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Mares on Monday: Wet Paint Splashes into Kentucky Oaks Picture

2/27/2023

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​Perhaps Wet Paint should have been named “Watercolor” instead. For the second straight race, she strode through sloppy conditions at Oaklawn Park with relish, adding Saturday’s Honeybee Stakes (USA-G3) and its 50 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) to the 20 points she earned with a win in the listed Martha Washington Stakes on January 28 under the same conditions and at the same mile and one-sixteenth distance. In both races, she came from well off the pace to win comfortably.

As a daughter of Blame, Wet Paint can reasonably be expected to continue improving with maturity. She is the second foal and the first winner from the Street Cry mare Sky Painter, who has since produced a 2022 filly by Medaglia d’Oro and is expecting a Not This Time foal this spring.

Sky Painter turned in her best racing performance when running second in the 2013 Miss Grillo Stakes (USA-G3). She is the only black-type runner and the only producer thus far out of the Sky Mesa mare Skylighter, who won the 2008 Indiana Oaks (USA-G2) and the 2009 Allaire Dupont Distaff Stakes (USA-G2) during her own racing days. Skylighter is a half sister to English listed stakes winner Speckled (by Street Cry), dam of 2020 Del Mar Derby (USA-G2) winner Pixelate (by City Zip), and to stakes winner Cave Hill (by Frosted); she is also a half sister to Lady Lavery (by Elusive Quality), dam of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Meru (by Sky Mesa).

Skylighter and her siblings are out of the winning Broad Brush mare Painted Lady, a full sister to multiple Japanese listed stakes winner Nobo True and a half sister to 1998 Honey Bee Handicap (USA-G3) winner Thunder Kitten (by Storm Cat), dam of 2008 Ribbesdale Stakes (USA-G2) winner Michita (by Dynaformer), 2014 Diamond Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Cat O’Mountain (by Street Cry), and Group 3-placed English listed stakes winner Willing Foe (by Dynaformer). Painted Lady is also a half sister to Teakabu (by Woodman), dam of 2014 Mexican champion 2-year-old filly Heakabu (by Impervious), and to Kristique (by Kris S.), dam of 2014 Singapore Horse of the Year War Affair (by O’Reilly) and second dam of 2018 A. T. C. Chairman’s Handicap (NZ-G2) winner Sir Charles Road (by Myboycharlie).

Painted Lady, in turn, is out of Nastique, a late-maturing daughter of 1970 Everglades Stakes winner Naskra who was among the best American older females at 4 and 5. Her major victories included the 1988 and 1989 editions of the Delaware Handicap (USA-G1) as well as the 1988 Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1).

Given the number of successful turf runners found in this family, it isn’t much of a surprise that Wet Paint was initially tried on turf as a 2-year-old; the greater surprise is that she showed nothing and wound up 10th during that first outing. She has since found a home on dirt, but while her speed figures are up with the other leaders of this year’s group of sophomore fillies, she has yet to prove that she can handle a fast surface in stakes company. As she is lacking in early speed, she will also have to cope with traffic problems in trying to come from off the pace in what is almost certain to be a crowded Kentucky Oaks field. Her next race, which is currently slated to be the Fantasy Stakes (USA-G3) at Oaklawn on April 1, may reveal much as to whether or not she is a masterwork in the making.
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Mares on Monday: Pretty Mischievous Pretty Good in Rachel Alexandra Stakes

2/20/2023

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​On February 18, all eyes were on the seasonal debut of Hoosier Philly in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (USA-G2) at the Fair Grounds. The highly touted daughter of Into Mischief was 3-for-3 going into the race, her brief career highlighted by an impressive win in last November’s Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2). She was so highly regarded that in some quarters the talk was of a start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1) rather than the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), but she bobbled at the start and was never really in the hunt. Instead, another daughter of Into Mischief who had raced in the Golden Rod got the job done as Pretty Mischievous outgamed 13-1 long shot Miracle to win by three-quarters of a length. The final time was 1:45.15 on a fast track.

Pretty Mischievous went into the Rachel Alexandra with a 3-for-4 mark, with her only loss being her third-place finish behind Hoosier Philly in the Golden Rod. She came out sitting atop the standings for a starting slot in the Kentucky Oaks, ahead of UAE Oaks (UAE-G3) heroine Mini Kakushi, American champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel, and Hoosier Philly, who occupy the next three places.

Like Hoosier Philly, Pretty Mischievous is the result of the burgeoning cross of Into Mischief over Tapit mares. The Tapit mare involved in her case is 2016 Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1) winner Pretty City Dancer, who scored a dead-heat victory in Saratoga’s marquee event for 2-year-old fillies with the similarly sired Sweet Loretta. Pretty City Dancer failed to win as a 3-year-old, though she did run second in the Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G2), and was retired after that season. Pretty Mischievous is her second foal. She was barren in 2021 and produced a Medaglia d’Oro filly in 2022.

