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Mares on Monday: A Bit of Hooplah in the Eclipse Stakes

5/30/2022

While 2021 Canadian Horse of the Year Mighty Heart was the headliner for the Eclipse Stakes (CAN-G2) on May 29 at Woodbine, it was Artie's Storm who stole the show. The 4-year-old gelding by We Miss Artie had been training splendidly coming up to the race and lived up to his morning form in his first race of the season, winning his first graded stakes by a length after taking two restricted stakes at Woodbine last year.

Artie's Storm is the latest good horse to emerge from the family of Hooplah, which has been doing good work for over half a century without quite reaching the level of the top matriarchies. A 1965 daughter of Hillary, Hooplah lived up to her name on the racetrack by winning the 1968 Hollywood Oaks before producing four stakes winners in the paddocks, three of them of graded stature. The best of the group was Afifa (by the good Bold Ruler son Dewan), winner of the 1978 Vanity Handicap (USA-G1), and Hooplah also produced 1979 Donald P. Ross Handicap (USA-G3) winner Alias Smith (by Al Hattab), multiple Group 3 winner Auction Ring (by Bold Bidder), and listed stakes winner Whow (by Spectacular Bid), the dam of 2004 Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G3) winner Second of June (by Louis Quatorze).

Two of Hooplah's non-stakes-winning daughters also contributed to the growing family. One, Group 1-placed Northern Walker (by Northern Dancer), is the dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Passagere du Soir (by Rainbow Quest). The other, unraced Passing My Way (by Pass the Glass) is the dam of Phone Chatter (by Phone Trick), the American champion 2-year-old filly of 1993.

Phone Chatter did not train on as hoped after her juvenile season, winning only one restricted stakes from nine starts after her victory in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1). She had some success as a broodmare, producing 2001 Nassau County Stakes (USA-G2) winner Cat Chat (by Storm Cat), in turn the dam of 2012 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) winner In Lingerie (by Empire Maker) and the second dam of Japanese Group 2 winners Red Bel Jour and Red Belle Aube.

Others of Phone Chatter's daughters, while not particularly successful on the track, have contributed in the breeding shed. Doula (by Gone West) is the second dam of New Zealand Group 2 winner Mongolian Falcon, and Mini Chat (by Deputy Minister) is the dam of 2007 Norfolk Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dixie Chatter (by Dixie Union) and 2013 Los Flores Stakes (USA-G3) winner Rumor (by Indian Charlie). A third daughter, Stormy Reply (by Storm Cat) has now joined the club, as her daughter Tiz Stormy Now produced Artie's Storm as her sixth foal and fifth winner from six named foals.

Unfortunately, Artie's Storm is the last foal of Tiz Stormy Now, whose other foals are all males. Nonetheless, Hooplah still has a number of well-bred female descendants in production, and it is likely to be only a matter of time before another of them comes up with something worth getting excited about.

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Weekly Trivia Challenge for 5/27/2022

5/27/2022

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What was the first race worth US$100,000 or more to be reserved specifically for fillies and mares, and what was the name of the winner of this milestone event?

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Mares on Monday: Returns Still Coming In for Hildene

5/23/2022

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Following in the hoofprints of the similarly owned and trained Cloud Computing, lightly raced Early Voting skipped the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1) with its huge field, heavy traffic, and often overwhelming crowd presence in favor of heading to the Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) Going up against a lesser level of some of the variables that are often the undoing of an inexperienced Derby runner proved to be a winning strategy as the colt was able to relax off the front runner and come through in the stretch run for trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman. The victory made Early Voting the first Classic winner and fifth Grade 1 winner for Gun Runner, whose first foals are 3-year-olds of this year.

While Early Voter's win continued building the reputation of his young sire, it represents another chapter in a rich tradition for his female family. Descended from Chistopher Chenery's foundation mare Hildene, it has been turning out high-class racehorses for over 70 years---probably not a result that anyone would have expected when Chenery first returned a non-winning, visually-impaired mare to the paddocks.

