Miesque’s Approval (USA)
March 3, 1999 – Living
Miesque’s Son (USA) x Win Approval (USA), by With Approval (CAN)
Family 7
March 3, 1999 – Living
Miesque’s Son (USA) x Win Approval (USA), by With Approval (CAN)
Family 7
Miesque’s Approval had flashed talent from his 2-year-old season on, but a slow maturation rate combined with physical issues kept him from displaying the full measure of his ability until he was 7. That year, he rose from being a 48-1 longshot in a restricted stakes race to a win in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile (USA-G1) and an Eclipse Award. He was exported to South Africa for stallion duty after the conclusion of his championship season but has not been a marked success there.
Race record
41 starts, 12 wins, 10 seconds, 5 thirds, US$2,648,879
2001:
2002:
2003:
2005:
2006:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2006 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performance in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, 9 pounds below overall highweight Invasor (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic-Powered by Dodge, USA-G1) and 7 pounds below the top turf performer, Deep Impact (whose victory in the Arima Kinen, JPN-G1, was rated at 127 pounds).
As an individual
A short-coupled bay horse with prominent withers, good bone, and a strong, straight hind leg, Miesque’s Approval stands 16 hands. He showed some ability at 2 but was slow-maturing and did not reach his peak until age 7. He ran best when taken back early and allowed to make one big run late, but he needed to stay covered up until then as he would try to move too soon otherwise. He has “a wonderful disposition and an interesting personality” according to trainer Marty Wolfson.
As a stallion
According to statistics compiled by The Jockey Club, Miesque’s Approval has sired seven stakes winners as of July 24, 2021. His best runner to date has been South African Group 2 winner Judicial.
Sire rankings
Per Arion Pedigrees (www.arion.co.nz):
Connections
Foaled in Florida, Miesque’s Approval was bred by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Stud and raced in her Live Oak Plantation silks. He was trained by Bill Mott until the beginning of his 2006 campaign, when he was turned over to Marty Wolfson. He was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Mile win by Eddie Castro. Following his racing career, Miesque’s Approval was sold to the partnership of Kwazulu Natal Breeders Club and Scott Bros. Highdown Stud, with Live Oak Stud retaining Northern Hemisphere breeding rights. Miesque’s Approval entered stud in South Africa at Highdown Stud in 2008.
Pedigree notes
Miesque’s Approval is inbred 4x5 to 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male Northern Dancer, a great international sire. He is a half brother to 2017 American champion turf male World Approval (by Northern Afleet), 2005 Niagara Breeders’ Cup Handicap (CAN-G2) winner Revved Up (by Sultry Song), and multiple Grade 3 winner Za Approval (by Ghostzapper). He is also a half brother to Winning Doe (by Running Stag), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner We Deer You (by Hat Trick).
World Approval and his siblings are out of Win Approval, who was the Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders’ Association’s 2017 Broodmare of the Year. She is a half sister to Pleasure Point (by Honest Pleasure), dam of listed stakes winners Forry Cow How (by Horatius) and Original Gray (by Smarten).
Win Approval was produced from Grade 1-placed Negotiator, a half sister to Grade 3 winner Duveen (by Arts and Letters). Negotiator is also a half sister to Wry Swiss (by Droll Role), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Chocolate Swiss (by Magesterial). The siblings are out of the Argentine import Geneva II (by Gulf-Weed, by Gulf Stream), winner of the 1963 Premio Saturnino J. Unzue and Premio Carlos Casares.
Books and media
Footage of Miesque’s Approval’s victory in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile can be accessed through the Breeders’ Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/miesques-approval).
Fun facts
Last updated: July 10, 2024
Race record
41 starts, 12 wins, 10 seconds, 5 thirds, US$2,648,879
2001:
- Won Pilgrim Stakes (USA-L, 9FT, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Summer Stakes (CAN-G2, 8FT, Woodbine)
- 2nd Generous Stakes (USA-G3, 8FT, Hollywood)
2002:
- Won Kent Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-G3, 9FT, Delaware)
- Won Bonnie Heath Turf Cup Handicap (USA-R, 9FT, Calder)
- 2nd Calder Derby (USA-G3, 9FT, Calder)
- 2nd Hill Prince Stakes (USA-G3, 9FT, Belmont)
- 3rd Pete Axthelm Stakes (USA-L, 7.5FT, Calder)
2003:
- 2nd Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (USA-G2, 8FT, Keeneland)
- 2nd Sea O Erin Breeders' Cup Mile Handicap (USA-L, 8FT, Arlington Park)
- 2nd Canadian Turf Handicap (USA-G3, 8.5FT, Gulfstream Park)
2005:
- Won Old Ironsides Stakes (USA, 8f+70yT, Suffolk Downs)
- 3rd Carterista Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FT, Calder)
2006:
- Won NetJets Breeders' Cup Mile (USA-G1, 8FT, Churchill Downs)
- Won Firecracker Breeders' Cup Handicap (USA-G2, 8FT, Churchill Downs)
- Won Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (USA-G2, 8FT, Keeneland)
- Won Red Bank Stakes (USA-G3, 8FT, Monmouth; new course record 1:33.36)
- Won Sunshine Millions Cloverleaf Farms Turf Stakes (USA-R, 9FT, Gulfstream Park)
- 2nd Canadian Turf Handicap (USA-L, 8.5FT, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
- Eclipse Award, American champion turf male (2006)
- Florida-bred Horse of the Year (2006)
- Florida-bred champion older male (2006)
- Florida-bred champion turf male (2006)
- Florida-bred champion sprinter (2006)
Assessments
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2006 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performance in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, 9 pounds below overall highweight Invasor (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic-Powered by Dodge, USA-G1) and 7 pounds below the top turf performer, Deep Impact (whose victory in the Arima Kinen, JPN-G1, was rated at 127 pounds).
