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Mares on Monday: No Dispute About Nanda Dea in Premio Omega

6/26/2023

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​Saturday’s Premio Omega (ARG-G2) at San Isidro served as an appetizer for the four Group 1 stakes of the Carreras de las Estrellas (the Argentine counterpart to the Breeders’ Cup) that followed, but it may have served as an appetizer for a 4-year-old campaign for a blossoming filly as well. Traveling easily in third place during the early going of the 1600-meter race on turf, Caballeriza Santa Inés’s 3-year-old filly Nanda Dea gamely shot through a narrow seam on the inside in the upper stretch, fought off a determined challenge from multiple Group stakes winner Violeta M, and came home a two-length winner in the first Group race of her four-start career.

A daughter of Grade 1-placed Fortify (by Distorted Humor), who has ranked four times among Argentina’s top five sires, Nanda Dea is a fourth-generation descendant of 1993 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) winner Dispute (by Danzig), who collected four Grade 1 wins during her career. A descendant of the matriarch Grey Flight, whose family has produced a galaxy of stakes horses for the Wheatley Stable and later for the Phipps family, Dispute herself was a disappointing broodmare, failing to produce a black-type runner from 15 foals sired by the best stallions in Kentucky. Nonetheless, three of her daughters have become the first or second dam of Graded or Group stakes winners.

The eldest of the trio is the winner Plaintiff (by Seeking the Gold), who was sent to Argentina and there became the dam of 2016 Premio Manuel J. Guiraldes (ARG-G3) winner Plainswoman (by multiple Grade 1 winner Zensational, by Unbridled’s Song), now a broodmare in Japan. Plaintiff is also the dam of Gearanai (by Toccet), dam of 2020 Criterium de Saint-Cloud (FR-G1) winner Gear Up (by Teofilo) and 2018 Eyrefield Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Guaranteed (by Teofilo). Plaintiff’s unraced full sister Perfect Solution, has also contributed to the family, producing stakes winners La Piba (by Lookin At Lucky) and Mobil Solution (by Mobil) and, through her Unbridled’s Song filly Splendid Solution, becoming the granddam of 2014 Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2) winner West Coast Belle (by Tapit).

Dispute’s other important daughter is the Storm Cat mare Troubling, who never made it to the track and produced only three winners among her eight named foals. She is the third dam of 2020 Round Tower Stakes (IRE-G3) winner New Treasure (by New Approach) through her Seeking the Gold daughter Trepidation, but Troubling’s key daughter has proved to be Notroubleatall (by Gone West), who was sent to Argentina after producing five foals, none of any particular account, in the United States. She produced two more foals for Haras Santa Inés. One. Norimberga (by the good Danzig horse Exchange Rate) won the 2016 Premio Paseana (ARG-G2) but has been troubled by reproductive problems and has only produced three named foals. The other, Nanga Parbat (by 2007 Hopeful Stakes, USA-G1, winner Majestic Warrior, by A.P. Indy), never raced but produced Nanda Dea as her fourth foal. Nanga Parbat is also the dam of Elitas (by two-time Argentine champion sire Catcher in the Rye, by Danehill), a multiple Group 1-placed multiple listed stakes winner in Peru.

Families from the old Wheatley/Phipps lines rarely have good members made available to breeders outside the Phipps family and their relatives, and even culls have sometimes done other breeders very good service indeed. For Haras Santa Inés, the acquisition of Notroubleatall (who sold for US$23,000 from the 2010 Keeneland November mixed sale) has already proven well worthwhile, with a mere handful of foals across two generations yielding three Group-class racehorses. The future of this branch of Dispute’s family is still clouded, as Nanga Parbat produced fillies by 2014/2015 Chilean Horse of the Year Il Campione in 2020 and 2021 but has not produced a live foal since. One of those fillies, though, is 2-year-old Nanabush, who broke her maiden at San Isidro in her first start on June 11—along with her half sister’s Group win, perhaps good omens for a South American twig from a distinguished family that may still grow into a substantial branch.
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Mares on Monday: Kenlova Finds Her Rhythm in Brazil

6/19/2023

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On June 17, Kenlova completed her climb to the top of the Brazilian filly and mare ranks by taking Gávea’s Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Seabra, Rio de Janeiro’s top race for female Thoroughbreds. While her half-length score was not spectacular, it was authoritative, as she delivered a strong closing run to get the better of fellow closers Rennes and Just Like. The victory was her fifth straight—all in races open to older fillies and mares—and her second straight in Group 1 company, following a May 6 score in the Grande Prêmio Organização Sudamericana de Fomento del Sangre Pura de Carrera at Cidade Jardim near São Paulo. The 3-year-old by the Brazilian stallion Didimo (the Brazilian champion older male of 2012/2013) has now won seven of ten starts during her career and is in a strong position to claim a Mossoró Trophy as Brazil’s champion 3-year-old filly.

