Bug Brush (USA)
1955 – After February 8, 1975
Nasrullah (IRE) x Bonnie Beryl (USA), by Fighting Fox (USA)
Family 10-c
1955 – After February 8, 1975
Nasrullah (IRE) x Bonnie Beryl (USA), by Fighting Fox (USA)
Family 10-c
Bug Brush flashed good form at 3 when she won the Kentucky Oaks but only won once more that season while racing in allowance company. She improved greatly over the winter of 1958-1958 and was of near-championship class at 4, when her six stakes wins included a defeat of top male handicapper Hillsdale in world record time. She did not fare well on a trip to the Eastern tracks, however, turning in three poor performances at Delaware Park and Saratoga to finish her season, and she failed to recover her best form at 5. She was a disappointing broodmare.
Race record
32 starts, 10 wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds, US$206,392
1958:
1959:
1960:
Assessments
Rated at 114 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American fillies and mares 3 and older of 1958, 9 pounds below champion 3-year-old filly Idun.
Rated at 128 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1959, 2 pounds below champion Tempted.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1960, 12 pounds below champion Royal Native.
As an individual
A bay mare, Bug Brush was, in C. V. Whitney's words, “just ugly enough to be a Nasrullah.”
As a producer
Bug Brush produced six named foals, of which five started and four won. Her best on the track was stakes-placed Gay Gambler, a son of Hail to Reason. Her only foal of lasting significance was Hairbrush (by Sir Gaylord), second dam of 1987 Prix d'Ispahan (FR-G1) winner and three-time French champion sire Highest Honor and third dam of Australian Group 3 winner Alpine Express.
Connections
Bug Brush was bred by Belair Stud. She was owned by C. V. “Sonny” Whitney, who purchased Bug Brush as a yearling for US$33,000 from the Belair Stud dispersal of 1956. She was trained by Sylvester Veitch at 3 and by Robert Wheeler afterward.
Pedigree notes
Bug Brush is inbred 5x4 to five-time English champion sire Polymelus and 5x5 to 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint. She is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Nashville and a half sister to the minor stakes winner Game Chance (by Some Chance). She is also a half sister to Bonnie Watch (by Black Tarquin), dam of the minor stakes winner Wendy's Watch (by Espea; dam of minor stakes winner What a Whisker, by Barbizon, and multiple stakes producer Lonely Sunset, by Night Invader), and to Fashion Critic (by Nashua), dam of Italian Group 3 winner La Vreeland (by Stop the Music) and Swedish stakes winner Martyr (by Tom Fool) and second dam of Grade 2 winner My Prince Charming. In addition, Bug Brush is a half sister to stakes-placed Monivea (by Princequillo), second dam of Grade 3 winner Cactus Road.
Bug Brush was produced from the Fighting Fox mare Bonnie Beryl. The winner of six stakes races including the 1945 Frizette Stakes and the 1946 Empire City Stakes, Bonnie Beryl is a full sister to Bonnie Blink, dam of multiple stakes winner Royal Lineage (by Royal Gem II). She is also a half sister to Bonnie May (by Wrack), dam of the minor stakes winner Bonnie Sea (by Messenger), and to Bonnie Myth (by Johnstown), dam of the minor stakes winner Stevenhower (by Challedon).
Bonnie Beryl is out of 1926 Junior Champion Stakes winner Bonnie McGinn (by War Cloud), a half sister to 1924 Thanksgiving Handicap winner Bonnie Omar (by Omar Khayyam) and 1925 Louisiana Derby and New Orleans Handicap winner Quatrain (by Omar Khayyam). Bonnie McGinn, in turn, is out of Bonnie Mary (by Ultimus), one of the best American juvenile fillies of 1919.
Fun facts
Last updated: September 21, 2020
Race record
32 starts, 10 wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds, US$206,392
1958:
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Ashland Stakes (USA, 6FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Oaks Prep (USA, 6FD, Churchill Downs)
1959:
- Won Inglewood Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
- Won Santa Margarita Handicap (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won San Antonio Handicap (USA, 9FD, Santa Anita; new world record 1:46-2/5)
- Won Las Flores Handicap (USA, 6FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Santa Monica Handicap (USA, 7FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Sequoia Handicap (USA, 6FD, Hollywood)
- 3rd San Bernardino Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
1960:
- 2nd Colonial Handicap (USA, 6FD, Delaware)
- 3rd Top Flight Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Louisville Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
Assessments
Rated at 114 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American fillies and mares 3 and older of 1958, 9 pounds below champion 3-year-old filly Idun.
