Inaugurated in 1956, the Woodbine Oaks is Canada’s counterpart to the Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). Although it does not command the same level of prestige, being restricted to Canadian-breds, it is nonetheless an interesting race that usually draws together the best of the sophomore fillies foaled under the Maple Leaf flag. As such, it has often served as a springboard to a Canadian championship campaign within the division or an assault on the boys in Canada’s premier Classic, the King’s Plate, which this year will be held on August 17.
This year’s winner is Kin’s Concerto, who ran down favored Caitlinhergrtness in the final seventy yards to win by a neck. The victory made Sofia Vives the first female jockey to score in Canada’s top filly Classic and gave trainer Josie Carroll her third Woodbine Oaks win, and Equibase gave the winner a respectable speed rating of 95, marking the fifth straight race in which Kin’s Concerto has shown a small improvement.
This cannot be said to have been a stellar Oaks field, given that Caitinhergrtness had won but two of her five starts and had no previous black type and that Kin’s Concerto was second choice in spite of having only a maiden win to her credit from four starts. Nevertheless, the winner’s development is on a good trajectory thus far, and she has an interesting pedigree that suggests that greater accomplishments may not be outside her scope in the future.
Kin’s Concerto is a daughter of the enigmatic Mendelssohn, a Scat Daddy half brother to four-time American champion Beholder and to five-time American champion sire Into Mischief. The winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) and the 2018 United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-G2), Mendelssohn clearly had high-class talent, but many observers felt that his 3-year-old campaign lacked focus and perhaps placed too much stress on the colt through several long trips between racing venues, causing him to achieve less than he might otherwise have.
Retired to Ashford Stud at the end of his 3-year-old season, Mendelssohn was well received but had to compete with a still better son of Scat Daddy in 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify. His results have so far not justified early hype; Kin’s Concerto is only his 13th stakes winner from 627 named foals of racing age, and so far, none of his foals have shown anything close to the level of talent he himself possessed.
Even so, Mendelssohn has the kind of genetics and performance behind him to enable him to sire a breakout horse at any time, and while Kin’s Concerto seems unlikely to be that horse, she does have significant potential. She is the seventh foal and fourth winner produced from Kincardine, an unraced daughter of 2000 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus. Like Mendelssohn, “Fu Peg” was a highly talented and magnificently bred horse (by Mr. Prospector out of a full sister to 1992 Preakness Stakes, USA-G1, winner Pine Bluff) who proved erratic as a sire but did beget a few top individuals, among them 2007 Australian champion 3-year-old male Haradasun, 2014 Chilean champion older male Bronzo, and Roman Ruler, a Grade 1 winner in the United States and a two-time champion sire in Argentina.
Kincardine is a full sister to Vulcan Rose, dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Flameaway (by Scat Daddy) and Canadian stakes winner Ellan Vannin (by Spring At Last). Also a half sister to 2007 Canadian Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Essential Edge (by Storm Cat) and to Flaming Rose (by Grand Slam), dam of two-time Nijinsky Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Tiz a Slam (by Tiznow), Kincardine is out of Rose of Tara, a half sister by 1991 Irish Horse of the Year Generous to five stakes winners produced by the magnificent broodmare Flame of Tara.
A daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Artaius (by Round Table), Flame of Tara was a fine race mare in her own right, collecting Group 2 wins in England and Ireland, but she outbred herself tremendously when she produced Salsabil (by Sadler’s Wells) as her second foal. After winning the 1990 General Accident One Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1) and Gold Seal Oaks (ENG-G1), she then conquered males in the Budweiser Irish Derby (IRE-G1). She also collected two Group 1 wins in France during her career, winning the 1989 Prix Marcel Boussac and 1990 Prix Vermeille and produced three graded/Group stakes winners of her own during a brief broodmare career.
