*NAPITOK following her parents’ deaths, and continued their practice of selling horses to breeders all over the world. In 1936, she sold the Russians a group that included Naseem, a descendant of the Blunts’ original desert-breds. He was foaled in 1922.
Aswan brought wonderful Egyptian athletes to the pedigree, and Pirit added another cross to Priboj through his paternal great-granddam, the Priboj daughter Platforma. Tersk Stud used Aswan with great success, and his descendants continue to exert a powerful influence on the Arabian gene pool worldwide.
“*Napitok’s maternal granddam, Nomenklatura, had “Pirit’s was a far different story from Aswan’s,” says Kale, four full brothers by Naseem,” Kale continues. “Each one, resuming his narrative. “The sport horse world chose him in turn, was chosen to perpetuate the Naseem heritage to become their leading sire of sport horses, which are at Tersk, but none lived to fulfill that legacy. Their full essentially Arabian crossbreds. sister’s story was far different. So, Pirit left Tersk with very few Nomenklatura produced 12 “As a sire, he exceeded our purebred Arabian offspring.” foals, which included five good Pirit nonetheless contributed Priboj daughters, one of whom every expectation. His foals significantly to his son *Napitok’s was Neposeda.” A foal of 1955, all had his unique stamp: athleticism and gameness. Neposeda was bred to Priboj to size, excellent conformation, produce *Napitok in 1973. good movement, and willing That distinction alone placed the high-going chestnut stallion Through *Neposeda and dispositions. I believe that in rarefied company, but his Nomenklatura, *Napitok carried 13 *Napitok offspring won royal heritage did not stop there. the blood of the important Sahara national titles.” Like a charge from a doubledam line. (Sahara was one of the barreled shotgun, *Napitok’s three celebrated “Pearls of Great Dr. Dee Whittlesey male antecedents blasted through Price,” foundation mares brought history with explosive force. to Poland from the desert in 1845 In 1924, the Polish government imported Priboj’s greatby Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki.) grandsire, Kuhailan I, from Hungary’s legendary Bįbolna Stud. The Army horse and cattle depot was built on Count Of Priboj, Tersk Stud’s much-revered head sire from 1948 Szįpary’s Puszta Bįbolna property, a piece of real estate for through 1958, Russian Arabian authority O. Balakszyn which the Hungarian treasury paid 450,000 gulden—a wrote, “He was a brilliant track runner, winning classic fortune in 1789, and a hefty equivalent sum today. Bįbolna stakes races and setting speed records. Unchallenged now was a rough place for horses and men. In The Arab Horse for almost a century, Priboj is the single most influential in Europe, author Erika Schiele repeats a Bįbolna legend sire of racing champions in the Arabian breed. His legacy that some workers there were so proficient in the Magyar was passing on his ideal conformation, abundant substance and strength, harmoniously functional proportion, enduring language that they could curse steadily for two hours without repeating themselves! stamina and tenacity, and incredible, versatile athletic prowess to his offspring and their descendants.” *Napitok In To Breed an Arabian Horse, Dr. George Allen, Zenon inherited his maternal grandsire’s qualities in abundance. Lipowicz, Roman Pankiewicz and Walter Schimanski, agree that Poland’s 1924 Hungarian import, Kuhailan I, The other side of his pedigree—the sireline—provided a sired “big, very strong and brave horses.” The Kuhailan I son celebrated heritage as well. His sire, Pirit (Aswan x Pika, Piolun went to Tersk, where he was extremely significant. by Knippel), was a racing superstar who handily won Had he sired only Priboj, Piolun would have made the Russia’s most prestigious races, including the 7-million “influential” short list. Dr. Allen and his collaborators point ruble Elite. out “the tremendous impact the (Kuhailan Adjuze) sire line had on the Russian Arabian breeding program.” Pirit introduced another Arabian population altogether to *Napitok’s bloodlines. His sire, the straight Egyptian That impact is quite apparent in *Napitok. Those Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia, by Sheikh El Arab), was a qualities—big, very strong and brave—describe him gift from Egypt’s EAO Arabian Stud to the U.S.S.R., perfectly. ■ celebrating the 1963 completion of the Aswan Dam. APR IL 2010 | 183