American Classic Pedigrees
  • Home
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Hoofprints
  • Horse Profiles
    • Horse Profiles A-E
    • Horse Profiles F-K
    • Horse Profiles L-Q
    • Horse Profiles R-Z
  • Links
  • About ACP
    • Author
    • Contact
    • For Contributors

Mares on Monday: Holy Helena Looks for a Match Made in Heaven

10/28/2019

0 Comments

 
After a fifth-place finish in the E. P. Taylor Stakes (CAN-IT), Holy Helena will race no more. The five-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper was officially retired on October 26 and will begin the next phase of her life this coming spring. No mate for her has been announced, but on her performance and pedigree, she will undoubtedly have access to the best of the breed, giving her a fair chance of elevating what has to date been a lesser branch of one of the great American families---that of Missy Baba, which includes such luminaries as A.P. Indy, Summer Squall, Weekend Surprise, Havre de Grace, Tonalist, and Lemon Drop Kid.

Holy Helena first made headlines as a 3-year-old when, after breaking her maiden at second asking, she stepped up to win the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser. She followed up her conquest of Canada's best fillies by doing the same to the colts in the Queen's Plate. While she did not win another stakes event during the year, she had done enough to earn a Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 3-year-old filly of 2017. She was a multiple graded stakes winner at 4 and 5 and, fittingly enough, scored her last victory in the Dance Smartly Stakes (CAN-IIT) at Woodbine. She retires with eight wins and five placings from 20 starts.

Ghostzapper has already earned fame as a broodmare sire via his grandson Justify, winner of the American Triple Crown in 2018, and Holy Helena has the pedigree credentials to add to his reputation. She descends from Missy Baba via her Grade III-placed Buckpasser daughter Sooni, whose full sister Toll Booth was the 1991 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Sooni did not match her sister's performance in the breeding shed, but her broodmare career was not without merit as she produced Grade II winner Black Cash (by Deposit Ticket) and stakes winner My Marchesa (by Stately Don), as well as two stakes-placed winners.

My Marchesa, in turn, kept Sooni's branch of the family alive as a source of good horses. She produced three stakes winners including Grade II winner Rookie Sensation (by Unbridled's Song) and multiple Grade III winner Mark One (by Alphabet Soup), as well as Grade II-placed Golden Corona (by Gulch). Her Holy Bull daughter Holy Grace has been the best of her broodmare daughters to date, producing Holy Helena and Grade II winner Holy Boss (by Street Boss), but My Marchesa is also the dam of Grade III producer Archduchess (by Pleasant Tap). Holy Grace produced a full brother to Holy Helena this spring and has several other daughters who are early in their broodmare careers and getting good opportunities.

While a foal by a top commercial sire out of Holy Helena would probably be worth a considerable amount if healthy and well-conformed, a likelier path may be for her to be bred in the hopes of securing a top-class colt from a sire line that Adena Springs does not currently have on its roster. That could point to a top proven sire such as Tapit or Empire Maker, but it could also point to a highly promising young stallion like American Pharoah. With a match "made in heaven" and a bit of luck, Holy Helena just might end up outbreeding herself, and that would be a runner worth seeing.
0 Comments

Weekly Trivia Challenge for 10/25/2019

10/25/2019

3 Comments

 
Talk about clawing your way up from the basement---this horse was so little thought of as a prospective sire that he had just four foals in his first crop. Against all odds, one of those foals went on to be a champion, and our mystery sire ended up siring two Kentucky Derby winners, a Preakness winner, and two Belmont Stakes winners. Who was he, and who was the champion who helped launch his stud career?
3 Comments

Mares on Monday: Magical and Marvelous

10/21/2019

1 Comment

 
American racegoers won't get the chance to see Europe's top race mare, Enable, in this year's Breeders' Cup, but it looks as though they will get a second look at a more than capable understudy. Magical hasn't managed to beat Enable in five tries, including last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (USA-IT), but after winning the QIPCO British Champions Stakes (ENG-I) in a sterling effort, the daughter of Galileo is a probable for the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (USA-IT) and a clash with reigning American champion turf female Sistercharlie.

While Magical represents the best of modern European breeding, she has American roots on both sides. Galileo's parents are Sadler's Wells, an American-bred but European-based son of Northern Dancer from a top Claiborne Farm family, and the marvelous broodmare Urban Sea, an American-bred daughter of Miswaki who triumphed in the 1993 CIGA Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. On the distaff side, Magical traces back to 1966 Kentucky Oaks winner Native Street, whose family embraces graded and Group winners around the world.

