Black Tie Affair (IRE)
April 1, 1986 – July 2, 2010
Miswaki (USA) x Hat Tab Girl (USA), by Al Hattab (USA)
Family 9-f
April 1, 1986 – July 2, 2010
Miswaki (USA) x Hat Tab Girl (USA), by Al Hattab (USA)
Family 9-f
The best American runner sired by the good Mr. Prospector stallion Miswaki, Black Tie Affair was not a spectacular racehorse. What he was at his best was tough, sound, honest, and consistent, and those qualities were enough to gain him Eclipse Awards as American Horse of the Year and American champion older male after he closed 1991 by racking up six straight graded stakes wins, including a defeat of his primary rivals for the titles in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1). He was not a particularly successful stallion in Kentucky and Japan and ended his stud career standing as a regional sire in West Virginia. His greatest long-term influence may be as the broodmare sire of 2008 European champion 2-year-old male Mastercraftsman, a successful sire in Europe and a champion sire in Chile.
Race record
45 starts, 18 wins, 9 seconds, 6 thirds, US$3,370,694
1988:
1989:
1990:
1991:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 111 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile males of 1988, 15 pounds below champion Easy Goer.
Rated at 110 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1989, 19 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.
Rated at 113 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1990, 15 pounds below co-highweights Easy Goer and Sunday Silence and 14 pounds below official divisional champion and Horse of the Year Criminal Type.
Co-highweighted with Farma Way and In Excess at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1991.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American male sprinters of 1991, 1 pound below champion Housebuster.
As an individual
A strongly made gray horse standing 16.1½ hands, Black Tie Affair competed as a sprinter-miler at first but was able to stretch his speed further as he matured. He fared best when he could control the tempo from the front end and was game and determined at the finish. He was a good shipper who would lie down and sleep in a horse van if room permitted. He routinely raced on the anti-bleeding medication furosemide.
As a stallion
According to Thoroughbred Times, Black Tie Affair led the West Virginia state sire list in 2008, The Blood-Horse has Black Tie Affair as West Virginia’s leading sire in 2009 and 2010. Records kept by The Jockey Club credit Black Tie Affair with 607 winners (64.0%) and 34 stakes winners (3.6%) from 949 named foals of racing age.
Sire rankings
Per the American Racing Manual (Daily Racing Form) series:
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
Notable progeny
Evening Attire (USA), Formal Gold (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Mastercraftsman (IRE)
Connections
Black Tie Affair was bred by Stephen J. Peskoff and was foaled in Ireland because his dam Hat Tab Girl had been sent there to foal out and then be mated to Caerleon. A US$85,000 yearling at the 1987 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, he was owned by Edward P. Sawyer of Hudson River Farm. Sawyer sold the colt to Jeffrey Sullivan for US$125,000 in April 1989. Initially trained by Walter Reese, Black Tie Affair was trained by Ernie Poulos after the sale. He was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph by Jerry Bailey. The horse entered stud in 1992 in Kentucky at Vinery. In 1998, he relocated to East Stud in Japan and remained there through 2003. At that point, Dee Poulos, the wife of Ernie Poulos, started a campaign to repatriate Black Tie Affair, which was successful. After returning to the United States, the stallion stood at Blue Ridge Farm near Upperville, Virginia, in 2004, before moving to Randy Funkhouser’s O’Sullivan Farm, Charles Town, West Virginia, where he stood as the property of a partnership managed by Donna Hayes until he was pensioned in July 2009 due to declining fertility. He was then relocated to the Old Friends retirement facility near Georgetown, Kentucky, where he was euthanized due to laminitis in July 2010.
Pedigree notes
Black Tie Affair is inbred 5x5x5 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah, who was also the English/Irish champion sire of 1951. He is a half brother to 1993 Premio Presidente della Repubblica (ITY-G1) winner Great Palm (by Manila) and to restricted stakes winner Start a Tab (by Matsadoon). He is also a half brother to Student Wife (by Seattle Slew), dam of stakes winner Naseem (by Point Given; dam of listed stakes winner Unstoppable U, by Exchange Rate) and to Black Tie Kiss (by Danzig), dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Kiss the Kid and listed stakes winner Lemon Kiss (both by Lemon Drop Kid) and second dam of 2014 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lochte.
