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Mares on Monday: An Irish Derby for Juliets Nurse

6/27/2022

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There seems to be no stopping the Frankel express. On June 25, his son Westover, a last-out third in the Cazoo Derby Stakes (ENG-G1) after a troubled trip, powered home by seven lengths in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (IRE-G1) to become Frankel's fourth Group 1 winner and third Classic winner of 2022.

While Westover obviously owes more than a little of his talent to his sire, some consideration can be given to his broodmare sire, the fine miler and sire Lear Fan, and to his female family. The colt is a sixth-generation descendant of Juliets Nurse, the 1966 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, whose family has been plugging along at a respectable if not stellar level for the last half-century until recently.

A daughter of 1943 American Triple Crown winner Count Fleet out of a mare by Belmont Stakes winner Luke McLuke, Juliets Nurse had no taste whatsoever for distances belong six furlongs. Instead, she took after the speedy and precocious elements of her pedigree. A headlong sprinter, she won four stakes races at distances from 2 to 6 furlongs and set a track record for about 4 furlongs at Keeneland. She passed those proclivities on to her best son, Gallant Romeo, who pretty well ignored the fact that he had another Belmont Stakes winner as a sire in Gallant Man and showed near-championship form over shorter trips, culminating in a defeat of 1966 American champion sprinter Impressive in that year's Vosburgh Handicap over 7 furlongs. Gallant Romeo later became a good sire whose 42 stakes winners from 426 named foals included American champion sprinters Gallant Bob and My Juliet as well as 1976 Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) winner Elocutionist.

In spite of serious unsoundness that plagued his racing career and prevented his being trained steadily for longer-distance events, Gallant Romeo did win the 1965 Ben Ali Handicap over 8.5 furlongs, so it seems possible that he might have stayed further had he been sound enough to withstand more intensive conditioning. His half brother Run for Nurse (by Hasty Road), a much sounder specimen, stayed intermediate distances well and set a 9-furlong track record at Detroit in one of his five stakes wins in spite of being by a more precocious and speedier sire.

Juliets Nurse also had two stakes-winning daughters by Hail to Reason, who showed enough form at 2 to be the 1958 American champion juvenile male but who was more a source of classic stamina at stud. Both were stakes winners at 2 but were manifestly of different types. Dutiful was the more precocious and speed-oriented, winning the 1970 Adirondack Stakes; unfortunately, she produced only one foal, a minor winner. Woozem was a different kettle of fish. While quick enough to break her maiden with a 10-length victory over 5 furlongs, Woozem liked to run a bit longer than her sister and scored her signature win in the one-mile Demoiselle Stakes, dancing home by eight lengths in a smart 1:35-3/5.

Woozem was a disappointment at 3 and 4, probably due to injury as she started off well in 1967 with a couple of sprint stakes wins before running third in the Ashland Stakes at the Keeneland spring meeting and then disappearing from the scene. She was not the same at 4 and won only once from eight starts. She also proved a thoroughly disappointing broodmare, producing just four minor winners from 10 foals, and would have disappeared from memory as just another promising runner that fizzled out were it not for her second foal, the Round Table filly Gangster of Love.

The best of Woozem's foals on the race track, Gangster of Love won four of 12 starts and was a decent allowance filly. As a broodmare, she produced six winners from seven foals including Raft (by Nodouble), who won the 1984 Prix de la Cote Normandie (FR-G2) and ran third in that year's Dubai Champion Stakes (ENG-G1). She also produced Loveskate (by Overskate), whose son Missed Flight (by Dominion) was a Group 2 winner in both England and France and whose daughter Life at Night (by Night Shift) produced 2013 Premio Chiusura (ITY-G3) winner Regarde Moi.

