The Persistence of Memory

This morning, I found the above email blast from Tutto Arabi in my inbox. My heart soared. Pilarosa! I don't remember when I saw Pilarosa for the first time. Was it Menton? Was it Pride of Poland? Prague? But I do remember the hair on the back of my head standing on edge, as I experienced déjà vu. Pilarosa, a 2008 mare, bred by Janow Podlaski Stud, is an Al Adeed Al Shaqab daughter out of Pilar (Fawor x Pipi) but she is a strong reminder of a long ago mare named <DOUBLE TAKE> *Penicylina, a 1976 sired by Palas and out of Pentoda (*Bandos x Piewica).

*Penicylina (Palas x Pentoda), as photographed by Jerry Sparagowski

In the mid-eighties, within the pages of Arabian Horse World magazine, I found *Penicylina. I still remember feeling overwhelmed with wonder, when I saw her photo for the first time. I thought she was one of the most beautiful mares ever. Bred by the Janow Podlaski Stud, she was purchased in 1985 by David H. Murdock of Ventura Farms. The following year, *Penicylina was named the 1986 United States National Champion mare. 

*Penicylina's dam, Pentoda, is sired by a Negatiw son (*Bandos) and out of Piewica, a Priboj (Piolun x Rissalma) daughter, out of the Ofir daughter, Wlodarka. Piewica was bred by the Tersk Stud and exported to Albigowa Stud in the fifties. At Janow Podlaski, Piewica is credited as the root or source mare of the highly esteemed "P" line of horses.  Bandola, the dam of *Bandos is also the dam of Banat, the sire of Pipi, who is out of Pilarka, the Palas daughter out of Pierzga. Pipi is the dam of Pilar (by Fawor), the dam of Pilarosa. So, while *Penicylina, as an individual, is not physically present in Pilarosa's pedigree; the ancestral elements present in *Penicylina's pedigree, are also present in the pedigree of Pilarosa. 

By virtue of her sire, Palas, who was sired by Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia) and out of a Nil (Sid Abouhom x Malaka) daughter, *Penicylina carried 37.5% Egyptian blood. Bred to Ruminaja Ali, she produced a colt in 1994, who was named Penacle VF. It would be the one and only time that she was bred to a straight Egyptian horse. How I wished she had been bred to Ansata Halim Shah  (Ansata Halim Shah x Sundar Alisayyah) instead! 

Pilarosa, sired by the late straight Egyptian stallion, Al Adeed Al Shaqab and Palas, the sire of Pilarka, carries even more Egyptian breeding than *Penicyclina, almost 58%. Pilarosa is as close as we will ever come to  combining the genetic legacy of *Penicylina's family with the blood of Ansata Halim Shah. Not to mention, a young man's long ago dreams and his version of the "golden cross".

***this blog was previously published in April 2021***