Tue, 13 Oct 2026 20:42:36 -0400WeeblyMon, 12 Oct 2026 21:25:45 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-tam-tam-makes-some-noise-in-queen-elizabeth-ii-challenge-cup​An ancient Chinese instrument that has made its way into the modern orchestral percussion section, the tam tam is a flat gong that produces a resonant “crash” when struck. The filly Tam Tam has also been making some serious noise lately. Already the winner of the Del Mar Oaks (USA-G1) earlier in the summer, the daughter of the now-pensioned Darley stalwart Medaglia d’Oro added the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1) to her bag on October 10. In the process, she avenged herself on runner-up Faithful Departed, who had beaten her in the Regret Stakes (USA-G3) back in May, and left dual Canadian Classic winner Luster and Belmont Oaks (USA-G1) winner Kensington Lane well up the course, leaving little question as to the identity of the best 3-year-old turf filly in North America.

Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Tam Tam is a member of the family of Striking, a granddaughter of the breed-shaping matriarch La Troienne and a fountain of class for the breeding program of the Phipps Family. Tam Tam’s descent traces through Striking’s great-granddaughter Basie (by In Reality), winner of the 1985 Delaware Handicap (USA-G1). Basie, in turn, produced multiple Grade 3 winner Jeano (by Fappiano), a tough mare who won 10 of 49 starts over five seasons of racing.

Bred along similar lines to 1990 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1) winner Unbridled (by Fappiano out of a maternal granddaughter of In Reality), Jeano was not nearly as successful as Unbridled in the paddocks, failing to come up with a single stakes winner from 13 named foals. Four of her daughters produced stakes winners, however. The best was unraced Contrive (by Storm Cat), who produced 2005 American champion 2-year-old filly Folklore (by Tiznow) as her first foal and later produced listed stakes winner Divided Attention (by A.P. Indy). Contrive is also the dam of Grade 3-placed Delightful Quality (by Elusive Quality), in turn the dam of two-time American champion Essential Quality (by Tapit) and stakes winner Famed (by Uncle Mo).

Folklore, like Jeano, did not produce any stakes winners, but two of her daughters have proven her worth as a broodmare. One, Rhodochrosite (by Unbridled’s Song), is the dam of three-time Japanese champion Contrail (by Deep Impact), a winner of the Japanese Triple Crown. The other, Princess Julia (by Distorted Humor), produced Tam Tam as her fourth foal. The mare has since given birth to a 2024 colt by Charlatan and a 2026 filly by Twirling Candy and was most recently bred to Omaha Beach.
​
Future plans have not yet been announced for Tam Tam, who has now won three straight stakes races and has not been out of the money this year. If she appears again in 2026, it will probably not be at the Breeders’ Cup, where her options would be the Mile (USA-G1)—certainly within her distance capabilities but always a tough spot against open competition—and the Filly and Mare Turf (USA-G1), which would call on her to face her elders at a distance she has not yet tried. Both Breeders’ Cup races would also require a faster turnaround than she seems to need. Trainer Phil Bauer has mentioned the American Oaks (USA-G1) at Santa Anita on December 26 as a possibility but may wait for 2027 to start his star again. Whenever she takes to the racecourse again, be sure it will be sweet music to an increasing number of racing fans.


]]>Mon, 05 Oct 2026 23:22:03 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-an-emphatic-bid-for-a-championship​Emphatic was only the third choice in the betting in Friday’s Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G1), but you could not have told that from her confident performance. She led every step of the way from the odds-on Summer Starlet, and that pair finished a country mile ahead of third-place Oh She Said Yes with Emphatic taking top honors by 1¼ lengths. Now unbeaten in three starts, Emphatic added US$302,250 to her bankroll and gained a “Win and You’re In” berth for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1) over the same course and distance.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Jon Marshall, Emphatic is seeking to become the third Juvenile Fillies winner and American champion juvenile filly sired by Nyquist, who already has Vequist (2020) and Immersive (2024) to his credit. Following a pattern similar to those of his daughters, Nyquist was also a Breeders’ Cup winner, taking the 2015 Juvenile Colts (USA-G1), and was that year's American champion 2-year-old male, in both achievements following in the hoof prints of his late sire, Uncle Mo. Nyquist trained on to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) and Florida Derby (USA-G1). Currently fourth on the general sire list, the Darley stallion has 44 stakes winners to his credit thus far, including 11 top-level winners.

Emphatic’s connections on the distaff side of her pedigree are equally impressive. Although her dam, Convinced, never raced, she is a daughter of 2000 American Horse of the Year and two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow. As a US$85,000 purchase from the 2020 Keeneland November sale for Marshall, Convinced was a steal on pedigree alone, for her dam, Tap of the Day, though also unraced and only the dam of two minor winners, is a full sister to 2004 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) winner and three-time American champion sire Tapit. A daughter of Pulpit, Tap of the Day is also a full sister to Home from Oz, dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Maderomlucky (by Lookin At Lucky), and a half sister to Overandabeauty (by Grand Slam), dam of stakes winner Noble and a Beauty (by Noble Causeway).