Gangster of Love is also the dam of the Nijinsky II mare Sky Love, dam of 1994 Prix de Malleret (FR-G2) winner Bonash (by Rainbow Quest) and 1997 Buena Vista Handicap (USA-G2) winner Media Nox (by Lycius). Bonash, in turn, is the dam of multiple English Group 3 winner Day Flight (by Sadler's Wells) and 2007 Prestige Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Sense of Joy (by Dansili) and is the second dam of 2008 Earl of Sefton Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Phoenix Tower (by Chester House). Her full sister Love the Rain has also contributed to the family, as her listed stakes-winning daughter Quenched (by Dansili) is the dam of multiple Australian Group 3 winner Excess Knowledge (by Monsun).

Media Nox has proven the breakthrough for the family of Juliets Nurse to the top level. She has three graded or Group stakes winners to her credit, kicking off with 2002 Prix Eugene Adam (FR-G2) winner Burning Sun (by Danzig) and continuing with Nebraska Tornado (by Storm Cat), winner of the 2003 Prix de Diane Hermes (French Oaks, FR-G1) and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (FR-G1). Nebraska Tornado, in turn, is the second dam of Australian Group 3 winner Mallory (by Not a Single Doubt), and her half sister Imprecation (by First Defence) is the dam of 2021 San Gabriel Handicap (USA-G2) winner Anothertwistafate (by Scat Daddy).

The third of Media Nox's stakes winners is Mirabilis (by Lear Fan), who won the 2006 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (USA-G3) before entering the broodmare ranks. There, she has produced not only Westover but his older full brother Monarchs Glen, winner of the 2017 Darley Club Stakes (ENG-G3). Since Westover, Mirabilis has produced a 2020 filly by Expert Eye, Jalapa, and Westover has several half sisters who are still in production.

Juliets Nurse had several other daughters that were the dams of stakes winners or the ancestresses of Group winners, but the branch of the family descended through Gangster of Love is by far the most prominent and prolific when it comes to turning out good runners. This is probably in no small part due to the family's association with Juddmonte Farms, which has guaranteed both access to high-class stallions and careful consideration of matings. Juddmonte's stewardship of this family has now resulted in a second Classic winner for its breeding program, and with a bit of luck, the line of Juliets Nurse will continue to produce fine horses for some time to come.

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Mares on Monday: Breakpoint Comes Up Roses in San Juan Capistrano

6/20/2022

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On June 19, the Chilean import Breakpoint signaled a return to his fine South American form with a win in the San Juan Capistrano Handicap (USA-G3) at Santa Anita. The 2020/2021 Chilean Horse of the Year was unsuccessful in four North American starts last year but seems to have made the transition now and will be looking for spots in long-distance turf races as his North American career continues.

A son of Constitution, Breakpoint is a grind-it-out stayer, a tendency that seems to have been recurrent in his female family. He is a descendant of the Irish-bred mare Rose Hill, who was imported to Chile in 1945. Sired by a stakes-winning son of the English Cup horse and stamina influence Son-in-Law out of a mare by the top 12-furlong horse Apelle (whose sire Sardanapale was also a major stamina influence), Rose Hill could be expected to pass on stamina and apparently did so. Her good descendants trace to three daughters: Quemaldad (by the major stakes winner Quemarropa), third dam of 1976 Santa Barbara Handicap (USA-G1) winner Stravina and Group 1-placed Chilean Group 3 winner Murano; Rosette (by the Fairway horse Vicinity), whose daughter Rosaleen II (by the good staying handicapper Jardiniere) won Las Oaks (the Chilean Oaks) and El Derby (the Chilean Derby) in 1961 and is the second dam of 1980 Monmouth Oaks (USA-G2) winner Rose of Morn; and Rose (by Vicinity).

