A triple Gr.1 winner from the Octagonal/Zabeel branch of the Sir Tristram line, Niello is a son of the Gr.3 winning mare Shadea and a full brother to the champion Lonhro who has made an encouraging start to his stud career.

The Sir Tristram line has traditionally crossed very well with members of the Star Way line – both of those stallions descendants of the famed matriarch Selene. She strongly influences Niello's pedigree via Hyperion, Pharamond II and Sir Tristram's third dam All Moonshine.

With this in mind seek strains of other members of the prolific Selene family – such as Sickle, Hunter's Moon, Big Game, Fair's Fair, Fair Copy, Bosworth, Sansovino and Schiavoni. Broodmare sires descending from Selene include Big Boost, Our Maizcay, Silver Pistol, Icelandic, Creese, Beckett and Entrepreneur.

Daughters of the last two are of particular interest as they are sons of the brothers Fairy King and Sadler's Wells. The latter is the dam sire of Octagonal's European Gr.1 winner Laverock and this is a cross that results in the duplication of the influential mares Special (whose family appears once more in Zabeel via Val de Loir) and Lalun.

Easy to find members of the Sadler's Wells and Fairy King lines in Australia and it is worth noting that both Octagonal and Zabeel have fared well when Northern Dancer is duplicated. An especially interesting branch of this prominent line is that of Last Tycoon whose second dam sire Sayajirao is a half brother to Dante – dam sire of Octagonal's dam sire Pieces Of Eight.

This provides for the duplication of the excellent mare Rosy Legend to whom Octagonal's South African Gr.1 winner Suntagonal is line-bred as is his local Gr.3 winner Diamond Deck and Lonhro's promising young city winner Huamulan.

Back to the Selene family and note that line-breeding to her descendant All Moonshine, Sir Tristram's third dam, has proven extremely successful – examples from this line including Zabeel's Gr.1 winners Might And Power, Reset and Zagalia, Octagonal's stakes winners Dossier, Hissy Fit and Jeremiad and Lonhro's debut winner Veewap.

All Moonshine's son Mossborough can be found in mares by Quest For Fame, Red Ransom, Dracula, Spectrum, Hemingway, Arena, Blevic, Scenic, The Judge, Zeditave, Charnwood Forest, Dr Grace, Over, Mighty Kingdom, Taimazov, Dante's Fury, Atlantic Flyer, Strategic, Magic Albert, Dash For Cash and Saarond – as well as members of the Rainbow Quest, Zamazaan and Warning sire lines.

Of those stallions look out for Dash For Cash mares (his fifth dam Felucca also the grandam of Niello's third dam sire Hermes) as well as those by his sire Secret Savings whose fourth dam is the US Champion 3Y0 Filly & Handicap Mare and Broodmare Of The Year Misty Morn. She is also the grandam of Niello's second dam sire First Consul. Look for her also in mares by Green Perfume and Polish Patriot as well as members of the Polish Precedent and Pleasant Colony sire lines.

Misty Morn's influential dam Grey Flight is a proven line-breeding subject. She can be found in mares by Snaadee, Scenic, Blevic, Gilded Time, Tale Of The Cat, Johannesburg, Spartacus, Snippets, Pins, Picnicker, Bonhomie, Dash O'Pleasure, Snowland, High Rolling, Akhenaton, Daring Young Man, Sun Master and Priolo.

The Marchetta family is another to strongly influence Niello's pedigree via Klarion, Turn-To and My Babu. Octagonal picks up well on strains of this family's prominent member Alycidon and it is also worth looking for Agricola, Borealis, Ambiorix, Marco Polo II, Sayani, Cagire II, Imperial Prince and Irish River.

Strains of Buckpasser, Mr Busher, Busher, Cohoes, Great Captain, Boucher, Noble Bijou, Woodman, Private Account, The Axe II and Caerleon are also desirable – each of those stallions (as well as Chem, Don't Say Halo, Hula Chief, Polish Navy, More Than Ready, Belong To Me, Air de France and Rhythm) being descendants of the outstanding mare La Troienne to whose son Bimelech Straight Strike's dam Bend Not is closely line-bred.

Niello is line-bred to another top mare in Feola via her descendants Round Table and Aureole. The more of this family in a pedigree the better (much of Sir Tristram's success attributed to it) and so strains of its other members Above Board, Kingstone, Tell, Doutelle, Imperialist, Envoy and Prince Bright should be sought.

My Tricia is a mare of interest to those keen to experiment. Niello's third dam, she produced the excellent stallion Grosvenor who sired a number of broodmare sires including Greig, Sealed Bid, Ebony Grosve, His Royal Highness, Omnicorp and Our Westminster.

Of course such a cross also duplicates Sir Tristram and it is worth noting that Lonhro's first stakes winner, the tough filly Black Minx, is line-bred to him.

Octagonal hails from the famous Lady Josephine family and Niello boasts strains of its members Mahmoud, Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Fair Trial and Aristophanes. The more the better here so look for Tudor Minstrel, Faux Tirage, Combat, Badruddin, Abernant, Furrokh Siyar, Kalamoun, Prince Taj, Mahmoud, Pherozshah, Jambo, Nilo, Migoli, Test Case and The Recorder.

Broodmare sires from this family include Bao Lack, Nassipour, Nabirpour, Savoire Vivre, North Reef, Ladoni, Mossman, Adraan, Golden Snake, Kreisler, Famous Star, Telesto, Eire, Nediym and Knowledge.

Octagonal's dam Eight Carat is also worthy of duplication and so it may pay to send to Niello daughters of Kaapstad, Danewin, Viscount, Dangerous, Viking Ruler, Love A Dane, Commands and Special Bond.

Mr Prospector is proving a strong line-breeding influence, two of Lonhro's black type performers – Shadrach and Minnesota Shark – carrying a duplication. Mr Prospector crosses nicely with members of the Danehill, Halo and Seattle Slew lines.

Niello is one of several topliners line-bred to Boxeuse, ancestress of Zabeel and Le Filou. Strains of another of this family's members in Herbager are worth finding and he is most easily found in members of the Star Way, Rahy and Rainbow Quest sire lines.

Also worth noting is that Octagonal has fared well with members of the Star Kingdom line – showing a particular affinity for the Kaoru Star/Luskin Star and Biscay (Marscay, Bletchingly) branches.