Abel Tasman (USA)
March 12, 2014 – Living
Quality Road (USA) x Vargas Girl (USA), by Deputy Minister (CAN)
Family 1-a
March 12, 2014 – Living
Quality Road (USA) x Vargas Girl (USA), by Deputy Minister (CAN)
Family 1-a
Abel Tasman was not the flashiest filly in the American crop of 2014, but she was the most consistent. That consistency led to an Eclipse Award as the American champion 3-year-old filly of 2017 at age 3 and a total of six Grade 1 wins during her career. Following her racing career, she became the property of the Coolmore conglomerate.
Race record
16 starts, 8 wins, 4 seconds, 0 thirds, US$2,793,385
2016:
2017:
2018:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 118 pounds in the Mile category on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 16 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate (the American champion 3-year-old male) but tied with Elate for tops among 3-year-old fillies on dirt.
Rated at 118 pounds in the Mile category on the 2018 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 12 pounds below Cracksman (the highweighted European older male over 9.5-11 furlongs) and Australian Horse of the Year Winx and tied with American champion 3-year-old filly Monomoy Girl as the best dirt female.
As an individual
A tough, consistent bay, Abel Tasman has a good shoulder, prominent withers, and a long, sloping pelvis. Her cannons are rather long and she is slightly over at the knee. Her disposition is excellent and she is said to be quite intelligent. She typically broke slowly in her races and finished with a strong closing kick. She handled both fast and sloppy surfaces well. By the end of her 4-year-old season, she appeared to have lost interest in racing.
As a producer
Abel Tasman has yet to be represented by a runner on the track. She has produced a 2021 colt by Galileo and a 2022 filly by Into Mischief.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Abel Tasman was bred by Clearsky Farms. She was initially raced by Clearsky, which sold an interest in the filly to China Horse Club in January 2017. She was initially trained by Simon Callaghan but was transferred to the barn of Bob Baffert after her second-place finish in the 2017 Santa Ysabel Stakes. She won the Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks with Mike Smith in the saddle. Following her racing career, she was sold to Coolmore associate M. V. Magnier for $5 million at the 2019 Keeneland January mixed sale.
Pedigree notes
Abel Tasman is inbred 5x4 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, the 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male. She is a half sister to 2013 Dogwood Stakes (USA-G3) winner Sky Girl (by Sky Mesa).
Abel Tasman is the last foal of unplaced Vargas Girl, a half sister to 1999 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Bevo (by Prospectors Gamble) and to Grade 3 winner Moonlight Sonata (by Carson City). The last-named mare is the dam of Grade 2 winners Beethoven (by Sky Mesa) and Wilburn (by Bernardini) and listed stakes winner La Appassionata (by Bernardini); she is also the second dam of Grade 3 winners Grand Sonata and Moonlight d’Oro. Returning to Vargas Girl, she is also a half sister to Sensual Moment (by Deposit Ticket), dam of Puerto Rican stakes winner Tasmanian Moment (by Grand Slam).
Vargas Girl is out of listed stakes winner Wheatly Way (by the Grade 1-placed Norcliffe horse Wheatly Hall). Wheatly Way, in turn, is out of multiple stakes winner Family Way (by Cyane), whose half sister Eveleen (by Quarter Deck) is the dam of 1975 Top Flight Handicap (USA-G1) winner Twixt (by Restless Native; dam of Twixtslusive, by Exclusive Native). Produced from the Double Jay mare Family Line, Family Way is also a half sister to Heredity (by Salem), dam of multiple Chilean listed stakes winner Oh Reason (by Oh Say).
Books and media
The New York Racing Association’s footage of Abel Tasman’s victory in the 2017 Coaching Club American Oaks can be accessed via Erin Shea’s web article “Abel Tasman Courageous in CCA Oaks Score”, published July 23, 2017, at America’s Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2017-abel-tasman-courageous-cca-oaks-score).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Portrait photo taken by Tim Stephansen at the 2019 Keeneland January mixed sale. Used by permission.
Last updated: May 23, 2023
Race record
16 starts, 8 wins, 4 seconds, 0 thirds, US$2,793,385
2016:
- Won Starlet Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Los Alamitos)
2017:
- Won Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1, 9FD, Del Mar)
- 2nd Cotillion Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Parx Racing)
- 2nd Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Santa Ysabel Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
2018:
- Won Ogden Phipps Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Belmont)
- Won Personal Ensign Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
Honors
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (2017)
- Eclipse Award finalist, American champion older dirt female (2018)
Assessments
Rated at 118 pounds in the Mile category on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 16 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate (the American champion 3-year-old male) but tied with Elate for tops among 3-year-old fillies on dirt.
