On December 30, Chile’s Santiago track hosted the last Classic race of the year for Western Hemisphere 3-year-olds in the Premio Las Oaks Fasig-Tipton (CHI-G1). The winner was Stud Doña Eliana’s Mama Lili, who led a sweep of the first four slots for her sire, Irish-bred Ivan Denisovich (by Danehill). Now the winner of five of her six starts, Mama Lili suffered her only defeat when 11th in the Polla de Potrancas (CHI-G1) but has two Group 3 wins in addition to her Classic score and has earned black type over distances from 1600 meters (the “metric mile”) to 2000 meters.
The winner of the 2005 July Stakes (ENG-G2), Ivan Denisovich stands at Haras Don Alberto, which bred Mama Lili from the winner Margaret Mitchell. Already a proven stakes producer, Margaret Mitchell had previously come up with Sarona (by Seeking the Dia), winner of the 2016 Premio Arturo Lyon Pena (CHI-G1), as well as listed stakes winner Margaret Marina (by Henrythenavigator). Sired by the Smart Strike horse Until Sundown (winner of the 2003 Affirmed Handicap, USA-G3), Margaret Mitchell is a half sister to 2012/2013 Chilean champion sprinter El Tigrito (by Sir Cat).
Margaret Mitchell’s female family was no stranger to Group 1 success even before the arrivals of Sarona and Mama Lili. The dam of Margaret Mitchell and El Tigrito is 2005 Premio Carlos Campino (CHI-G2) winner Tigrita (by three-time Chilean champion sire Dushyantor, a Group 2-winning son of Sadler’s Wells), a full sister to 2010 Chilean Horse of the Year Belle Watling and to 2008 Premio Arturo Lyon Pena (CHI-G1) winner Scarlet. For good measure, Tigrita is also a full sister to Chilean Group 3 winner Clark Gable.
Tigrita, in turn, is out of the winner Biala, whose sire The Great Shark (by Storm Bird) was a member of the family of the important American sire Relaunch and was a good sire and broodmare sire in Chile in spite of a mediocre race record. There is little in the way of merit under the next two dams in the tail-female line, Damasquera (by the Never Bend horse Domineau) and Discografia (by the Damascus horse Damascus Silver), but the next dam, Secuestrada (by 1971 Chilean champion sire Silver Moon III, a son of the important Argentine sire Seductor), had a good production record, coming up with 1984 Premio República de Chile (CHI-G1) winner Risueno (by Rigel II) and 1985 Premio Los Haras de Chile (CHI-G1) winner Secuencia (by Mr. Long). This female line has been in Chile since 1896, when the Argentine-bred mare La Lune, a product of the famous Haras Las Ortigas, was imported; La Lune, in turn, was a daughter of seven-time Argentine champion sire Neapolis (an import from England) and the French-bred mare Legere.
Although Mama Lili’s tail-female line is purely Chilean for over a century, the rest of her pedigree through five generations is mostly from North America, and she is inbred to familiar names: Mr. Prospector 4x4, Roberto 4x5, and Northern Dancer 4x5x5. This is typical of most top South American pedigrees of modern times, which commonly have a good South American family repeatedly crossed with imported North American or European sires--a situation likely to continue as top native-bred colts are not uncommonly tapped for export and further racing in North America, South Africa, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Thus, it falls to the great female families nurtured by the major South American breeders to maintain the distinctiveness of South American breeding populations, and one can hope that Mama Lili will do her part to sustain a fine Chilean family when her racing days are done.
The winner of the 2005 July Stakes (ENG-G2), Ivan Denisovich stands at Haras Don Alberto, which bred Mama Lili from the winner Margaret Mitchell. Already a proven stakes producer, Margaret Mitchell had previously come up with Sarona (by Seeking the Dia), winner of the 2016 Premio Arturo Lyon Pena (CHI-G1), as well as listed stakes winner Margaret Marina (by Henrythenavigator). Sired by the Smart Strike horse Until Sundown (winner of the 2003 Affirmed Handicap, USA-G3), Margaret Mitchell is a half sister to 2012/2013 Chilean champion sprinter El Tigrito (by Sir Cat).
Margaret Mitchell’s female family was no stranger to Group 1 success even before the arrivals of Sarona and Mama Lili. The dam of Margaret Mitchell and El Tigrito is 2005 Premio Carlos Campino (CHI-G2) winner Tigrita (by three-time Chilean champion sire Dushyantor, a Group 2-winning son of Sadler’s Wells), a full sister to 2010 Chilean Horse of the Year Belle Watling and to 2008 Premio Arturo Lyon Pena (CHI-G1) winner Scarlet. For good measure, Tigrita is also a full sister to Chilean Group 3 winner Clark Gable.
Tigrita, in turn, is out of the winner Biala, whose sire The Great Shark (by Storm Bird) was a member of the family of the important American sire Relaunch and was a good sire and broodmare sire in Chile in spite of a mediocre race record. There is little in the way of merit under the next two dams in the tail-female line, Damasquera (by the Never Bend horse Domineau) and Discografia (by the Damascus horse Damascus Silver), but the next dam, Secuestrada (by 1971 Chilean champion sire Silver Moon III, a son of the important Argentine sire Seductor), had a good production record, coming up with 1984 Premio República de Chile (CHI-G1) winner Risueno (by Rigel II) and 1985 Premio Los Haras de Chile (CHI-G1) winner Secuencia (by Mr. Long). This female line has been in Chile since 1896, when the Argentine-bred mare La Lune, a product of the famous Haras Las Ortigas, was imported; La Lune, in turn, was a daughter of seven-time Argentine champion sire Neapolis (an import from England) and the French-bred mare Legere.
Although Mama Lili’s tail-female line is purely Chilean for over a century, the rest of her pedigree through five generations is mostly from North America, and she is inbred to familiar names: Mr. Prospector 4x4, Roberto 4x5, and Northern Dancer 4x5x5. This is typical of most top South American pedigrees of modern times, which commonly have a good South American family repeatedly crossed with imported North American or European sires--a situation likely to continue as top native-bred colts are not uncommonly tapped for export and further racing in North America, South Africa, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Thus, it falls to the great female families nurtured by the major South American breeders to maintain the distinctiveness of South American breeding populations, and one can hope that Mama Lili will do her part to sustain a fine Chilean family when her racing days are done.
RSS Feed