A daughter of 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over---an unsound horse who ended up going blind---Hildene spent her first few years being bred to horses whose ability as racehorses decidedly outran their ability as sires. She showed some ability to produce roast chicken from chicken feathers by throwing Mangohick as her second foal. A son of three-time American champion but poor sire Sun Beau, Mangohick combined his sire's soundness and hardiness with enough talent to win several stakes races.

The turning point in Hildene's broodmare career came when she was taken to the court of Princequillo in 1946. While universally acknowledged as a fine stayer (his wins included the 1943 Jockey Club Gold Cup, then at 2 miles), Princequillo was probably about 10-12 pounds below the best of his crop over the 9-12 furlong range that top American males were then expected to excel at, and his European bloodlines were both strongly stamina-oriented and unfamiliar to most American breeders. "Bull" Hancock of Claiborne Farm had taken a liking to Princequillo and bought into him, but the Claiborne stallion barn was sufficiently full of what were seen as better prospects that Princequillo was sent to the Hancock Family's older Ellerslie Farm in Virginia when he began his stud career in 1945. In Hildene, Princequillo met a mare whose pedigree carried a double dose of the speedier American strains of Ben Brush and Commando, with salutary results.

It could be said that Hildene and Princequillo made each other as a top broodmare and a top sire, for the fruit of their 1946 mating was 1950 American Horse of the Year Hill Prince---in a nice symmetry between then and now, the winner of the 1950 Preakness Stakes among other accomplishments. Named the 1950 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year based mostly on Hill Prince, Hildene produced two more colts by Princequillo (who went on to become a two-time American champion sire and eight-time champion broodmare sire). Both those colts were stakes winners, and Hildene also produced 1958 American champion 2-year-old male First Landing to a cover by Turn-To.

None of Hildene's daughters achieved fame on the track, but Satsuma (sired by the good sprinter but indifferent sire Bossuet) produced three-time American champion filly Cicada. Another Hildene daughter by a moderate sire, First Flush (by Flushing II) proved to be the primary conduit for Hildene's emerging family, producing three stakes winners. Through the best of them, her Bold Ruler daughter Bold Experience (winner of the 1964 Sorority Stakes, then the equivalent of a Grade 1 race), First Flush became the granddam of the high-class Round Table colt Upper Case and the third dam of 1989 Irish St. Leger (IRE-G1) winner Petite Isle.

Early Voting's branch of the family traces back to another of First Flush's stakes winners, Copper Canyon, whose sire Bryan G. was also the sire of Cicada. While Copper Canyon did not produce any stakes winners, she produced four stakes producers including Copernica (by Nijinsky II), dam of 1987 Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1) winner Crusader Sword (by Damascus), and Cherokee Phoenix (by Nijinsky II), dam of 1988 Flamingo Stakes (USA-G1) winner Cherokee Colony (by Pleasant Colony).

Copper Canyon's daughter Insilca (by Buckpasser) never raced but is the dam of 1995 Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) winner Turk Passer (by Turkoman). Through her stakes-winning daughter Silken Doll (by Chieftain), she is also the second dam of 1995 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Silken Cat (by Storm Cat), in turn the dam of 2004 American champion sprinter and successful sire Speightstown (by Gone West) and of multiple graded stakes winner Irap (by Tiznow), a colt sadly lost to laminitis after suffering a leg fracture in the 2017 Pennsylvania Derby (USA-G1).

In between Speightstown and Irap, Silken Cat foaled Irap's full sister Amour d'Ete. Like her brother, Amour d'Ete suffered a share of misfortune, being robbed of a racing career by a fungal infection, but she was at least lucky enough to recover and go to the paddocks. Early Voting is Amour d'Ete's third foal and third winner, and the mare produced a full sister to the Classic winner in 2020. She followed up with a Constitution filly in 2021 and a Volatile filly foaled on April 17.

