In a population of 100 stakes winners, a total of 20 would represent the Nearctic sire line. This might be construed as a positive nick. But here, too, there are problems associated with interpreting the data. First, the derived statistics and nicking patterns, as is the case with Dosage, would apply only to large populations and not necessarily to individuals. In fact, we breed individuals, not bloodlines.
Bloodlines rise and fall for many reasons.
But a characteristic of ascending bloodlines is that the individuals representing that bloodline are superior breeding animals relative to the remainder of the population. Declining bloodlines are similarly characterized by inferior breeding animals. Therefore, dominating the situation is the fact that breeding superior sires to mares by superior broodmare sires increases the probability of producing superior foals. This returns us to the concept of individual nicking patterns and the problems associated with statistical significance. Bloodline compatibilities are statistically meaningful only in terms of large populations and in that context are useful in assessing general trends within bloodlines.