Gunsynd

Understanding a pedigree is not as simple as it may appear, or not as complicated depending upon your outlook.  The important thing to remember is that simply because a name appears in a pedigree, it does not mean that ancestor has any influence on performance.  So with that said, the first thing that is noticeable is that Gunsynd's pedigree is a five generation outcross.  That means that not one ancestor is duplicated within the first five generations of his pedigree.  We do see that changes significantly in his sixth generation, but by that stage we must be wondering what influence that those ancestors actually have on the transmission of genes to the horse we are looking at.  It should come as no surprise though that the duplications within the sixth generation are all pretty much household names.  Horses of the caliber of Chaucer, Sunstar, Orby, Swynford and Dark Ronald are all repeated in the fifth and six generations.

Gunsynd did not have what could be considered a "fashionable" pedigree.  He was by far the most important son of his sire, Sunset Hue is a son of the great stallion, Star Kingdom.  Start Kingdom is a grandson of Hyperion, and notably Sunset Hue saw Hyperion as the grand-sire of his second dam.  We also see that champion Australian racehorse and sire, Heroic is the grand-sire of his dam, Hua.

Gunsynd's dam, Woodie Wonder is a daughter of Newtown Wonder, himself a son of Fair Trial by the legendary, Fairway.  Her damsire was Mr Standfast, a half-brother to both Balloch and Beau Pere while Gunsynd's third dam is a daughter of another of Australis' Hall of Fame racehorses in Spearfelt.