On August 15, 2019 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Curlin's Voyage asserted her continued dominance over the fillies of her crop, taking down the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser in professional style. She is now under serious consideration for a start in Canada's premier Classic, the Queen's Plate, on September 12. A victory there would make her a near-certain lock for a Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 3-year-old filly and a potential candidate for Canadian Horse of the Year honors.
As a daughter of two-time American Horse of the Year Curlin, Curlin's Voyage should have all the stamina needed to tackle the 10 furlongs of the Queen's Plate. But winning a Classic at the North American classic distance of 10 furlongs usually takes more than pure stamina, especially in a large field; it also takes the tactical speed to gain early position and to take advantage of holes as they open. Fortunately, Curlin's Voyage should have the latter quality through her family, which descends from the juvenile stakes winner So Cozy.
A daughter of Lyphard and a half sister to another sprint stakes winner in Special Power (by Lines of Power), So Cozy produced four stakes winners by sires with proven speed and the ability to transmit it. As might be expected, all four earned their black type over sprint distances (although in fairness, the Forty Niner filly Special Moves was never tried over more than a mile and so never had the opportunity to show whether she could stretch her speed as her sire did).
No fewer than seven of So Cozy's daughters produced at least one stakes winner, and three produced graded or Group winners. The best of them as a broodmare was Wilshewed, a daughter of Mr. Prospector's good son Carson City. While Carson City was strictly a sprinter whose best wins came at 6 furlongs, he had the pedigree to suggest other possibilities, as his dam was by Blushing Groom out of a daughter of the staying Nijinsky II.
Wilshewed never lived up to her heritage on the track, placing third twice in 10 starts, but the concentration of speed in her immediate ancestry combined with some pedigree elements indicative of stamina suggested that she had the potential to supply speed to foals by a more stamina-oriented sire without such matings being too much between "fish and fowl" types, yet would not "shorten up" a foal by a speedier horse. This proved to be the case. Sent to the beautifully bred Storm Cat horse Stormy Atlantic, whose pedigree, like hers, suggested more stamina potential than his record as a sprint stakes winner indicated, she produced Stormello---a two-time Grade 1 winner over 8.5 furlongs---as her first foal and 2012 Del Mar Derby (USA-G2) winner My Best Brother as her fifth. Bred to the more stamina-oriented Bernardini, she produced 2014 Palm Beach Handicap (USA-G3) winner Gala Award as well as the Grade 1-placed sprint stakes winner Cherry Lodge.
A full sister to Stormello and My Best Brother, Atlantic Voyage apparently took after the speedier elements in her pedigree, with both her two wins from eight starts coming at sprint distances. Nonetheless, she appears to have what it takes to blend successfully with a stamina-oriented mate, as Curlin's Voyage is her fourth foal. Her subsequent matings may reflect a perception of her potential for genetic versatility, as she produced a 2018 filly by Speightstown, a 2019 colt by Kitten's Joy, and a 2020 filly by Speightstown.
Thus far in her racing career, Curlin's Voyage appears to have demonstrated that she has inherited a cozy union of the best of both sides of her heritage, combining Curlin's stamina and potential for further development with maturity with the speedier and more precocious background contributed by Atlantic Voyage. Given the grass orientation a number of her close relatives on the distaff side have shown, it is not impossible that a trial on turf is somewhere in Curlin's Voyage's future as well, especially given the number of good turf stakes usually contested at Woodbine in the fall and the relative ease often seen in transitioning a talented synthetics performer to grass. Regardless, she will be an interesting filly to watch as both a racer and a broodmare, with the potential in the latter capacity for sparking further development of what appears to be a rising family.
As a daughter of two-time American Horse of the Year Curlin, Curlin's Voyage should have all the stamina needed to tackle the 10 furlongs of the Queen's Plate. But winning a Classic at the North American classic distance of 10 furlongs usually takes more than pure stamina, especially in a large field; it also takes the tactical speed to gain early position and to take advantage of holes as they open. Fortunately, Curlin's Voyage should have the latter quality through her family, which descends from the juvenile stakes winner So Cozy.
A daughter of Lyphard and a half sister to another sprint stakes winner in Special Power (by Lines of Power), So Cozy produced four stakes winners by sires with proven speed and the ability to transmit it. As might be expected, all four earned their black type over sprint distances (although in fairness, the Forty Niner filly Special Moves was never tried over more than a mile and so never had the opportunity to show whether she could stretch her speed as her sire did).
No fewer than seven of So Cozy's daughters produced at least one stakes winner, and three produced graded or Group winners. The best of them as a broodmare was Wilshewed, a daughter of Mr. Prospector's good son Carson City. While Carson City was strictly a sprinter whose best wins came at 6 furlongs, he had the pedigree to suggest other possibilities, as his dam was by Blushing Groom out of a daughter of the staying Nijinsky II.
Wilshewed never lived up to her heritage on the track, placing third twice in 10 starts, but the concentration of speed in her immediate ancestry combined with some pedigree elements indicative of stamina suggested that she had the potential to supply speed to foals by a more stamina-oriented sire without such matings being too much between "fish and fowl" types, yet would not "shorten up" a foal by a speedier horse. This proved to be the case. Sent to the beautifully bred Storm Cat horse Stormy Atlantic, whose pedigree, like hers, suggested more stamina potential than his record as a sprint stakes winner indicated, she produced Stormello---a two-time Grade 1 winner over 8.5 furlongs---as her first foal and 2012 Del Mar Derby (USA-G2) winner My Best Brother as her fifth. Bred to the more stamina-oriented Bernardini, she produced 2014 Palm Beach Handicap (USA-G3) winner Gala Award as well as the Grade 1-placed sprint stakes winner Cherry Lodge.
A full sister to Stormello and My Best Brother, Atlantic Voyage apparently took after the speedier elements in her pedigree, with both her two wins from eight starts coming at sprint distances. Nonetheless, she appears to have what it takes to blend successfully with a stamina-oriented mate, as Curlin's Voyage is her fourth foal. Her subsequent matings may reflect a perception of her potential for genetic versatility, as she produced a 2018 filly by Speightstown, a 2019 colt by Kitten's Joy, and a 2020 filly by Speightstown.
Thus far in her racing career, Curlin's Voyage appears to have demonstrated that she has inherited a cozy union of the best of both sides of her heritage, combining Curlin's stamina and potential for further development with maturity with the speedier and more precocious background contributed by Atlantic Voyage. Given the grass orientation a number of her close relatives on the distaff side have shown, it is not impossible that a trial on turf is somewhere in Curlin's Voyage's future as well, especially given the number of good turf stakes usually contested at Woodbine in the fall and the relative ease often seen in transitioning a talented synthetics performer to grass. Regardless, she will be an interesting filly to watch as both a racer and a broodmare, with the potential in the latter capacity for sparking further development of what appears to be a rising family.
RSS Feed