Tap of the Day and her siblings are out of Tap Your Heels (by Unbridled), who was a stakes winner as a juvenile. A half sister to 1992 American champion sprinter Rubiano (by Fappiano), Tap Your Heels is out of the Nijinsky II mare Ruby Slippers, who also produced Hong Kong Squall (by Summer Squall), second dam of 2009 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner and American champion 3-year-old male Summer Bird (by Birdstone). Another of Ruby Slippers’ daughters, Secret Red (by Secretariat), is the dam of 2004 Summer Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Dubleo (by Southern Halo), and Ruby Slippers is also the dam of Wichitoz (by Affirmed), dam of 2014 Gulfstream Oaks (USA-G2) winner In Tune (by Unbridled’s Song). The next dam in the tail-female line, Moon Glitter, is a multiple stakes winner and a full sister to the important stallion Relaunch.

A US$260,000 purchase from the 2025 Keeneland September sale, Emphatic is the fifth foal of Convinced, who has three previous winners to her credit from four other foals of racing age. The mare’s most recent foal is a 2025 Gunite filly that sold for US$325,000 at the recently concluded Keeneland September sale.

For owner Gainesway Farm (who co-owns the filly with Andrew Rosen), Emphatic is a case of coming full circle, as Gainesway owner Antony Beck was a co-owner in Tapit (in human terms, the filly’s great-uncle), who remains an active sire at Gainesway at the age of 25. If Beck’s stewardship of the Thoroughbred is rewarded with a Breeders’ Cup win by Emphatic to go with the eight Breeders’ Cup winners sired by Tapit, it seems but just deserts, as well as another chapter in the Breeders’ Cup history written into Emphatic’s pedigree.]]>Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:58:52 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-hangin-round-lives-up-to-her-name-with-descendants-goodwood-score​On January 17, 2026, Forged Steel kicked off the new year with an eighth-place finish in a Tampa Bay Downs optional claimer, seemingly heralding another uninspired season at age 4. While better than an empty stall at 2 and 3, the colt had won only twice and had placed in three minor stakes at Gulfstream Park. But on May 25, 2026, something clicked in Forged Steel. Grabbing an easy lead in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (USA-G2), he never looked back and sailed home 9½ lengths in front in the 10-furlong race. He could not duplicate those performances in the Suburban Stakes (USA-G2) or Pacific Classic (USA-G1) after failing to secure a forward position early, but on September 26, he was able to prompt Taif through the early going of the Goodwood Stakes (USA-G1) and had command going into he far turn. Kept to his work by Edwin Gonzalez, he stayed in front throughout the stretch to secure his first Grade 1 win and a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1) by 1¼ lengths.

The first Grade 1 winner out of 27 stakes winners for Candy Ride’s speedball son Vekoma, Forged Steel represents the family of 1980 Canadian Broodmare of the Year Hangin Round. A daughter of 1968 American co-champion 3-year-old male Stage Door Johnny out of a mare by two-time English champion sire Aureole (by Hyperion), Hangin Round could not earn a single dollar in five tries on the racetrack, but she more than made up for that in the paddocks. She produced four stakes winners, and both of her stakes-winning daughters bred on with champions among their descendants.

Rainbow Connection (by two-time American champion sire Halo), the elder of those daughters, was the champion Canadian filly of her crop at 2 and 3, won the 1980 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) and was twice runner-up in Grade 1 races. She continued her history of excellence as a broodmare, earning a Sovereign Award as Canadian Broodmare of the Year in 1994. Her three stakes winners included Rainbows for Life (by Lyphard), a three-time Canadian champion and a highly successful sire in Eastern Europe, and Colour Chart (by Mr. Prospector), winner of the 1990 CIGA Prix de l’Opera (FR-G2). Colour Chart, in turn, produced 2001 American champion 2-year-old filly Tempera (by A.P. Indy), who proved a sad loss to her breed when she died while in training as a 3-year-old.

Colour Chart also produced multiple French Group 3 winner Equerry (by St. Jovite) and French listed stakes winner Ecole d’Art (by Theatrical), is the second dam of 2010 Saudi Arabian champion older female Caprivi (by Cape Cross), and is the third dam of 2025 Pebbles Stakes (USA-G3) winner Fast Market (by Volatile). As if that were not enough, Colour Chart’s full brother, Always a Rainbow, won the 1994 Cup and Saucer Stakes before being sent to India for stallion duty. In addition, Barari, an unraced Blushing Groom half sister to Rainbows for Life, Colour Chart, and Always a Rainbow, produced multiple Grade 1 winner White Heart (by Green Desert) and listed stakes winner Kind Regards (by Unfuwain).

