by Michael Bowling
Copyright 1997 All rights reserved

*Nasik was foaled in 1908 in Wilfrid Blunt’s Newbuildings half of the partitioned Crabbet Stud. He was a son of Rijm (Mahruss x *Rose of Sharon) and Narghileh (Mesaoud x Nefisa); both his granddams were dynastic mares (pretty clearly, the two central mares of the Crabbet tradition) and daughters of Hadban, a desert stallion imported to India and then to England as a race horse, and then exported almost immediately to Australia; these two incomparably influential matrons are his only offspring in pedigrees.

*Nasik at Crabbet

*Nasik’s grandsires were the first two colts bought from Ali Pasha Sherif by the Blunts; Mahruss had only one foal at Crabbet, but he proved an important sire (Rijm, obviously); Mesaoud was the most used sire in the history of the Stud, the only Crabbet sire credited with oveer 100 registered progeny. *Nasik was full brother to another internationally influential sire, *Nureddin II, and to the mare Nessima who founded a widely branched family. Narghileh’s daughter *Narda II also produced the early-day endurance winners *Noam and *Crabbet by Rijm.

(I used to fantasize that, if I ever had access to time travel, I would go back and visit Crabbet in 1908, just to see Nefisa and her daughter Narghileh grazing together with their foals of that year, Nasra and *Nasik. Then I learned about the Partition, and realized that the pasture scene I envisioned could never have happened. After 1906 Narghileh did her grazing at Newbuildings and Nefisa was at Crabbet, although on the latter mare’s death Lady Anne worked another trade to bring Narghileh as her replacement.)

Lady Anne Blunt traded her husband another colt for *Nasik and he became one of her chief sires; when Lady Anne died he was one of the horses (along with *Berk) that Wilfrid Blunt declared surplus and worthless (he also “killed her chickens, plowed up her garden”). *Berk was sold to W.R.Brown but *Nasik was recovered by Lady Wentworth on the settlement of the lawsuit which had resulted from Blunt’s challenge of Lady Anne’s will.

*Nasik’s most important get sired in England were Ranya, Rafeef and *Rokhsa. In 1926 he was presented by Lady Wentworth to W.K. Kellogg, and became the head sire of the Kellogg program in Pomona, CA. *Nasik crossed particularly well with the Rasim daughters *Rifla and *Farasin, siring from the former Rifnas and the mares Shemseh and Kadah; and from the latter, a set of ten full siblings including Farana, Sikin, Nafara, Treyf, Farnasa and Nafara. *Nasik also got successful breeding horses from other mares in California, including the outcross progeny Valensik from Valencia and Najur from Sedjur (both Davenport-Hamidie) and Amla from Arak (straight Davenport).

“Old California” breeding is practically always “*Nasik linebreeding” if you carry pedigrees far enough back. He is less well represented in the modern straight Crabbet and GSB horses, but he is there too. His influence also is widespread in combined-source pedigrees behind such influential sires as Khemosabi and Huckleberry Bey.

The movement which has grown into the CMK program had its origins about 25 years ago as “The *Nasik Group” and CMK is still the tradition most closely identified with, and giving most recognition to, his influence.