Even after his death, this champion sire could not be ignored; he had two posthumous champions in the same year, and one became an important sire in his own right whose branch of the line still continues. Who was this stallion, and who were the runners who added their own postscripts to his legacy?
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This multiple champion had unusual tastes in snacks. Besides the usual apples and carrots, he enjoyed pizza and coffee (he took his java with cream and sugar, by the way). Who was he?
1) 1915 Kentucky Derby Regret and 1915 Preakness Stakes winner Rhine Maiden met in the 1917 Gazelle Handicap, marking the first meeting between filly winners of American Triple Crown races. Regret won easily.
2) High Quest defeated his Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate Cavalcade in the 1934 Preakness but was later sold for US$150 as a 12-year-old stallion. 3) 1916 Preakness Stakes winner Damrosch was named for Walter Damrosch, the long-time conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra. 4) Egg on my face here, folks; I meant to specify horses that have won the Preakness and the Pimlico Special in the same year. They are War Admiral (1937), Challedon (1939), Assault (1946), Citation (1948) and Capot (1949). 5) Northern Dancer was less than three calendar years old when he won the Preakness Stakes. His three Classic victories were in the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the USA and the Queen's Plate in Canada. Few mares who are great champions on the track leave a breeding legacy equal to the memory of their racing greatness, but nine-time champion Miesque is one of those treasured exceptions. The dam of five stakes winners during her own broodmare career including European Classic winners Kingmambo (a successful stallion) and East of the Moon, she is also the matriarch of a burgeoning family that last year was represented by Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner Study of Man (a grandson of Miesque via her Storm Cat daughter Second Happiness) and Irish One Thousand Guineas winner and European champion 3-year-old filly Alpha Centauri (a granddaughter of East of the Moon).
While Miesque's family will be hard matched to equal that level of production in 2019, it has already made a start on it thanks to Loves Only You (by Deep Impact), who preserved her unbeaten record by taking the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, JPN-G1) on May 19. A full sister to 2016 Dubai Turf Presented by DP World (UAE-G1) winner Real Steel and Group 2-placed Japanese stakes winner Prodigal Son, Loves Only You is out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Loves Only Me, in turn produced from Miesque's daughter Monevassia. Sired by Mr. Prospector and, thus, a full sister to Kingmambo and to Group 1-placed Group 3 winner Miesque's Son, Monevassia made only two starts, running second once. With Miesque still in production and East of the Moon just having started her broodmare career, the Niarchos family did not see the need to keep Monevassia for their broodmare band and sold her for US$1.75 million at the 1998 Keeneland November sale, covered by A.P. Indy (though they ended up retaining an interest in the mare). Monevassia's purchaser was the Coolmore affiliate Orpendale, which suffered a setback almost immediately as Monevassia failed to produce a live foal to her cover by A.P. Indy. She produced foals by Sadler's Wells in 2000-2002, but of the trio, only the first, Trevi Fountain, even got to the races, and he failed to win. (However, the second of Monevassia's Sadler's Wells fillies, Woman Secret, produced Classic-placed stakes winner Wild Wind, later the dam of German stakes winner Wild Bud, for breeder Ecurie des Monceaux.) Prior to the birth of Monevassia's 2003 foal, Orpendale's interest in Monevassia was transferred to Quay Bloodstock, another Coolmore affiliate, Monevassia had also been switched from Sadler's Wells to Danehill, the great Australian sire who was challenging Sadler's Wells for supremacy in the Coolmore stallion barn. Apparently, the changes worked, On February 17, Monevassia gave birth to a bay filly who, under the name of Rumplestiltskin, won a Cartier Award as Europe's champion juvenile filly of 2005 after winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes (IRE-G1) and the Prix Marcel Boussac (FR-G1). Rumplestiltskin did not race after her juvenile season but is now the dam of 2014 Yorkshire Oaks (ENG-G1) winner Tapestry and juvenile Group 3 winner John F Kennedy, both by Sadler's Wells' son Galileo. Following Rumpelstiltskin, Monevassia produced one other stakes winner in 2014 Balanchine Stakes (IRE-G3) winner I Am Beautiful (by Rip Van Winkle), whose only named foal to date is the unraced 2016 Dansili colt Isocrates. Between Rumplestiltskin and Loves Me Only, however, Monevassia's continued influence as a producer appears assured. Rumplestiltskin's most recent foal is a 2019 colt by American Pharoah, and with Loves Me Only's eldest daughter, Raddolcendo (by Danehill Dancer), now in production and seeing the best sires Japan has to offer, it seems only a matter of time before the legacy of Miesque is extended to another generation. In honor of the Preakness Stakes, this week's trivia challenge consists of five questions centered around the middle jewel of the Triple Crown and its winners. Can you sleuth out all the answers by post time?
