When Better Than Honour went into the ring on November 2, 2008, at the Fasig-Tipton mixed select sale, she embodied an exceptional package of performance as both a racer and a broodmare, combined with a stellar pedigree. Sired by two-time American champion sire Deputy Minister (also the American champion broodmare sire of 2007), she was produced from 1982 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) winner Blush With Pride, an important producer in her own right and a Blushing Groom daughter of the great modern matriarch Best in Show. She had proved her own racing mettle by winning the 1998 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) and placing in two Grade 1 races. And she was the 2007 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year after producing back-to-back Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winners Jazil (2006) and Rags to Riches (2007). The last-named filly, a daughter of A.P. Indy, was also an Eclipse Award winner in the 3-year-old filly category, and Better Than Honor strode into the ring having further cemented her reputation as a once-in-a-lifetime producer by coming up with 2008 Peter Pan Stakes (USA-G2) winner Casino Drive. Best of all from a prospective purchaser's viewpoint, she was only 12 years old. The only fly in the ointment was that she was not in foal at the time of her sale.
Buoyed by this exceptional combination of desirable credentials, Better Than Honour went for US$14 million, a world record for a broodmare or broodmare prospect. The price was somewhat illusory as the mare was being sold in connection with the dissolution of a partnership between Michael Moreno's Southern Equine Stables, which owned a 70 percent interest in Better Than Honour, and John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farms, which owned the other 30 percent. As Southern Equine was the buyer, Moreno was effectively gaining complete ownership of the mare for US$4.2 million plus sales fees and taxes on the transaction. That was still a pretty chunk of change to lay out for a single mare, however stellar, but there was every reason to believe that Better Than Honour might have more top runners in the pipeline, or at least top broodmares.
Only she didn't. Her only other stakes winner, Man of Iron, was already a 2-year-old at the time of her sale; he would win the listed Breeders' Cup Marathon in 2009 and would eventually be exported to Peru as a stallion. Better Than Honour produced only three more foals following her sale, the last in 2013, and none of them were winners.
All three, at least, were fillies, but until this year, none had done anything as producers to justify the expense behind them. In fact, of Better Than Honour's previous daughters, only Teeming (by Storm Cat) had come up with a major stakes winner, producing 2013 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (USA-G1) winner Streaming (by Smart Strike) as well as two listed stakes winners. Rags to Riches, a major disappointment as a broodmare thus far, has produced 2016 Hungarian Horse of the Year Rhett Butler (by Galileo) but has yet to come up with a stakes winner in a major racing nation.
That changed on January 30, 2021, when Courtlandt Farm's homebred Greatest Honour uncorked a visually impressive four-wide move coming around Gulfstream Park's far turn and drew off in the stretch to win the Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G3) by nearly six lengths. The son of three-time champion sire Tapit took four starts to put it all together mentally and physically to break his maiden going 8.5 furlongs at Gulfstream Park on December 26---this despite a troubled trip--and the smooth professionalism of his Holy Bull win suggests that he is going in the right direction at the right time of the year for a Triple Crown prospect. Trainer Shug McGaughey has already indicated that the colt will probably make his next start in either the Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2) on February 27 or the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms (USA-G1) on March 27.
Greatest Honour was produced from Tiffany's Honour, Better Than Honour's 2011 daughter by Street Cry. Unplaced in three starts, the mare had previously produced the 2017 War Front gelding Semifinal (unplaced in two starts) and was in foal to Medaglia d'Oro when she was sold to major Japanese breeder Katsumi Yoshida for US$2.2 million at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. She produced her Medaglia d'Oro filly in Japan in 2019 and has since been barren to 2015 Japanese champion 3-year-old male Duramente. Her most recent mating was to 2013 Japanese champion 3-year-old male Kizuna, a son of the great Japanese runner and sire Deep Impact and the leading Japanese freshman sire of 2019.
