Whew! After a busy Monday, a day late is definitely better late than never! So, on to the business at hand.
The Pegasus World Cup card featured several winners with interesting families, among them La Prevoyante Stakes (USA-IIIT) winner Si Que Es Buena. The hook in her pedigree is her second dam, Rubia Epic (by Southern Halo), who is inbred 3x3 to the great Northern Dancer and the mare Sea Saga through the full sisters Northern Sea and Dancer's Saga.
A member of an already-distinguished family, Sea Saga was sired by Sea-Bird from the stakes-placed Bold Ruler mare Shama, a half sister to 1956 American co-champion 2-year-old filly Leallah (by Bold Ruler's sire Nasrullah). She proved a worthy heiress to her distinguished bloodlines, winning the 1971 Ladies Handicap (then a much more important race than now) and a division of the Vineland Handicap at 3. She added a win in the 1972 Whitemarsh Handicap at 4 before retiring to the paddocks.
Unfortunately, Sea Saga lived to produce only four foals, but she made the most of her limited production career. Her first foal, Northern Sea, was her best runner, winning the 1977 Test Stakes (USA-III) at 3 and placing in two Grade I events as a juvenile. As a broodmare, Northern Sea failed to produce a stakes winner, but her third foal was stakes-placed Southern Halo (by Halo), who proceeded to rewrite the Argentine record books in a long and distinguished stud career at Haras La Quebrada near Buenos Aires. A 10-time champion sire in his adoptive country, Southern Halo also begot the excellent American-bred shuttle sire More Than Ready, a Grade I winner as a racehorse and a first-class sire in both Kentucky and Australia.
Northern Sea's two daughters were also destined to gain fame in the breeding shed rather than on the track. The first, the good allowance filly Excellent Meeting (by Smarten), produced multiple Grade I winner General Challenge (by General Meeting), 2000 Oak Leaf Stakes (USA-I) winner Notable Career (by Avenue of Flags) and listed stakes winner Western Hemisphere (by General Meeting) and is the third dam of multiple Grade I winner Evening Jewel. The other, unraced Northern Pageant (by Spectacular Bid), produced multiple Grade II winner Snow Dance (by Forest Wildcat) and is the second dam of Argentine Group III winner Panacea, dam in turn of 2012 Gran Premio de Las Americas-OSAF-Internacional winner (USA-I) Panegirico, and of Japanese Group III winner Keiai Leone.
Sea Saga's second foal, Key to the Saga (by Key to the Mint), also became a Grade III winner at 3, taking the 1978 Pucker Up Stakes. The dam of multiple stakes winner Cherokee Benji (by Cherokee Colony), she is the second dam of 1993 Santa Anita Handicap (USA-I) winner Sir Beaufort and Argentine Group II winner The New Yorker. She is also the third dam of multiple Group I winner A Shin Hikari and Argentine Group III winner Fedra Gulch.
Sea Saga's third foal, Dancing Fiction, never raced and left no issue, so it was up to her fourth foal, Dancer's Saga, to write the concluding chapter in her dam's story. She won only once from 13 tries but proved a prolific and successful broodmare with stakes winners Exclusive Story (by Exclusive Native), Colonial Saga (by Pleasant Colony and Pleasant Tango (by Pleasant Colony) to her credit.
Dancer's Saga's Argentine connection is through her 1988 Pancho Villa daughter Epic Villa, who was exported to Argentina in 1993. Bred to the Forty Niner horse Luhuk, she produced multiple Argentine Group I winner Knock, a top-class sprinter.
Two years previously, Epic Villa had produced Rubia Epic to a mating to Southern Halo, thereby uniting two of the three branches of Sea Saga's family. As often happens with closely inbred stock, Rubia Epic was not a great success on the track, and none of her four winners were of any particular distinction. It has taken her daughter Epoca Buena to resurrect the worth of her genes by producing Si Que Es Buena (by the successful Argentine sire Equal Stripes, a paternal grandson of Blushing Groom via Candy Stripes), now a Group III winner in Peru and a Grade III winner in the United States.
Where the saga will lead next is anyone's guess, as Si Que Es Buena currently races for Japanese owner Takayo Shimakawa. With a little luck, however, she will continue adding to the illustrious tale of her family wherever she goes.
