G'day Rarebit,
I'm not one that's naturally given to following the pack however running off into the bushes on your own, apparently for no other reason than for the sake of just doing so is a sure fire way to (euphemistically speaking) die alone, cold and hungry, in the dark.
Apparently you've never watched any vision of Muscle Hill racing? I have NEVER seen a Trotter go that fast, and one go that fast so effortlessly.
You choose to explain the deeds of this freakish animal by suggesting that the timing is off and that his speed is all about the race bikes...and that Self Possessed was just as fast...on an adjusted scale....
? Matey, I think you might need a nice cup of Tea, a Bex and a good lie down. :-P
Different is all well and good however we're not dealing with the Equine breeding equivalent of the great Warren Buffet's zig when everyone else zags ethos.
Genes that are or that likely will prove to be incompatible/inferior for the job at hand are with you for a whole lot longer than are the machinations of the Stock Market. To put it another way, a mate of mine who breeds Angus Cattle says " A bad Bull will come back to haunt you".
As for maternal connections, taking a lot of notice of any sire's maternal family is fraught with danger.
It is a sometimes ignored but a nevertheless well documented fact, somewhat of an intriguing quirk too, that many of the greatest Sires in the history of the Standardbred breed have been thinly/short & often rather obscurely bred down their dam lines. Closer up, the dam sires of various sires have also repeatedly proven themselves to be rather inconsequential predictors of siring success.
Check it all out for yourself. The dam lines and dam sires of sires mean 4/5ths of bugger all on a good day.
We are ultimately attempting to breed equine athletes, not various bits of paper nor computer screens with lots of nice colours on them.
A stallion's chances of success will, as always, ultimately hinge on his sire line, his racetrack performance, type, conformation, gait & being in the possession of genes widely compatible with the genes possessed by the broodmare band/s he is afforded.
There is simply no more nor no less to it all, than that.
Incidentally, just for the sake of the exercise here are Revenue's top 10 followed by those of Muscles Yankee. You be the judge.
Revenue
BREAK THE BANK K 2007 H T, 3 1:51.3m $ 1,007,829 AMERICAN MISTY 2010
REVEN DAMOUR 2005 H T $ 578,988 MELODY DAMOUR 2010
HOT SHOT BLUE CHIP 2006 G T, 4 1:51.3m $ 433,477 HUSTLE N MUSCLE 2010
PRICEVALLEYREVITUP 2006 G T, 4 1:53.2s $ 206,301 SHATTERED 2010
SIR WINSTON 2006 G T, 4 1:53.2s $ 162,625 QUEEN VICTORIAN 2010
SOUTHWIND TAGAR 2006 G T, 4 1:57.0f $ 118,337 SOUTHWIND TRANQUIL 2010
KEEP THE SPIRIT 2006 M T, 3 1:56.1s $ 112,364 GREAT EXPECTATIONS 2010
TALL COTTON 2006 H T, 4 1:54.1s $ 111,798 B COR PEATRA 2010
MY BACK PAGES 2006 H T, 3 1:54.0m $ 105,182 WINDSURFING V C *2009
RS GIGGLES 2006 M T, 4 1:55.4f $ 100,735 GOLDEN PSALM 2010
Muscles Yankee
MR MUSCLEMAN 2000 G T, 5 1:51.1s $ 3,582,823 MEADOWBRANCH IRENE *2008
MUSCLE HILL 2006 H T, 3 1:50.1m $ 3,273,342 YANKEE BLONDIE 2009
DEWEYCHEATUMNHOWE 2005 H T, 3 1:50.4m $ 3,155,178 TROLLEY SQUARE 2008
STRONG YANKEE 2002 H T, 3 1:50.3m $ 1,434,351 SO SO CHIC 2006
COSTA RICA 2007 M T, 3 1:54.3s $ 1,275,630 EXAMINATION 2010
MUSCLE MASSIVE 2007 H T, 3 1:51.0m $ 1,239,138 GRACEFUL TOUCH 2010
HOUSETHATRUTHBUILT 2001 M T, 3 1:52.4m $ 1,164,931 SUPER SHANN 2005
BLUR 2002 M T, 3 1:55.1s $ 1,022,268 BLUE RIDGE GIRL 2005
MUSCLES MARINARA 2000 G T, 8 1:52.1m $ 1,020,753 CHILI BOWL 2010
TOM RIDGE 2001 H T, 3 1:50.2m $ 886,144 ASTORIA LOBELL 2004
The figures speak for themselves.