Tree of Knowledge (IRE)
March 2, 1977 – 1996
Sassafras (FR) x Sensibility (USA), by Hail to Reason (USA)
Family 3-h
March 2, 1977 – 1996
Sassafras (FR) x Sensibility (USA), by Hail to Reason (USA)
Family 3-h
Tree of Knowledge was inbred to the speedy Court Martial, but her immediate ancestry carried plenty of stamina and that was what she generally passed on to her foals. This trait has tended to persist in her family, along with marked ability on turf. Her foals include a champion and a top-class broodmare, and her family has had international influence.
Race record
7 starts, 1 win, 4 seconds, 0 thirds, $5,318 (converted from Irish earnings)
1980: 2nd Azalea Stakes (IRE, Phoenix Park)
Assessments
Earned a Timeform rating of 77 pounds as a 3-year-old.
As an individual
A bay mare; no further information available.
As a producer
Tree of Knowledge produced nine named foals; seven started and five won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Tree of Knowledge was bred and owned by Bert and Diana Firestone. She raced in Mrs. Firestone’s colors.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1970 French Horse of the Year Sassafras, Tree of Knowledge is inbred 4x4 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Court Martial, winner of the 1945 Two Thousand Guineas, and 4x5 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Nearco, an unbeaten champion on the race course. She 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 unraced 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. 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).
Pange, the dam of Sensibility and her siblings, was sired by the Court Martial horse King’s Bench, one of the best juveniles of his crop in England. She was produced from the unraced York Gala (by 1937 Coronation Cup winner His Grace, a full brother to Blenheim II), also the dam of two-time Cambridgeshire Stakes winner Sterope (by Mid-Day Sun) and of Rosebery Memorial Handicap winner White Heather (by Pearl Diver).
Last updated: August 21, 2021
Race record
7 starts, 1 win, 4 seconds, 0 thirds, $5,318 (converted from Irish earnings)
1980: 2nd Azalea Stakes (IRE, Phoenix Park)
Assessments
Earned a Timeform rating of 77 pounds as a 3-year-old.
As an individual
A bay mare; no further information available.
As a producer
Tree of Knowledge produced nine named foals; seven started and five won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Theatrical (1982, by Nureyev) was the American champion turf male of 1987. He was a successful sire who begot 81 stakes winners including three-time Japanese champion Hishi Amazon and 1996 Budweiser Irish Derby (IRE-G1) winner Zagreb.
- North of Eden (1983, by Northfields) failed to win in seven starts, though she placed five times. She is the dam of 1994 American champion turf male Paradise Creek (by Irish River), 2001 Manhattan Handicap (USA-G1) winner Forbidden Apple (by Pleasant Colony), 1999 Early Times Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1) winner Wild Event (by Wild Again; a five-time champion sire in Brazil), and stakes winner I’m Very Irish (by Pleasant Colony). North of Eden is also the second dam of multiple Group 1 winner David Junior and 2002 Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G1) winner Eden’s Moon and the third dam of multiple Argentine champion Sixties Song, 2014 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Bobby’s Kitten, multiple Grade 2 winner Camelot Kitten, and Argentine Group 2 winner Celestial Candy.
- Blue Sage (1987, by Cure the Blues) never raced but is the dam of stakes winner Long Gone Blues (by Sovereign Dancer), the second dam of Australian Group 2 winner So Pristine, and the third dam of New Zealand Group 2 winner Dijon Bleu.
- Taiki Blizzard (1991, by Seattle Slew) won three Japanese stakes races including the 1997 Yasuda Kinen (considered a Group 1 in Japan at the time and now a Group 1 race by international standards). He had little impact as a sire.
Connections
Tree of Knowledge was bred and owned by Bert and Diana Firestone. She raced in Mrs. Firestone’s colors.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1970 French Horse of the Year Sassafras, Tree of Knowledge is inbred 4x4 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Court Martial, winner of the 1945 Two Thousand Guineas, and 4x5 to two-time English/Irish champion sire Nearco, an unbeaten champion on the race course. She 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 unraced 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. 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).
Pange, the dam of Sensibility and her siblings, was sired by the Court Martial horse King’s Bench, one of the best juveniles of his crop in England. She was produced from the unraced York Gala (by 1937 Coronation Cup winner His Grace, a full brother to Blenheim II), also the dam of two-time Cambridgeshire Stakes winner Sterope (by Mid-Day Sun) and of Rosebery Memorial Handicap winner White Heather (by Pearl Diver).
Last updated: August 21, 2021