Early Voting will not be going on to the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (USA-G1), so the earliest prospect of a matchup between him and surprise Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will likely be in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (USA-G1) or the Runhappy Travers Stakes (USA-G1) later on in the summer. Nonetheless, in a year in which no one colt has yet established dominance, he certainly has his hat in the ring as a candidate for year-end honors, not an unprecedented position in the history of Hildene's descendants.

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2022 Preakness Trivia Challenge

5/19/2022

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In honor of the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, here's a special five-part trivia challenge. Can you find all the answers on the website before post time?

1) What Preakness winner had the barn name of "Prairie Dog"?

2) A number of horses with only one eye have won important races, but this Preakness winner was so erratic in his previous starts that, for the Preakness, his trainer put him in a set of blinkers that completely blocked the vision in one eye in hopes that it would persuade the colt to run a straight course, Apparently, it worked. Who was he?

3) What "bull-headed" Preakness Stakes winner was raised on a cow's milk formula after being orphaned at an early age?

4) Continuing on a bovine theme, what Preakness winner drew comment that his dam "must have been a cow" and why?

5) Who was the first man to both ride and train winners of the Preakness Stakes?

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Mares on Monday: A Constitution for a Crafty Lady

5/16/2022

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Since its inauguration in 1940, the Peter Pan Handicap (USA-G3) has served as a spot for later-maturing colts seeking a springboard to the Belmont Stakes (USA-G1). Six colts have won the Belmont Stakes after taking the Peter Pan, most recently Tonalist in 2014, and on May 14, another colt put in his bid to become the seventh. His name is We the People, and the son of multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution made his name known in a big way when he romped in the 9-furlong test by 10¼ lengths over a sloppy, sealed track.

Sired by Tapit, who has three Belmont Stakes winners to his credit, Constitution took both his top-level wins over 9 furlongs and has sired two winners of the El Ensayo (CHI-G1), Chile’s oldest Classic race, which is contested over 2400 meters (about 1½ miles). He is also the sire of 2020 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets winner Tiz the Law, who is bred on the same Constitution/Tiznow cross as We the People. Although the Belmont was contested at only 9 furlongs in 2020 due to issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tiz the Law also won the Runhappy Travers Stakes at 1¼ miles and showed no signs that 10 furlongs represented the limit of his tether.

If there is any question regarding We the People’s ability to get the Belmont trip, it comes from the distaff half of his pedigree. He is a great-grandson of Win Crafty Lady, a daughter of Crafty Prospector who was a good sprinter and has been building up a nice family over the last few decades.

Crafty Prospector (by Mr. Prospector out of Real Crafty Lady, by In Reality) actually appeared to stay fairly well, losing the 1983 Gulfstream Park Handicap (USA-G1) over 10 furlongs by just a neck to the top staying filly Christmas Past. As a sire, however, he tended to throw the speed suggested by his immediate pedigree. Win Crafty Lady was fairly typical of his progeny. A three-time stakes winner, she took down her biggest score at a shade better than 27-1 odds in the 1993 Interborough Breeders’ Cup Handicap (USA-G3) over 6 furlongs. Her defeated rivals included multiple Grade 1 winner Quick Mischief and multiple graded stakes winner Wood So, underscoring the quality of her performance.

As a graded stakes-winning half sister to the multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter Diligence (by Miswaki), Win Crafty Lady had good though not stellar credentials as a broodmare prospect. That said, she was a better producer than either her race record or her pedigree suggested she would be. The best of her runners was 2003 Ballerina Handicap (USA-G1) winner Harmony Lodge (by Hennessy), and she also produced multiple Grade 2 winner Graeme Hall (by Dehere), 2006 Floral Park Handicap (USA-G3) winner Win McCool (by Giant’s Causeway), and multiple stakes winner Win’s Fair Lady (by Dehere). The last-named mare is the dam of 2009 Azalea Stakes (USA-G3) winner First Passage (by Giant’s Causeway), in turn the dam of 2018 Molly Pitcher Stakes (USA-G3) winner Berned (by Bernardini), and Win’s Fair Lady is also the second dam of 2021 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (USA-G1) winner Pinehurst (by Twirling Candy).