Rated at 118 pounds in the Mile category on the 2018 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 12 pounds below Cracksman (the highweighted European older male over 9.5-11 furlongs) and Australian Horse of the Year Winx and tied with American champion 3-year-old filly Monomoy Girl as the best dirt female.
As an individual
A tough, consistent bay, Abel Tasman has a good shoulder, prominent withers, and a long, sloping pelvis. Her cannons are rather long and she is slightly over at the knee. Her disposition is excellent and she is said to be quite intelligent. She typically broke slowly in her races and finished with a strong closing kick. She handled both fast and sloppy surfaces well. By the end of her 4-year-old season, she appeared to have lost interest in racing.
As a producer
Abel Tasman has yet to be represented by a runner on the track. She has produced a 2021 colt by Galileo and a 2022 filly by Into Mischief.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Abel Tasman was bred by Clearsky Farms. She was initially raced by Clearsky, which sold an interest in the filly to China Horse Club in January 2017. She was initially trained by Simon Callaghan but was transferred to the barn of Bob Baffert after her second-place finish in the 2017 Santa Ysabel Stakes. She won the Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks with Mike Smith in the saddle. Following her racing career, she was sold to Coolmore associate M. V. Magnier for $5 million at the 2019 Keeneland January mixed sale.
Pedigree notes
Abel Tasman is inbred 5x4 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, the 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male. She is a half sister to 2013 Dogwood Stakes (USA-G3) winner Sky Girl (by Sky Mesa).
Abel Tasman is the last foal of unplaced Vargas Girl, a half sister to 1999 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Bevo (by Prospectors Gamble) and to Grade 3 winner Moonlight Sonata (by Carson City). The last-named mare is the dam of Grade 2 winners Beethoven (by Sky Mesa) and Wilburn (by Bernardini) and listed stakes winner La Appassionata (by Bernardini); she is also the second dam of Grade 3 winners Grand Sonata and Moonlight d’Oro. Returning to Vargas Girl, she is also a half sister to Sensual Moment (by Deposit Ticket), dam of Puerto Rican stakes winner Tasmanian Moment (by Grand Slam).
Vargas Girl is out of listed stakes winner Wheatly Way (by the Grade 1-placed Norcliffe horse Wheatly Hall). Wheatly Way, in turn, is out of multiple stakes winner Family Way (by Cyane), whose half sister Eveleen (by Quarter Deck) is the dam of 1975 Top Flight Handicap (USA-G1) winner Twixt (by Restless Native; dam of Twixtslusive, by Exclusive Native). Produced from the Double Jay mare Family Line, Family Way is also a half sister to Heredity (by Salem), dam of multiple Chilean listed stakes winner Oh Reason (by Oh Say).
Books and media
The New York Racing Association’s footage of Abel Tasman’s victory in the 2017 Coaching Club American Oaks can be accessed via Erin Shea’s web article “Abel Tasman Courageous in CCA Oaks Score”, published July 23, 2017, at America’s Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2017-abel-tasman-courageous-cca-oaks-score).
Fun facts
- Abel Tasman is named after a Dutch explorer of the 17th century who was the first European to reach New Zealand, Fiji, and Tasmania (originally given the name Van Diemen’s Land, which it bore during colonial days).
- Abel Tasman nearly died at birth when her dam died of complications of foaling. The filly had to be resuscitated and was then raised by a nurse mare.
- Mike Smith got the mount on Abel Tasman for the Kentucky Oaks after his intended mount, favored Unique Bella, suffered a shin injury.
- Abel Tasman is the thirteenth filly to have won the Kentucky Oaks/Coaching Club American Oaks double.
- According to Simon Callaghan, the China Horse Club was behind the transfer of Abel Tasman to the barn of Bob Baffert because jockey Joe Talamo accidentally donned Clearsky Farms’s silks for the Santa Ysabel Stakes when the China Horse Club’s were to have been worn. Following the Kentucky Oaks, the China Horse Club declined to make any public comment regarding the silks issue or the transfer.
Photo credit
Portrait photo taken by Tim Stephansen at the 2019 Keeneland January mixed sale. Used by permission.
Last updated: May 23, 2023