Ask anyone with a modest amount of knowledge of American pedigrees to identify Somethingroyal, and the response will almost certainly be, "She was Secretariat's dam." Some might also recall that she was the dam of Sir Gaylord as well, and certainly the production of these two important racehorses and sires would be legacy enough for any mare. Nonetheless, she did have some influence through her daughters as well, a fact highlighted by Skygaze's recent victory in the Maple Leaf Stakes (CAN-G3). A descendant of Secretariat, who appears in the fifth generation of the pedigree of her sire, American Pharoah, she is also descended from Somethingroyal in her direct female line through the matriarch's stakes-placed daughter Cherryville, her fifth dam.
Sired by 1954 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Correspondent, Cherryville is the eldest of eight fillies produced during Somethingroyal's lengthy broodmare career. The second dam of the stakes-winning hurdler Marlingford, she has one other Grade/Group 3 winner tracing to her in the direct female line; this is her great-grandson John Cherry, who won the 1977 Prix Gladiateur (FR-G3).
This is not a particularly impressive record, but other daughters of Somethingroyal accomplished more, including two full sisters to Secretariat. The elder, Syrian Sea, added to Bold Ruler's record as a great sire of juveniles by winning three stakes races at 2, headed by the Selima Stakes (then the equivalent of a Grade 1 event). She produced multiple Grade 2 winner Alada (by Secretariat's champion stablemate Riva Ridge) and, through her, is the third dam of 1992 American champion 3-year-old filly Saratoga Dew.
Secretariat's other full sister, The Bride, was a year older than he and gained a perverse sort of fame as the "booby prize" for the coin flip that made Penny Chenery Secretariat's owner rather than Ogden Phipps. (To give the background on this, Somethingroyal and another Meadow Stud mare, Hasty Matelda, were bred to Bold Ruler on a foal sharing arrangement between Meadow Stud and Phipps. The arrangement called for the two mares to both be bred to Bold Ruler in 1968 and 1969, with ownership of the resulting foals to be determined by a coin flip; the winner of the flip would get first choice of the 1969 foals, while the loser would get first choice of the 1970 foals. Phipps won the toss but came out the loser twice over, as The Bride proved unable to get out of her own way on the race track and Hasty Matelda did not conceive for a 1970 foal, meaning that he only got one foal from the arrangement.) Phipps did not do so badly when it came to The Bride as a broodmare, however. She produced Argentine Group 2 winner At Ease (by Hoist the Flag) and stakes winner Heavenly Match (by Gallant Romeo) and became the second dam of 1990 John A. Morris Handicap (USA-G1) winner Personal Business. She is also the third dam of three-time Japanese champion Nishino Flower and Grade 3 winner In Conference.
Sir Gaylord also had a full sister, Swansea, and she was just as useless as The Bride on the track. She also failed to come up with a stakes winner on the track, but her Buckpasser son Chairman Walker had some success as a sire and broodmare sire in Chile. She is also the second dam of multiple stakes winner Nettlesome and stakes-winning steeplechaser Moment of Truth, but her primary importance has been in South America, where her granddaughters have come up with of 2002 Gran Premio Zelia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) winner Aviacion, Brazilian Group 2 winner Cerutti, multiple Argentine Group 3 winner Forest Bell, Argentine Group 3 winner American Hero and Brazilian Group 3 winner Persane.
Somethingroyal's last daughter was Queen's Colours, a 1976 filly by Bold Ruler's good son Reviewer. Placed in both her starts, she was not much of a broodmare during her own producing career but received a measure of redemption through her granddaughter Royal Diploma, dam of multiple Australian Group 1 winner Typhoon Zed and Australian Group 3 winner Captain Bax to covers by Zeditave.
Overall, Somethingroyal's record as a producer of sires was better than her record as a producer of broodmares, especially when the record of her useful California-based sire son Somethingfabulous (by Northern Dancer) is also considered. Still, her daughters have not done badly, and with her family having produced graded or Group stakes winners in Argentina, Canada, Japan, and the United States within the last decade, Somethingroyal can be considered a success in breeding on even without reference to the contributions of her sons.
Sired by 1954 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Correspondent, Cherryville is the eldest of eight fillies produced during Somethingroyal's lengthy broodmare career. The second dam of the stakes-winning hurdler Marlingford, she has one other Grade/Group 3 winner tracing to her in the direct female line; this is her great-grandson John Cherry, who won the 1977 Prix Gladiateur (FR-G3).
This is not a particularly impressive record, but other daughters of Somethingroyal accomplished more, including two full sisters to Secretariat. The elder, Syrian Sea, added to Bold Ruler's record as a great sire of juveniles by winning three stakes races at 2, headed by the Selima Stakes (then the equivalent of a Grade 1 event). She produced multiple Grade 2 winner Alada (by Secretariat's champion stablemate Riva Ridge) and, through her, is the third dam of 1992 American champion 3-year-old filly Saratoga Dew.
Secretariat's other full sister, The Bride, was a year older than he and gained a perverse sort of fame as the "booby prize" for the coin flip that made Penny Chenery Secretariat's owner rather than Ogden Phipps. (To give the background on this, Somethingroyal and another Meadow Stud mare, Hasty Matelda, were bred to Bold Ruler on a foal sharing arrangement between Meadow Stud and Phipps. The arrangement called for the two mares to both be bred to Bold Ruler in 1968 and 1969, with ownership of the resulting foals to be determined by a coin flip; the winner of the flip would get first choice of the 1969 foals, while the loser would get first choice of the 1970 foals. Phipps won the toss but came out the loser twice over, as The Bride proved unable to get out of her own way on the race track and Hasty Matelda did not conceive for a 1970 foal, meaning that he only got one foal from the arrangement.) Phipps did not do so badly when it came to The Bride as a broodmare, however. She produced Argentine Group 2 winner At Ease (by Hoist the Flag) and stakes winner Heavenly Match (by Gallant Romeo) and became the second dam of 1990 John A. Morris Handicap (USA-G1) winner Personal Business. She is also the third dam of three-time Japanese champion Nishino Flower and Grade 3 winner In Conference.
Sir Gaylord also had a full sister, Swansea, and she was just as useless as The Bride on the track. She also failed to come up with a stakes winner on the track, but her Buckpasser son Chairman Walker had some success as a sire and broodmare sire in Chile. She is also the second dam of multiple stakes winner Nettlesome and stakes-winning steeplechaser Moment of Truth, but her primary importance has been in South America, where her granddaughters have come up with of 2002 Gran Premio Zelia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) winner Aviacion, Brazilian Group 2 winner Cerutti, multiple Argentine Group 3 winner Forest Bell, Argentine Group 3 winner American Hero and Brazilian Group 3 winner Persane.
Somethingroyal's last daughter was Queen's Colours, a 1976 filly by Bold Ruler's good son Reviewer. Placed in both her starts, she was not much of a broodmare during her own producing career but received a measure of redemption through her granddaughter Royal Diploma, dam of multiple Australian Group 1 winner Typhoon Zed and Australian Group 3 winner Captain Bax to covers by Zeditave.
Overall, Somethingroyal's record as a producer of sires was better than her record as a producer of broodmares, especially when the record of her useful California-based sire son Somethingfabulous (by Northern Dancer) is also considered. Still, her daughters have not done badly, and with her family having produced graded or Group stakes winners in Argentina, Canada, Japan, and the United States within the last decade, Somethingroyal can be considered a success in breeding on even without reference to the contributions of her sons.
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