Win McCool did her bit to add to the family honor by becoming the second dam of 2018 Arkansas Derby (USA-G1) winner Magnum Moon (by Malibu Moon), and Win Crafty Lady is also the dam of Perfect Chance (by Unbridled’s Song), dam of Japanese listed stakes winner Wild Card (by Street Sense). In addition, she is the dam of Lorelei K. (by Storm Cat), dam of 2019 San Vicente Stakes (USA-G2) winner Sparky Ville (by Candy Ride).

After scoring her big win over 7 furlongs, Harmony Lodge probably did not surprise anyone when she produced 2011 Shakertown Stakes (USA-G3) winner Stratford Hill to a cover by A.P. Indy, who sired a number of surprisingly speedy types in spite of his own undoubted stamina. To a mating with Declaration of War, Harmony Lodge has also produced 2019 Toronto Cup Stakes winner Armistice Day. We the People is a son of Harmony Lodge’s daughter Letchworth, whose distance capacity is unknown as she never raced.

While members of Win Crafty Lady’s family have won good races at up to 9 furlongs, she has yet to number a real distance horse among her descendants—though in fairness, this could be said of many good American families, in part because of the paucity of races over 10 furlongs or more on dirt in American racing at any but the highest levels. Having two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow as his maternal grandsire is certainly a plus for We the People when it comes to getting a distance, but it is an irony of American racing that, with the Belmont being such an outlier for distance, the tactical speed the colt seems likely to have inherited from his dam’s side may be just as important in securing position and settling into a high-paced cruise, qualities that separate winners from losers in the Belmont quite as often as raw stamina does.

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Derby/Oaks Trivia Answers

5/13/2022

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Many thanks to all of you who participated in the special trivia challenges last week! Here are all the answers:

Kentucky Oaks

1) Wedlock, winner of a division of the 1959 Oaks, ran barefoot.

2) English Lady won a two-horse race for the Oaks in 1890.

3) Lemons Forever was the first Kentucky Oaks winner to earn Kentucky Broodmare of the Year honors, gaining the latter honor in 2017.

4) Eddie Arcaro rode three consecutive Oaks winners in 1951-1953, piloting How, Real Delight, and Bubbley to the lilies.

5) Buryyourbelief became the first New York-bred to win the Kentucky Oaks in 1987.

Kentucky Derby

1) Alex Harthill was the "Derby Doc."

2) 1907 Kentucky Derby winner Pink Star ended up as a gelding doing farm work.

3) On May 16, 1930, 1929 Kentucky Oaks winner Easter Stockings won the Shady Brook Farm Handicap (an overnight race) at Churchill Downs. Her victims that day included 1928 Kentucky Derby winner Whiskery and 1929 Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Dusen.

4) Although Exterminator was not the youngest horse to win the Derby (Northern Dancer takes the honors there by six days), he has the latest known foaling date, arriving on May 30 in 1915.

5) Ben Ali was a stakes winner in San Francisco in 1886 prior to his Kentucky Derby triumph.

Due to family issues, there will be no trivia challenge this week. Hope to see you next week with a Preakness special!

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Mares on Monday: Lukas's Ladies

5/8/2022

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D. Wayne Lukas is 86, and the big wins have been more sporadic for him in the 21st century than during his heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. He doesn't have as many big-name clients now, and it shows in the depth of his stable. The fire in his belly is still there, though, along with the perfectionistic drive that didn't win him any popularity contests but did make him a superb trainer of both horses and younger trainers. On Friday, May 6, that fire carried him to one of the great milestones of horse racing as Secret Oath, a daughter of the late Arrogate, powered down the stretch to win the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). Her victory tied Lukas with another Hall of Fame member, Woody Stephens, for most Oaks victories during a training career with five.

