North of Eden (IRE)
June 11, 1983 – March 2011
Northfields (USA) x Tree of Knowledge (IRE), by Sassafras (FR)
Family 3-h
June 11, 1983 – March 2011
Northfields (USA) x Tree of Knowledge (IRE), by Sassafras (FR)
Family 3-h
A half sister to 1987 American champion turf male Theatrical, North of Eden failed to display anything close to his talent on the race course. She reserved her potential for the breeding shed, where she joined the elite mares of her breed who have produced multiple Grade 1 winners. The dam of a racetrack champion and a champion stallion, she has also bred on through her daughters.
Race record
7 starts, 0 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$1,855 (converted from English earnings)
As an individual
A powerfully built bay mare standing 15.3 hands, North of Eden was roomy and attractive with a pleasant, laid-back disposition. She tended to bequeath her disposition to her foals, who physically were more apt to resemble their sires.
As a producer
The 2001 Florida Broodmare of the Year, North of Eden produced 14 named foals, of which 12 starters and 10 were winners. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
North of Eden was bred and owned by Bertram and Diana Firestone. After producing five foals for the Firestones (whose Catoctin Stud was credited with the fifth), she was sold for US$125,000 in a private transaction and spent the rest of her broodmare career as the property of Arthur Appleton, master of Florida-based Bridlewood Farm. She died of natural causes in March 2011.
Pedigree notes
North of Eden is inbred 4x5 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Nearco, an unbeaten champion on the race course. She is a half sister to 1987 American champion turf male Theatrical (by Nureyev) and to multiple Japanese stakes winner Taiki Blizzard (by Seattle Slew). She is also a half sister to Blue Sage (by Cure the Blues), dam of stakes winner Long Gone Blues (by Sovereign Dancer), second dam of Australian Group 2 winner So Pristine, and third dam of New Zealand Group 2 winner Dijon Bleu.
North of Eden is out of stakes-placed Tree of Knowledge (by 1970 French Horse of the Year Sassafras), who is a half sister to Irish Group 3 winner Beyond the Lake (by Kings Lake) and to multiple listed stakes winner Lake Champlain (by Kings Lake). The last-named mare is the dam of Irish Group 3 winner Saranac Lake (by Smart Strike) and Peruvian listed stakes winner Alashir (by Alysheba) and the third dam of Grade 3 winner Charming Kitten. Tree of Knowledge is also a half sister to Sense of Rhythm (by Cure the Blues), third dam of 2010 Takarazuka Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Nakayama Festa.
Tree of Knowledge and her siblings were produced from the unraced Hail to Reason mare Sensibility, a half sister to 1964 Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe winner and Italian champion 3-year-old male Prince Royal II (by Ribot) and to Strip Poker (by Bold Bidder), dam of 1982 American champion 2-year-old filly Landaluce (by Seattle Slew) and Grade 3 winner Clout (by Indian Chief II) and second dam of Grade 2 winner Jade Flush. Produced from the King’s Bench mare Pange, Sensibility is also a half sister to Pang (by Prince Chevalier), second dam of 1979 Clásico Jose Antonio Paez-Two Thousand Guineas (VEN-G1) winner Begich; to Spa II (by Saint Crespin III), second dam of French Group 2 winner Patricia; and to Panna II (by Jaddo), dam of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Sir Sir (by Sir Ivor).
Books and media
North of Eden is one of the older Thoroughbreds profiled in photographs and essays in Barbara Livingston’s More Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2007, Blood-Horse Publications).
Last updated: May 25, 2021
A half sister to 1987 American champion turf male Theatrical, North of Eden failed to display anything close to his talent on the race course. She reserved her potential for the breeding shed, where she joined the elite mares of her breed who have produced multiple Grade 1 winners. The dam of a racetrack champion and a champion stallion, she has also bred on through her daughters.
Race record
7 starts, 0 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$1,855 (converted from English earnings)
As an individual
A powerfully built bay mare standing 15.3 hands, North of Eden was roomy and attractive with a pleasant, laid-back disposition. She tended to bequeath her disposition to her foals, who physically were more apt to resemble their sires.