Kenlova is the second named foal of multiple Group 2-placed Love It, whose sire, 2005 Anglesey Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Amigoni, is a son of the great Danzig stallion Danehill. Love It is a half sister to 2018 Grande Prêmio Piratininga (BRZ-G3) winner Nevisk (by Jeune-Turc) and is out of Group 3-placed Jolie Camila (by the winning Mr. Prospector horse Golden Voyager), whose half sister Jazz Band (by Refuse to Bend) won the 2015 Grande Premio Presidente Antonio Grisi Filho (BRZ-G2).

The next dam in Kenlova’s tail-female line, Group 3-placed Starina, is by 1984 Grande Premio Proclamação da República (BRZ-G2) winner Odysseus (a paternal grandson of Never Bend) and is out of Imila, whose sire Rhone won the 1971 Grande Prêmio Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazilian Derby). Imila, in turn, is out of the Ghadeer mare First Valley, a half sister to multiple Brazilian Group 1 winner Belle Valley. Ghadeer, a Group 3-winning son of Lyphard, rewrote the Brazilian record books as a sire, leading his adoptive country’s sire list six times and the broodmare sire list fourteen times, and Kenlova is only one of hundreds of high-class Brazilian runners whose performances and pedigrees attest to the widespread influence he has had.

Kenlova’s family does not have quite the depth of black type of some female lineages, but hers is a young family with only 34 years spanning her own birth and that of her fifth dam, First Valley. With many relatively young, well-bred mares in production at once, such families can experience sudden bursts of activity that rapidly upgrade the catalog pages of its members. Aside from her own prospects as a broodmare, Kenlova’s successes will probably secure improved opportunities for her close female relatives as well. Time will tell whether she represents an isolated burst of brilliance or the emergence of a new matriarchy.
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Mares on Monday: For Virginia Kraft Payson, Stamina Was a Prerequisite

6/12/2023

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​Trainer Chad Brown believed he had a filly capable of controlling the pace scenario in the Wonder Again Stakes (USA-G2) at Belmont Park on June 10, and Prerequisite proved him right. Making only her third lifetime start, the bay filly hustled out of the gate under Flavien Prat, went to the front early and set an honest but not frantic pace under mild pressure by Spansive. Coming out of the far turn, she shook off that rival and had enough left to stave off the late-charging Be Your Best, stopping the timer for 9 furlongs over firm turf in 1:47.20. It was Prerequisite’s second straight win over the course and distance.

A daughter of 2015 Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G2) winner Upstart (by Flatter), Prerequisite traces her tail-female descent back to the 1995 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, Northern Sunset. A jewel in the broodmare band of Virginia Kraft Payson’s Payson Stud, Northern Sunset earned her title by producing four graded/Group-winning sons, headed by 1992 European Horse of the Year St. Jovite (by Pleasant Colony). The others were St. Jovite’s full brother Lac Ouimet, a five-time Grade 2 winner and a useful sire; two-time Grade 2 winner Salem Drive (by Darby Creek Road); and the gelded L’Carriere (by Carr de Naskra), who won the 1996 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap (USA-G3) and placed in three Grade 1 races.

The best of Northern Sunset’s daughters as a producer was Dry North, a daughter of 1980 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner and champion 3-year-old male Temperence Hill. As is often the case for strongly stamina-bred horses in the North American market, she was not a particularly successful racer, winning three of 25 starts while running primarily in two-turn races on the dirt. Most breeders probably would have sought a speedier mate for her, but Payson went with the sire that had been most successful with Northern Sunset, the staying Pleasant Colony. The result was Fly North, who defied her breeding by winning the 1995 Ontario Debutante Stakes as a juvenile.

Payson’s breeding program was oriented toward classic stamina, and in 1998, Fly North visited another horse that could stay at least 10 furlongs in multiple Grade 1 winner Broad Brush. Payson sold the resulting filly for US$45,000 at the 2000 Keeneland September yearling sale, and, under the name of Farda Amiga, the filly won the 2002 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) and Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1), good enough for an Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old filly division. A rather disappointing broodmare, Farda Amiga is nonetheless the third dam of 2021 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Uruguayan One Thousand Guineas) winner Dama de Ferro.

Fly North produced no more stakes winners, and her last foal, the 2007 Giant’s Causeway filly Forever Beautiful (another Payson-bred) never raced. Forever Beautiful’s only winner to date is her third foal, three-time stakes winner Homeland Security (by Smart Strike). Prerequisite is the second foal out of Homeland Security’s full sister Etsu, also the dam of Mexican stakes winner Yucatan (by Strong Mandate). Following Prerequisite, Etsu has produced the unraced 2021 Summer Front colt Stay Hot, a 2022 colt by Complexity, and a 2023 full brother to Prerequisite. Forever Beautiful also remains in production and has most recently produced a 2022 colt by Runhappy and a 2023 filly by Street Boss.

Although Prerequisite’s pedigree is decidedly tilted toward stamina (especially by modern standards), she is inbred 4x3 to two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, a horse that set a Gulfstream Park track record for six furlongs that stood unbroken and untied for thirty years. Her ability to set a high cruising speed and maintain it will make her an interesting runner to watch later in the season as some of the longer turf races for fillies and mares come around, for this is one front-runner not likely to be found out for lack of staying ability. Her burgeoning career is a testament to a woman who eschewed the commercial push for early speed and maturity and bred for the long run.
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    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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