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Along the Lily Lane: Cathryn Sophia

1/31/2016

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Until something manages to beat Songbird, she's the clear favorite for the Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). But if Cathryn Sophia has her way, the champion will have competition. So far, the Street Boss filly is 3-for-3 with a total winning margin of 34-1/2 lengths.

Cathryn Sophia's win in Saturday's Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G2) was her most impressive to date even though it was "only" by 5-1/2 lengths. Not only did she made the step up to graded company look easy, but she did it in spite of lagging at the gate and throwing in an extra lead change in the stretch. You always like to see a young horse prove that she isn't wedded to a one-dimensional running style, and Cathryn Sophia showed no signs of discomfort with coming from off the pace or with being asked to run inside horses early.

Her next test is likely to be the 1-mile Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2) on February 27, and on paper it doesn't seem likely that the extra furlong will give her any trouble. While her sire Street Boss was a sprinter and never won at over seven furlongs, it should be remembered that he was never really given the opportunity to be anything else, even though his pedigree certainly suggested that a mile should have been within his scope. He has already proved that longer distances aren't beyond the reach of his progeny, as his son Danza won the 2014 Arkansas Derby (USA-G1) and was a respectable third in the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1).

On the dam's side, Cathryn Sophia is out of Sheave, whose sire Mineshaft won the 2003 Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1) over 10 furlongs while on his way to American Horse of the Year honors. The next dam, Belterra, won the Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2) over 8.5 furlongs and is by 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) winner Unbridled. Granted, both Sheave and Belterra are half sisters to stakes winners who did their best running over sprint distances, but given Cathryn Sophia's smooth racing mechanics and her amenability to being placed as her jockey pleases, a mile should be easily within her scope. Longer distances are still a question mark, but at this point, Cathryn Sophia looks as good an Oaks prospect as any 3-year-old filly whose name isn't Songbird.
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2016 Triple Crown Trail: Mohaymen Throws Down the Gauntlet

1/30/2016

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While it is still much too early to proclaim a Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) favorite, there is no question that Mohaymen has thrown down the gauntlet to the other Classic hopefuls of 2016 with the first truly outstanding performance of the year for this season's sophomores. The smooth-running gray had no trouble disposing of two well-regarded rivals in 2015 Champagne Stakes (USA-G1) winner Greenpointcrusader and Conquest Big E in the Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G2), and he did it under a hand ride while spinning the last 3/16 of a mile in a sharp 29.55. Granted, the early pace was tepid, but none of Mohaymen's defeated rivals showed the ability to accelerate off it; Mohaymen did.

It's impressive when a young horse runs fast, but it's even more so when a young horse seems to be doing so for the sheer pleasure of it. One need only think back to American Pharoah's Arkansas Derby (USA-G1) or California Chrome's San Felipe Stakes (USA-G2) for similar performances---both ran fast, both won for fun, and both came back with plenty of juice in the lemon. This isn't to say that Mohaymen has proved himself in the class of either champion yet, but the way he won today certainly suggests more good days ahead.

Like juvenile champion Nyquist, Mohaymen still has questions to answer about how far he really wants to go. While Tapit has a Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner to his credit in Tonalist, it should be remembered that Tonalist's maternal grandsire is the staying Pleasant Colony. Quite a few other nice sons of Tapit haven't wanted to go nearly that far, and Mohaymen's dam line has a profile more suggestive of a miler than a classic horse. Mohaymen has already handled 9 furlongs without turning a hair, however, and his professional demeanor and easy way of going are both in his favor when it comes to stretching his speed still further. I wouldn't bet on him yet as the Derby champion---but I wouldn't bet against him either.
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Friday Trivia Challenge for 1/29/16 (late)

1/30/2016

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Since the Breeders' Cup was inaugurated in 1984, only two 3-year-olds have won American Horse of the Year honors without winning either a Triple Crown event or the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-I), and only one has done so without placing in any of the races named. Who is he?
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Hakassan: Opportunity or Obscurity?

1/28/2016

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Move over, American Pharoah. You aren't the only Triple Crown winner in Kentucky any more.