As a producer
The 2001 Florida Broodmare of the Year, North of Eden produced 14 named foals, of which 12 starters and 10 were winners. Her important foals are as follow:
- Paradise Creek (1989, by Irish River) was the American champion turf male of 1994 after winning three Grade 1 turf events that year. He proved a poor sire in Japan, getting just 10 stakes winners from 664 named foals.
- Celestial Bliss (1990, by Relaunch) was unplaced in two starts. She is the second dam of six stakes winners including multiple Argentine champion Sixties Song, 2014 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Bobby’s Kitten, multiple Grade 2 winner Celestial Kitten, and Argentine Group 2 winner Celestial Candy.
- I’m Very Irish (1991, by Pleasant Colony) won the Smoke Screen Stakes at Arlington Park as a 5-year-old and was Grade 3-placed. He was exported to Colombia for stud duty.
- Wild Event (1993, by Wild Again) won the 1999 Early Times Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1) and five other graded turf races. Exported to Brazil, he led the general sire list five times and has also been a two-time champion broodmare sire in that country.
- Paradise River (1994, by Irish River) ran third twice from seven starts. She is the dam of David Junior (by Pleasant Tap), a three-time Group 1 winner in England and Dubai and a stallion in Japan.
- Forbidden Apple (1995, by Pleasant Colony) won the 2001 Manhattan Handicap (USA-G1) and three other graded turf races. He stood in Florida with little success before being donated to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances program at Lowell Correctional Facility, where women in the state prison system care for retired horses and earn certification as grooms.
- Eden’s Causeway (2003, by Giant’s Causeway) won once from seven starts. She is the dam of 2012 Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G1) winner Eden’s Moon (by Malibu Moon).
Connections
North of Eden was bred and owned by Bertram and Diana Firestone. After producing five foals for the Firestones (whose Catoctin Stud was credited with the fifth), she was sold for US$125,000 in a private transaction and spent the rest of her broodmare career as the property of Arthur Appleton, master of Florida-based Bridlewood Farm. She died of natural causes in March 2011.
Pedigree notes
North of Eden is inbred 4x5 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Nearco, an unbeaten champion on the race course. She is a half sister to 1987 American champion turf male Theatrical (by Nureyev) and to multiple Japanese stakes winner Taiki Blizzard (by Seattle Slew). She is also a half sister to Blue Sage (by Cure the Blues), dam of stakes winner Long Gone Blues (by Sovereign Dancer), second dam of Australian Group 2 winner So Pristine, and third dam of New Zealand Group 2 winner Dijon Bleu.
North of Eden is out of stakes-placed Tree of Knowledge (by 1970 French Horse of the Year Sassafras), who is a half sister to Irish Group 3 winner Beyond the Lake (by Kings Lake) and to multiple listed stakes winner Lake Champlain (by Kings Lake). The last-named mare is the dam of Irish Group 3 winner Saranac Lake (by Smart Strike) and Peruvian listed stakes winner Alashir (by Alysheba) and the third dam of Grade 3 winner Charming Kitten. Tree of Knowledge is also a half sister to Sense of Rhythm (by Cure the Blues), third dam of 2010 Takarazuka Kinen (JPN-G1) winner Nakayama Festa.
Tree of Knowledge and her siblings were produced from the unraced Hail to Reason mare Sensibility, a half sister to 1964 Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe winner and Italian champion 3-year-old male Prince Royal II (by Ribot) and to Strip Poker (by Bold Bidder), dam of 1982 American champion 2-year-old filly Landaluce (by Seattle Slew) and Grade 3 winner Clout (by Indian Chief II) and second dam of Grade 2 winner Jade Flush. Produced from the King’s Bench mare Pange, Sensibility is also a half sister to Pang (by Prince Chevalier), second dam of 1979 Clásico Jose Antonio Paez-Two Thousand Guineas (VEN-G1) winner Begich; to Spa II (by Saint Crespin III), second dam of French Group 2 winner Patricia; and to Panna II (by Jaddo), dam of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Sir Sir (by Sir Ivor).
Books and media
North of Eden is one of the older Thoroughbreds profiled in photographs and essays in Barbara Livingston’s More Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2007, Blood-Horse Publications).
Last updated: May 25, 2021