Unlike Stephens, who got three of his Oaks winners from Harry Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Farm, Lukas' five Oaks winners represent five different stables. The first was 1982 victress Blush With Pride, an aptly named daughter of Blushing Groom and the great broodmare Best in Show who raced as a homebred for Darrell and Lendy Brown's Stonereath Stable. Also the winner of the 1982 Santa Susana Stakes (USA-G1), Blush With Pride became an important broodmare in her own right with three graded or Group stakes winners to her credit. One of them, Better Than Honour, earned honors as the 2007 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, and Blush With Pride is the ancestress of champions Rags to Riches, Peeping Fawn, and Rhett Butler. as well as 2006 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Jazil and 2020 Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) winner Paris Lights.

Lukas's second Oaks winner came two years later when Lucky Lucky Lucky carried off the lilies for breeder Leslie Combs II of Spendthrift Farm and partner Equites Stable. The winner of five other graded stakes during her career, including the 1983 Matron Stakes (USA-G1), the daughter of the good Bold Ruler horse Chieftain and stakes-placed Just One More Time (by Raise a Native) set a sales record of US$3 million for a broodmare at the 1986 Keeneland January mixed sale, selling in foal to Northern Dancer. Unfortunately, she failed to live up to either her race record or her price tag as a broodmare.

Open Mind, Lukas's third Oaks winner, was no surprise to anyone. The American champion juvenile filly of 1988 for owner Eugene Klein, the daughter of Deputy Minister and multiple stakes winner Stage Luck (by Stage Door Johnny) was bred to be still better with age and distance and lived up to that pedigree. Besides the 1989 Kentucky Oaks, she won the New York Triple Tiara series and the Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) and was an easy choice as the American champion 3-year-old filly. Unfortunately, she produced only two named foals including Japanese stakes winner Easy Mind (by Easy Goer).

Lukas got Oaks number four the very next year with Seaside Attraction, who got her only stakes win in the filly Classic. The first Classic winner for William T. Young's Overbrook Farm (which later campaigned 1994 Preakness/Belmont winner Tabasco Cat, 1995 Preakness winner Timber Country (in partnership), and 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, Seaside Attraction had cost $1.05 million as a weanling and was herself the produce of two Classic winners, being by 1977 American Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew out of 1979 Canadian Oaks winner Kamar. Following her racing career, Overbrook retained her as a broodmare and was well rewarded for doing so. While Seaside Attraction produced only five named foals before her death, four of them were stakes winners, including 1995 American champion 2-year-old filly Golden Attraction (by Mr. Prospector) and 1998 Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Cape Town (by Seeking the Gold). Seaside Attraction is also the second dam of three graded or Group stakes winners including 2006 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp (FR-G1) winner Desert Lord.

For a time this spring, Secret Oath was improving so rapidly in the 3-year-old filly division that Lukas and owner-breeder Briland Farm (Rob and Stacy Mitchell) decided to see if the filly had what it would take to emulate Winning Colors, the big roan Amazon that captured the 1988 Kentucky Derby for Lukas. Secret Oath's bid to earn a Kentucky Derby starting berth fell short with her third-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (USA-G1), but she had more than enough late kick to overpower her Oaks rivals and bring home the lilies. She also showed enough to merit possible consideration for the Preakness Stakes, so another tilt against males is not out of the question. Of course, that is hardly a conventional next stop for an Oaks winner, but it isn't unprecedented---Rachel Alexandra pulled off that double in 2009---and Lukas has seldom let convention overrule his own judgment, which seems to be as keen as ever. Whether he can keep going to pull off a record-breaking sixth Oaks win is a question for the future, but for now, the sweet smell of lilies is his, as is another remarkable accomplishment in his Hall of Fame career.

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Oaks/Derby Trivia Challenge 2022

5/3/2022

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I'm going to be extremely busy later in the week, so in recognition of America's greatest Classic weekend, here's a special trivia challenge covering both the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) and the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1). Can you find all the answers on the website by the time the weekend's over?

For the Kentucky Oaks:

1) What Kentucky Oaks winner won the race while running barefoot?