Hangin Round’s other important daughter is Hangin on a Star, a Vice Regent filly who took the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Stakes, from the colts. She is the dam of 1993 Canadian champion 2-year-old male Comet Shine (by Fappiano) and of Misty Mission (by Miswaki), who won the 2000 Wonder Where Stakes (third leg of Canada’s Triple Tiara series for 3-year-old fillies). Misty Mission, in turn, is the dam of two-time Canadian champion Irish Mission (by Giant’s Causeway), 2008 Colonel E. R. Bradley Handicap (USA-G3) winner French Beret (by Broad Brush), and stakes winner Mythical Mission (by Giant’s Causeway) as well as Smart Mission (by Smart Strike), dam of 2025 Rodeo Drive Stakes (USA-G2) winner Mission of Joy (by Kitten’s Joy).

Returning to Hangin on a Star, she is also the dam of Starboard Tack (by Seattle Slew), dam of 1999 Derby Trial Stakes (USA-G3) winner Patience Game (by Woodman) and second dam of 2025 Franklin Stakes (USA-G2) winner Time to Dazzle (by Not This Time). And, at the age of 20, Hangin Round produced Sanibel Star (by Unbridled’s Song), dam of 2012 Cup and Saucer Stakes winner Star Contender (by Henny Hughes) and, through her Tale of the Cat daughter Scorecard, second dam of Forged Steel.

Even if Forged Steel starts in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he would probably need to crank his best game up a couple more notches to be competitive, as he is unlikely to get either an easy lead or a five-horse field in American racing’s biggest showcase. Still, a Grade 1 win is no small accomplishment, and if he continues improving, he will be one more demonstration of why this family keeps hangin’ round.


]]>Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:18:18 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-a-personal-triumph-for-foundation-mare-dorine​After breaking her maiden on February 28, 2026, at Palermo, Personal Filly ran second in the Gran Premio Jorge de Atucha (ARG-G1) on May 1 and then flopped badly in the Premio Manuel J. Güiraldes (ARG-G3) on July 4, finishing seventh. After that fiasco, she went to La Plata, where she has rebounded with two Group wins. On August 4, she won the Premio Polla de Potrancas (ARG-G2), La Plata’s counterpart to the Gran Premo Polla de Potrancas (Argentine Two Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1). On September 19, Personal Filly signaled that she may be ready to return to Palermo to take on the best of her division. Taking the track for the Gran Premio Selección de Potrancas (ARG-G1), La Plata’s counterpart to Palermo’s Gran Premio Selección (Argentine Oaks, ARG-G1), Personal Filly charged home by five lengths, stamping herself much the best of the sophomore fillies at La Plata and a good filly by any reckoning.

Sired by the stakes-winning Curlin horse Dabster (who stands at Haras Firmamento after having stood at Haras La Mission Robles in 2020-2024), Personal Filly is a descendant of Dorine, a two-time Argentine champion who spent half her broodmare career in Argentina and half in the United States. Her four Kentucky-bred foals include 1988 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Grecian Banner (by Hoist the Flag), whose family continues to flourish through the descendants of her marvelous daughter Personal Ensign, the 1988 American champion older female and 1996 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Dorine’s four Argentine-bred foals include Dory (by Right of Way), who has established a high-caliber family of her own in her native land.

Bred and owned by Haras Ojo de Agua, among the most famous of Argentine breeding operations, Dory did not produce any black-type runners. Her importance lies in her broodmare daughters, which include Our Dory (by Our Talisman), dam of 1991 Las Oaks (Chilean Oaks, CHI-G1) winner Doryanna (by Fitzcarraldo) and 1995 Premio Cyllene (ARG-G2) winner Grand Dory (by Grand Chelem), second dam of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Dorylda and 2014 Premio Criadores Dorama (CHI-G2) winner Mi Coqueta, and third dam of 2008 Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena (ARG-G1) winner Luna Arrabalera. Another daughter of Dory, Doryanne (by Good Manners), is the dam of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Dorian Gray (by Merce Cunningham).

Doryl, a full sister to Our Dory, reversed the pattern set by Dorine, spending the first half of her broodmare career in the United States before going back to Argentina. In her native country, she produced 2004 Argentine champion sprinter Forty Doriana (by Roar), 2000 Gran Premio Carrera de las Estrellas Sprint (ARG-G1) winner Dionisio Tom, and listed stakes winner Shy Dory (by Shy Tom; dam of listed stakes winner Dolore, by Jump Start). Doryl’s American-bred daughter Native Doryl (by Fatih) is the second dam of multiple Argentine Group 1 winner Natan and 2022 Gran Premio República Argentina (ARG-G1) winner Nievre, and Argentine-bred Dorita Toss (by Egg Toss) is the dam of Premio General Manuel Belgrano (ARG-G2) winner Forty Dorico (by Roar) and the second dam of 2022 Premio Fernando Coloma Reyes (CHI-G2) winner Salomar.

Forty Dorianna was easily the best of Doryl’s foals, winning three Group 1 sprint races during her career. She did her part to continue the family with her 2015 Pure Prize filly, Pure Doris, who won the 2020 Premio Miguel Angel y Tomas Juarez Celman (ARG-G2). Pure Doris, in turn, produced Personal Filly as her second foal. She produced a full sister to Personal Filly, Personal Fire, in 2024 but has no further issue.

