about the sum total of keeping the blood of this wonderful horse alive.  And before anybody turns their nose up in the air at him again, do remember that his mother is a three-quarter sister to Ruffian.  That’s as close as we’ll ever come to her.  Think about that for a minute.

This black beauty is no longer available, having been ignored into oblivion by Storm Cat crazed people whose only goal in life is to sell, sell, sell.  It would be so refreshing to come across someone who actually said, “I can’t wait to run this colt out of my best mare.  But then there we go again, wishing for a time when improvement of the breed really meant something.

We’re glad we went over to see Private Terms the other day.  He’s just as lovely as we remember him.  We look at him and see a better time and he seems to look back and understand what we see.  Nobody knows how long he or she will live, but we would surely like to be a fly on the wall the day the you-know-what finally hits the fan and horses like this are missed.  Yes, we sure would like to see that for ourselves.