Pretty City Dancer is from the family of So Social, a winning daughter of 1958 American champion 3-year-old male Tim Tam. A half sister to 1962 Discovery Handicap winner Comic (by Tom Fool) and produced from a Blenheim II half sister to two-time Saratoga Cup winner Busanda (dam of 1966 American Horse of the Year Buckpasser), So Social produced five stakes winners from 14 foals, among them Grade 3 winners Ward McAllister (by Bold Ruler) and Social Business (by Private Account).

Snobishness, So Social’s 1970 daughter by Forli, won the Prix de Chenettes and was Group 3-placed. She produced Italian Group 3 winner Oh So Snobish (by Quadratic) and multiple English stakes winner Oh So Choosy (by Top Command). She is also the dam of Quexine (by Sir Gaylord), a multiple stakes producer in Italy, and of Pretty Special (by Riverman), who came up with the family’s first Grade 1 winner in 1988 Bernard Baruch Handicap (USA-G1) winner My Big Boy (by Our Hero) as well as multiple listed stakes winner Forever Command (by Top Command). Pretty Special’s most important daughter has been Pretty City (by Carson City), who produced both Pretty City Dancer and 2007 Gazelle Stakes (USA-G1) winner Lear’s Princess (by Lear Fan).

Pretty Mischievous is in a strong position to make the Oaks at this point and seems as well advanced as any of the other fillies that have stepped forward as possible Oaks contenders so far this year. Nonetheless, a final three-sixteenths of a mile in 32.10 off a less than lively pace is not inspiring, and speed figures suggest that Pretty Mischievous will need to step up her game substantially to be competitive in the Kentucky Oaks. This is not an uncommon situation for any Oaks hopeful at this time of year, and the race often goes to the filly showing the most improvement during the spring. On paper, Pretty Mischievous certainly has the genetics to make that improvement a possibility; whether she can actually do so will be revealed by more racing later in the season.
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Mares on Monday: Dreaming of Snow Has Bennett Dreaming of Oaks

2/13/2023

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​As the field charged down the stretch in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on February 11, 38-1 shot Dreaming of Snow was on the lead, but she wasn’t going to stay there long. 2022 American champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel was coming on with her challenge, and to her outside, Malathaat’s little sister, Julia Shining (who had won the Demoiselle Stakes, USA-G2, in her last outing), was following with her own challenge. The duel everyone was expecting was setting up … except it didn’t. Dreaming of Snow was digging in and refusing to let Wonder Wheel by, and Julia Shining, coming from further out, could not make headway against either of the leading pair. At the wire, it was Dreaming of Snow by a neck over Wonder Wheel, with Julia Shining another one and one-quarter lengths back.

There were plenty of excuses for Wonder Wheel. The Tampa Bay track is notorious for being a strip that some horses take to with gusto and others loathe, and water from recent rain had made it still more unpredictable. A speed bias appeared to be in play, and it was Wonder Wheel’s first race of the season after a growth spurt that left the big filly a bit gangly and still catching up on herself. Julia Shining was also making her first start of the season and had no experience at Tampa Bay Downs. Dreaming of Snow, on the other hand, had three previous races over the track and routinely trained there, and her jockey, Samy Camacho, had ridden every race on the card prior to the Suncoast and knew exactly how the track was playing.

On the other side of the coin, Dreaming of Snow had to work nearly every step of the way; while she assumed the lead early, she was pressured throughout. She never opened up a lead of more than a length, and the favorites had every chance to catch the leader if they could. They could not. If anything, Dreaming of Snow appeared to have extended her lead at the finish after Wonder Wheel seemed ready to go on by in the last 40 yards, and this in Dreaming of Snow’s first effort around two turns. The time for the mile-and-40-yard race was 1:40.18.

Dreaming of Snow is the fifth stakes winner sired by Ocala Stud stallion Jess’s Dream, a son of Curlin and Rachel Alexandra who won his maiden effort impressively but never raced again. A US$60,000 purchase from the 2022 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March sale of 2-year-olds in training, she is out of unraced Snow Fashion (by 2008 Remsen Stakes, USA-G2, winner Old Fashioned, by Unbridled’s Song), whose son Montauk Daddy (by Daddy Longlegs) is stakes-placed and has earned over US$407,000. The mare’s most recent foals are the two-year-old The Big Beast colt Snowname and the yearling Valiant Minister colt Keep On Snowing.

