High Schemes (USA)
April 25, 1980 – c. 2002
High Echelon (USA) x Sweetly Scheming (USA), by Creme Dela Creme (USA)
Family 18
April 25, 1980 – c. 2002
High Echelon (USA) x Sweetly Scheming (USA), by Creme Dela Creme (USA)
Family 18
After Grade 1 winners Princess Rooney, Ski Goggle, and Able Money all had to pass the Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) due to injuries, the filly Classic drew 16 starters. The winner turned up in High Schemes, a daughter of Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner High Echelon who found the 1½ mile distance to her liking and ran off by seven lengths over future Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) winner Spit Curl. A good filly on her day, she also won a pair of Grade 2 events during her career but proved a much better runner than broodmare.
Race record
22 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 3 thirds, US$388,390
1983:
1984:
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1983, 4 pounds below champion Heartlight No. One.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American female turf runners of 1984, 11 pounds below divisional champion Royal Heroine.
As an individual
A chestnut mare with plenty of stamina, High Schemes could handle fast going, slop and turf. She did her best racing cruising close to the pace.
As a producer
High Schemes produced 13 named foals, of which 11 started and seven were winners. The best of them on the track was Grade 3-placed Vermont (by Chief's Crown). Her only daughter, Saratoga Souvenir (by Souvenir Copy), produced three foals of no significance.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, High Schemes was bred by Mr. and Mrs. Howard King. She was purchased for US$9,500 as a yearling by Joseph O. Morissey Jr. and was trained by Philip G. Johnson. She was ridden to her Classic score by Jean-Luc Samyn. She produced three foals for Morissey before becoming the property of Brushwood Stable. After producing one foal for the partnership of Brushwood with Peter Brant and White Birch Farm, one for the partnership of Brushwood and Peter Brant, and four more with Brushwood Stable as sole breeder, she passed to the ownership of Elk Manor Farm, which bred three more foals from her. Her final foal, the Awad gelding Eamonn, was bred by Dean Schneider in 2002.
Pedigree notes
High Schemes is inbred 4x4 to two-time American champion sire Heliopolis and 5x4 to American Horse of the Year Discovery. She is a half sister to 1989 El Camino Real Derby (USA-G3) winner Double Quick (by To the Quick) and to Never Scheme (by Never Bend), dam of 1987 Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1) winner Very Subtle (by Hoist the Silver) and multiple listed stakes winner Schematic (by Upper Nile); second dam of 2006 Ruffian Handicap (USA-G1) winner Pool Land, Grade 2 winner Broad Dynamite and multiple Grade 3 winner Voice of Destiny; and third dam of Grade/Group 3 winners Actin Good, Edison, Splash Point and Subtle Aly. In addition, High Schemes is a half sister to Odds On Favorite (by One for All), dam of restricted stakes winner Favorite Norm (by Mertzon).
High Schemes and her siblings were produced from Sweetly Scheming, a winning daughter of 1966 Jersey Derby winner Creme Dela Creme. Sweetly Scheming is a half sister to 1971 Matchmaker Stakes winner Deceit (by Prince John), dam of 1984 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Deceit Dancer (by Vice Regent), Grade 3 winner Nagurski (by Nijinsky II), German Group 3 winner Diana Dance (by Northern Dancer) and Group 2-placed Irish stakes winner Accomplice (by Graustark); second dam of Canadian Grade 3 winners Cool Halo and Lord Nelson; and third dam of Grade/Group 3 winners Miss Grindstone, Deva and Declan's Warrior. Sweetly Scheming is also a half sister to Double Deceit (by Northern Dancer); to Easter Robin (by Prince John), dam of Grade 3 winner Prince Majestic (by Majestic Prince); and to Rare Lady (by Never Bend), dam of 1998 La Brea Stakes (USA-G1) winner Magical Allure (by General Meeting) and stakes winners Write Off (by Wajima) and Floral Magic (by Affirmed). Rare Lady is also the second dam of 1999 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) winner Narita Top Road, 2007 Arima Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Matsurida Gogh and Japanese Group 3 winner Danon Yoyo and the third dam of 2014 Japanese champion 2-year-old male Danon Platina.