1) What race saw the only known meeting between fillies who won legs of the American Triple Crown? 2) This Preakness winner was a good enough racer to defeat his Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate but was a total bust at stud, selling for just US$150 when he was 12 years old. Who was he? 3) Which Preakness winner was named for a conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra? 4) Name the five horses who have swept Pimlico's top events for 3-year-olds and for all-aged competition by winning both the Preakness Stakes and the Pimlico Special. 5) This Preakness winner was actually less than 3 calendar years old when he won the race, He ended up winning three races considered to be Classics but not the American Triple Crown. Who was he? After posting a solid win in Saturday's Peter Pan Stakes (USA-G3), Global Campaign may be a possibility for the Belmont Stakes (USA-G1). If he does go in the "Test of the Champion," he will be the second member of his immediate family to point to a Triple Crown race this year, following Cutting Humor's start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1). (For the record, Cutting Humor crossed the line 11th.)
While Global Campaign handled the 9 furlongs of the Peter Pan quite adequately, trainer Stanley Hough stated after the race that the one-mile Dwyer Stakes (USA-G3) on July 6 or the 9-furlong Ohio Derby (USA-G3) on June 22 are also under consideration for the son of Curlin. The most likely determinant for the colt's next start will be how well the colt bounces back from his effort and from minor injuries suffered during the running when he clipped heels with a rival, but another consideration could be whether he really wants the Belmont distance. Like Cutting Humor, Global Campaign is a great-grandson of Tour, who as noted in my previous post on this family ("After Sunland Park Derby, Cutting Humor on Tour to Kentucky Derby," 3/25/2009) was a sprinter and founded a generally speed-oriented family that includes the extremely fast triple Grade 1 winner Zensational (by Unbridled's Song) and dual Grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro (by Medaglia d'Oro), who was essentially a miler. Global Campaign is, of course, a half brother to Bolt d'Oro, being out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. Tour's influence on Bolt d'Oro's stamina may be instructive in this case. Her daughter Trip, dam of Globe Trot, was essentially a miler in spite of being by Lord At War, a sire who often imparted a measure of stamina. Her stakes wins were all at 7 or 8.5 furlongs. In spite of being by the staying A.P. Indy, Trip's daughter Globe Trot was also best at a mile or a little more, and her only other foal besides Bolt d'Oro and Global Campaign is the Grade II-placed listed stakes winner Sonic Mule (by Distorted Humor), a straight-up sprinter. Like Medaglia d'Oro, Curlin tends to throw stamina, but it is worth noting that Bolt d'Oro was better at 8 than 9 furlongs in spite of three consecutive crosses of his female family to sires that definitely stayed further than 9 furlongs and could sire runners with similar capacities. Global Campaign's future direction may depend on whether he is more his father's son or stays closer to his family's trip. While Maximum Security was the first horse ever to be disqualified from a victory in the Kentucky Derby as the result of a stewards' ruling regarding an infraction during the running of the race, he has a parallel in European racing. Unbeaten at the time that he ran in his European Classic, this champion likewise crossed the line first but was disqualified for a foul committed during the race in a controversial decision, making him the first horse to be disqualified in the history of his Classic. He never raced again but became a champion sire nonetheless. Who was he?
The Kentucky Oaks:
1) Liatunah was the first Kentucky Oaks winner to produce a stakes winner. She won the Oaks in 1879. 2) Gal in a Ruckus won the 1995 Kentucky Oaks and Canadian Oaks, becoming the first filly to complete this double. 3) Modesty, the 1884 Kentucky Oaks winner and co-champion American 3-year-old filly, made her first four starts under the name "Golden Rod." 4) Willie Crump rode the Kentucky Oaks winners Easter Stockings (1928) and Rose of Sharon (1929) and trained the Oaks winner Blue Grass (1947). 5) Rachel Alexandra turned in the most lopsided Kentucky Oaks win in history, taking the 2009 edition by 20-1/4 lengths. The Kentucky Derby: 1) A. J. Alexander bred five Kentucky Derby winners but never had a starter in the Kentucky Derby. 2) Canonero II cost US$1,200 as a yearling at the Keeneland sales, the lowest price ever for a future Kentucky Derby winner sold through that venue. 3) Apollo, the 1882 Kentucky Derby winner, ran second in a selling race for a purse of US$300 less than a month before the Kentucky Derby and could have been bought after the race for US$900. There were no takers. 4) The 1938 movie Kentucky used footage from that year's Kentucky Derby, won by Lawrin, for its climactic scenes. 5) The 1952 Kentucky Derby (won by Hill Gail) was the first to be broadcast on national television in the United States. Unlike the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1), the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) held no controversy. Running in front from start to finish, Serengeti Empress was simply the best filly around in the Oaks, earning her lilies in a final time of 1:50.17 for the 9-furlong distance.