As an individual
A short-coupled bay horse with prominent withers, good bone, and a strong, straight hind leg, Miesque’s Approval stands 16 hands. He showed some ability at 2 but was slow-maturing and did not reach his peak until age 7. He ran best when taken back early and allowed to make one big run late, but he needed to stay covered up until then as he would try to move too soon otherwise. He has “a wonderful disposition and an interesting personality” according to trainer Marty Wolfson.
As a stallion
According to statistics compiled by The Jockey Club, Miesque’s Approval has sired seven stakes winners as of July 24, 2021. His best runner to date has been South African Group 2 winner Judicial.
Sire rankings
Per Arion Pedigrees (www.arion.co.nz):
- 10th on the South African general sire list in 2013/2014.
Connections
Foaled in Florida, Miesque’s Approval was bred by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Stud and raced in her Live Oak Plantation silks. He was trained by Bill Mott until the beginning of his 2006 campaign, when he was turned over to Marty Wolfson. He was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Mile win by Eddie Castro. Following his racing career, Miesque’s Approval was sold to the partnership of Kwazulu Natal Breeders Club and Scott Bros. Highdown Stud, with Live Oak Stud retaining Northern Hemisphere breeding rights. Miesque’s Approval entered stud in South Africa at Highdown Stud in 2008.
Pedigree notes
Miesque’s Approval is inbred 4x5 to 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male Northern Dancer, a great international sire. He is a half brother to 2017 American champion turf male World Approval (by Northern Afleet), 2005 Niagara Breeders’ Cup Handicap (CAN-G2) winner Revved Up (by Sultry Song), and multiple Grade 3 winner Za Approval (by Ghostzapper). He is also a half brother to Winning Doe (by Running Stag), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner We Deer You (by Hat Trick).
World Approval and his siblings are out of Win Approval, who was the Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders’ Association’s 2017 Broodmare of the Year. She is a half sister to Pleasure Point (by Honest Pleasure), dam of listed stakes winners Forry Cow How (by Horatius) and Original Gray (by Smarten).
Win Approval was produced from Grade 1-placed Negotiator, a half sister to Grade 3 winner Duveen (by Arts and Letters). Negotiator is also a half sister to Wry Swiss (by Droll Role), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Chocolate Swiss (by Magesterial). The siblings are out of the Argentine import Geneva II (by Gulf-Weed, by Gulf Stream), winner of the 1963 Premio Saturnino J. Unzue and Premio Carlos Casares.
Books and media
Footage of Miesque’s Approval’s victory in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile can be accessed through the Breeders’ Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/miesques-approval).
Fun facts
- Miesque’s Approval’s win in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Mile and his half brother World Approval’s win in the 2017 Mile made Win Approval the fourth mare to produce two Breeders’ Cup winners. The other mares with two Breeders’ Cup winners to their credit are Primal Force (Awesome Again, 1998 Classic, and Macho Uno, 2000 Juvenile), Hasili (Banks Hill, 2001 Filly and Mare Turf, and Intercontentinal, 2005 Filly and Mare Turf), and Sweet Life (Sweet Catomine, 2004 Juvenile Fillies, and Life Is Sweet, 2009 Ladies’ Classic).
- Through 2020, Miesque’s Approval is the oldest horse to have won the Breeders’ Cup Mile. His Mile win also made Eddie Castro, then 21, the youngest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race.
- After review by Equibase in February 2007, Miesque’s Approval’s official winning margin in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile was changed from 2 ¾ lengths to 4 lengths, tying the record set by his paternal granddam Miesque in 1987 for the greatest winning margin in the Mile.
- The November before he developed into a champion, Miesque’s Approval could have been claimed for US$50,000 in a race on the third of the month at Aqueduct. He was not taken, and, adding insult to injury, he could not win the race, though he may have been ill as he required hospitalization not long afterward.
- Miesque’s Approval was the spoiler in National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey’s final ride. Aboard 4-5 favorite Silver Tree in the 2006 Sunshine Millions Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Bailey delivered a ground-saving ride and was able to get his mount clear for his finishing run at midstretch but was unable to catch Miesque’s Approval, who got his run in first on the extreme outside. Miesque’s Approval won by three-quarters of a length at 48-1 odds.
- Miesque’s Approval’s championship season was a large factor in Charlotte Weber being honored as the 2006 Florida Breeder of the Year.
- Miesque’s Approval was the first Eclipse Award winner to retire to stud in South Africa.
- Miesque’s Approval became the namesake for a stakes race at Gulfstream Park.
Last updated: July 10, 2024