Not many mares manage to establish major families on two different continents, but Dorine is a worthy member of that elite club. With Personal Filly now poised to carry her flag onward in South America, she should be a name worth noting in pedigrees for decades to come.]]>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 23:41:18 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-a-kiss-for-susans-girl-at-gulfstream-park​On September 12, Kerry’s Kiss earned a “Win and You’re In” berth for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1) with a gate-to-wire score in the Princess Rooney Stakes (USA-G3) at Gulfstream Park. Now riding a four-race win streak, the 4-year-old daughter of 2019 American champion older male Vino Rosso has won at up to a mile and one-sixteenth but appears to have found a home in the sprint ranks, capturing her third straight stakes event and first graded race around one turn.

In tail-female, Kerry’s Kiss traces back to Susan’s Girl, a name not heard much nowadays but more than worthy of remembrance. A throwback to earlier racing traditions even when she was competing in the 1970s, the tough mare ran 63 times over five seasons and was out of the money only nine times, earning three championships along the way—and she might well have earned a fourth had injury not intervened. Only her inability to conquer top male rivals kept her from being considered among the very greatest of the great.

Foaled in Florida on March 23, 1969, Susan’s Girl was bred by Fred Hooper Jr., who had inherited both the filly (then in utero) and the filly’s dam, Quaze, on the death of his mother, Laura Hooper. The strapping bay had a pedigree typical for the program of Fred Hooper Sr., who cared little for equine fashion and bred a stream of stakes winners tracing back to his foundation sire, the speedy Olympia, while incorporating old American strains and experimenting with South American imports as outcrosses. The runner-up in the 1960 Kentucky Oaks, Quaze was by Quibu—a major winner in Argentina and Uruguay but an unknown in the United States—out of the Olympia mare Heavenly Sun and had produced four winners (including stakes winner Steel Pike, by Nadir) from four foals prior to being put to 1964 Belmont Stakes winner Quadrangle to produce Susan’s Girl. Later on, Quaze would produce 1974 Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) and Kentucky Oaks (USA-G2) winner Quaze Quilt to a cover by Specialmante, a son of Argentine champion Nigromante and the high-class California stakes winner Special Touch.

Fred Hooper Sr. bought then-unraced Susan’s Girl from his son for US$25,000 plus half her juvenile earnings, and both parties came out nicely from the transaction. Fred Hooper Jr. pocketed another US$75,242 from Susan’s Girl’s winnings as a 2-year-old, and his father got the best mare he would ever campaign. As Susan’s Girl ended up earning a grand total of US$1,251,668 during her racing career—making her the first female Thoroughbred to earn over US$1 million while racing solely in North America—Hooper Senior also made quite a good financial profit on the deal.

Susan’s Girl was one of those horses who did not need to take her track with her—or her trainer, or her jockey. She won coast to coast under all track conditions and on both turf and dirt. She won stakes races for seven different trainers and 10 different jockeys. She won from 6 to 10 furlongs, and excepting one season, she never made fewer than 13 starts per year. The exception was at 5, when she made six starts in a season interrupted by a fractured sesamoid, and she came back to make 17 starts at 6, earning her third Eclipse Award to go with the ones she had received at 3 and 4 as the best of her division. She won eight Grade 1 races, which would be very good even without considering that the graded race system wasn’t in place during her first two years of competition. Small wonder she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1976.

Susan’s Girl had still more to give when she became a broodmare, producing two stakes winners by her multiple Grade 2-winning stablemate Tri Jet (by 1957 Futurity Stakes winner Jester, a son of Tom Fool, out of the Olympia mare Haze). One, Paramount Jet, won a listed stakes and placed in three graded events. The other, Copelan (named for Hooper’s good friend, Dr. Robert Copelan, who performed the career-saving surgery on Susan’s Girl’s fracture), was considered the second-best juvenile male of 1982 after winning three Grade 1 races. After training on to win the Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2) and to place in two Grade 1 races at 3, Copelan took up his sire’s mantle at stud, turning out a high percentage of bread-and-butter winners leavened by a solid number of stakes winners. After earning US$594,278 on the track, he racked up over US$22.4 million in progeny earnings from the 327 starters out of his 382 named foals, suggesting that he was doing a good job of passing on his dam’s hardiness up until his death at the regrettably early age of 14.

Copelan was Susan’s Girl’s primary legacy to her breed, but her daughter Joyous Susan (by If This Be So, a stakes-winning son of Secretariat) did produce multiple stakes winner Outstander (by the Danzig horse Outflanker). Joyous Susan's daughter Dream Ride (by Grade 1 winner Honor Glide, by Honor Grades) produced multiple Grade 2 winner St. Joe Bay (by Grade 2 winner Saint Anddan, a sprinting son of Seattle Slew), and Dream Ride’s daughter Abuntia (by multiple Grade 3 winner Olmodavor, by A.P. Indy) produced Kerry’s Kiss as her fourth foal.

