Last Saturday saw Cleber Massey's 4-year-old filly Blamed pick up her second Grade III win in the Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The victory was doubly sweet for trainer Bill Mott, who had trained the race's namesake, three-time American champion Royal Delta. It also ended up being an amusing irony for Mott's assistant Ken McCarthy, who was saddling Blamed for the Hall of Fame trainer while Mott was at the Fair Grounds to oversee Country House's run in the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (USA-II). As Mott's stand-in, McCarthy ended up taking part in presenting the race trophy . . . to himself.
A daughter of 2010 American champion older male Blame, Blamed traces her ancestry back to another notable champion in Numbered Account, who was the best American 2-year-old filly of 1971 and was not far off that level as a 3-year old. Her pedigree was as stellar as her performance: a daughter of 1966 American Horse of the Year and four-time American champion broodmare sire Buckpasser, she was produced from the Swaps mare Intriguing, a fine producer from the Striking branch of the great La Troienne tribe, and was inbred to both War Admiral and La Troienne.
Numbered Account's performance as a broodmare was just as outstanding as her ability as a racer. Her best runner on the track was multiple Grade I winner Private Account (by Damascus), who was also an important sire. She also produced the good Maryland sire Polish Numbers (by Danzig) and the important producers Secret Asset (by Graustark) and Confidentiality (by Lyphard).
Dance Number, Numbered Account's 1979 daughter by Northern Dancer, was not far off Private Account in ability, winning the 1983 Beldame Stakes (USA-I). A first-rate broodmare in her own right, she produced 1989 American champion 2-year-old male Rhythm (by Mr. Prospector); his full brother Not for Love, who led the Maryland general sire list 10 times and five times ranked as the best American stallion based outside Kentucky; and Grade III winner Get Lucky (by Mr. Prospector), a modern matriarch in her own right.
Bred to Seattle Slew in 1985, Dance Number produced Oscillate, who won only once from 10 tries but made up for her shortcomings on the track by producing 2006 Argentine champion sire Mutakddim; Takesmybreathaway, dam of 2008 Suburban Handicap (USA-I) winner Frost Giant; and three other graded stakes producers, among them Miss Salsa, whose gelded son Pacific Ocean (by Ghostzapper) won two Grade III events.
Blamed is out of stakes-placed Salsa Star, Miss Salsa's 2006 daughter by Giant's Causeway. After producing five foals for Maryland-based Sagamore Farm, Salsa Star was exported to Saudi Arabia in late 2016, carrying a filly by Super Saver (who traces to Dance Number through Get Lucky).
Blamed is much the best runner produced by Salsa Star, and her pedigree features a string of inbreedings to some of the best bloodlines in American racing, virtually all of it through animals who themselves had impeccable credentials as either racing or breeding stock. She herself is inbred 4x5 to both Roberto and Mr. Prospector and 5x5x5x5 to Northern Dancer; Salsa Star is 4x4 to Northern Dancer; and Oscillate is 4x4 to Glamour (a good stakes winner and excellent producer), 5x5x5 to Nasrullah and 5x5 to Polynesian. Oscillate's pedigree packs even more of a genetic wallop thanks to the presence of Busher (a full sister to Glamour's dam Striking) in the fifth generation and Busanda (a first-rate staying mare and, like Striking and Busher, a product of the War Admiral/La Troienne cross) in the fourth generation. Then we come to Dance Number, inbred 3x5 to Nearco (sire of Nasrullah) and 4x5 to Hyperion, and finally to Numbered Account, inbred 3x5x4 to War Admiral, 4x5 to La Troienne, and 5x5 to the great English matriarch Selene, dam of Hyperion.