None of Flame of Tara’s other foals was quite the equal of Salsabil, but even without Salsabil’s exploits, Flame of Tara’s record would have been more than respectable. Bred to 1986 English and French champion sprinter Last Tycoon in 1987, she produced Marju, who won the 1991 St. James’s Palace Stakes (ENG-G1) at the Royal Ascot meeting and proved to be a useful sire. Her next stakes winner was Danse Royale (by 1983 French champion 3-year-old male Caerleon), who won the 1993 Prix de Psyche (FR-G3) but was a disappointing broodmare. Salsabil’s 1992 full brother Song of Tara was not a patch on his elder sister but was much better than an empty stall, winning the listed Prix Nimbus in France and placing in three Group races in England and Ireland, and the last of Flame of Tara’s stakes winners, Flame of Athens (by Royal Academy) won the 1995 P. V. Doyle Memorial Railway Stakes (IRE-G3) as a 2-year-old. Throw in two Group 2-placed runners in Nearctic Flame (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of two listed stakes winners) and Spirit of Tara (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of multiple Group stakes winner Echo of Light, by Dubai Millennium, and two other stakes winners), and Flame of Tara’s broodmare record looks very good indeed.
Generous, the sire of Rose of Tara, was an excellent stayer who tended to beget horses of similar stripe, and given that Fusaichi Pegasus clearly stayed 10 furlongs well, it seems quite reasonable to conjecture that Kin’s Concerto is the sort of filly who would favor a distance of ground, particularly as she matures. This naturally leads to the question of how she might do if sent after the 10-furlong King’s Plate, in which the likely favorite would by My Boy Prince. A son of Cairo Prince, My Boy Prince is riding a three-race win streak and won the Plate Trial Stakes on the same day that Kin’s Concerto won the Woodbine Oaks, earning an identical Equibase speed figure of 95. On earlier speed figures, he is decidedly faster than Kin’s Concerto has thus far shown on his day, but those days have come at sprint distances or on turf.
Kin’s Concerto could, of course, stay within her division and contest the Bison City Stakes, the second leg of Canada’s Triple Tiara, on the King’s Plate undercard, but that race is at a mile and one-sixteenth and carries a purse of CAN$250,000 against CAN$1 million for the King’s Plate. Her connections’ choice, and its outcome, may reveal whether she has more than just a spark of what made Flame of Tara and her progeny burn so brightly.
This year’s winner is Kin’s Concerto, who ran down favored Caitlinhergrtness in the final seventy yards to win by a neck. The victory made Sofia Vives the first female jockey to score in Canada’s top filly Classic and gave trainer Josie Carroll her third Woodbine Oaks win, and Equibase gave the winner a respectable speed rating of 95, marking the fifth straight race in which Kin’s Concerto has shown a small improvement.
This cannot be said to have been a stellar Oaks field, given that Caitinhergrtness had won but two of her five starts and had no previous black type and that Kin’s Concerto was second choice in spite of having only a maiden win to her credit from four starts. Nevertheless, the winner’s development is on a good trajectory thus far, and she has an interesting pedigree that suggests that greater accomplishments may not be outside her scope in the future.
Kin’s Concerto is a daughter of the enigmatic Mendelssohn, a Scat Daddy half brother to four-time American champion Beholder and to five-time American champion sire Into Mischief. The winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) and the 2018 United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-G2), Mendelssohn clearly had high-class talent, but many observers felt that his 3-year-old campaign lacked focus and perhaps placed too much stress on the colt through several long trips between racing venues, causing him to achieve less than he might otherwise have.
Retired to Ashford Stud at the end of his 3-year-old season, Mendelssohn was well received but had to compete with a still better son of Scat Daddy in 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify. His results have so far not justified early hype; Kin’s Concerto is only his 13th stakes winner from 627 named foals of racing age, and so far, none of his foals have shown anything close to the level of talent he himself possessed.