Snow Fashion, in turn, is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Snow Lass, who won a restricted stakes at Tampa Bay as a 3-year-old and is a full sister to multiple turf stakes winner Atlantic Frost. Snow Lass’s dam Keri’s Snowman (who never raced) is a full sister to Grade 3 winner Palliser Bay and is by multiple Grade 3 winner Frosty the Snowman (by His Majesty), who set a world record of 1:44-2/5 for a mile and one-eighth over Woodbine’s turf course. The next dam in the tail-female line is Caro Keri (by Caro), a half sister to Grade 3-placed Hushi (by Riverman) and a great-granddaughter of 1959 American champion handicap female Tempted.

For leading Tampa Bay trainer Gerald Bennett, now 78 years old, Dreaming of Snow’s win over two of the most heralded members of her division is cause for dreams of his own. The filly earned 20 points toward a Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) berth with her win in the listed stakes, and the grit and determination she showed in the stretch will serve her well as she tries to go forward. She will need to show that she can be competitive with good fillies away from her home base if she is to go to Kentucky, but if she progresses as Bennett now dares to hope she can, she may turn out to be one of the feel-good stories of 2023.





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Mares on Monday: Ready for a Bigger Stage

2/6/2023

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​The late winter/early spring racing season is a time for unveiling fresh talent, and a chance for 3-year-old colts and fillies that weren’t ready for major competition as 2-year-olds to strut their stuff before entering the go-big-or-go-home races that will determine the fields for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1) and the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). On February 4, Red Carpet Ready went down the runway in style in her graded stakes debut, the Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G3) at Gulfstream Park. Sitting pretty in third during early going, the Rusty Arnold trainee had no trouble maintaining her undefeated record as she assumed the lead coming off the far turn and drew off in the stretch run under a brisk hand ride. Her win in the seven-furlong sprint earned her 20 points on the Oaks leaderboard, and she should be ready for a trial around two turns in her next outing.

Longer distances should be no problem for the beautifully named Red Carpet Ready, whose sire Oscar Performance had both speed enough to set a one-mile course record of 1:31.23 at Belmont Park and the stamina to win the Belmont Invitational Derby (USA-G1) at a mile and one-quarter. On the other side of her pedigree, the filly’s maternal grandsire is 2007 Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes (USA-G1) winner Street Sense. The only question here may be whether Red Carpet Ready may be even better suited to turf than she has already proven on the dirt.

Red Carpet Ready’s female line descends from the distinguished Claiborne family of Monarchy, a full sister to the great Round Table but a very different animal in her proclivities. Where Round Table took more after their staying sire, Princequillo, Monarchy was a true daughter of her dam, the speedy and precocious Knight’s Daughter, and scored her biggest win in the 1959 Arlington Lassie Stakes as a 2-year-old. She produced two stakes winners as well as the good Bold Ruler sire sons Blade and Envoy, and her daughter State (by Nijinsky II) became an important producer for Claiborne in her own right.

Red Carpet Ready is a fourth-generation descendant of State’s granddaughter Yarn (by Mr. Prospector). A full sister to 1991 Frizette Stakes (USA-G1) winner Preach, whose son Pulpit (by A. P. Indy) was a multiple Grade 2 winner and a notable Claiborne sire, Yarn was an excellent broodmare, producing 2000 English and Irish champion 2-year-old male Minardi (by Boundary), 1997 King’s Bishop Stakes (USA-G2) winner and successful sire Tale of the Cat (by Storm Cat), and restricted stakes winner Spunoutacontrol (by Wild Again). Yarn also produced Myth (by Ogygian), dam of 2001 American and European champion 2-year-old male Johannesburg (by Hennessy).

Spunoutacontrol did her part to maintain the family at a high standard, producing multiple Grade 2 winner Fed Biz (by Giant’s Causeway) and the restricted stakes-winning A.P. Indy filly Spun Silk; she is also the dam of Whichwaydidshego (by Storm Cat), dam of New York-bred stakes winners Mark My Way (by Noonmark), Hard to Stay Notgo (by More Than Ready), and Haul Anchor (by Bernardini). Spun Silk, in turn, is the dam of 2016 Vosburgh Stakes (USA-G1) winner Joking (by Distorted Humor) and of Wild Silk, dam of Red Carpet Ready. Since Red Carpet Ready, Wild Silk has produced a 2021 filly and a 2022 colt by Oscar Performance and was bred to Not This Time for 2023.

Red Carpet Ready’s next target has not been announced, but she is moving forward at the right time of year and is an intriguing prospect for the Kentucky Oaks. If she can pass a two-turn test later in the spring, look for her to take the opportunity to show what she is made of on an even bigger stage.


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    Author

    I'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan with a particular interest in Thoroughbred mares and their contributions to the history of the breed.

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