Dangerous Dame (IRE)
1951 – 1972
Nasrullah (IRE) x Lady Kells (IRE), by His Highness (GB)
Family 21-a
"GENETIC GEM"
1951 – 1972
Nasrullah (IRE) x Lady Kells (IRE), by His Highness (GB)
Family 21-a
"GENETIC GEM"
Dangerous Dame was precocious and speedy but was unable to handle the step up to stakes company. She appears to have transmitted some physical or mental issues to her progeny as half her 10 foals never started and three more made only one start each. The remaining two were the major stakes winners and stakes producers Heavenly Body and Hidden Talent, and it is on their achievements that most of Dangerous Dame's reputation rests. Three of Dangerous Dame's non-winning daughters were also stakes producers.
Race record
10 starts, 2 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$9,200
Assessments
Rated at 105 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1953, 13 pounds below champion Evening Out.
As an individual
A chestnut mare, Dangerous Dame was short-coupled and leggy with a good hip.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree expert Ellen Parker, Dangerous Dame produced 10 named foals of which five ran and two won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Dangerous Dame was bred by David Vard. She was purchased privately for Captain Harry F. Guggenheim as a yearling with Arthur Hancock, Sr., acting as agent. Dangerous Dame raced in the colors of Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable and produced her first eight foals for Guggenheim. John R. Gaines and James J. Houlahan acquired the mare from the dispersal of Guggenheim's stock in 1969 and are the breeders of record of her ninth foal, Three Nations. Following Three Nations' birth, Dangerous Dame changed hands again, and her last foal, False Gossip, was bred in Florida by Norman E. Casse and Hilmer C. Schmidt.
Pedigree notes
Dangerous Dame is inbred 4x5 to 1913 English champion 2-year-old male The Tetrarch, the English champion sire of 1919. She is also inbred 5x5 to five-time English champion sire Polymelus, 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint, and two-time English champion broodmare sire Chaucer. She is a half sister to Focal (by Faubourg II), second dam of multiple English Group 2 winner Head for Heights and English Group 3 winner Littlefield and third dam of 1994 Keeneland Nunthorpe Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Piccolo and Australian Group 3 winner Palia.
Dangerous Dame is out of 1946 Irish champion 2-year-old filly Lady Kells (by His Highness), a half sister to 1949 Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Solonaway (by Solferino). Lady Kells' dam Anyway (by the sprint stakes winner Grand Glacier, a son of 1919 Derby Stakes winner Grand Parade) was also a speedy juvenile, winning the 1937 Waterford Testimonial Stakes at The Curragh. The next dam in the tail-female line, The Widow Murphy (by the high-class French stakes winner Pomme de Terre) failed to win in three starts, and her dam Waterwitch (by 1909 Jockey Club Stakes winner Phaleron) was only a minor winner.
Books and media
Dangerous Dame is profiled in the 31st chapter of John Sparkman's Foundation Mares: How Outstanding Female Families Shaped America's Breeding Industry (2008, Thoroughbred Times Books).
Last updated: November 5, 2024
Race record
10 starts, 2 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$9,200
Assessments
Rated at 105 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1953, 13 pounds below champion Evening Out.
As an individual
A chestnut mare, Dangerous Dame was short-coupled and leggy with a good hip.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree expert Ellen Parker, Dangerous Dame produced 10 named foals of which five ran and two won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Hidden Talent (1956, by Dark Star) won a division of the 1959 Kentucky Oaks. She produced multiple stakes winners Too Bald (by Bald Eagle) and Turn to Talent (by Turn-to). In her turn, Too Bald, the 1986 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, produced five stakes winners including 1986 American champion 2-year-old male Capote (by Seattle Slew) and National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame member Exceller (by Vaguely Noble). Turn to Talent also wielded influence in the paddocks, as her stakes-winning daughter Hay Patcher (by Hoist the Flag) is the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner and 2004 American champion sire Broad Brush.
- Heavenly Body (1957, by Dark Star) won the 1959 Matron Stakes. She is the dam of French Group 3 winner A Thousand Stars (by Hoist the Flag) and the second dam of English Group 2 winners Made of Gold, Thawakib, and Celestial Storm; multiple French Group 3 winner Snow Day; and Grade 3 winner Henschel. Heavenly Body is also the third dam of multiple European highweight Sakhee, multiple Grade 1 winner River Memories and Grade/Group 3 winners Scratch Paper and Raise a Memory. Her more distant descendants include 2024 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Starlust.
- His Lady Fair (1958, by Tom Fool) is the dam of 1984 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G1) winner Diplomette (by Sr. Diplomat) and is the third dam of Grade 2 winner Unite's Big Red.
- Lost Love (1959, by Dedicate) is the dam of Mexican stakes winner Esplenderoso (by Assagai).
- Dangerous Star (1967, by Dark Star) is the dam of multiple stakes winner Alegria de Deanna (by A Gambler) and stakes winner Perilous Star (by Top Avenger). She is the second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Lady Tak. Her more distant descendants include 2020 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (USA-G1) winner Volatile.
Connections
Dangerous Dame was bred by David Vard. She was purchased privately for Captain Harry F. Guggenheim as a yearling with Arthur Hancock, Sr., acting as agent. Dangerous Dame raced in the colors of Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable and produced her first eight foals for Guggenheim. John R. Gaines and James J. Houlahan acquired the mare from the dispersal of Guggenheim's stock in 1969 and are the breeders of record of her ninth foal, Three Nations. Following Three Nations' birth, Dangerous Dame changed hands again, and her last foal, False Gossip, was bred in Florida by Norman E. Casse and Hilmer C. Schmidt.
Pedigree notes
Dangerous Dame is inbred 4x5 to 1913 English champion 2-year-old male The Tetrarch, the English champion sire of 1919. She is also inbred 5x5 to five-time English champion sire Polymelus, 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint, and two-time English champion broodmare sire Chaucer. She is a half sister to Focal (by Faubourg II), second dam of multiple English Group 2 winner Head for Heights and English Group 3 winner Littlefield and third dam of 1994 Keeneland Nunthorpe Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Piccolo and Australian Group 3 winner Palia.
Dangerous Dame is out of 1946 Irish champion 2-year-old filly Lady Kells (by His Highness), a half sister to 1949 Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Solonaway (by Solferino). Lady Kells' dam Anyway (by the sprint stakes winner Grand Glacier, a son of 1919 Derby Stakes winner Grand Parade) was also a speedy juvenile, winning the 1937 Waterford Testimonial Stakes at The Curragh. The next dam in the tail-female line, The Widow Murphy (by the high-class French stakes winner Pomme de Terre) failed to win in three starts, and her dam Waterwitch (by 1909 Jockey Club Stakes winner Phaleron) was only a minor winner.
Books and media
Dangerous Dame is profiled in the 31st chapter of John Sparkman's Foundation Mares: How Outstanding Female Families Shaped America's Breeding Industry (2008, Thoroughbred Times Books).
Last updated: November 5, 2024