Some female families are gifts that keep on giving, and the family of Lady Be Good is one such. The subject of an earlier post this year after Martin Luther King scored a Classic success in Brazil (“Mares on Monday: The Lady Is Good in Brazil," March 18, 2024), Lady Be Good is back for more acclaim as the fifth dam of Seize the Grey, who scored a front-running victory in the classic Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) exactly two months later on May 18.
Like Martin Luther King, Seize the Grey descends from Lady Be Good’s daughter by Majestic Prince, Impish. Their lines diverge at the next step. Whereas Martin Luther King traces back to Defer (Damascus x I Pass, by Buckpasser x Impish), Seize the Grey is a great-grandson of Shopping (by Damascus’s good son Private Account x Impish). Shopping was bred by Arthur Hancock III, who had acquired Impish from Ogden Phipps prior to the filly’s birth, but like many of the Phipps family’s good producers, Shopping fit neatly in the category of “New York allowance filly,” winning three of her 10 starts during her single season on the track.
Shopping lived up to the family tradition by becoming a good broodmare, though not for Hancock, who had sold her to Jack Dreyfus’s Hobeau Farm. For Hobeau, Shopping produced Miss Shop (by Deputy Minister), winner of the 2007 Personal Ensign Stakes (USA-G1) and dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Tin Type Gal (by Tapit); Trappe Shot (by Tapit), winner of the 2011 True North Handicap (USA-G2) and twice Grade 1-placed; listed stakes winner Bought in Dixie (by Dixieland Band); and stakes winner Shop Again (by Wild Again). Shopping is also the dam of Shop Here (by Dehere), dam of Grade 2-placed listed stakes winner Fifth Avenue (by Monarchos) and second dam of 2019 Shakertown Stakes (USA-G2) winner Imprimis (by Broken Vow) and listed stakes winners Shoplifted (by Into Mischief) and Eloquist (by Nyquist).
Although she showed much less talent on the track than her half sister Miss Shop, Shop Around has done her fair share to maintain this branch of the family, producing 2012 FrontRunner Stakes (USA-G1) winner Power Broker (by Pulpit) and stakes winner Fierce Boots (by Tiznow). She is also the dam of stakes-placed Smart Shopping (by Smart Strike), who produced Seize the Grey as her third foal before throwing the unraced 2022 Justify filly Cirque Lodge and a 2024 filly by Life Is Good. Shop Around also has a couple of unraced youngsters awaiting their turn in the spotlight, the unraced 2022 filly Winning Streep and a 2023 filly, both by Oscar Performance.
Few female families last five or six generations at the top level, but Lady Be Good’s clan is breeding on strongly and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. With well-bred fillies like the ones mentioned above continuing to be produced, along with good racetrack performers, it seems that Lady Be Good will continue to do good for the Thoroughbred well into the 21st century,
Like Martin Luther King, Seize the Grey descends from Lady Be Good’s daughter by Majestic Prince, Impish. Their lines diverge at the next step. Whereas Martin Luther King traces back to Defer (Damascus x I Pass, by Buckpasser x Impish), Seize the Grey is a great-grandson of Shopping (by Damascus’s good son Private Account x Impish). Shopping was bred by Arthur Hancock III, who had acquired Impish from Ogden Phipps prior to the filly’s birth, but like many of the Phipps family’s good producers, Shopping fit neatly in the category of “New York allowance filly,” winning three of her 10 starts during her single season on the track.
Shopping lived up to the family tradition by becoming a good broodmare, though not for Hancock, who had sold her to Jack Dreyfus’s Hobeau Farm. For Hobeau, Shopping produced Miss Shop (by Deputy Minister), winner of the 2007 Personal Ensign Stakes (USA-G1) and dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Tin Type Gal (by Tapit); Trappe Shot (by Tapit), winner of the 2011 True North Handicap (USA-G2) and twice Grade 1-placed; listed stakes winner Bought in Dixie (by Dixieland Band); and stakes winner Shop Again (by Wild Again). Shopping is also the dam of Shop Here (by Dehere), dam of Grade 2-placed listed stakes winner Fifth Avenue (by Monarchos) and second dam of 2019 Shakertown Stakes (USA-G2) winner Imprimis (by Broken Vow) and listed stakes winners Shoplifted (by Into Mischief) and Eloquist (by Nyquist).
Although she showed much less talent on the track than her half sister Miss Shop, Shop Around has done her fair share to maintain this branch of the family, producing 2012 FrontRunner Stakes (USA-G1) winner Power Broker (by Pulpit) and stakes winner Fierce Boots (by Tiznow). She is also the dam of stakes-placed Smart Shopping (by Smart Strike), who produced Seize the Grey as her third foal before throwing the unraced 2022 Justify filly Cirque Lodge and a 2024 filly by Life Is Good. Shop Around also has a couple of unraced youngsters awaiting their turn in the spotlight, the unraced 2022 filly Winning Streep and a 2023 filly, both by Oscar Performance.
Few female families last five or six generations at the top level, but Lady Be Good’s clan is breeding on strongly and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. With well-bred fillies like the ones mentioned above continuing to be produced, along with good racetrack performers, it seems that Lady Be Good will continue to do good for the Thoroughbred well into the 21st century,
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