With a free ride to the Breeders’ Cup in the bag, one can hardly blame the connections of Kerry’s Kiss for taking a serious look at shooting for the moon. On speed figures, the filly still needs to step up further to compete with the best speedsters in her division, but if she can channel some of Susan’s Girl’s talent on the biggest day of her career, the moon might not be out of reach.




]]>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 22:12:12 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-summer-starlet-spins-a-yarn-at-saratoga​Few horses have had more appropriate names than Summer Starlet. A 6½-length graduate from the maiden ranks on August 8 at Saratoga, the filly flashed star quality as summer drew to its traditional close over the Labor Day weekend. Sent after the historic Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1) on September 5, Summer Starlet made nothing of trouncing Schuylerville Stakes winner Harper’s Corner and five other rivals, winning by 4¾ lengths. Undefeated in her brief career, Summer Starlet has banked $228,250 for owners BC Stables, Wattswood Stables, Bob Albritton, Jay Graham, and David Baggett.

Bred by Newstead Corp., Summer Starlet is the second Grade 1 winner of 2026 for Lane’s End Farm stallion City of Light, also the sire of Shoemaker Mile Stakes winner Formidable Man. The son of Quality Road and the Dehere mare Paris Notion won four Grade 1 races during his own racing career and has 20 stakes winners from the 391 named foals in his first four crops (runners aged 3 and up). His best-known runner to date has been 2023 American champion 2-year-old male Fierceness, now standing at Ashford Stud.

On the distaff side, Summer Starlet traces back to Monarchy, whose family (developed by Claiborne Farm) is an American branch of the great English family of Aloe, her great-granddam. A full sister to the great Round Table, Monarchy won the 1959 Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes and continued the family through her Nijinsky II daughter State, the dam of four graded stakes winners.

Of State’s foals, the most significant is arguably Narrate. A daughter of 1975 American champion 2-year-old male Honest Pleasure, Narrate won the 1983 Falls City Handicap (USA-G3) and produced two important daughters. One, Preach, won the 1991 Frizette Stakes (USA-G1) and produced multiple Grade 2 winner Pulpit (by A.P. Indy), a good stallion who continued his male line through three-time American champion sire Tapit. The other, Yarn, produced 2000 English and Irish champion 2-year-old male Minardi (by Boundary) and Grade 2 winner and successful sire Tale of the Cat (by Storm Cat) and is the second dam of 2001 European and American juvenile male Johannesburg (by Hennessy), whose male line leads to 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify.

Yarn has one other stakes winner to her credit, Spunoutacontrol (by Wild Again), who is the dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Fed Biz (by Giant’s Causeway) and restricted stakes winner Spun Silk (by A.P. Indy). The last-named mare is, in turn, the dam of 2016 Vosburgh Stakes (USA-G1) winner Joking (by Distorted Humor). Spunoutacontrol is also the dam of unraced Always Trouble (by Bernardini), whose winning daughter Act Now (by Street Sense) produced Summer Starlet as her fourth foal. Previously the dam of Grade 2-placed Coach Prime (by Quality Road) and stakes-placed Dr. Oseran (by Kitten’s Joy), Act Now had no foal in 2025 and most recently became the dam of a 2026 filly by Practical Joke.

According to trainer Steve Asmussen, Summer Starlet’s next likely target will be the October 2 Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G1), a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly (USA-G1) that will be contested over the same course (Keeneland) and distance (8½ furlongs). Her results in those races will determine whether she remains a starlet or becomes the leading lady of her division.]]>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 02:12:36 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-kerouac-writes-another-chapter-for-haras-paso-nevados-k-family2020 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Tiz the Law was one of the hottest sires on the planet at the end of August, In a three-day period, the Ashford Stud stallion came up with a quartet of Grade/Group 1 winners in the United States and Chile. Among those top-level winners was Kerouac, who started the onslaught on August 28 by capturing the Premio Polla de Potrancas (CHI-G1) at Santiago for owner Stud Vendaval. Racing through the stretch as if much the best, the filly (who shares her name with American novelist Jack Kerouac) landed the win by 2¾ lengths over Immense Deep.

A third-generation product of Haras Paso Nevado, Kerouac is the first foal of Kirikina, who won the 2021 edition of the Polla de Potrancas for Stud Vendaval. Kirikina has since two more foals by Tiz the Law: Karajan, a 2024 colt, and Keltatuwe, a 2025 filly.

