Optimistic Gal (USA)
April 29, 1973 – Summer 1999
Sir Ivor (USA) x Hopes Ahead (USA), by Traffic Judge (USA)
Family 9-f
April 29, 1973 – Summer 1999
Sir Ivor (USA) x Hopes Ahead (USA), by Traffic Judge (USA)
Family 9-f
Born in the second crop of champion Sir Ivor, Optimistic Gal was close to championship class at both 2 and 3. She won six Grade 1 races during the course of her career and defeated older fillies and mares as well as most of her peers. She was disappointing as a broodmare, and her daughters as a group have not bred on well.
Race record
21 starts, 13 wins, 5 seconds, 1 third, US$686,861
1975:
1976:
Assessments
Co-highweighted with official divisional champion Dearly Precious at 119 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1975, 1 pound above second-place Queen to Be.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1976, 3 pounds below champion Revidere but second overall.
As an individual
A rangy dark bay or brown mare, Optimistic Gal was not very big but was attractive, elegant and racy-looking. She had an aloof, rather tough attitude which she tended to pass to her daughters more than her sons.
As a producer
Optimistic Gal produced 13 named foals, of which 11 started and won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Optimistic Gal was bred by Bertram N. Lander. She was owned by Diana Johnson Firestone, wife of Bertram R. Firestone. She was trained by LeRoy Jolley. After producing her first 10 foals for the Firestones, Optimistic Gal was sold privately to H & Y Bloodstock, which bred her last three foals. She died in the summer of 1999 at Big Sink Farm near Midway, Kentucky.
Pedigree notes
Optimistic Gal is inbred 5x5 to the great English matriarch Selene, herself a two-time champion on the race course. She is one of only two foals produced from Hopes Ahead, a winning full sister to 1971 Hopeful Stakes winner Rest Your Case and 1969 Susquehanna Handicap winner Frederick Street, second dam of French Group 3 winner Savannah's Honor and third dam of Irish Group 3 winner Nick's Nikita. Hopes Ahead is also a half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Noble Gesture (by Roman Line), second dam of Grade 3 winner Cybele and third dam of multiple Grade/Group 3 winner Bauhauser; to stakes winner She's Sofine (by Bold Hour); and to Grade 1-placed Charming Story (by Hail to Reason), second dam of 2001 Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1) winner Exciting Story and Grade 3 winner Cut the Charm.
Dame Fritchie, the dam of Hopes Ahead, also produced Sunday Purchase (by T. V. Lark), who proved the best broodmare of all her daughters by producing 1983 American champion older male Bates Motel (by Sir Ivor), 1986 San Antonio Handicap (USA-G1) winner Hatim (by Exclusive Native) English Group 3 winner Super Asset (by Sir Ivor), and stakes winner Emmaline (by Affirmed). Sunday Purchase is also the second dam of English Group 3 winner Perfect Sunday and the third dam of Grade 2 winner Striking Dancer and Italian Group 2 winner Raymond Tusk. In addition, Dame Fritchie is the dam of March On He Said (by Stop the Music), dam of Grade 3 winner Wolf Brigade (by Wolf Power), and of Dame Ivor (by Sir Ivor), dam of listed stakes winners Saratoga Dame (by Saratoga Six), Saratoga Dandy (by Saratoga Six), and (in Australia) Club Liquid (by Fasliyev), and second dam of Grade 2 winner Dollar Bill.
A winning daughter of 1956 Westerner Stakes winner Count of Honor, Dame Fritchie is a half sister to multiple stakes winner Our Emblem (by Revoked), Puerto Rican stakes winner Oregon City (by Traffic Judge), and stakes producers Her Ladyship (by Alibhai) and Brook Miss (by Roman Line). The next dam in the tail-female line is the winning Bull Dog mare So Proudly, whose dam At Top is a stakes-winning daughter of 1925 American champion 3-year-old male American Flag.
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: September 7, 2023
Race record
21 starts, 13 wins, 5 seconds, 1 third, US$686,861
1975:
- Won Selima Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Laurel)
- Won Frizette Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Matron Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Belmont)
- Won Adirondack Stakes (USA-G3, 6FD, Saratoga)
- Won Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G3, about 7FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Sorority Stakes (USA-G1, 6FD, Monmouth)
- 2nd Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1, 6FD, Saratoga)
1976:
- Won Delaware Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Delaware Park)
- Won Spinster Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Keeneland)
- Won Alabama Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Ashland Stakes (USA-G3, about 7FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Ruffian Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
Assessments
Co-highweighted with official divisional champion Dearly Precious at 119 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1975, 1 pound above second-place Queen to Be.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1976, 3 pounds below champion Revidere but second overall.
