Sometimes a good horse seems to come from nowhere. Such was the case when Slammed dominated Keeneland's Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (USA-G2) on October 8. The New Mexico-bred filly had won five non-blacktype stakes races against fellow New Mexico-breds but had not quite gotten the job done in her graded stakes debut, the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (USA-G3) at Del Mar, when she was second by a half-length to 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1) runner-up and multiple Grade 3 winner Edgeway after a stretch-long battle. This time she got away cleanly and went straight to the lead, and that was where she stayed throughout. She hit the finish line with ears pricked and over six lengths in front, leaving multiple graded stakes winner Sconsin, Grade 3 winner Carribean Caper, and three other stakes winners in her wake.
Like most horses who emerge from off the beaten path, Slammed has some pedigree in back of parents who were less than stellar. Bred by co-owner Brad King (who owns the filly in partnership with Suzanne Kirby and Barbara Coleman) and trainer Todd Fincher, Slammed is from the first crop of the Bernardini horse Marking. Runner-up in the 2015 Malibu Stakes (USA-G1) and the 2016 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (USA-G3), Marking is a half brother to 2019 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) winner Lake Avenue (by Tapit) and is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Seventh Street (by Street Cry), a half sister to 2013 Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) winner Reynaldothewizard (by Speightstown). Seventh Street is also a half sister to Grade 2-placed American Story (by Ghostzapper), dam of 2017 Longines Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner American Gal and stakes winner Americanize (both by Concord Point) and is out of multiple listed stakes winner Holiday Runner (by Meadowlake), so Marking is far from an off-bred horse.
Slammed is out of Hennesey Smash, whose family has been doing good work on the Southwestern circuit since her fourth dam Wembley Blue (a half sister to multiple California stakes winner Honored Sir, by Count of Honor) became the foundation mare for the New Mexico-based breeding program of Margaret O. duPont and Margaret V. Bloss. A daughter of the unheralded sire British Roman (a stakes-winning son of Endeavour II), Wembley Blue produced stakes winners Half Smash (by the unraced Khaled horse Binary), Service Over (by New Policy), and Smash It (by Foggy Road).
All three of Wembley Blue's black-type runners won juvenile stakes races on the New Mexico circuit, and Half Smash won a minor stakes at Sunland Park as a 3-year-old as well. Both she and Smash It were successful broodmares on their level. From three foals, Smash It produced Luckily Smashed (by What Luck) and Sunnily Smashed (by Sunny South), both of which won stakes races at 2 and 3 and both of which became dams of non-blacktype stakes winners in the Southwest.
Half Smash was retained by her breeders after her racing career and proved the best of Wembley Blue's daughters as a producer, coming up with listed stakes winner Last Eight Club (by Grade 2-placed Native Uproar, by Raise a Native), listed-placed multiple stakes winner Rad (by Al Hattab), and stakes winner A Smash (by Star de Naskra). By this time, the family had been sufficiently upgraded that duPont and Bloss were able to breed A Smash to Grade 1 winner Mogambo on a foal share with Calumet Farm, and the resulting foal was A Smashing Chance, winner of the 1992 Old Town Derby at Albuquerque.
A Smash failed to produce another stakes winner, but she continued to get opportunities with decent stallions, among them the multiple stakes winner and successful Southwestern regional sire Rare Brick (by Mr. Prospector). The result, the 1995 filly Some Smash, never made it to the race track, but she made up for it with progeny that amassed just over US$2.3 million in earnings, including restricted stakes winners Star Smasher (by Full Choke), Some Ghost (by Ghostly Moves), ZZZs Ghost (by Ghostly Moves) and Smash Dancer (by Robyn Dancer). She also produced Hennesey Smash (by Grade 3 winner Roll Hennessy Roll, by Hennessy out of multiple graded stakes producer Roll Over Baby), who was a multiple stakes winner in state-bred company and became the only one of her sibling group to take an open stakes when she won the 2012 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park.
Slammed is a half sister to Grade 3-placed open stakes winner Smash Ticket (a daughter of Midnight Lute who earned her graded black type by running third in the 2021 Sorrento Stakes and to multiple state-bred stakes winner Roll On Diabolical (by Diabolical). Since producing Smash Ticket, Hennesey Smash has produced Arro Gate, an unraced 2-year-old son of Arrogate, and an unnamed 2022 colt by Star Guitar, a foal bred with the Louisiana-bred program in mind. The mare was most recently bred to City of Light for 2023.
Slammed's female family is hardly fashionable, but it does demonstrate the wisdom of looking at regional female families which have been top-class in their state-bred programs for generations when seeking broodmare prospects on a budget. Not every such family can be upgraded as successfully as Slammed's has been, but it is certainly worth trying, particularly when backed by a decent state-bred program where foals not up to open company can still be money makers. As for Slammed, the next question is her next start, since the "Win and You're In" slot she earned for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint does not include the US$200,000 it would take to make her eligible for the Breeders' Cup as the daughter of a non-nominated stallion. That sum would represent a big gamble for her connections, but if she does go in the Filly and Mare Sprint, she will have a fair chance to pull off a grand slam for her sire and for the New Mexico state-bred program.