Bloodlines have been traversing the Atlantic both ways for quite some time, of course, and in back of those American bloodlines are earlier importations to the United States such as Beaver Street, Rough Shod II, Forli,and Nearctic (who was imported in utero). Thus, it should not be surprising that a look at Magical's five-generation pedigree reveals her to be quite the cosmopolitan lady, with ancestors from Argentina, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United States.

Magical's tail-female line started out in England, came Stateside via Beaver Street (who produced Native Street to a cover by Native Dancer), and traveled back to the Old World via Native Street's great-granddaughter Rahaam (by 1984 Derby Stakes, ENG-I, winner Secreto, another American-bred son of Northern Dancer). While no great racer herself, she was a half sister to two stakes winners (including French Group III winner Glory Forever) and did well as a producer, producing three stakes winners.

The best of the trio, Cassandra Go (by Indian Ridge), was  a classy sprinter with two Group II wins to her credit but did better still as a broodmare, producing three Group winners. Her best is three-time Group I winner Halfway to Heaven (by the fine Nureyev stallion Pivotal), whose miler speed has blended wonderfully with the stamina transmitted by Galileo in producing Magical as well as three-time Group I winner Rhododendron, a multiple divisional highweight in England and Ireland.

Magical currently has four Group I wins to her credit, and she would have three more if it weren't for Enable, who beat her into second in this year's Eclipse Stakes (ENG-I) and Yorkshire Oaks (ENG-I) in addition to the pair's one-two finish in last year's Turf. She will probably not get another chance to defeat her nemesis, given that Coolmore seldom races fillies past their 4-year-old seasons, but given her consistency, there is surely enough of the magic left in her for a memorable finish to her year and career.

1 Comment

Weekend Trivia Challenge for 10/18/2019

10/18/2019

2 Comments

 
Female winners of races belonging to the American Triple Crown have been few and far between, and only once have two of these distaff Classic winners crossed paths. What was the race in which this happened, and what were the results?
2 Comments

Mares on Monday: Like Mother, Like Daughter

10/14/2019

0 Comments

 
On October 12, Cambier Parc won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-IT) to annex her second top-level event of the year. Also the winner of two grade 3 events this year, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro will probably be rested prior to another campaign at 4.

Without a victory in the Breeders' Cup, Cambier Parc almost certainly will not be voted as champion in either the turf female division or the 3-year-old filly division; both have excellent candidates whose profiles are closer to what voters are usually looking for in those categories. Nonetheless, her record in 2019 is truly excellent and recalls or even exceeds the season put together by her own dam at 3, when Sealy Hill was Canada's Horse of the Year.

A daughter of 2001 American Horse of the Year Point Given, Sealy Hill was a listed stakes winner at 2 but came into her own at 3 in 2007. That year, the unruly, tough-minded filly became the first winner of Canada's Triple Tiara for 3-year-old fillies, though not without considerable drama---she was disqualified for lugging in on a rival during the Bison City Stakes, and it took three months before her victory was restored by the Ontario Racing Commission. Also a grade 3 winner in the United States, Sealy Hill finished her 3-year-old campaign with a second against older females in the Canadian Stakes (CAN-IIT) and a narrow loss to European invader Mrs. Lindsay in the E. P. Taylor Stakes (CAN-IT). When the votes were counted for Canada's year-end Sovereign Awards, Sealy Hill carried off titles as Canadian champion 3-year-old filly, Canadian champion turf female horse, and Canadian Horse of the Year. The following year, Sealy Hill could not quite find the winner's circle in a stakes but earned three graded stakes placings, topped off by a second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (USA-IT).

Since retiring to the paddocks, Sealy Hill has carried on her broodmare career at the same high level as her racing career. Her first foal, the 2010 Distorted Humor mare Hillaby, won the Bessarabian Stakes (CAN-IIA) at age 4. She next produced a winning filly by Flower Alley, Paradise Alley, before coming up with another graded stakes winner in Belle Hill. The queen of Emerald Downs as a 3-year-old in 2015, the daughter of Sky Mesa dropped down to Santa Anita to crown her career with a win in the one-mile Autumn Miss Stakes (USA-IIIT).

Hillaby's full sister True Elegance (a foal of 2013) never made it to the track, but Sealy Hill scored again with her fifth foal, a 2014 daughter of Giant's Causeway named Gale Force. More precocious than her siblings, Gale Force won the 2016 Mazarine Stakes (CAN-IIIA) on the Polytrack at Woodbine.