Rose's branch of the family took some time developing but has become its main conduit in Chile through her granddaughter Rosary (Paresa x Rosedew, by Quemarropa), whose daughter Recia (by Chilean champion sire Silver Moon III, by dual Argentine Classic winner and important sire Seductor) won Las Oaks (CHI-G1) in 1976. Recia was a disappointment as a broodmare in the United States, but her full sister Rosarito is the dam of Group 2-placed Chilean listed stakes winner Serafino (by Tantoul) and the third dam of Chilean Group 3 winner Contralmirante. Another daughter of Rosary, Rimada (by Rigel II), is the dam of Chilean listed stakes winner Munich (by the Sea-Bird horse Mr. Long, a five-time champion sire in Chile) and of Rio Claro (by Damascus Silver), a high-class steeplechaser who won the 1988 New York Turf Writers Steeplechase Handicap and Carolina Cup. Rimada is also the second dam of Chilean Group 2 winner Faran and the third dam of 2007 Premio St. Leger (CHI-G1) winner Kurbat.

Selva Rosa, a full sister to Recia and Rosarito, produced Group 1-placed Spezia (by two-time Chilean champion sire Domineau, by Never Bend), who as a broodmare for Haras Matancilla produced two-time Chilean champion Ser o No Ser (by the Mr. Prospector horse Golden Voyager), winner of the 2003 Las Oaks. Spezia is also the dam of Sirnak (by Fappavalley), dam of 2015 Premio Alberto Vial Infante (CHI-G1) winner Samindar (by Ivan Denisovich), and of Sirena Azul, a Group 3-placed full sister to Ser o No Ser who is the dam of Chilean Group 2 winner Shapandaz (by three-time Chilean champion sire Dushyantor, a son of Sadler's Wells).

Sirena Azul's firstborn daughter Sirena del Egeo (by multiple French Group 1 winner Indian Lodge)  also did well as a producer, foaling multiple Group 2 winner Safawi (by the Storm Cat horse Seeking the Dia, a multiple stakes winner in Japan) and Chilean Group 3 winner Sabiendo (by Viscount Nelson). Acquired by Haras Don Alberto, Safawi has produced two stakes winners from five named foals of racing age. One is Breakpoint; the other is Chilean Group 3 winner Suspira Mi Amor, a 2018 daughter of Lookin At Lucky who ran third in Chile's oldest Classic, the El Ensayo (CHI-G1), in 2021. In keeping with Haras Don Alberto's policy of seeking access to top American bloodlines with a history of success in Chile (they are the Southern Hemisphere base for Lookin At Lucky and Constitution), Safawi's most recent produce is a 2021 colt by 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) winner Mendelssohn (by two-time Chilean champion sire Scat Daddy), a half brother to three-time American champion sire Into Mischief.

As a long-winded turf stayer, Breakpoint does not seem likely to fit the American commercial stallion market no matter how successful he is this year and may well return to Chile at the conclusion of his racing career. Nonetheless, he may well prove a fun addition to an American turf male division which lacks a clear leader at mid-year, and he is a worthy member of a family that, through its generations, has been in it for the long run.
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Weekend Trivia Challenge for 6/17/2022

6/17/2022

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Most students of Kentucky Derby history know that Brokers Tip scored the only victory of his racing career in the 1933 Kentucky Derby. What North American racehorse went him one better by picking up two-thirds of a Triple Crown as the only victories of its career?
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Mares on Monday: Regal Glory Comes Marching Home

6/13/2022

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The field may have been short for the Longines Just a Game Stakes (USA-G1) on June 11, but the race resulted in a cracking good performance nonetheless. Under a confident ride by Jose Ortiz, Regal Glory trailed the pace set by Leggs Galore and then In Italian by as much as nine lengths before taking command in the stretch. The daughter of Animal Kingdom stopped the timer for the mile on firm turf in a swift 1:32 flat. The official split for the final quarter was a lively enough 23.05, but as Regal Glory was still close to 5½ lengths off the pace at the three-quarters pole, she had to have run her final quarter in closer to :22 seconds, a brilliant closing move by anyone's standards.

A half sister to two-time February Stakes (JPN-G1) winner Cafe Pharoah (by American Pharoah) and multiple Grade 3 winner Night Prowler (by Giant's Causeway), Regal Glory has been later in coming to her best form but has now racked up three Grade 1 wins at 5 and 6. Her dam Mary's Follies is the latest top broodmare from the family of Reine-de-Course Marching Home, which has been producing good horses for over eighty years.