Black Tie Affair is out of the minor stakes winner Hat Tab Girl, one of just three foals produced from the Grade 3-placed Bold Commander mare Desperate Action. A half sister to Grade 2 winner Reinvested (by Irish Castle) and to Grade 3-placed listed winner Reaffirming (by Affirmed), she is also a half sister to Alyaffirm (by Alydar), dam of juvenile stakes winner Airy Hill (by Hennessy).
Desperate Action and her siblings are out of the winning Crafty Admiral mare Crafty Alice, whose half sister Scarlet Lilly (by Bernborough) is the dam of 1968 Monmouth Invitational Handicap winner Balustrade (by First Landing) and the second dam of multiple Malaysian Group 2 winner Nostradamus. Another half sister to Crafty Alice, Princess Thelma (by Princequillo), produced Princess S. (by Assagai Jr.), who was a multiple stakes winner in Puerto Rico under the name of Princess Assagai. The next dam in Black Tie Affair’s tail-female line, Thelma Berger (by Brown King) was a good race mare who won the 1951 Beldame Handicap.
Books and media
Footage of Black Tie Affair’s victory in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLwMaZXONY4.
Fun facts
Last updated: September 30, 2023
Race record
45 starts, 18 wins, 9 seconds, 6 thirds, US$3,370,694
1988:
- Won Malus Stakes (USA-R, 7FD, Philadephia Park)
- 2nd Deputy Minister Stakes (USA, 6FD, The Meadowlands)
- 2nd Allegheny Stakes (USA, 6.5FD, Philadelphia)
1989:
- Won Sheridan Stakes (USA-G3, 8FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Bold Favorite Handicap (USA-L, 8FD, Sportsman’s Park)
- 2nd Cupid Stakes (USA-R, 8FD, Philadelphia Park)
- 3rd Thomas D. Nash Memorial Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FD, Sportsman’s Park; from 4th by disqualification)
- 3rd Sportsman's Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (USA-L, 6FD, Sportsman’s Park)
1990:
- Won Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (USA-G2, 10FD, Hawthorne)
- Won Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Keeneland)
- Won Equipoise Mile Handicap (USA-G3, 8FD, Arlington Park)
- 2nd Island Whirl Handicap (USA-L, 7FD, Louisiana Downs)
- 2nd Jack R. Johnston Memorial Stakes (USA-L, 6FD, Sportsman’s Park)
- 2nd Issac Murphy Stakes (USA, 7FD, Arlington Park)
- 3rd Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1, 6FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Louisiana Downs Budweiser Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-L, 6FD, Louisiana Downs)
1991:
- Won Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Philip H. Iselin Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)
- Won Michigan Mile and One-Eighth Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Detroit)
- Won Washington Park Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Cornhusker Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Ak-Sar-Ben)
- Won Stephen Foster Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Carter Handicap (USA-G1, 7FD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd Razorback Handicap (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
Honors
- Eclipse Award, American Horse of the Year (1991)
- Eclipse Award, American champion older male (1991)
Assessments
Rated at 111 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile males of 1988, 15 pounds below champion Easy Goer.
Rated at 110 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1989, 19 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.
Rated at 113 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1990, 15 pounds below co-highweights Easy Goer and Sunday Silence and 14 pounds below official divisional champion and Horse of the Year Criminal Type.
Co-highweighted with Farma Way and In Excess at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1991.
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American male sprinters of 1991, 1 pound below champion Housebuster.
As an individual
A strongly made gray horse standing 16.1½ hands, Black Tie Affair competed as a sprinter-miler at first but was able to stretch his speed further as he matured. He fared best when he could control the tempo from the front end and was game and determined at the finish. He was a good shipper who would lie down and sleep in a horse van if room permitted. He routinely raced on the anti-bleeding medication furosemide.
As a stallion
According to Thoroughbred Times, Black Tie Affair led the West Virginia state sire list in 2008, The Blood-Horse has Black Tie Affair as West Virginia’s leading sire in 2009 and 2010. Records kept by The Jockey Club credit Black Tie Affair with 607 winners (64.0%) and 34 stakes winners (3.6%) from 949 named foals of racing age.
Sire rankings
Per the American Racing Manual (Daily Racing Form) series:
- 10th on the American general sire list in 2000.
