When you have access to the legacies of Wards, Kerenskys, and other lines that have produced warriors of great repute for a dozen generations, why is it so strange to favour them over a line that consists of a single warrior?
The avoidance of inbreeding and overspecialization? Think on it this way: once upon a time, those teacup-sized yappy dogs? were wolves.
go too far down the selective breeding path and you end up with overdomestication.
but then, the Clanners are Lamarckians, not mendellian, so it's not a stretch to suggest they aren't prone to think about how overspecializing they're getting, but then, they let a guy with NO genetics claim 'Ward' and he's the ilKhan now-without so much as a blood test to verify the inheritance.