Sun and Snow (USA)
March 28, 1972 – 2000
Hawaii (SAF) x Alpine Peak (USA), by Olympia (USA)
Family 1-o
March 28, 1972 – 2000
Hawaii (SAF) x Alpine Peak (USA), by Olympia (USA)
Family 1-o
Among the ranks of Kentucky Oaks winners, Sun and Snow would have been fairly unmemorable even without being in the shadow of the great Ruffian, who did not contest the Churchill Downs classic. She was a fairly successful but not outstanding broodmare.
Race record
46 starts, 7 wins, 10 seconds, 4 thirds, US$212,665
1974:
1975:
Assessments
Rated at 110 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1974, 12 pounds below champion juvenile filly Ruffian.
Rated at 118 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1975, 14 pounds below champion Ruffian.
As an individual
Registered as a roan, Sun and Snow was genetically a gray. She was “a very willing filly to train” according to trainer George Poole.
As a producer
Sun and Snow produced 14 foals, of which 12 started and 10 won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Sun and Snow was bred by C. V. “Sonny” Whitney. She was trained by George T. Poole. She was ridden to her Kentucky Oaks win by Garth Patterson. In 1980-1991, she changed hands five times by public auction, last selling for US$33,000 when sold in foal to Awasmi at the 1991 Keeneland January sale. She died in 2000.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1969 American champion grass male Hawaii (a Horse of the Year in his native South Africa), Sun and Snow is outcrossed through five generations. She is a half sister to stakes winners Snow Peak (by Sword Dancer) and Quatre Saisons (by Court Recess); the last-named mare is the second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Honey Ryder and Grade 3 winners Cuando Puede, Dyna da Wyna, and Leroy's Dynameaux and is also the third dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Dominus and Grade 3 winner Hit It Rich. In addition, Sun and Snow is a half sister to Aspenglo (by Raise a Native), dam of multiple listed stakes winner Penny Marie (by Sky Classic).
Alpine Peak, the dam of Sun and Snow, is a winning half sister to juvenile stakes winner Prize Silver (by Hail to Reason) and to Axe of Silver (by The Axe II), second dam of multiple Peruvian Group 3 winner Blooded. Their dam, Bright Silver (by Native Dancer), won two stakes as a juvenile and is a half sister to Nubbin Nugget (by Bandit), second dam of 1981 Panamanian champion 2-year-old male Sharp Johnny and of Panamanian Group 3 winner El Gerarca.
Bright Silver is out of Uno Best, a Sir Gallahad III half sister to 1953 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Level Lea (by Bull Lea), multiple stakes winner Recite (by Citation; dam of Panamanian stakes winner Royal Medal, by Princequillo), and stakes-placed Top Level (by Blenheim II), dam of stakes winner Levelix (by Ambiorix). Uno Best is also a half sister to Hot Blood (by Nasrullah), dam of Puerto Rican stakes winner Double Speed (by Double Jay), and to Little Hill (by Parnassus), dam of juvenile stakes winner Best Level (by Prince John). The next dam in the tail-female lineage is Level Best (by Equipoise), the American champion juvenile filly of 1940.
Books and media
Sun and Snow is profiled in Chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1919-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: January 4, 2023
Race record
46 starts, 7 wins, 10 seconds, 4 thirds, US$212,665
1974:
- Won Debutante Stakes (USA, 5FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Churchill Downs)
1975:
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Ashland Stakes (USA-G3, 7F+184yD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Mademoiselle Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Keystone)
- 2nd Poinsettia Stakes (USA, 9FD, Hialeah)
- 2nd Dark Mirage Handicap (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Aqueduct)
Assessments
Rated at 110 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1974, 12 pounds below champion juvenile filly Ruffian.
Rated at 118 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1975, 14 pounds below champion Ruffian.
As an individual
Registered as a roan, Sun and Snow was genetically a gray. She was “a very willing filly to train” according to trainer George Poole.
As a producer
Sun and Snow produced 14 foals, of which 12 started and 10 won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Silver Peak (1980, by Bold Bidder) was unplaced in her only start but produced multiple listed stakes winner In the Zone (by Known Fact).
- Sweet Snow (1981, by Lyphard) won one of eight starts and produced 1984 Scottish Equitable Gimcrack Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Chilly Billy (by Master Willie). She is the second dam of Italian Group 2 winner Fisich
- Windansea (1987, by Conquistador Cielo) won the 1990 Davona Dale Stakes at the Fair Grounds and was Grade 3-placed. She is the dam of Grade 3 winner Belong to Sea (by Belong to Me), listed stakes winner Truman C. (by Capote) and minor stakes winner Power Train (by Cox's Ridge). She is also the third dam of 2011 American Oaks Stakes (USA-G1) winner Nereid.
- Sing and Swing (1989, by Dixieland Band) won the listed Etobicoke Handicap in 1993 at Woodbine. She is the dam of 2011 Skip Away Stakes (USA-G3) winner S. S. Stone (by Birdstone)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Sun and Snow was bred by C. V. “Sonny” Whitney. She was trained by George T. Poole. She was ridden to her Kentucky Oaks win by Garth Patterson. In 1980-1991, she changed hands five times by public auction, last selling for US$33,000 when sold in foal to Awasmi at the 1991 Keeneland January sale. She died in 2000.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1969 American champion grass male Hawaii (a Horse of the Year in his native South Africa), Sun and Snow is outcrossed through five generations. She is a half sister to stakes winners Snow Peak (by Sword Dancer) and Quatre Saisons (by Court Recess); the last-named mare is the second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Honey Ryder and Grade 3 winners Cuando Puede, Dyna da Wyna, and Leroy's Dynameaux and is also the third dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Dominus and Grade 3 winner Hit It Rich. In addition, Sun and Snow is a half sister to Aspenglo (by Raise a Native), dam of multiple listed stakes winner Penny Marie (by Sky Classic).
Alpine Peak, the dam of Sun and Snow, is a winning half sister to juvenile stakes winner Prize Silver (by Hail to Reason) and to Axe of Silver (by The Axe II), second dam of multiple Peruvian Group 3 winner Blooded. Their dam, Bright Silver (by Native Dancer), won two stakes as a juvenile and is a half sister to Nubbin Nugget (by Bandit), second dam of 1981 Panamanian champion 2-year-old male Sharp Johnny and of Panamanian Group 3 winner El Gerarca.
Bright Silver is out of Uno Best, a Sir Gallahad III half sister to 1953 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Level Lea (by Bull Lea), multiple stakes winner Recite (by Citation; dam of Panamanian stakes winner Royal Medal, by Princequillo), and stakes-placed Top Level (by Blenheim II), dam of stakes winner Levelix (by Ambiorix). Uno Best is also a half sister to Hot Blood (by Nasrullah), dam of Puerto Rican stakes winner Double Speed (by Double Jay), and to Little Hill (by Parnassus), dam of juvenile stakes winner Best Level (by Prince John). The next dam in the tail-female lineage is Level Best (by Equipoise), the American champion juvenile filly of 1940.
Books and media
Sun and Snow is profiled in Chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1919-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Sonny Whitney missed watching Sun and Snow's Kentucky Oaks score (as well as a third-place finish by her stablemate Funny Cat) because he had left the track after the sixth race to attend a Kentucky Derby party, two races before the Oaks.
- Sun and Snow was the last of four Kentucky Oaks winners for C. V. Whitney. The others were Two Bob (1936), Bug Brush (1958) and Bag of Tunes (1973).
Last updated: January 4, 2023