Kirikina is by multiple Grade 1 winner Verrazano, an exceptionally handsome son of More Than Ready whose best runner so far in North America is 2022 Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner Chi Town Lady (out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Toni’s Hollyday). Kirikina was bred along somewhat similar lines as she was produced from the 2015 Polla de Potrancas winner Kitcat, whose sire Scat Daddy, like Harlan’s Holiday, is from the Storm Cat male line.

t is a rare female lineage indeed that manages to produce three generations of winners of the same Group 1 race, and it is also a rare family that comes up with a mare capable of producing four top-level winners. Also the winner of the 2016 Premio Club Hipico de Santiago (CHI-G1), Kitcat is one of four Chilean Group 1 winners produced by the American import Kossanova, who won four of her five Chilean starts and was second in the last. Sired by 1990 American champion juvenile male Fly So Free, Kossanova's other Group 1 winners are 2006 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Kossimo (by Gracioso), 2010 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Knockout (by Scat Daddy), and 2017 Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile winner Kurilov (by Lookin At Lucky). In addition to her racing stars, Kossanova is the dam of Koussi (by Powerscourt), dam of 2016 Gran Premio Criadores Salvador Hess Riveros (CHI-G2) winner Lucky Sisi and listed stakes winner Kou Star (both by Lookin At Lucky) and second dam of 2022 Premio Mil Guineas (CHI-G1) winner Joke Sisi (by Practical Joke); Kalispera (by Powerscourt), second dam of multiple Chilean Group 3 winner Krakken (by Seeking the Dia); and multiple Group 1-placed Katmai (by Scat Daddy), sire of 2024 Chilean Horse of the Year Kay Army and 2022 Chilean champion 2-year-old dirt filly Una Chiquitita.

Kossanova’s female line traces back to “Genetic Gem” Queen Sucree (by Ribot), whose dam, “Genetic Gem” Cosmah (by Cosmic Bomb), was the 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and a half sister to “Genetic Gem” Natalma (by Native Dancer). There are not too many female lines that boast more genetic firepower, in Chile or anywhere else, and it can be hoped that Kerouac will contribute her own share of fireworks when the time comes for her to retire to the broodmare ranks.




]]>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:37:25 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-my-guns-loaded-fires-in-alabama-stakes​According to most experts, the Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales (USA-G1) was Counting Stars’s race to lose. According to My Gun’s Loaded, it was her race to win. Never far off the moderate pace set by the favorite, My Gun’s Loaded raced widest of all through the far turn and battled with Counting Stars and Measure through the stretch to secure victory by a neck over the latter filly; Counting Stars was third, another length and a half back. Now a Grade 1 winner in her stakes debut, the lightly raced daughter of Gun Runner remains unbeaten in three starts at 3, is three-for-four lifetime, and has earned US$460,500.

Bred by Corser Thoroughbreds, My Gun’s Loaded is the 15th top-level winner and 61st stakes winner sired by Gun Runner from his first five crops of racing age. The 2017 American Horse of the Year, Gun Runner is also responsible for this year’s Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) winner, Always a Runner, and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (USA-G1) winner Further Ado, along with 11 other stakes winners of 2026.

My Gun’s Loaded is the fourth foal and first winner out of the stakes-placed Congrats mare Strive, a mare that Corser Thoroughbreds purchased for US$220,000, covered by City of Light, from the 2019 Keeneland November mixed sale. A half sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Hip Hop N Jazz (by Speightstown), Strive is out of 2007 Arlington Matron Handicap (USA-G3) winner Solo Survivor (by Pleasant Tap), a half sister to 1995 Ladies Handicap (USA-G2) winner Transient Trend.

Solo Survivor, in turn, is out of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Dactique (by d’Accord), whose half sister Nastique (by Naskra) won four Grade 1 races during her career before producing 1998 Honey Bee Handicap (USA-G3) winner Thunder Kitten (by Storm Cat) and multiple Japanese stakes winner Nobo True (by Broad Brush). Through Thunder Kitten, Nastique is the second dam of 2008 Ribbesdale Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Michita (by Dynaformer) 2014 Diamond Stakes (IRE-G3) winner and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) third Cat O’Mountain (by Street Cry), and Group 3-placed listed stakes winner Willing Foe (by Dynaformer). Other Nastique daughters include Teakabu (by Woodman), dam of 2014 Mexican champion 2-year-old filly Heakabu; Painted Lady (by Broad Brush), dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Skylighter (by Sky Mesa), listed stakes winner Speckled (by Street Cry), and stakes winner Cave Hill (by Frosted); and Kristique (by Kris S.), whose son War Affair (by O’Reilly) earned six championship titles in Singapore including 2013/14 Horse of the Year.

Returning to Dactique, she is also a half sister to Amanzimtoti (by Accipiter), dam of 1996 J & B Met (SAF-G1) winner La Fabulous (by Lustra) and second dam of 2001 Gold Medallion Stakes (SAF-G1) winner Rip Curl (by National Emblem). Dactique and her siblings are out of unraced La Fantastique, a Le Fabuleux half sister to 1972 American champion sprinter Chou Croute (by Lt. Stevens).