Rated at 128 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1959, 2 pounds below champion Tempted.
Rated at 116 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1960, 12 pounds below champion Royal Native.
As an individual
A bay mare, Bug Brush was, in C. V. Whitney's words, “just ugly enough to be a Nasrullah.”
As a producer
Bug Brush produced six named foals, of which five started and four won. Her best on the track was stakes-placed Gay Gambler, a son of Hail to Reason. Her only foal of lasting significance was Hairbrush (by Sir Gaylord), second dam of 1987 Prix d'Ispahan (FR-G1) winner and three-time French champion sire Highest Honor and third dam of Australian Group 3 winner Alpine Express.
Connections
Bug Brush was bred by Belair Stud. She was owned by C. V. “Sonny” Whitney, who purchased Bug Brush as a yearling for US$33,000 from the Belair Stud dispersal of 1956. She was trained by Sylvester Veitch at 3 and by Robert Wheeler afterward.
Pedigree notes
Bug Brush is inbred 5x4 to five-time English champion sire Polymelus and 5x5 to 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint. She is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Nashville and a half sister to the minor stakes winner Game Chance (by Some Chance). She is also a half sister to Bonnie Watch (by Black Tarquin), dam of the minor stakes winner Wendy's Watch (by Espea; dam of minor stakes winner What a Whisker, by Barbizon, and multiple stakes producer Lonely Sunset, by Night Invader), and to Fashion Critic (by Nashua), dam of Italian Group 3 winner La Vreeland (by Stop the Music) and Swedish stakes winner Martyr (by Tom Fool) and second dam of Grade 2 winner My Prince Charming. In addition, Bug Brush is a half sister to stakes-placed Monivea (by Princequillo), second dam of Grade 3 winner Cactus Road.
Bug Brush was produced from the Fighting Fox mare Bonnie Beryl. The winner of six stakes races including the 1945 Frizette Stakes and the 1946 Empire City Stakes, Bonnie Beryl is a full sister to Bonnie Blink, dam of multiple stakes winner Royal Lineage (by Royal Gem II). She is also a half sister to Bonnie May (by Wrack), dam of the minor stakes winner Bonnie Sea (by Messenger), and to Bonnie Myth (by Johnstown), dam of the minor stakes winner Stevenhower (by Challedon).
Bonnie Beryl is out of 1926 Junior Champion Stakes winner Bonnie McGinn (by War Cloud), a half sister to 1924 Thanksgiving Handicap winner Bonnie Omar (by Omar Khayyam) and 1925 Louisiana Derby and New Orleans Handicap winner Quatrain (by Omar Khayyam). Bonnie McGinn, in turn, is out of Bonnie Mary (by Ultimus), one of the best American juvenile fillies of 1919.
Fun facts
- According to C. V. Whitney, Bug Brush got her name from a common name for a Scottish plant also known as “bonnie beryl.” “Bug brush” is also a common name for the North American shrub Ceanothus velutinus, more commonly called “snowbrush.”
- Bug Brush broke her maiden less than a month before her Kentucky Oaks score and was still eligible for allowance races restricted to non-winners of one race other than maiden or claiming when she carried off the lilies.
- Bug Brush was the last of a record four Kentucky Oaks winners for jockey Eddie Arcaro, who also won with How (1951), Real Delight (1952), and Bubbley (1953).
- Bug Brush was the second of four Kentucky Oaks winners for C. V. “Sonny” Whitney. The others were Two Bob (1936), Bag of Tunes (1973), and Sun and Snow (1975).
- According to Los Angeles Times reporter Bion Abbott's interview with owner C. V. Whitney following Bug Brush's victory in the 1959 San Antonio Handicap, the decline in Bug Brush's 3-year-old form after her Kentucky Oaks win was caused by her having reared up in the starting gate soon afterward. Whitney stated that the filly struck her head and became “gate-shy,” acting nervous around the gate and losing weight. The problem was not resolved until Bug Brush was given a layoff late in the year.
Last updated: September 21, 2020