On pedigree, Greatest Honour would appear to have virtually limitless potential, but in reality he still has much to prove, given that 2020 Iroquois Stakes (USA-G3) winner Sittin On Go was the only one of the colt's eight rivals with a previous stakes win to his name. Other than that, the Holy Bull was essentially a glorified allowance for non-winners of two other than maiden or claiming if judged by the performance of its field prior to the race, and it will take some good later performances by some of Greatest Honour's defeated rivals to prove that there was more to it than that. Still, it was a nice race for a colt who appears to be coming into his own at a good time, and if Greatest Honour can continue to progress, he will add more luster to the name of a mare who has already accumulated honors aplenty.
Buoyed by this exceptional combination of desirable credentials, Better Than Honour went for US$14 million, a world record for a broodmare or broodmare prospect. The price was somewhat illusory as the mare was being sold in connection with the dissolution of a partnership between Michael Moreno's Southern Equine Stables, which owned a 70 percent interest in Better Than Honour, and John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farms, which owned the other 30 percent. As Southern Equine was the buyer, Moreno was effectively gaining complete ownership of the mare for US$4.2 million plus sales fees and taxes on the transaction. That was still a pretty chunk of change to lay out for a single mare, however stellar, but there was every reason to believe that Better Than Honour might have more top runners in the pipeline, or at least top broodmares.
Only she didn't. Her only other stakes winner, Man of Iron, was already a 2-year-old at the time of her sale; he would win the listed Breeders' Cup Marathon in 2009 and would eventually be exported to Peru as a stallion. Better Than Honour produced only three more foals following her sale, the last in 2013, and none of them were winners.
All three, at least, were fillies, but until this year, none had done anything as producers to justify the expense behind them. In fact, of Better Than Honour's previous daughters, only Teeming (by Storm Cat) had come up with a major stakes winner, producing 2013 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (USA-G1) winner Streaming (by Smart Strike) as well as two listed stakes winners. Rags to Riches, a major disappointment as a broodmare thus far, has produced 2016 Hungarian Horse of the Year Rhett Butler (by Galileo) but has yet to come up with a stakes winner in a major racing nation.
That changed on January 30, 2021, when Courtlandt Farm's homebred Greatest Honour uncorked a visually impressive four-wide move coming around Gulfstream Park's far turn and drew off in the stretch to win the Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G3) by nearly six lengths. The son of three-time champion sire Tapit took four starts to put it all together mentally and physically to break his maiden going 8.5 furlongs at Gulfstream Park on December 26---this despite a troubled trip--and the smooth professionalism of his Holy Bull win suggests that he is going in the right direction at the right time of the year for a Triple Crown prospect. Trainer Shug McGaughey has already indicated that the colt will probably make his next start in either the Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2) on February 27 or the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms (USA-G1) on March 27.
Greatest Honour was produced from Tiffany's Honour, Better Than Honour's 2011 daughter by Street Cry. Unplaced in three starts, the mare had previously produced the 2017 War Front gelding Semifinal (unplaced in two starts) and was in foal to Medaglia d'Oro when she was sold to major Japanese breeder Katsumi Yoshida for US$2.2 million at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. She produced her Medaglia d'Oro filly in Japan in 2019 and has since been barren to 2015 Japanese champion 3-year-old male Duramente. Her most recent mating was to 2013 Japanese champion 3-year-old male Kizuna, a son of the great Japanese runner and sire Deep Impact and the leading Japanese freshman sire of 2019.
On pedigree, Greatest Honour would appear to have virtually limitless potential, but in reality he still has much to prove, given that 2020 Iroquois Stakes (USA-G3) winner Sittin On Go was the only one of the colt's eight rivals with a previous stakes win to his name. Other than that, the Holy Bull was essentially a glorified allowance for non-winners of two other than maiden or claiming if judged by the performance of its field prior to the race, and it will take some good later performances by some of Greatest Honour's defeated rivals to prove that there was more to it than that. Still, it was a nice race for a colt who appears to be coming into his own at a good time, and if Greatest Honour can continue to progress, he will add more luster to the name of a mare who has already accumulated honors aplenty.
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