Following her pattern of alternating high-class winners with foals that showed less ability, Sealy Hill produced the unplaced Tiznow filly Touch of Grace in 2015. Cambier Parc is her seventh foal, and her eighth, a full sister to Cambier Parc, was a $425,000 yearling at the 2018 Keeneland September sale. Sealy Hill gave birth to her first colt, a son of Into Mischief, in 2018, and this youngster went for $950,000 at this year's Keeneland September sale.

Sealy Hill's long-term impact has yet to be determined, for the eldest foals out of her daughters are unraced 2-year-olds. Nonetheless, she ticks all the boxes for a potential matriarch of the breed. A high-class race mare herself, she has a slew of well-bred daughters---half of them fine racers in their own right---and they in turn are getting excellent opportunities. Cambier Parc will no doubt get the same when she retires, and it will be quite interesting to see if it is a case of "like mother, like daughter" when she retires to the paddocks, If so, the name of Sealy Hill will have an honored place in pedigrees for some time to come. 





0 Comments

Mares on Monday: Maxfield Finances Breeders' Cup Trip in Breeders' Futurity

10/7/2019

0 Comments

 
It took Maxfield 21 days to go from maiden winner to Grade I winner, and he did it in a manner that suggests a world of unfulfilled potential. After practically walking out of the gate in his maiden race, only to circle the field and win anyway, he got off to another slow start in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (USA-I). Given a patient ride by Jose Ortiz, he came storming down the center of the track in the stretch to win by 5-1/2 lengths. With the victory, the son of Street Sense earned a "Win and You're In" berth to the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (USA-I), where he may well be the favorite.

Maxfield is a thoroughly well-bred horse top and bottom, but at least a little of his exceptional talent may come by way of Busanda. One of a breed-shaping clutch of War Admiral mares sired on daughters of La Troienne, Busanda was probably the best stayer sired on that cross, winning the 1951 Suburban Handicap and two editions of the Saratoga Cup against males. Aside from producing the great Buckpasser, the 1966 Horse of the Year and a four-time American champion broodmare sire whose influence is still felt today, Busanda also successfully bred on in the female line through her daughters Navsup, Oak Cluster and Finance.

Finance, a daughter of Nasrullah, was the least successful during her own broodmare career. After failing to produce a live foal during her first five seasons on the paddocks, she finally managed to produce four foals, of which two won.

It was her last foal, the Round Table mare La Mesa, that made persevering with Finance worthwhile. While La Mesa won only one of her 12 starts, she produced 1984 American champion 2-year-old filly Outstandingly (by Exclusive Native) as her fifth named foal. Outstandingly, in turn, produced English Group II winner Sensation (by Soviet Star) and listed stakes winner Superiority (by Arazi) and is the second dam of Grade/Group III winners Fortitude and Systematic. 

La Mesa also produced Outstandingly's Grade III-winning half sister Lovelier (by Affirmed), but the gem among her daughters as a broodmare was Lovelier's full sister La Affirmed. A winner once in eight starts, La Affirmed produced Grade II winner Della Francesca (by Danzig) and Grade III winners Bernstein (a champion sire and increasingly important broodmare sire in Argentina), Caress and Country Cat (all by Storm Cat). Caress, in turn, produced 2002 Hopeful Stakes (USA-I) winner and good sire Sky Mesa (by Pulpit) and multiple Grade III winner Golden Velvet (by Seeking the Gold; dam of Grade III winner Innovative Idea, by Bernardini, and stakes winner Lucullan, by Hard Spun). Through her daughter Velvety, Caress is the second dam of Maxfield.

Busanda's branch of the great La Troienne family has never been quite as prolific as those descended through her close relatives Striking and Searching, but if her produce had been limited to Buckpasser alone, Busanda would have done more than enough to etch her name into bloodstock annals. Her descendant Maxfield still has a long way to go to prove himself in that class as a runner or sire, but for now, he can be accounted a worthy heir of a line that has had no trouble paying its way.
0 Comments

Weekend Trivia Challenge for 10/4/2019

10/4/2019

3 Comments

 
What horse served as the model for the top of the Woodlawn Vase, annually presented to the winner of the Preakness Stakes and generally considered the most valuable sports trophy in North America?
3 Comments

    Author

    I'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    RSS Feed

© 2014-2023 by Avalyn Hunter. All rights reserved. Contributors' materials remain the property of the copyright owners and are used by permission.

Home     Books     Articles     Horse Profiles    Hoofprints    Contact    Links