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
- 7th on the American general sire list in 1997; 10th in 1998.
Notable progeny
Evening Attire (USA), Formal Gold (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Mastercraftsman (IRE)
Connections
Black Tie Affair was bred by Stephen J. Peskoff and was foaled in Ireland because his dam Hat Tab Girl had been sent there to foal out and then be mated to Caerleon. A US$85,000 yearling at the 1987 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, he was owned by Edward P. Sawyer of Hudson River Farm. Sawyer sold the colt to Jeffrey Sullivan for US$125,000 in April 1989. Initially trained by Walter Reese, Black Tie Affair was trained by Ernie Poulos after the sale. He was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph by Jerry Bailey. The horse entered stud in 1992 in Kentucky at Vinery. In 1998, he relocated to East Stud in Japan and remained there through 2003. At that point, Dee Poulos, the wife of Ernie Poulos, started a campaign to repatriate Black Tie Affair, which was successful. After returning to the United States, the stallion stood at Blue Ridge Farm near Upperville, Virginia, in 2004, before moving to Randy Funkhouser’s O’Sullivan Farm, Charles Town, West Virginia, where he stood as the property of a partnership managed by Donna Hayes until he was pensioned in July 2009 due to declining fertility. He was then relocated to the Old Friends retirement facility near Georgetown, Kentucky, where he was euthanized due to laminitis in July 2010.
Pedigree notes
Black Tie Affair is inbred 5x5x5 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah, who was also the English/Irish champion sire of 1951. He is a half brother to 1993 Premio Presidente della Repubblica (ITY-G1) winner Great Palm (by Manila) and to restricted stakes winner Start a Tab (by Matsadoon). He is also a half brother to Student Wife (by Seattle Slew), dam of stakes winner Naseem (by Point Given; dam of listed stakes winner Unstoppable U, by Exchange Rate) and to Black Tie Kiss (by Danzig), dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Kiss the Kid and listed stakes winner Lemon Kiss (both by Lemon Drop Kid) and second dam of 2014 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lochte.
Black Tie Affair is out of the minor stakes winner Hat Tab Girl, one of just three foals produced from the Grade 3-placed Bold Commander mare Desperate Action. A half sister to Grade 2 winner Reinvested (by Irish Castle) and to Grade 3-placed listed winner Reaffirming (by Affirmed), she is also a half sister to Alyaffirm (by Alydar), dam of juvenile stakes winner Airy Hill (by Hennessy).
Desperate Action and her siblings are out of the winning Crafty Admiral mare Crafty Alice, whose half sister Scarlet Lilly (by Bernborough) is the dam of 1968 Monmouth Invitational Handicap winner Balustrade (by First Landing) and the second dam of multiple Malaysian Group 2 winner Nostradamus. Another half sister to Crafty Alice, Princess Thelma (by Princequillo), produced Princess S. (by Assagai Jr.), who was a multiple stakes winner in Puerto Rico under the name of Princess Assagai. The next dam in Black Tie Affair’s tail-female line, Thelma Berger (by Brown King) was a good race mare who won the 1951 Beldame Handicap.
Books and media
Footage of Black Tie Affair’s victory in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLwMaZXONY4.
Fun facts
- After Jeffrey Sullivan agreed to pay US$100,000 for Black Tie Affair in the spring of 1989, Edward Sawyer backed out on the deal and upped his asking price to US$125,000. Sullivan wanted to walk away, but Ernie Poulos was sold on the colt and persuaded Sullivan to buy him anyway.
- Poulos won another argument with Sullivan two years later, to the benefit of both. After two tries in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1), Sullivan wanted to take a third try at the race in 1991. But following the Washington Park Handicap, in which Black Tie Affair defeated 1990 Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) winner Summer Squall, Ernie Poulos was convinced his horse could stay 10 furlongs with the best and argued for Black Tie Affair’s entry in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Poulos got his way and Black Tie Affair did the rest.
- During his championship season, Black Tie Affair raced at nine different tracks and logged some 14,000 miles of travel.
- Black Tie Affair was the first of five Breeders’ Cup Classic winners for National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey. The others were Arcangues (1993), Concern (1994), Cigar (1995), and Saint Liam (2005).
- Black Tie Affair became the namesake for a stakes race at Arlington Park.
Last updated: September 30, 2023