Granted, if American Pharoah could read the headlines, he probably wouldn't be worrying about it. Millennium Farm's new acquisition Hakassan won his Triple Crown in Chile in 2012, along with a title as the best Chilean 3-year-old colt on dirt.

How far those credentials will get him in Kentucky is anyone's guess, but mine is that a good many horsemen won't give him much respect. Chilean form isn't familiar to most American horsemen, and the list of top South American runners who have failed at stud in North America is a long one. In fact, during the last century, only three horses from South America have been unequivocal successes at stud in Kentucky, all of them Argentine-bred: Forli, Lord At War, and Candy Ride. All three were champions in their native land, and all three showed high-class form in North America before going to stud.

As a group, Chilean horses haven't fared too well in the United States stallion market, although Cougar II was quite useful and begot 1982 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Gato del Sol. Nonetheless, Hakassan shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. One of seven champions sired by the Storm Cat horse Sir Cat (a multiple Grade 2 winner in the United States), he gave the impression that he greatly outclassed his peers during his Triple Crown campaign. His bloodlines aren't bad either: he is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Fusaichi's Angel, whose dam Sand Pebbles (by Sadler's Wells) is a full sister to 1992 Royal Lodge Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Desert Secret and to Group 1-placed Bineyah, second dam of Australian Group 3 winner Alzora. The family is that of the great Seattle Slew, a half brother to Hakassan's third dam, Clandestina.

Hakassan's bloodlines and performance suggest that he may be a good choice for adding some stamina to a quick mare without sacrificing too much in the way of speed and precocity. Nonetheless, Kentucky horsemen tend to have the Missouri attitude of "show me" when it comes to the unfamiliar, and Hakassan is going to need to make the most of any early opportunities if he's to gain any traction in a tough and competitive market.



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Answer to Friday Trivia Challenge for 1/22/16

1/25/2016

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TJ's on a roll. The answer is indeed Sir Martin, the American champion 2-year-old of 1908 and the fallen favorite in the 1909 Derby Stakes. John Madden considered Sir Martin and Grey Lag to be the best horses he ever bred.
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Friday Trivia Challenge for 1/22/16

1/22/2016

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John E. Madden bred or co-bred five winners of the Kentucky Derby and five winners of the Belmont Stakes, but when he dispersed his racing and breeding stock in 1926, none of these Classic winners was the lone horse he kept. Instead, he kept a former champion who had failed badly in his lone Classic attempt. Even after Madden died in 1929, his will made provision for his old favorite to be maintained at his farm, Hamburg Place, and the horse was buried there when he finally died in 1930. Who was this animal, and what was the Classic he started in without winning it?
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Answer to Friday Trivia Challenge for 1/15/16

1/18/2016

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TJ is correct once again. Hall of Fame member Affectionately is the "Queen of Queens."
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2016 Triple Crown Trail: Mo' Good Times Ahead?

1/17/2016

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January 16, 2016, was a big day for Ashford Stud stallion Uncle Mo. First, his son Mo Tom became his first stakes winner of 2016 by taking the Lecomte Stakes (USA-G3), an early Triple Crown prep; another Uncle Mo son, Uncle Walter, ran third. Then, to no one's surprise, Nyquist carried off the Eclipse Award as the best American 2-year-old male of 2015.

As Uncle Mo was the American champion 2-year-old male of 2010, his ability to get top juveniles and early 3-year-olds is in line with his own racing performance. The big question now is, what next? Will he prove to be mostly a sire of precocious speedsters and milers, or is he a legitimate shot to sire Classic winners as well?

At first glance, neither Nyquist nor Mo Tom looks like a good candidate to get classic distances. Not only did Uncle Mo never win at more than 8.5 furlongs himself, but both colts have horses better known for speed than stamina as broodmare sires: Nyquist is out of the Forestry mare Seeking Gabrielle, while Mo Tom is out of Caroni, a daughter of 1992 American champion sprinter Rubiano.