As an individual
A rangy dark bay or brown mare, Optimistic Gal was not very big but was attractive, elegant and racy-looking. She had an aloof, rather tough attitude which she tended to pass to her daughters more than her sons.
As a producer
Optimistic Gal produced 13 named foals, of which 11 started and won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Headin' West (1983, by Mr. Prospector) produced stakes winner Plano Pleasure (by Dixieland Band).
- Breezy Miss (1985, by Topsider) is the second dam of 2001 Cape Argus Guineas (SAF-G1) winner Aries Diamond and South African Group 3 winner Tempting Fate.
- Grand Slam Gal (1986, by Spectacular Bid) produced multiple Grade 2 winner Feasibility Study (by Lord Avie), her only foal.
- Last Finale (1992, by Stop the Music) produced multiple Turkish stakes winner Teeth to Teeth.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Optimistic Gal was bred by Bertram N. Lander. She was owned by Diana Johnson Firestone, wife of Bertram R. Firestone. She was trained by LeRoy Jolley. After producing her first 10 foals for the Firestones, Optimistic Gal was sold privately to H & Y Bloodstock, which bred her last three foals. She died in the summer of 1999 at Big Sink Farm near Midway, Kentucky.
Pedigree notes
Optimistic Gal is inbred 5x5 to the great English matriarch Selene, herself a two-time champion on the race course. She is one of only two foals produced from Hopes Ahead, a winning full sister to 1971 Hopeful Stakes winner Rest Your Case and 1969 Susquehanna Handicap winner Frederick Street, second dam of French Group 3 winner Savannah's Honor and third dam of Irish Group 3 winner Nick's Nikita. Hopes Ahead is also a half sister to multiple juvenile stakes winner Noble Gesture (by Roman Line), second dam of Grade 3 winner Cybele and third dam of multiple Grade/Group 3 winner Bauhauser; to stakes winner She's Sofine (by Bold Hour); and to Grade 1-placed Charming Story (by Hail to Reason), second dam of 2001 Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1) winner Exciting Story and Grade 3 winner Cut the Charm.
Dame Fritchie, the dam of Hopes Ahead, also produced Sunday Purchase (by T. V. Lark), who proved the best broodmare of all her daughters by producing 1983 American champion older male Bates Motel (by Sir Ivor), 1986 San Antonio Handicap (USA-G1) winner Hatim (by Exclusive Native) English Group 3 winner Super Asset (by Sir Ivor), and stakes winner Emmaline (by Affirmed). Sunday Purchase is also the second dam of English Group 3 winner Perfect Sunday and the third dam of Grade 2 winner Striking Dancer and Italian Group 2 winner Raymond Tusk. In addition, Dame Fritchie is the dam of March On He Said (by Stop the Music), dam of Grade 3 winner Wolf Brigade (by Wolf Power), and of Dame Ivor (by Sir Ivor), dam of listed stakes winners Saratoga Dame (by Saratoga Six), Saratoga Dandy (by Saratoga Six), and (in Australia) Club Liquid (by Fasliyev), and second dam of Grade 2 winner Dollar Bill.
A winning daughter of 1956 Westerner Stakes winner Count of Honor, Dame Fritchie is a half sister to multiple stakes winner Our Emblem (by Revoked), Puerto Rican stakes winner Oregon City (by Traffic Judge), and stakes producers Her Ladyship (by Alibhai) and Brook Miss (by Roman Line). The next dam in the tail-female line is the winning Bull Dog mare So Proudly, whose dam At Top is a stakes-winning daughter of 1925 American champion 3-year-old male American Flag.
Books and media
- Optimistic Gal is profiled in Chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- Optimistic Gal is one of the older Thoroughbreds profiled in photographs and essays in Barbara Livingston's Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2002, The Blood-Horse, Inc.).
Fun facts
- Optimistic Gal completed a rare sweep of Keeneland's major races for fillies and mares, taking the Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G3) at 2 and the Ashland Stakes (USA-G3) for 3-year-old fillies and the Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) for fillies and mares 3 and up as a 3-year-old. The only other fillies to have taken all three races are two-time American champion filly Doubledogdare and Take Charge Lady.
- Optimistic Gal and the great Canadian race mare and producer Fanfreluche were pasture buddies in their old age. They died only a couple of weeks apart, and the two were buried side by side.
Last updated: September 7, 2023