Although Counting Stars still has the resume to be considered the leader in the American 3-year-old filly division, My Gun’s Loaded now has the prospective divisional champion in her sights and may pick her off if she can defeat older females in her next start, most likely either the Beldame Stakes (USA-G2) at Belmont or the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) at Keeneland. The latter would probably be the tougher spot, given that it offers a purse of US$650,000 against one of US$250,000 for the Beldame, but it would also provide My Gun’s Loaded with a start over the same course and distance as the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1) as well as possibly earning the long-striding filly a second Grade 1 win. Regardless of what happens next out, My Gun’s Loaded certainly has the firepower to be a contender and has added an additional spark to her Eclipse Award division.]]>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 01:09:39 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-remembering-drumtop​On Saturday, six fillies and mares went into the Woodbine starting gate for the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (CAN-G2). Six was apparently the lucky number for Proctor Street, who was making her sixth start of the year. After falling short of victory five times, she finally got both her first win of the season and her first graded stakes win, catching Eponine by a neck after trailing the early pace. The victory boosted her lifetime record to six wins and five placings from 14 starts and increased her bankroll to US$667,800.

Bred and owned by Patricia Moseley, Proctor Street is a fourth-generation descendant of Drumtop, a mare that never won a championship but probably should have. The best race mare sired by the great Round Table, she was much in her sire’s mold: not overly big but tough, determined, and willing to take on all comers at any distance she was asked to tackle and over any kind of footing.

Although she was a winner on dirt as a youngster, Drumtop found her stride when transferred to the turf. At first, though, she remained properly feminine. She defeated fellow 3-year-old fillies in the Princeton Handicap at Garden State and took on older females to win the New York Handicap at Aqueduct. She also set a course record for 8.5 furlongs at Belmont, though her time was surpassed before the end of the season. At year’s end, the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap rated her at 16 pounds below the champion turf horse, the 5-year-old horse Hawaii.

American female turf horses were not given their own championship division until 1979, and the prize money was better in open company. Drumtop set out to grab her share in 1970. Facing males more often than she did females, she opened up the season against her fellow distaffers in the first division of the Columbiana Handicap at Hialeah and then was second in the Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap in open company, losing to front-running Vent du Nord by a length and a half.

Taken out to California, Drumtop was not quite able to run down Sallina in the Santa Barbara Handicap, and throughout her career, she would demonstrate that the harder California courses did not really suit her. On returning East to courses that were more to her liking, she showed her heels to the boys in the Edgemere Handicap at Aqueduct. It took her eight more tries to capture another stakes race, but seven of those eight races were against the upper echelon of the male turf runners, and she was never worse than fourth. She finally closed out her season in the Canadian International Championship Stakes, turning back stiff challenges from Jungle Cove and Frenetico to capture the 13-furlong event. Her efforts earned her a season-ending rating of 123 pounds, 9 points below Fort Marcy (who shared the Horse of the Year title with the star 3-year-old, Personality) but tied for sixth in the division. She took home US$190,708 for the year, good money in a year in which only 14 horses exceeded US$200,000 in earnings. She was also the top-rated turf horse on the Canadian Free Handicap, though she was ineligible for a year-end championship in Canada as she had not made the requisite three starts in that country.

Drumtop had reached full maturity in 1971, and she celebrated that status by playing the Amazon warrior to the hilt. After opening her season with a win in the Palm Beach Handicap and a surprise fourth in the Bougainvillea Handicap, she finished her run through the Hialeah turf division with a head victory in the Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap in course record time of 2:26-4/5 over The Pruner; favored Fort Marcy was another 1¾ lengths back in third in the 12-furlong event. A second trip out to California netted her placings in the San Luis Rey Handicap and the Century Handicap, and then it was back to the East, where she threw a Garden State course record of 1:59-4/5 for 10 furlongs at her victims in the Camden Handicap. A second edition of the Edgemere Handicap was the next trophy for her collection, and she handed Fort Marcy another defeat in the Bowling Green Handicap, setting her third course record of the season as she ran the 12 furlongs in 2:25-2/5.

Unfortunately, Drumtop’s victory may have been pyrrhic. The Belmont course was unusually hard for the event, and the mare was clearly not her usual self when she finished fourth in her next outing, the Ford Pinto Turf Invitational Handicap at Hollywood Park. Her season and her career ended in the Kelly-Olympic Handicap at Atlantic City on September 4, in which she bowed a tendon. The injury forced Drumtop to miss the prestigious fall events of the division, and the 3-year-old colt Run the Gantlet took advantage of her absence to win the United Nations Invitational Handicap, the Man o’ War Stakes, and the Washington, D. C., International Invitational Stakes. He had already won the Kelly-Olympic (though no one considered that a true measure of his abilities versus Drumtop’s), and his late-season victories tipped voting in the divisional championship in his favor. Drumtop got a consolation prize in the form of a 126-pound rating on the Free Handicap, best in the division and 2 pounds above Run the Gantlet. She closed out her career with 44 starts, 17 wins, 9 seconds, and 3 thirds, having banked US$493,738.