This accumulation of high-class ancestors, crossed and recrossed through descendants that themselves stood the tests of the racetrack and the breeding shed with honor, does not guarantee that either Blamed or her stakes-placed half sister Chubby Star (herself inbred 3x4 to Seattle Slew, 4x5 to Mr. Prospector, and 5x5 to Secretariat) will enjoy success as broodmares. Nonetheless, it has yielded a very nice racer in Blamed, and the odds are good that when the time comes for her to retire to the paddocks, she will post more good runners to her ancestress' account.
A daughter of 2010 American champion older male Blame, Blamed traces her ancestry back to another notable champion in Numbered Account, who was the best American 2-year-old filly of 1971 and was not far off that level as a 3-year old. Her pedigree was as stellar as her performance: a daughter of 1966 American Horse of the Year and four-time American champion broodmare sire Buckpasser, she was produced from the Swaps mare Intriguing, a fine producer from the Striking branch of the great La Troienne tribe, and was inbred to both War Admiral and La Troienne.
Numbered Account's performance as a broodmare was just as outstanding as her ability as a racer. Her best runner on the track was multiple Grade I winner Private Account (by Damascus), who was also an important sire. She also produced the good Maryland sire Polish Numbers (by Danzig) and the important producers Secret Asset (by Graustark) and Confidentiality (by Lyphard).
Dance Number, Numbered Account's 1979 daughter by Northern Dancer, was not far off Private Account in ability, winning the 1983 Beldame Stakes (USA-I). A first-rate broodmare in her own right, she produced 1989 American champion 2-year-old male Rhythm (by Mr. Prospector); his full brother Not for Love, who led the Maryland general sire list 10 times and five times ranked as the best American stallion based outside Kentucky; and Grade III winner Get Lucky (by Mr. Prospector), a modern matriarch in her own right.
Bred to Seattle Slew in 1985, Dance Number produced Oscillate, who won only once from 10 tries but made up for her shortcomings on the track by producing 2006 Argentine champion sire Mutakddim; Takesmybreathaway, dam of 2008 Suburban Handicap (USA-I) winner Frost Giant; and three other graded stakes producers, among them Miss Salsa, whose gelded son Pacific Ocean (by Ghostzapper) won two Grade III events.
Blamed is out of stakes-placed Salsa Star, Miss Salsa's 2006 daughter by Giant's Causeway. After producing five foals for Maryland-based Sagamore Farm, Salsa Star was exported to Saudi Arabia in late 2016, carrying a filly by Super Saver (who traces to Dance Number through Get Lucky).
Blamed is much the best runner produced by Salsa Star, and her pedigree features a string of inbreedings to some of the best bloodlines in American racing, virtually all of it through animals who themselves had impeccable credentials as either racing or breeding stock. She herself is inbred 4x5 to both Roberto and Mr. Prospector and 5x5x5x5 to Northern Dancer; Salsa Star is 4x4 to Northern Dancer; and Oscillate is 4x4 to Glamour (a good stakes winner and excellent producer), 5x5x5 to Nasrullah and 5x5 to Polynesian. Oscillate's pedigree packs even more of a genetic wallop thanks to the presence of Busher (a full sister to Glamour's dam Striking) in the fifth generation and Busanda (a first-rate staying mare and, like Striking and Busher, a product of the War Admiral/La Troienne cross) in the fourth generation. Then we come to Dance Number, inbred 3x5 to Nearco (sire of Nasrullah) and 4x5 to Hyperion, and finally to Numbered Account, inbred 3x5x4 to War Admiral, 4x5 to La Troienne, and 5x5 to the great English matriarch Selene, dam of Hyperion.
This accumulation of high-class ancestors, crossed and recrossed through descendants that themselves stood the tests of the racetrack and the breeding shed with honor, does not guarantee that either Blamed or her stakes-placed half sister Chubby Star (herself inbred 3x4 to Seattle Slew, 4x5 to Mr. Prospector, and 5x5 to Secretariat) will enjoy success as broodmares. Nonetheless, it has yielded a very nice racer in Blamed, and the odds are good that when the time comes for her to retire to the paddocks, she will post more good runners to her ancestress' account.
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