While Serengeti Empress' performance does not rank with exhibitions like those thrown down by Rachel Alexandra or Untapable, it still represents a remarkable recovery from an episode of respiratory bleeding suffered during the running of the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (USA-G2) just six weeks earlier. It also represents a top-level North American triumph for an Argentine family that has been hanging on by a slender thread. A member of the fourth crop of the Grade 1-winning Distorted Humor horse Alternation, Serengeti Empress is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Havisham, who was sold to Korea for US$12,000 out of the 2016 Keeneland November sale while carrying a full sister to Serengeti Empress. Since her export, the mare has also produced a 2018 filly by Tiz Wonderful. Her history is an odd parallel to that of the dam of disqualified Kentucky Derby winner Maximum Security, Lil Indy; also exported to Korea at a modest price (US$11,000) while carrying a full sibling to her now-famous offspring, Lil Indy produced a full sister to Maximum Security in Korea on March 28. Havisham is the only filly produced from Argentine-bred Love Dancing, who won the 2007 Premio Manuel J. Guiraldes (ARG-G3) during her own racing days but managed to produce only two indifferent winners from five named foals, a circumstance that led to her being sold for the equivalent of US$1,060 at the 2016 Goffs November sale. A daughter of 1991 Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1) winner Salt Lake (by Deputy Minister), she was produced from Le Midi, also the dam of multiple Group 1-placed Lethal Weapon (by Southern Halo) and Group 2-placed Lethal Gun (by Orpen). A daughter of the high-class sire and broodmare sire Fitzcarraldo, Le Midi was an even better race mare than Love Dancing, winning the 1989 Polla de Potrancas de La Plata (ARG-G2) and Premio Clemente Benevides (ARG-G3) and placing in two Group 1 events. By far the best produce of her dam and the only one to breed on with any success, she in turn was produced from unraced La Tempestad, whose sire Cipol won two legs of the Argentine Triple Crown in 1970 before becoming a successful sire. The female line traces back to Venusta, who was imported to Argentina from England in 1889 and became one of the great taproot mares of Argentine breeding. Serengeti Empress still has some racing to do before she is retired to carry on her family's legacy, but through her female family, she will bring some welcome outcross blood into the North American gene pool. Until that time, long may she reign at the racetrack. Welcome to this year's edition of the special Derby Weekend challenge! This year's version consists of five questions centered on the Kentucky Oaks and five more on the Kentucky Derby. Let's see if anyone can run the table before post time for the Derby!
Kentucky Oaks: 1) Who was the first Kentucky Oaks winner to produce a stakes winner after her retirement to the paddocks? 2) Most students of racing history know that Northern Dancer was the first (and to date only) colt to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Queen's Plate, Canada's premier Classic. Who was the first filly to land the corresponding filly double by winning the Kentucky Oaks and Woodbine/Canadian Oaks? 3) While the modern rules of racing in North America do not allow a horse's name to be changed after its first start, this old-time champion ran under a different name at 2 than she did when she won the Oaks. Who was she? 4) Who was the first man to both ride and train Kentucky Oaks winners? 5) What filly holds the record for the longest winning margin in the Kentucky Oaks? Kentucky Derby 1) What breeder sent out the most Kentucky Derby winners without ever having a starter in the race? 2) Who was the least expensive Kentucky Derby winner ever sold through the Keeneland sales? 3) Less than a month before his Kentucky Derby victory, this race winner failed to change hands at an asking price of $900. Name him. 4) This fictional film about a longshot Kentucky Derby winner used actual film footage from a real-life Kentucky Derby winner's run for the roses for the climactic shots of the movie. Name the movie and name the Derby winner who supplied the footage used. 5) In what year was the Kentucky Derby first broadcast on national TV in the United States? |
AuthorI'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. Categories
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