Even so, Mendelssohn has the kind of genetics and performance behind him to enable him to sire a breakout horse at any time, and while Kin’s Concerto seems unlikely to be that horse, she does have significant potential. She is the seventh foal and fourth winner produced from Kincardine, an unraced daughter of 2000 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus. Like Mendelssohn, “Fu Peg” was a highly talented and magnificently bred horse (by Mr. Prospector out of a full sister to 1992 Preakness Stakes, USA-G1, winner Pine Bluff) who proved erratic as a sire but did beget a few top individuals, among them 2007 Australian champion 3-year-old male Haradasun, 2014 Chilean champion older male Bronzo, and Roman Ruler, a Grade 1 winner in the United States and a two-time champion sire in Argentina.
Kincardine is a full sister to Vulcan Rose, dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Flameaway (by Scat Daddy) and Canadian stakes winner Ellan Vannin (by Spring At Last). Also a half sister to 2007 Canadian Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Essential Edge (by Storm Cat) and to Flaming Rose (by Grand Slam), dam of two-time Nijinsky Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Tiz a Slam (by Tiznow), Kincardine is out of Rose of Tara, a half sister by 1991 Irish Horse of the Year Generous to five stakes winners produced by the magnificent broodmare Flame of Tara.
A daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Artaius (by Round Table), Flame of Tara was a fine race mare in her own right, collecting Group 2 wins in England and Ireland, but she outbred herself tremendously when she produced Salsabil (by Sadler’s Wells) as her second foal. After winning the 1990 General Accident One Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1) and Gold Seal Oaks (ENG-G1), she then conquered males in the Budweiser Irish Derby (IRE-G1). She also collected two Group 1 wins in France during her career, winning the 1989 Prix Marcel Boussac and 1990 Prix Vermeille and produced three graded/Group stakes winners of her own during a brief broodmare career.
None of Flame of Tara’s other foals was quite the equal of Salsabil, but even without Salsabil’s exploits, Flame of Tara’s record would have been more than respectable. Bred to 1986 English and French champion sprinter Last Tycoon in 1987, she produced Marju, who won the 1991 St. James’s Palace Stakes (ENG-G1) at the Royal Ascot meeting and proved to be a useful sire. Her next stakes winner was Danse Royale (by 1983 French champion 3-year-old male Caerleon), who won the 1993 Prix de Psyche (FR-G3) but was a disappointing broodmare. Salsabil’s 1992 full brother Song of Tara was not a patch on his elder sister but was much better than an empty stall, winning the listed Prix Nimbus in France and placing in three Group races in England and Ireland, and the last of Flame of Tara’s stakes winners, Flame of Athens (by Royal Academy) won the 1995 P. V. Doyle Memorial Railway Stakes (IRE-G3) as a 2-year-old. Throw in two Group 2-placed runners in Nearctic Flame (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of two listed stakes winners) and Spirit of Tara (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of multiple Group stakes winner Echo of Light, by Dubai Millennium, and two other stakes winners), and Flame of Tara’s broodmare record looks very good indeed.
Generous, the sire of Rose of Tara, was an excellent stayer who tended to beget horses of similar stripe, and given that Fusaichi Pegasus clearly stayed 10 furlongs well, it seems quite reasonable to conjecture that Kin’s Concerto is the sort of filly who would favor a distance of ground, particularly as she matures. This naturally leads to the question of how she might do if sent after the 10-furlong King’s Plate, in which the likely favorite would by My Boy Prince. A son of Cairo Prince, My Boy Prince is riding a three-race win streak and won the Plate Trial Stakes on the same day that Kin’s Concerto won the Woodbine Oaks, earning an identical Equibase speed figure of 95. On earlier speed figures, he is decidedly faster than Kin’s Concerto has thus far shown on his day, but those days have come at sprint distances or on turf.
Kin’s Concerto could, of course, stay within her division and contest the Bison City Stakes, the second leg of Canada’s Triple Tiara, on the King’s Plate undercard, but that race is at a mile and one-sixteenth and carries a purse of CAN$250,000 against CAN$1 million for the King’s Plate. Her connections’ choice, and its outcome, may reveal whether she has more than just a spark of what made Flame of Tara and her progeny burn so brightly.
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