Drumtop belonged to the famous family of Rough Shod II, and her dam, Zonah (Nasrullah x Gambetta, by My Babu), was closely related to three-time American champion Gamely (Bold Ruler [by Nasrullah] x Gambetta). In addition, Zonah produced Drumtop’s full brother Take Your Place, winner of the 1975 Observer Gold Cup (ENG-G1). With such credentials, Drumtop was expected to become an excellent broodmare. She did not quite live up to those expectations although she produced three stakes winners: Topsider (by Northern Dancer), who defied his dam’s genetics to become a dirt sprinter; 1983 Prix Berteux (FR-G3) winner Brogan (by Nijinsky II), who was the runner-up in that year’s Derby Italiano (ITY-G3); and minor stakes winner War of Words (by Arts and Letters).

Topsider became a good stallion, and Drumtop has a continuing female line of descent through her winning Mr. Prospector daughter, Aliata, dam of multiple Puerto Rican stakes winner Storm Allied (by Stormy Atlantic). Aliata’s stakes-placed Storm Cat son Storm Boot became a useful sire of speed. Storm Boot’s stakes-placed half sister Archstone (by Arch) produced multiple Grade 2 winner Proctor’s Ledge (by Ghostzapper), and Proctor’s Ledge produced Proctor Street (a daughter of Street Sense) as her second foal. And Drumtop has another legacy, as her heroics (which many horsemen thought should have earned her an official title) brought recognition to female turf runners and perhaps played a role in the 1979 creation of an Eclipse Award exclusively for fillies and mares on grass. There are far worse ways to be remembered.








]]>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:57:00 GMThttps://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/mares-on-monday/mares-on-monday-summer-is-hot-in-winter-in-brazil​Nitrogen’s gallant second-place effort in Saturday’s Whitney Stakes (USA-G1) justly drew much admiration. She is not the only filly in the Americas to have faced males in a recent Grade/Group 1 race, though. The Brazilian 4-year-old Summer do Iguassu, a Group 1 winner at 3, recently took down the boys in the Grande Prêmio Copa ABCPCC Clássica-Matias Machline over 2000 meters (about 1¼ miles) at Gávea. Racing for breeder-owner Haras do Iguassu, the filly defeated 12 rivals in one of the bigger races on the Brazilian winter calendar and continued a history of Group 1 success for a Brazilian branch of an Argentine family.

Summer do Iguassu’s family entered Brazil via Revisa, whose Irish-bred sire Flintham (by 1962 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp winner Fortino II, also the sire of champion racer and sire Caro) was exported to Argentina after winning the 1974 Goldene Peitsche (GER-G3). In winning the Goldene Peitche, historically one of Germany’s top sprint races, Flintham expressed the sprinting proclivity of his sire rather than the staying blood found on the distaff side of his pedigree.

Sent to Brazil as a youngster, Revisa was a consistent performer in her class, winning five races at Gávea over 1300-1600 meters and finishing second in another five out of 13 starts. Put to the more stamina-oriented Present the Colors (a stakes-winning son of Hoist the Flag who became a good sire for Haras Santa Maria de Araras) for her first mating, Revisa produced Tawanna, winner of the 1989 Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) over 2000 meters. Another mating to Present the Colors produced Vannieres, a winner over 1200 meters who was exported back to Argentina and there produced Vanguardia (by Sekari), winner of the 2005 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1).

Revisa’s other two important foals were both by the great Brazilian-based sire Ghadeer. The first, Azzedine, ran third in the 1992 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) over 1600 meters and became the dam of Brazilian listed stakes winner Ligeiro e Corredor (by Notation), who scored his signature win over 1200 meters. The other, Fit to Fly, scored her only win from nine starts in an 1100-meter event at Gávea but proved a valuable broodmare with three Group stakes winners to her credit. They were Must Be Flying (by the Forty Niner horse Jules, the Brazilian champion sire of 2002/03), who won the 2003 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1); Time to Fly (by five-time Brazilian champion sire Roi Normand), who won the 2011 Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara (BRZ-G3); and Montardon (by 2012/13 Brazilian champion sire Northern Afleet), who won the Grande Premio Dezesseis de Julho (BRZ-G3).

Best on the track, Must Be Flying was also the most important in the breeding shed despite having produced only two foals. Her daughter Catch a Wave (by 1999 Early Times Turf Classic, USA-G1, winner Wild Event, a five-time Brazilian champion sire and a great sire of broodmares) was a winner over 1000 meters at Gavea and produced Summer do Iguassu (a daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Camelot Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy) as her fourth foal and fourth winner. Her only subsequent foal is Maracatana, a 2023 daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Synchrony (by Tapit) who has yet to race.

As Tawanna and Summer do Iguassu has demonstrated, this family is capable of throwing runners capable of winning at the highest level over 2000 meters, but the rest of its produce record suggests that speed is its true forte; in fact, none of Summer do Iguassu’s older siblings have won at more than 1500 meters. It will be interesting to see if “Summer” reverts to the family type when she enters the paddocks. In the meantime, observers can hope that she will get at least a few more opportunities to showcase her talent against all comers, male and female alike.]]>