Sweetly Scheming is out of Double Agent (by Double Jay), a winning full sister to 1960 San Carlos Handicap winner Clandestine and 1957 Top Flight Handicap winner Plotter. The last-named mare is the dam of multiple stakes winner Raise a Bid (by Raise a Native) and 1972 World's Playground Stakes winner Gallant Knave (by Gallant Man). Double Agent is also a half sister to Swipe (by Swaps), dam of stakes winner Swap for Power (by Seat of Power). The next dam in the tail-female lineage is Conniver (by Discovery), the American champion handicap female of 1948
Books and media
High Schemes is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: July 21, 2020
Race record
22 starts, 6 wins, 6 seconds, 3 thirds, US$388,390
1983:
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- Won Gazelle Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Rare Perfume Stakes (USA-L, 8F+70yD, Aqueduct)
- 3rd Lady Golconda Stakes (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
1984:
- Won Queen Charlotte Stakes (USA-G2, 11FT, The Meadowlands)
- 2nd Violet Handicap (first division) (USA-G3, 8.5FT, The Meadowlands)
- 2nd Laurel Turf Cup Stakes (USA-L, 12FT, Laurel)
- 3rd Eatontown Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FT, Monmouth)
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1983, 4 pounds below champion Heartlight No. One.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American female turf runners of 1984, 11 pounds below divisional champion Royal Heroine.
As an individual
A chestnut mare with plenty of stamina, High Schemes could handle fast going, slop and turf. She did her best racing cruising close to the pace.
As a producer
High Schemes produced 13 named foals, of which 11 started and seven were winners. The best of them on the track was Grade 3-placed Vermont (by Chief's Crown). Her only daughter, Saratoga Souvenir (by Souvenir Copy), produced three foals of no significance.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, High Schemes was bred by Mr. and Mrs. Howard King. She was purchased for US$9,500 as a yearling by Joseph O. Morissey Jr. and was trained by Philip G. Johnson. She was ridden to her Classic score by Jean-Luc Samyn. She produced three foals for Morissey before becoming the property of Brushwood Stable. After producing one foal for the partnership of Brushwood with Peter Brant and White Birch Farm, one for the partnership of Brushwood and Peter Brant, and four more with Brushwood Stable as sole breeder, she passed to the ownership of Elk Manor Farm, which bred three more foals from her. Her final foal, the Awad gelding Eamonn, was bred by Dean Schneider in 2002.
Pedigree notes
High Schemes is inbred 4x4 to two-time American champion sire Heliopolis and 5x4 to American Horse of the Year Discovery. She is a half sister to 1989 El Camino Real Derby (USA-G3) winner Double Quick (by To the Quick) and to Never Scheme (by Never Bend), dam of 1987 Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1) winner Very Subtle (by Hoist the Silver) and multiple listed stakes winner Schematic (by Upper Nile); second dam of 2006 Ruffian Handicap (USA-G1) winner Pool Land, Grade 2 winner Broad Dynamite and multiple Grade 3 winner Voice of Destiny; and third dam of Grade/Group 3 winners Actin Good, Edison, Splash Point and Subtle Aly. In addition, High Schemes is a half sister to Odds On Favorite (by One for All), dam of restricted stakes winner Favorite Norm (by Mertzon).
High Schemes and her siblings were produced from Sweetly Scheming, a winning daughter of 1966 Jersey Derby winner Creme Dela Creme. Sweetly Scheming is a half sister to 1971 Matchmaker Stakes winner Deceit (by Prince John), dam of 1984 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Deceit Dancer (by Vice Regent), Grade 3 winner Nagurski (by Nijinsky II), German Group 3 winner Diana Dance (by Northern Dancer) and Group 2-placed Irish stakes winner Accomplice (by Graustark); second dam of Canadian Grade 3 winners Cool Halo and Lord Nelson; and third dam of Grade/Group 3 winners Miss Grindstone, Deva and Declan's Warrior. Sweetly Scheming is also a half sister to Double Deceit (by Northern Dancer); to Easter Robin (by Prince John), dam of Grade 3 winner Prince Majestic (by Majestic Prince); and to Rare Lady (by Never Bend), dam of 1998 La Brea Stakes (USA-G1) winner Magical Allure (by General Meeting) and stakes winners Write Off (by Wajima) and Floral Magic (by Affirmed). Rare Lady is also the second dam of 1999 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) winner Narita Top Road, 2007 Arima Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Matsurida Gogh and Japanese Group 3 winner Danon Yoyo and the third dam of 2014 Japanese champion 2-year-old male Danon Platina.
Sweetly Scheming is out of Double Agent (by Double Jay), a winning full sister to 1960 San Carlos Handicap winner Clandestine and 1957 Top Flight Handicap winner Plotter. The last-named mare is the dam of multiple stakes winner Raise a Bid (by Raise a Native) and 1972 World's Playground Stakes winner Gallant Knave (by Gallant Man). Double Agent is also a half sister to Swipe (by Swaps), dam of stakes winner Swap for Power (by Seat of Power). The next dam in the tail-female lineage is Conniver (by Discovery), the American champion handicap female of 1948
Books and media
High Schemes is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- High Schemes' edition of the Coaching Club American Oaks drew 16 starters, the largest field in the history of the race.
- High Schemes could have been claimed for US$30,000 as a juvenile, but no one wanted her at the price. She finished second in the race but had shown trainer P. G. Johnson enough that she was not risked again.
Last updated: July 21, 2020