After the epic duel between Man o' War and John P. Grier in the 1920 Dwyer Stakes, It seems inevitable that someone would have thought crossing the bloodlines of the great champion and the only horse to ever bring him to a drive would be an interesting experiment. Sired by John P. Grier out of the Man o' War mare Warrior Lass, Marching Home proved durable (she won 13 of 65 starts) but was a long way from top class as a race mare, though her half brother Knickerbocker (by Teddy) won the 1939 Metropolitan Handicap. Her first three matings were all to the good stayer Espino and produced all three of her stakes winners, a trio headed by Bounding Home, who became the first American Triple Crown spoiler when he upset Pensive by half a length in the 1944 Belmont Stakes.

Bounding Home never won another stakes race and died in training as a 6-year-old, but two of his half sisters made contributions as broodmares. One, stakes-placed Leading Home (by Bull Lea) became the second dam of 1976 Vanity Handicap (USA-G1) winner Miss Toshiba and the third dam of five-time champion Committed (who won titles in England, France and Ireland) and 1986 Vosburgh Handicap (USA-G1) winner King's Swan. The other, Sailing Home (by Wait a Bit, one of the three participants in the famous triple dead heat in the Carter Handicap of 1944) made a lasting mark on Thoroughbred bloodlines as the second dam of 1971 Jersey Derby winner Bold Reasoning, sire of Seattle Slew.

Sailing Home's best runner on the racetrack was Tacking (by Turn-To), who gained three stakes placings at Keeneland in the late 1950s before becoming the dam of 1968 San Bernardino Handicap winner Tiltable (by Round Table). Tacking also produced seven daughters who ended up in the broodmare ranks, but the only one of any significance was her unraced Sir Ivor filly, Queen Ivor. Queen Ivor produced Duchess Ivor (by In Reality), dam of the minor stakes winner Real Fling (by Quiet Fling), but more importantly is the dam of Blue Ankle (also by In Reality), who produced multiple listed stakes winner Wave to the Queen  (by Wavering Monarch) as the second of her two foals.

Bred mostly to second-tier or worse sires during her broodmare career, Wave to the Queen had the results that would be more or less expected, but she took advantage of a mating to Miswaki in 2000 to produce Catch the Queen. Catch the Queen could not win or place in three tries, but when bred to More Than Ready in 2005, she produced the final link in the sequence to Regal Glory by coming up with Mary's Follies. The winner of the 2009 Mrs. Revere Stakes (USA-G2) and Boiling Springs Stakes (USA-G3) during her racing days and now a multiple Grade/Group 1 producer, Mary's Follies is still active as a broodmare and on February 26 produced a full brother to Cafe Pharoah. 

For owner Peter Brant, who purchased Regal Glory for US$925,000 from the 2021 Keeneland January mixed sale, the win was particularly satisfying as he also campaigned the race's namesake, Just a Game, who was the American champion turf female of 1980. With the American racing season of 2022 now at the halfway mark, Regal Glory is certainly in contention in the turf female division, and if she continues showing the brilliant turn of foot that she did in Saturday's race, look for her to come marching home in more top events before season's end.


​
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Mares on Monday: Rest in Peace, Lester Piggott

6/6/2022

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On June 4, Desert Crown displayed an electric turn of foot to take the Cazoo Derby in memorable style. The great race was run this year in honor of the late Lester Piggott, himself the rider of nine Derby Stakes winners, and three of those winners—Sir Ivor (1968), Nijinsky II (1970), and Roberto (1972) appear in Desert Crown’s pedigree: Sir Ivor as the broodmare sire of Desert Crown’s broodmare sire, Green Desert; Roberto as the paternal grandsire of the great broodmare Magnificient Style, whose son Nathaniel is the sire of the Derby winner; and Nijinsky II as the sire of Desert Crown’s fourth dam, Balabina.