The Pegasus World Cup card featured several winners with interesting families, among them La Prevoyante Stakes (USA-IIIT) winner Si Que Es Buena. The hook in her pedigree is her second dam, Rubia Epic (by Southern Halo), who is inbred 3x3 to the great Northern Dancer and the mare Sea Saga through the full sisters Northern Sea and Dancer's Saga.
A member of an already-distinguished family, Sea Saga was sired by Sea-Bird from the stakes-placed Bold Ruler mare Shama, a half sister to 1956 American co-champion 2-year-old filly Leallah (by Bold Ruler's sire Nasrullah). She proved a worthy heiress to her distinguished bloodlines, winning the 1971 Ladies Handicap (then a much more important race than now) and a division of the Vineland Handicap at 3. She added a win in the 1972 Whitemarsh Handicap at 4 before retiring to the paddocks.
Unfortunately, Sea Saga lived to produce only four foals, but she made the most of her limited production career. Her first foal, Northern Sea, was her best runner, winning the 1977 Test Stakes (USA-III) at 3 and placing in two Grade I events as a juvenile. As a broodmare, Northern Sea failed to produce a stakes winner, but her third foal was stakes-placed Southern Halo (by Halo), who proceeded to rewrite the Argentine record books in a long and distinguished stud career at Haras La Quebrada near Buenos Aires. A 10-time champion sire in his adoptive country, Southern Halo also begot the excellent American-bred shuttle sire More Than Ready, a Grade I winner as a racehorse and a first-class sire in both Kentucky and Australia.
Northern Sea's two daughters were also destined to gain fame in the breeding shed rather than on the track. The first, the good allowance filly Excellent Meeting (by Smarten), produced multiple Grade I winner General Challenge (by General Meeting), 2000 Oak Leaf Stakes (USA-I) winner Notable Career (by Avenue of Flags) and listed stakes winner Western Hemisphere (by General Meeting) and is the third dam of multiple Grade I winner Evening Jewel. The other, unraced Northern Pageant (by Spectacular Bid), produced multiple Grade II winner Snow Dance (by Forest Wildcat) and is the second dam of Argentine Group III winner Panacea, dam in turn of 2012 Gran Premio de Las Americas-OSAF-Internacional winner (USA-I) Panegirico, and of Japanese Group III winner Keiai Leone.
Sea Saga's second foal, Key to the Saga (by Key to the Mint), also became a Grade III winner at 3, taking the 1978 Pucker Up Stakes. The dam of multiple stakes winner Cherokee Benji (by Cherokee Colony), she is the second dam of 1993 Santa Anita Handicap (USA-I) winner Sir Beaufort and Argentine Group II winner The New Yorker. She is also the third dam of multiple Group I winner A Shin Hikari and Argentine Group III winner Fedra Gulch.
Sea Saga's third foal, Dancing Fiction, never raced and left no issue, so it was up to her fourth foal, Dancer's Saga, to write the concluding chapter in her dam's story. She won only once from 13 tries but proved a prolific and successful broodmare with stakes winners Exclusive Story (by Exclusive Native), Colonial Saga (by Pleasant Colony and Pleasant Tango (by Pleasant Colony) to her credit.
Dancer's Saga's Argentine connection is through her 1988 Pancho Villa daughter Epic Villa, who was exported to Argentina in 1993. Bred to the Forty Niner horse Luhuk, she produced multiple Argentine Group I winner Knock, a top-class sprinter.
Two years previously, Epic Villa had produced Rubia Epic to a mating to Southern Halo, thereby uniting two of the three branches of Sea Saga's family. As often happens with closely inbred stock, Rubia Epic was not a great success on the track, and none of her four winners were of any particular distinction. It has taken her daughter Epoca Buena to resurrect the worth of her genes by producing Si Que Es Buena (by the successful Argentine sire Equal Stripes, a paternal grandson of Blushing Groom via Candy Stripes), now a Group III winner in Peru and a Grade III winner in the United States.
Where the saga will lead next is anyone's guess, as Si Que Es Buena currently races for Japanese owner Takayo Shimakawa. With a little luck, however, she will continue adding to the illustrious tale of her family wherever she goes.
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