Thoroughbred Pedigree

Question
Hi Stephanie!  I looked up my horses pedigree online, and I was just wondering if you could help me out with what some of this stuff means.

LILMANFROMAMBLER  G, 2001
DP = 4-0-2-0-0 (6)
DI = 5.00   
CD = 1.33

Does the 'G' mean gelding?  I saw 'F' on some and then I saw some 'H's on others.  Also, if you could tell me what some of the other letters mean.  Thanks!
Steph

Answer
Steph,
You're right, the G is for gelding, F is for filly, H is for horse, etc.

The other letters are Dosage numbers.  Dosage is a system of assigning points to horses in a particular horse's pedigree, in order to evaluate what his racing potential is.  The system was first developed in the last century by Lt Col. J.J. Villiers, and was refined into what we know today by Steve Roman.  
Points are assigned by how close up a particular type of horse(chef de race)appears in a pedigree, and the horses themsleves are grouped into 5 categories
(brilliant,intermediate, classic solid, and professional), representing extreme speed to extreme stamina.

The first group of numbers in your horse's pedigree is his dosage profile, or basically how many chefs de race he has in the first four generation of his pedigree.

DP = 4-0-2-0-0 (6) = 4 brilliant, 0 intermediate, 2 classic, no solid, and 0 professional, for a total of 6 points altogether.  Your horse leans heavily toward speed, with little stamina.  Probably a sprinter type.

DI = 5.00  Dosage Index reflects the ratio of speed to stamina.  Again, a 5.00 is off the scale tilted towards speed.  Probably wouldn't be able to run well at classic distances of 1 1/4.

CD is Center of Distribution theoretically the higher the CD, the lower the horse's potential ability to run a distance. 1.33 is pretty high, so it basically tells us what everything else has been pointing to.  Speed, not much stamina.  ot that any of this is set in stone, it is just a tool, like everything else, and it isn't infallible by any means.

This is just a really basic primer on Dosage, which can be pretty complicated, and way too involved to try and go into in depth here.  If you're really interested, run a search on dosage and Steve Romans for some great articles explaining it far better than I just did.  Dr Romans also has his own website, which might interest you.

Happy research!
Stephanie Frost
www.alchemybloodstock.com