2) Like the Kentucky Derby, the Oaks often ran with small fields prior to World War I and was contested by only two runners on one occasion. Who won this two-horse race, and what was the year?

3) Name the first Kentucky Oaks winner to earn honors as the Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.

4) Who is the only jockey to have won the Kentucky Oaks for three consecutive years, and who were his winning mounts?

5) Who was the first New York-bred winner of the Kentucky Oaks?

For the Kentucky Derby:

1) Known as the "Derby Doc," this veterinarian cared for 27 Kentucky Derby winners at one time or another during his career. Who was he?

2) What Derby winner suffered the ignominy of being gelded and put to farm work following his racing career?

3) What two Kentucky Derby winners were beaten in the same race by a Kentucky Oaks winner, and who was the Oaks winner who pulled off this feat?

4) What Kentucky Derby winner had the latest foaling date?

5) Who was the first Kentucky Derby winner to race in California prior to triumphing at Louisville?

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Mares on Monday: A Saga from Argentina

5/2/2022

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On April 30, Argentine Group 1 winner Blue Stripe put a seventh-place finish in the 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1) behind her with a powerful stretch run in the Santa Margarita Stakes (USA-G2), claiming victory by a length. It was the first North American win for the daughter of top Argentine sire Equal Stripes, a half sister to 2019 Distaff winner Blue Prize (by Pure Prize).

Blue Stripe and Blue Prize are out of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Blues for Sale (by 2014 Argentine champion sire Not for Sale), whose fourth dam, Sea Saga, has had a profound impact on Argentine breeding. A daughter of the great French champion Sea-Bird, Sea Saga was one of three stakes-winning fillies produced from the Bold Ruler mare Shama, herself an influential matron.

Sea Saga won only nine of her 55 starts, but she placed another 19 times. Her biggest win came in the 1971 Ladies Handicap, then a race equivalent to a modern Grade 1, and she won two other stakes events and placed in another eight before heading to the paddocks. She lived to produce but four foals, but all were fillies and three achieved some note as broodmares. The most notable of the three was 1977 Test Stakes (USA-G3) winner Northern Sea (by Northern Dancer), who produced Southern Halo to a 1982 cover by Halo. A winner who was multiple Grade 1-placed on the track, Southern Halo rewrote the Argentine record books as a stallion; according to the Stud Book Argentino, he led the Argentine sire list 10 times and the Argentine broodmare sire list 16 times. Southern Halo has also had influence in North America and Australia through his Kentucky-sired son More Than Ready, a champion sire of juveniles in both Australia and the United States.

Blues for Sale traces to Sea Saga through Northern Sea's full sister Dancer's Saga, who won only one of her 13 starts but produced the stakes winners Exclusive Story (by Exclusive Native), Colonial Saga (by Pleasant Colony), and Pleasant Tango (by Pleasant Colony). She also produced the unraced Key to the Mint mare Dancer's Key, whose winning Cure the Blues daughter Key Cure was sent to Argentina. There, Key Cure produced both Blues for Sale and multiple graded/Group 3-placed stakes winner Cure for Sale (by Not for Sale). Another of Key Cure's daughters by Not for Sale, Far Away Eyes, is the dam of Argentine Group 3 winner Far Away Love (by Violence), a filly that ran third in the 2021 Gran Premio Selección (Argentine Oaks, ARG-G1).

Blue Stripe is the latest member of this family to add a notable achievement to her family's story, but she probably will not be the last. Still in production in Argentina, Blues for Sale produced the 2020 filly Blue Coast and the 2021 filly Blue Aura, both by two-time Argentine champion Suggestive Boy, before missing to Equal Stripes for 2022. Blue Prize likewise has foals too young to race, having produced an Into Mischief filly in 2021 before producing an Instagrand colt on March 28. As for Blue Stripe herself, she has at least this season's racing to go before she joins her dam and her sister in the broodmare ranks, where she too may contribute to a saga that links North and South America.

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