A good way to gather information about a horse’s pedigree is on this site.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/thoroughbred-breeding/sire-lists

You can learn what sires are good with 2-year-olds, who are the good new sires, and who are good turf sires amongst other things. This can be important in handicapping 2-year-old races, horses running for a first time at a different difference/on a different surface, and other things. I’ve found it to be very useful.