Balabina was produced from French-bred Peace II, whose sire Klairon won the 1955 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French Two Thousand Guineas) and Prix Jacques le Marois and was third in that year’s Two Thousand Guineas in England and the United Nations Handicap in the United States. Klairon’s international racing career was a harbinger of the future for his daughter, who was herself imported to the United States after becoming a stakes winner in England and ended up founding a successful international family.

From 12 named foals, Peace II bred five stakes winners, three in the United States and two in England. All five did their racing in Europe, and the best of the lot proved to be Kentucky-bred Quiet Fling (by Nijinsky II), who won the 1976 Coronation Cup (ENG-G3). His full brother Peacetime and his half brother Armistice Day (by Rheingold) both became Group 3 winners, and another half brother, Peaceful (by another of Piggott’s Derby winners, 1957 victor Crepello), won three stakes races in England won three black-type events at 5 and 6. Rounding out the quintet, the Stage Door Johnny filly Intermission won the historic Cambridgeshire Handicap before becoming a good broodmare in her own right; she is the dam of 1987 Prix Maurice de Gheest (FR-G2) winner Interval (by Habitat), 1995 La Prevoyante Handicap (USA-G2) winner Interval, and multiple Malaysian stakes winner Hold Your Fire (by Dancing Brave). Intermission is also is the second dam of multiple Grade/Group 2 winner Invited Guest (by Be My Guest), 1994 Colonel F. W. Koester Handicap (USA-G2) winner Bon Point (by Soviet Star), and 2004 Prix d’Hedouville (FR-G3) winner Short Pause (by Sadler’s Wells) and is the ancestress of 2002 European champion sprinter Continent, 2017 Spanish champion miler Almorox, multiple Bahrainian champion Curtain Call, and Grade/Group 1 winners Zambezi Sun, Midships, and Temida.


Peace II also produced multiple stakes producers Quiet Harbour (by Mill Reef) and De Stael (by Nijinsky II), whose four stakes winners include 1996 American champion turf female Wandesta (by Nashwan). Stakes-placed herself as a racer, Balabina did not compile so good a produce record as her full sister De Stael, but she did come up with listed stakes winners Bal Harbour (by Shirley Heights), Bequeath (by Rainbow Quest), and Binary (by Rainbow Quest). The last-named mare produced multiple Scandinavian champion Binary File (by Nureyev)
and, through her daughter Binche (by Woodman), is the second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Proviso (by Dansili), 2010 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Byword (by Peintre Celebre), and 2017 Prix Eugene Adam (FR-G2) winner Finche (by Frankel), and is also the third dam of French Group 3 winner Delaware. Binary is also the dam of Foreign Language (by Distant View), whose daughter Desert Berry (by Green Desert) produced Desert Crown as her fifth foal, having previously produced 2019 Premier Cup Handicap (HK-G3) winner Archie McKellar (by Archipenko).


​Jockeys are not often thought of as having an influence on Thoroughbred bloodlines, but surely Piggott’s master touch in the saddle had a part to play in establishing the credentials of Desert Crown’s Derby-winning ancestors—particularly Roberto, who might well not have gotten home first over Rheingold had he not been the beneficiary of one of Piggott’s strongest rides.
Having contributed in his own way to the outcome of the Derby run in his memory, may “The Long Fellow” rest in peace.
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Weekend Trivia Challenge for 6/3/2022

6/3/2022

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This Kentucky Oaks winner was being prepared for a tilt against males in a major race for 3-year-olds but had her chances thrown away by a foolish training decision. Sent out for a work over the full 12-furlong distance of the main event just two days before the race, she went in fast time, but doubt was expressed to her connections about the validity of the time. Apparently, that was taken as a challenge, for the very next day, the filly was sent out over the same 12-furlong distance. She went even faster by over a second but pulled up lame. Not only was she unable to run in the race she had been preparing for, in which she was conceded a decent chance, but she was unable to run again at 3 and never recovered her old form at 4. Who was she, and what was the race she had been targeting before being overworked?
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    I'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan.

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