There is not much doubt as to the identity of the best horse in Canada right now. A three-time Sovereign Award winner as champion female turf horse and the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year, Starship Jubilee signaled her determination to hold on to her throne by turning back the males in the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (CAN-G1). The victory was her second in a Grade 1 race, her fourth in five 2020 starts, and her 19th from 38 lifetime starts. As a "Win and You're In" race for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (USA-G1), the Woodbine Mile also punched Starship Jubilee's ticket to the biggest day in American racing.
In spite of her proven prowess, Starship Jubilee will not likely be a favorite for the Breeders' Cup Mile, which will almost certainly draw a much deeper field than she conquered at Woodbine. That being said, she will still go in with a real chance---heady stuff for a Florida-bred who was plucked out of a claiming race for US$16,000 three years ago.
Florida does not have the breeding market now that it did when In Reality, Dr. Fager, and Mr. Prospector were holding court there in the 1970s. As in other regional markets, its stallions tend to be either good racehorses with unfashionable pedigrees or well-bred underperformers who are getting a chance at stud because of their bloodlines; likewise, the mare base is plebeian compared to that found amid the great Kentucky farms.
As might be expected from the "Florida-bred" label, Starship Jubilee's immediate parentage is relatively modest. Her sire Indy Wind won five stakes races but none in graded company, and her dam Perfectly Wild never made it to the track at all. But behind them stand some very good horses. Although Indy Wind could not get enough traction to maintain a place in Florida and ended up moving to Ohio, he is by 1992 American Horse of the Year and two-time American champion sire A.P. Indy, boasts French Classic winner and important sire Kingmambo as a broodmare sire, and is out of a daughter of 1978 American champion older female Late Bloomer.
Perfectly Wild, too, has good pedigree connections. Her sire, multiple Grade 3 winner Forest Wildcat (by Storm Cat) proved a good speed sire, and his Grade 1-winning son Wildcat Heir was a perennial leading sire in Florida. As for her dam, she was 1995 Queen Elizabeth II Invitational Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Perfect Arc, a very good grass filly who won 10 of 13 starts and was only unplaced once during her racing career.
Like her granddaughter, Perfect Arc was much the best runner sired by a beautifully-bred underachiever, though one with less racing credentials than Indy Wind. In her case, the sire was the Alleged horse Brown Arc, a full brother to 1988 Prix du Jockey Club Lancia (French Derby, FR-G1) winner Hours After and a half brother to 1975 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Avatar, 1972 Charles H. Strub Stakes winner Unconscious, and multiple Group 2 winner Monseigneur. In her racing talent, Perfect Arc was much closer to her dam Podeica, an Argentine import who had a rather indifferent pedigree but established the family tradition by winning the 1987 Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1) and placing in three Group 1 races including a second in the 1987 Gran Premio Selección (Argentine Oaks, ARG-G1).
Perfect Arc was by far the best of Podeica's four American-bred foals (though all were winners), and she herself was a great disappointment as a broodmare, producing only three minor winners from eight named foals. Perfectly Wild was her only producing daughter and has produced two stakes-placed runners in addition to Starship Jubilee.
Only one of Perfectly Wild's daughters has produced a foal to date, and Perfect Berry (by world record setter and multiple Grade 3 winner Mr. Light) has only one foal, the unraced 2016 colt Perfect Risk. This means that the perpetuation of this female line will most likely rest with Starship Jubilee, whose offbeat pedigree will undoubtedly be overlooked in favor of her excellent race record when it comes to her potential partners in the breeding shed. While she is a reminder of the fact that a good racehorse can come from anywhere, she is also a reminder of the fact that most of those who do come from less than stellar backgrounds usually have good horses close up in their backgrounds, providing some depth to their genetic pools and a chance that one mating will catch lightning in a bottle. In Starship Jubilee's case, the spark was there, and it remains to be seen whether she can pass that spark on consistently or if she will be another in her family's list of one-hit wonders.
In spite of her proven prowess, Starship Jubilee will not likely be a favorite for the Breeders' Cup Mile, which will almost certainly draw a much deeper field than she conquered at Woodbine. That being said, she will still go in with a real chance---heady stuff for a Florida-bred who was plucked out of a claiming race for US$16,000 three years ago.
Florida does not have the breeding market now that it did when In Reality, Dr. Fager, and Mr. Prospector were holding court there in the 1970s. As in other regional markets, its stallions tend to be either good racehorses with unfashionable pedigrees or well-bred underperformers who are getting a chance at stud because of their bloodlines; likewise, the mare base is plebeian compared to that found amid the great Kentucky farms.
As might be expected from the "Florida-bred" label, Starship Jubilee's immediate parentage is relatively modest. Her sire Indy Wind won five stakes races but none in graded company, and her dam Perfectly Wild never made it to the track at all. But behind them stand some very good horses. Although Indy Wind could not get enough traction to maintain a place in Florida and ended up moving to Ohio, he is by 1992 American Horse of the Year and two-time American champion sire A.P. Indy, boasts French Classic winner and important sire Kingmambo as a broodmare sire, and is out of a daughter of 1978 American champion older female Late Bloomer.
Perfectly Wild, too, has good pedigree connections. Her sire, multiple Grade 3 winner Forest Wildcat (by Storm Cat) proved a good speed sire, and his Grade 1-winning son Wildcat Heir was a perennial leading sire in Florida. As for her dam, she was 1995 Queen Elizabeth II Invitational Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Perfect Arc, a very good grass filly who won 10 of 13 starts and was only unplaced once during her racing career.
Like her granddaughter, Perfect Arc was much the best runner sired by a beautifully-bred underachiever, though one with less racing credentials than Indy Wind. In her case, the sire was the Alleged horse Brown Arc, a full brother to 1988 Prix du Jockey Club Lancia (French Derby, FR-G1) winner Hours After and a half brother to 1975 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Avatar, 1972 Charles H. Strub Stakes winner Unconscious, and multiple Group 2 winner Monseigneur. In her racing talent, Perfect Arc was much closer to her dam Podeica, an Argentine import who had a rather indifferent pedigree but established the family tradition by winning the 1987 Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1) and placing in three Group 1 races including a second in the 1987 Gran Premio Selección (Argentine Oaks, ARG-G1).
Perfect Arc was by far the best of Podeica's four American-bred foals (though all were winners), and she herself was a great disappointment as a broodmare, producing only three minor winners from eight named foals. Perfectly Wild was her only producing daughter and has produced two stakes-placed runners in addition to Starship Jubilee.
Only one of Perfectly Wild's daughters has produced a foal to date, and Perfect Berry (by world record setter and multiple Grade 3 winner Mr. Light) has only one foal, the unraced 2016 colt Perfect Risk. This means that the perpetuation of this female line will most likely rest with Starship Jubilee, whose offbeat pedigree will undoubtedly be overlooked in favor of her excellent race record when it comes to her potential partners in the breeding shed. While she is a reminder of the fact that a good racehorse can come from anywhere, she is also a reminder of the fact that most of those who do come from less than stellar backgrounds usually have good horses close up in their backgrounds, providing some depth to their genetic pools and a chance that one mating will catch lightning in a bottle. In Starship Jubilee's case, the spark was there, and it remains to be seen whether she can pass that spark on consistently or if she will be another in her family's list of one-hit wonders.
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