On September 13, Search for a Song won her second edition of the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger (IRE-G1). Earlier on the same card, Thunder Moon won the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (IRE-G1). The connecting link between the two? Both are descended from Trusted Partner, one of a group of horses descended from a happy marriage between the great Affirmed and 1973 American champion 2-year-old filly Talking Picture.
Sired by Speak John from the Nasrullah mare Poster Girl (and, thus, a half sister to the stakes-winning Round Table horse Illustrious), Talking Picture won four graded stakes races at two including the Matron Stakes (USA-G1) and the Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1). She did not train on as well as hoped at 3, but as a champion racer from the female family of the great broodmare-producing line of Bourtai, she had all the credentials needed for access to the best stallions of the breed.
Three named foals by Hoist the Flag and Sir Ivor failed to achieve any note, but when Talking Picture was put to Affirmed after slipping her 1980 foal, it proved a match made in heaven. The resulting filly was Easy to Copy, a Group 2 winner in Italy and the dam of multiple Irish Group 3 winner Two-Twenty-Two (by Fairy King) and listed stakes winners Easy Definition (by Alzao) and Desert Ease (by Green Desert. Easy to Copy is also the second dam of Grade 2 winners Amira's Prince and Easy 'n Gold and the third dam of multiple Group 1 winner Gallante.
After a barren year in 1982, Talking Picture produced another Affirmed filly in 1983. This was Epicure's Garden, an Irish listed stakes winner who placed in three Group 3 races. She is the dam of multiple Grade/Group 2 winner Lisieux Rose (by Generous), the second dam of English Group 2 winner Forgotten Rules, and the third dam of 2019 Gran Premio Enrique Ayulo Pardo (PER-G1) winner Toffee.
Talking Picture produced an unmemorable colt by Super Concorde before producing her third Affirmed filly, and this one was even better than her older sisters. Named Trusted Partner, she was an Irish Group 3 winner at 2. At 3, she became a Classic winner by taking the Goffs Irish One Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1). She produced only one stakes winner but was hardly a disappointment as a producer, for her stakes-winning daughter was 2002 Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dress to Thrill (by Danehill).
Dress to Thrill has had little impact as a producer, but other daughters of Trusted Partner have made up for her failings. Dress to Thrill's winning full sister Polished Luck is the dam of six stakes winners (five at the Group level) including Search for a Song (by Galileo) and 2015 Prince of Wales's Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Free Eagle (by High Chaparral). Another winning daughter of Trusted Partner, Trust in Luck (by Nashwan), is the second dam of Thunder Moon (a son of Zoffany), 2014 Criterium International (FR-G1) winner Vert de Grece and English Group 3 winner Love Lockdown.
Talking Picture produced five foals by other sires before her next date with Affirmed. The best on the track was the stakes-winning Saratoga Six colt Guaranteed Income, whose full sister Separate Issue is the third dam of the popular California filly Enola Gray, a Grade 3 winner.
Talking Picture's last three foals were all fillies by Affirmed, beginning with Group 1-placed Grade 3 winner Low Key Affair, a mare who unfortunately had no issue. The next was unraced Movie Legend, dam of three listed-placed runners, and Talking Picture ended her producing career with listed stakes-placed Magical Cliche, whose best descendant thus far is her versatile granddaughter Uncaccompanied, a listed stakes winner on the flat and a multiple stakes winner over hurdles.
Why Talking Picture clicked so well with Affirmed and not with her other mates is a question for pedigree analysts to wrangle over, but the results of this pairing have been both beneficial and lasting. With any luck---and with continued access to good sires, the descendants of Talking Picture's daughters by Affirmed should be getting their pictures taken in winners' circles for years to come.
Sired by Speak John from the Nasrullah mare Poster Girl (and, thus, a half sister to the stakes-winning Round Table horse Illustrious), Talking Picture won four graded stakes races at two including the Matron Stakes (USA-G1) and the Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1). She did not train on as well as hoped at 3, but as a champion racer from the female family of the great broodmare-producing line of Bourtai, she had all the credentials needed for access to the best stallions of the breed.
Three named foals by Hoist the Flag and Sir Ivor failed to achieve any note, but when Talking Picture was put to Affirmed after slipping her 1980 foal, it proved a match made in heaven. The resulting filly was Easy to Copy, a Group 2 winner in Italy and the dam of multiple Irish Group 3 winner Two-Twenty-Two (by Fairy King) and listed stakes winners Easy Definition (by Alzao) and Desert Ease (by Green Desert. Easy to Copy is also the second dam of Grade 2 winners Amira's Prince and Easy 'n Gold and the third dam of multiple Group 1 winner Gallante.
After a barren year in 1982, Talking Picture produced another Affirmed filly in 1983. This was Epicure's Garden, an Irish listed stakes winner who placed in three Group 3 races. She is the dam of multiple Grade/Group 2 winner Lisieux Rose (by Generous), the second dam of English Group 2 winner Forgotten Rules, and the third dam of 2019 Gran Premio Enrique Ayulo Pardo (PER-G1) winner Toffee.
Talking Picture produced an unmemorable colt by Super Concorde before producing her third Affirmed filly, and this one was even better than her older sisters. Named Trusted Partner, she was an Irish Group 3 winner at 2. At 3, she became a Classic winner by taking the Goffs Irish One Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1). She produced only one stakes winner but was hardly a disappointment as a producer, for her stakes-winning daughter was 2002 Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dress to Thrill (by Danehill).
Dress to Thrill has had little impact as a producer, but other daughters of Trusted Partner have made up for her failings. Dress to Thrill's winning full sister Polished Luck is the dam of six stakes winners (five at the Group level) including Search for a Song (by Galileo) and 2015 Prince of Wales's Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Free Eagle (by High Chaparral). Another winning daughter of Trusted Partner, Trust in Luck (by Nashwan), is the second dam of Thunder Moon (a son of Zoffany), 2014 Criterium International (FR-G1) winner Vert de Grece and English Group 3 winner Love Lockdown.
Talking Picture produced five foals by other sires before her next date with Affirmed. The best on the track was the stakes-winning Saratoga Six colt Guaranteed Income, whose full sister Separate Issue is the third dam of the popular California filly Enola Gray, a Grade 3 winner.
Talking Picture's last three foals were all fillies by Affirmed, beginning with Group 1-placed Grade 3 winner Low Key Affair, a mare who unfortunately had no issue. The next was unraced Movie Legend, dam of three listed-placed runners, and Talking Picture ended her producing career with listed stakes-placed Magical Cliche, whose best descendant thus far is her versatile granddaughter Uncaccompanied, a listed stakes winner on the flat and a multiple stakes winner over hurdles.
Why Talking Picture clicked so well with Affirmed and not with her other mates is a question for pedigree analysts to wrangle over, but the results of this pairing have been both beneficial and lasting. With any luck---and with continued access to good sires, the descendants of Talking Picture's daughters by Affirmed should be getting their pictures taken in winners' circles for years to come.
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