On April 18, 2019, Wonder Gadot became the second daughter of Medaglia d'Oro to earn Horse of the Year Honors as she was crowned Canada's Horse of the Year for 2018. While she is so far not in the same league as the similarly sired Rachel Alexandra, who earned American Horse of the Year honors in 2009, her achievements are still noteworthy and a credit to a high-class family that has been turning out excellence in North America for a century, that of Flambette.
Wonder Gadot belongs to a branch of Flambette's family descended from the Claiborne Farm-bred Nasrullah mare Gal I Love, whose dam Gallita is a full sister to the great race mare Gallorette. Herself a sister to 1957 American champion 2-year-old male Nadir, Gal I Love never raced. It was in the breeding shed that she proved the worth of her bloodlines, producing three stakes winners. The best of the trio was Saber Mountain (by Bagdad), who won four stakes including the 1966 San Felipe Handicap but suffered a fatal breakdown as a 4-year-old.
Several of Gal I Love's daughter had some influence as broodmares, and the most important of them was Homespun, a stakes-placed daughter of Round Table who became a top producer for William Farish and partners. Improving on her dam's produce record, Homespun produced multiple European Group I winner Mashaallah, 1984 Oak Leaf Stakes (USA-I) winner Folk Art and multiple stakes winner Sportin' Life to the cover of Nijinsky II.
Like Gal I Love, Homespun bred on well through her daughters, among them the unraced Raja Baba mare Hard Knocker. Hard Knocker's foals include the Green Dancer colt Huambo, a stakes winner in Germany and Turkey. and Grade I-placed Grade III winner Chimichurri (by Elusive Quality), who got her major score as a juvenile in Aqueduct's Tempted Stakes.
Chimichurri became an object lesson in the volatility of a Thoroughbred's value. Changing hands six times via the auction ring, she was a US$25,000 weanling at the 2000 Keeneland November mixed sale, a US$250,000 juvenile at the Fasig-Tipton February sale of 2-year-olds in training, a US$675,000 purchase as a racing or broodmare prospect at the 2003 Keeneland November sale, and a US$2.1 million broodmare when sold in foal to Unbridled's Song as a 5-year-old at the 2005 Keeneland November mixed sale. Eight years later, with only three minor winners to her credit from seven foals of racing age by some of the top sires in the industry, she went back to Keeneland November, where she sold for US$52,000 while in foal to Astrology. She completed her slide to the basement at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga October sale, selling for US$1,500 in foal to Emcee. The foal she was carrying, the 2017 filly Havin' a Party, was a $37,000 RNA at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale.
Chimichurri's first foal was Loving Vindication (by Vindication), a US $725,000 Keeneland September yearling who won two of her 13 starts and had enough talent to hang up a 109 Bloodstock Research Information Systems speed figure. A US$180,000 as a broodmare prospect from the 2011 Keeneland January mixed sale, she proved a money-making machine for Ontario-based Anderson Farms, which to date has sold four yearlings out of the mare (including Wonder Gadot and 2015 Tropical Park Derby winner Solemn Tribute) for a total of US$1.165 million. Following Wonder Gadot's championship season, Loving Vindication was offered in foal to Curlin at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale but failed to meet her reserve on a final bid of US$1.45 million.
With three Canadian championship titles, two Canadian Classic scores over males, a Grade II win, and three Grade I placings under her belt, Wonder Gadot has all the resume she needs to secure matings to Kentucky's top sires even if she never wins another race. She is still in training as a 4-year-old, however, so, Canadian fans will be treated to at least one more season of performances by a gal they love. And nothing would please them more than if there is a Grade I race with her name on it, an accomplishment that would add extra glitter to her already-burnished pedigree.
Wonder Gadot belongs to a branch of Flambette's family descended from the Claiborne Farm-bred Nasrullah mare Gal I Love, whose dam Gallita is a full sister to the great race mare Gallorette. Herself a sister to 1957 American champion 2-year-old male Nadir, Gal I Love never raced. It was in the breeding shed that she proved the worth of her bloodlines, producing three stakes winners. The best of the trio was Saber Mountain (by Bagdad), who won four stakes including the 1966 San Felipe Handicap but suffered a fatal breakdown as a 4-year-old.
Several of Gal I Love's daughter had some influence as broodmares, and the most important of them was Homespun, a stakes-placed daughter of Round Table who became a top producer for William Farish and partners. Improving on her dam's produce record, Homespun produced multiple European Group I winner Mashaallah, 1984 Oak Leaf Stakes (USA-I) winner Folk Art and multiple stakes winner Sportin' Life to the cover of Nijinsky II.
Like Gal I Love, Homespun bred on well through her daughters, among them the unraced Raja Baba mare Hard Knocker. Hard Knocker's foals include the Green Dancer colt Huambo, a stakes winner in Germany and Turkey. and Grade I-placed Grade III winner Chimichurri (by Elusive Quality), who got her major score as a juvenile in Aqueduct's Tempted Stakes.
Chimichurri became an object lesson in the volatility of a Thoroughbred's value. Changing hands six times via the auction ring, she was a US$25,000 weanling at the 2000 Keeneland November mixed sale, a US$250,000 juvenile at the Fasig-Tipton February sale of 2-year-olds in training, a US$675,000 purchase as a racing or broodmare prospect at the 2003 Keeneland November sale, and a US$2.1 million broodmare when sold in foal to Unbridled's Song as a 5-year-old at the 2005 Keeneland November mixed sale. Eight years later, with only three minor winners to her credit from seven foals of racing age by some of the top sires in the industry, she went back to Keeneland November, where she sold for US$52,000 while in foal to Astrology. She completed her slide to the basement at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga October sale, selling for US$1,500 in foal to Emcee. The foal she was carrying, the 2017 filly Havin' a Party, was a $37,000 RNA at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale.
Chimichurri's first foal was Loving Vindication (by Vindication), a US $725,000 Keeneland September yearling who won two of her 13 starts and had enough talent to hang up a 109 Bloodstock Research Information Systems speed figure. A US$180,000 as a broodmare prospect from the 2011 Keeneland January mixed sale, she proved a money-making machine for Ontario-based Anderson Farms, which to date has sold four yearlings out of the mare (including Wonder Gadot and 2015 Tropical Park Derby winner Solemn Tribute) for a total of US$1.165 million. Following Wonder Gadot's championship season, Loving Vindication was offered in foal to Curlin at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale but failed to meet her reserve on a final bid of US$1.45 million.
With three Canadian championship titles, two Canadian Classic scores over males, a Grade II win, and three Grade I placings under her belt, Wonder Gadot has all the resume she needs to secure matings to Kentucky's top sires even if she never wins another race. She is still in training as a 4-year-old, however, so, Canadian fans will be treated to at least one more season of performances by a gal they love. And nothing would please them more than if there is a Grade I race with her name on it, an accomplishment that would add extra glitter to her already-burnished pedigree.
RSS Feed