Sandro Hit and the Olympics
The American team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics includes Salvino by Sandro Hit, ridden by Adrienne Lyle, Suppenkasper, by Spielberg/Sunny Boy/Sandro Hit, ridden by Steffan Peters and Sanceo by San Remo/Sandro Hit, ridden by Sabine Schut-Kery. Sort of makes it an S-line super sweep, doesn't it? And let's not forget he had five offspring at the Rio Olympics!
I find this quite ironic considering the "Sandro Hits don't have good walks," or "the Sandro Hits are okay but they don't make it to the upper levels," or "Sandro Hit doesn't sire good temperaments" and other negative nonsense I've heard through the years. Any stallion with as many offspring as he has is bound to sire a few bums. (God forbid we blame the mare!) But the statistics speak for themselves, and this is a stallion whose influence on modern sport horse breeding is significant and lasting.
When I first began offering his frozen semen at less than $1000 per dose, he was the greatest thing since canned jam. But I noticed that the more expensive his semen got, the more "bad" characteristics he sired and fewer breeders used him. Yet his results speak for themselves--use him, don't use him, the line continues its upward trajectory.
Sandro Hit semen has always had and still has excellent fertility. Sandro Hit sons, like him, also tend to be good, fertile sires. Sandro Hit mares are some of the best producers in the world with high fertility and good, maternal characteristics who bring the Sandro Hit beauty to the mix. I regularly tell my clients, "If you see a Sandro Hit mare for sale, buy her."
For a good article on Sandro Hit, read this article from The Horse magazine:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2020/09/sandro-hit/
And here is a video published by Elite Stallions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFMOSB4q6UI
Oh, and can I suggest my dream breeding cross to those of you lucky enough to own a mare by Diamond Hit, who is out of the same dam as Sandro Hit? Breed her to Sandro Hit! Linebreeding to great stallions is one thing, and not too difficult to accomplish, but imagine linebreeding to one of the great mares of recent times, Loretta by Ramino.