Like most horses who emerge from off the beaten path, Slammed has some pedigree in back of parents who were less than stellar. Bred by co-owner Brad King (who owns the filly in partnership with Suzanne Kirby and Barbara Coleman) and trainer Todd Fincher, Slammed is from the first crop of the Bernardini horse Marking. Runner-up in the 2015 Malibu Stakes (USA-G1) and the 2016 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (USA-G3), Marking is a half brother to 2019 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) winner Lake Avenue (by Tapit) and is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Seventh Street (by Street Cry), a half sister to 2013 Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) winner Reynaldothewizard (by Speightstown). Seventh Street is also a half sister to Grade 2-placed American Story (by Ghostzapper), dam of 2017 Longines Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner American Gal and stakes winner Americanize (both by Concord Point) and is out of multiple listed stakes winner Holiday Runner (by Meadowlake), so Marking is far from an off-bred horse.
Slammed is out of Hennesey Smash, whose family has been doing good work on the Southwestern circuit since her fourth dam Wembley Blue (a half sister to multiple California stakes winner Honored Sir, by Count of Honor) became the foundation mare for the New Mexico-based breeding program of Margaret O. duPont and Margaret V. Bloss. A daughter of the unheralded sire British Roman (a stakes-winning son of Endeavour II), Wembley Blue produced stakes winners Half Smash (by the unraced Khaled horse Binary), Service Over (by New Policy), and Smash It (by Foggy Road).
All three of Wembley Blue's black-type runners won juvenile stakes races on the New Mexico circuit, and Half Smash won a minor stakes at Sunland Park as a 3-year-old as well. Both she and Smash It were successful broodmares on their level. From three foals, Smash It produced Luckily Smashed (by What Luck) and Sunnily Smashed (by Sunny South), both of which won stakes races at 2 and 3 and both of which became dams of non-blacktype stakes winners in the Southwest.
Half Smash was retained by her breeders after her racing career and proved the best of Wembley Blue's daughters as a producer, coming up with listed stakes winner Last Eight Club (by Grade 2-placed Native Uproar, by Raise a Native), listed-placed multiple stakes winner Rad (by Al Hattab), and stakes winner A Smash (by Star de Naskra). By this time, the family had been sufficiently upgraded that duPont and Bloss were able to breed A Smash to Grade 1 winner Mogambo on a foal share with Calumet Farm, and the resulting foal was A Smashing Chance, winner of the 1992 Old Town Derby at Albuquerque.
A Smash failed to produce another stakes winner, but she continued to get opportunities with decent stallions, among them the multiple stakes winner and successful Southwestern regional sire Rare Brick (by Mr. Prospector). The result, the 1995 filly Some Smash, never made it to the race track, but she made up for it with progeny that amassed just over US$2.3 million in earnings, including restricted stakes winners Star Smasher (by Full Choke), Some Ghost (by Ghostly Moves), ZZZs Ghost (by Ghostly Moves) and Smash Dancer (by Robyn Dancer). She also produced Hennesey Smash (by Grade 3 winner Roll Hennessy Roll, by Hennessy out of multiple graded stakes producer Roll Over Baby), who was a multiple stakes winner in state-bred company and became the only one of her sibling group to take an open stakes when she won the 2012 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park.
Slammed is a half sister to Grade 3-placed open stakes winner Smash Ticket (a daughter of Midnight Lute who earned her graded black type by running third in the 2021 Sorrento Stakes and to multiple state-bred stakes winner Roll On Diabolical (by Diabolical). Since producing Smash Ticket, Hennesey Smash has produced Arro Gate, an unraced 2-year-old son of Arrogate, and an unnamed 2022 colt by Star Guitar, a foal bred with the Louisiana-bred program in mind. The mare was most recently bred to City of Light for 2023.
Slammed's female family is hardly fashionable, but it does demonstrate the wisdom of looking at regional female families which have been top-class in their state-bred programs for generations when seeking broodmare prospects on a budget. Not every such family can be upgraded as successfully as Slammed's has been, but it is certainly worth trying, particularly when backed by a decent state-bred program where foals not up to open company can still be money makers. As for Slammed, the next question is her next start, since the "Win and You're In" slot she earned for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint does not include the US$200,000 it would take to make her eligible for the Breeders' Cup as the daughter of a non-nominated stallion. That sum would represent a big gamble for her connections, but if she does go in the Filly and Mare Sprint, she will have a fair chance to pull off a grand slam for her sire and for the New Mexico state-bred program.
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