Digging a little deeper gives a more nuanced picture for both colts. Nyquist, for instance, has Seeking the Gold, a Grade 1 winner over 10 furlongs and one of the more stamina-oriented of Mr. Prospector's sire sons, as the sire of his second dam; Cox's Ridge, who got a number of good performers over 10 to 12 furlongs as the sire of his third dam; and the staying Arts and Letters, who captured the 1969 Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup (then at 2 miles) as the sire of his fourth dam. These influences suggest that he can probably stretch his speed at least 9 furlongs and perhaps further. Mo Tom's pedigree may be even more promising with regard to stamina, as his second damsire is Caro (a Group 1 winner over 2100 meters, or about 10.5 furlongs) and his dam is inbred 3x3 to the great Nijinsky II, winner of the English Triple Crown. 

It may also be a mistake to assume that Uncle Mo cannot supply classic stamina himself. Although his only black type at distances of 9 furlongs or more was a third in the Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial (USA-G1), it must be remembered that the colt was compromised by a liver disorder that knocked him out of training for the next two months. Although he recovered well enough to beat some very nice older horses over a mile in the Kelso Handicap (USA-G2) in October, he probably lacked the conditioning over routes to give the best possible account of himself in the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1), in which he was unplaced for the only time in his career.

Even if Uncle Mo's 3-year-old season represented a true bill on his own racing aptitude, it should not be forgotten that stallions do not always reflect their own racing aptitude in their progeny. Sometimes they throw more in line with a maternal grandsire, as was the case with both Secretariat (who, like his broodmare sire Princequillo, did best with speedy mares) and Damascus (a great stayer whose stud record appeared to reflect the influence of his broodmare sire, the speedy My Babu). In Uncle Mo's case, his maternal grandsire is Arch, whose strong suit as a stallion has been stamina. Thus, while Uncle Mo may not be the best candidate to sire a Classic winner from a strongly speed-bred mare, he may well have the genetic flexibility to get staying runners from mares whose pedigrees, like his own, reflect a mix of speed and staying elements.

Of course, it is always possible that Uncle Mo may prove to be a flash in the pan; other champion freshman sires have done so. This year's Triple Crown campaign should go a long way toward showing what kind of stallion he truly is.
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Friday Trivia Challenge for 1/15/16

1/15/2016

2 Comments

 
This champion was known as the "Queen of Queens" after winning 13 stakes races at Aqueduct (located in Jamaica, Queens, New York). Name her.
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A Chrome-Plated San Pasqual

1/9/2016

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He's back.

"He," of course, is California Chrome, who in 2015 went through more plot twists than a suspense novel in one of the strangest campaigns ever seen for a reigning American Horse of the Year. That's behind him now, and if the San Pasqual is any indication, 2016 is going to be quite different.

To be sure, Chrome didn't beat a stellar field, nor did he burn up the track. He undoubtedly needed the race. Nonetheless, the performance was vintage Chrome, from the effortless tactical speed that secured a favorable position early to the burst coming off the turn that put his rivals away. Given that he has always run better with a race or two under his girth, this race certainly augurs well for his future performances.

For Art Sherman, the Santa Anita winner's circle was a place of unalloyed joy. His family is back together again---four generations of Shermans and the magnificent horse who has played such a special role in his life at an age when most people have headed off to retirement. As for Victor Espinoza, he has to be feeling like the luckiest jockey in the United States right now. After riding American Pharoah, almost any other horse would be anticlimactic, but this is California Chrome, the horse who rekindled his career at the very top of American racing---and he need not choose between these two splendid mounts, both of which have meant so much to him. Talk about having one's cake and eating it too!

Team Chrome has undergone some changes, with Taylor Made Farm taking the place of Steve Coburn as minority owner. There are new silks, too, and perhaps some racegoers will miss seeing the familiar green donkey grinning from Espinoza's back. But with all due respect to Chrome's owners, the important parts of the team haven't changed. Ultimately, it's all about the horse and the people who work with him day by day, and they're back together for one more year of trying to write racing history. If today's win is any indication, the final chapter is going to be something to look forward to.

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    I'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan with a particular interest in Thoroughbred mares and their contributions to the history of the breed.

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