Some debutantes seem to know instinctively how to make a grand entrance. So it was for Goodnight Olive, who made an ambitious stakes debut in the Ballerina Stakes (USA-G1) on August 28. Her six rivals included last year's American champion female sprinter, Ce Ce; Grade 1 winners Bella Sofia and Obligatory; and three other graded stakes winners, but it mattered not at all to the daughter of Ghostzapper, who grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch and powered home without any serious challenges from there. Stopping the timer in a sold 1:21.40 for the 7 furlongs, she lifted her lifetime race record to 6-5-1-0, added US$275,000 to her bankroll, and clinched a "Win and You're In" slot for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1).
Like her sire, Goodnight Olive has not been the easiest horse to keep sound (she has raced only three times each at three and four), but there is no questioning her talent when she is healthy and fit. Assuming she does not start again prior to the Breeders' Cup, she will carry a five-race winning streak into the big race, having suffered her only loss in her first outing.
Goodnight Olive traces back to 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Yeare Cosmah through her daughter Cosmiah. Sired by the excellent speed sire Olympia, Cosmiah never got the chance to see if she might have talent comparable to her champion half sister Tosmah (by Tim Tam) or her Grade 1-winning half brother Halo (by Hail to Reason). She spent half her stud career being bred to stallions who were good runners but bad sires and did not particularly distinguish herself when she did have better opportunities, though her fourth foal, her Nearctic daughter Fancy Jet, did produce stakes winners Bird of Courage (by Great Career) and Laura's Jet (by Wajima).
Muriesk, Cosmiah's eighth and final foal, was her only stakes winner, winning a division of the Athena Stakes at River Downs and placing in five other similarly modest stakes events at Fairmount Park and Ellis Park. The daughter of Nashua had a broodmare career of similarly modest success, producing the minor stakes winner Border Cat (by Storm Cat) and stakes-placed Hurricane Cat (by Storm Cat).
Muriesk's unraced Lyphard daughter My Rainbow did not have even that much to commend her, producing six winners from nine runners but no stakes winners. She made up for that with three stakes producers among her daughters: Pacific City (by Carson City), dam of Japanese Group 3 winner Eishin Lombard (by Victory Gallop); Just One Rainbow (by Corporate Report), dam of multiple Minnesota-bred stakes winner Bella Notte (by Quick Cut); and Lake Huron, dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Salty Strike (by Smart Strike) and listed stakes winner Salty Response (by Cozzene). Salty Strike, in turn, is the dam of Goodnight Olive and the winner Smile More (by Tiznow), now a young broodmare. Unfortunately, Salty Strike died in 2019 after producing Halfmoon, a 3-year-old Malibu Moon colt who has been unplaced in three tries, but Smile More has produced the unraced 2-year-old Gun Runner filly Lexa, a 2021 colt by Mitole, and a 2022 colt by Frosted. Salty Strike also produced the unraced Medaglia d'Oro mare Katie's Keepsake, who most recently produced a 2022 colt by Tiz the Law.
Ghostzapper's progeny tend to improve with maturity, so if Goodnight Olive can stay healthy, she is if anything likely to move forward between now and Keeneland. In the meantime, she is a nice development in the female sprint division and may have injected new life into a lesser branch of a notable female family.
Like her sire, Goodnight Olive has not been the easiest horse to keep sound (she has raced only three times each at three and four), but there is no questioning her talent when she is healthy and fit. Assuming she does not start again prior to the Breeders' Cup, she will carry a five-race winning streak into the big race, having suffered her only loss in her first outing.
Goodnight Olive traces back to 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Yeare Cosmah through her daughter Cosmiah. Sired by the excellent speed sire Olympia, Cosmiah never got the chance to see if she might have talent comparable to her champion half sister Tosmah (by Tim Tam) or her Grade 1-winning half brother Halo (by Hail to Reason). She spent half her stud career being bred to stallions who were good runners but bad sires and did not particularly distinguish herself when she did have better opportunities, though her fourth foal, her Nearctic daughter Fancy Jet, did produce stakes winners Bird of Courage (by Great Career) and Laura's Jet (by Wajima).
Muriesk, Cosmiah's eighth and final foal, was her only stakes winner, winning a division of the Athena Stakes at River Downs and placing in five other similarly modest stakes events at Fairmount Park and Ellis Park. The daughter of Nashua had a broodmare career of similarly modest success, producing the minor stakes winner Border Cat (by Storm Cat) and stakes-placed Hurricane Cat (by Storm Cat).
Muriesk's unraced Lyphard daughter My Rainbow did not have even that much to commend her, producing six winners from nine runners but no stakes winners. She made up for that with three stakes producers among her daughters: Pacific City (by Carson City), dam of Japanese Group 3 winner Eishin Lombard (by Victory Gallop); Just One Rainbow (by Corporate Report), dam of multiple Minnesota-bred stakes winner Bella Notte (by Quick Cut); and Lake Huron, dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Salty Strike (by Smart Strike) and listed stakes winner Salty Response (by Cozzene). Salty Strike, in turn, is the dam of Goodnight Olive and the winner Smile More (by Tiznow), now a young broodmare. Unfortunately, Salty Strike died in 2019 after producing Halfmoon, a 3-year-old Malibu Moon colt who has been unplaced in three tries, but Smile More has produced the unraced 2-year-old Gun Runner filly Lexa, a 2021 colt by Mitole, and a 2022 colt by Frosted. Salty Strike also produced the unraced Medaglia d'Oro mare Katie's Keepsake, who most recently produced a 2022 colt by Tiz the Law.
Ghostzapper's progeny tend to improve with maturity, so if Goodnight Olive can stay healthy, she is if anything likely to move forward between now and Keeneland. In the meantime, she is a nice development in the female sprint division and may have injected new life into a lesser branch of a notable female family.
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