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Mares on Monday: Quietside Makes Some Noise in Honeybee Stakes

2/24/2025

In the Honeybee Stakes (USA-G3) on February 23, 2024 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) winner Muhimma was expected to be the leading lady. Instead, Quietside, who has played the understudy to some nice fillies in her last several races, stepped into the spotlight and staked her claim to a major role in this year’s Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). Never far from the lead as Five G showed the way, Quietside went a bit wide on the final turn as Muhimma challenged to her outside but dug in gamely and put away both her rivals, who continued on well themselves as Quietside secured the win by a length over Five G; Muhimma was another 3 ½ lengths back in third. The time was a respectable 1:43.63, earning Quietside a 97 Equibase figure that puts her right up there with the division’s leaders.

A homebred racing for John E. Anthony’s Shortleaf Stable, Quietside is from the last crop of the good A.P. Indy horse Malibu Moon, whose other daughters include Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) winners Devil May Care and Funny Moon as well as 2018 Canadian champion female sprinter Moonlit Promise and 2019 Polla de Potrancas (Peruvian One Thousand Guineas, PER-G1) winner Emilia’s Moon. She is the first foal to race from Benner Island, whose only other named produce is the unraced 2019 Bernardini filly Cranberry Cove. The mare’s most recent issue is a 2024 filly by Bolt d’Oro, and she was bred back to Bolt d’Oro for 2025.

A daughter of 2004 American champion sprinter and important sire Speightstown, Benner Island was a good race mare on her own account, winning the 2017 Eight Belles Stakes (USA-G2) and earning two other graded stakes placings including a third in the 2017 Acorn Stakes (USA-G1). She is a full sister to two-time Vagrancy Handicap (USA-G3) winner Victim of Love, third in the 2020 Ballerina Handicap (USA-G1), and is also a half sister to 2018 Iowa Derby (USA-L) winner High North (by Midnight Lute).

Spacy Tracy, the dam of Benner Island and her siblings, capped her career as a 5-year-old by winning the 2010 Top Flight Handicap (USA-G2). Sired by 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1) winner Awesome Again, she is a half sister to Berkeley Handicap (USA-G3) winner Run It (by Cherokee Run). Spacy Tracy is also a half sister to Irish Dream (by Orientate), dam of 2023 Premio Ocurencia (ARG-G3) winner Elveda (by Manipulator).

The next dam in Quietside’s female line, Tracy (by 1987 American champion turf male Theatrical) was only a minor winner from five starts but is a half sister to 1992 American champion 2-year-old filly Eliza (by Mt. Livermore), dam of Irish listed stakes winner Samuel Morse (by Danehill Dancer) and second dam of 2011 Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Dialed In (by Mineshaft) and 2017 Queen of the Turf (AUS-G1) winner Foxplay (by Foxwedge). Also a half sister to 1991 Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1) winner Dinard (by Strawberry Road) and listed stakes winner Power Bidder (by Lines of Power), Tracy is from Bruce Lowe Family 37, a line that entered the United States through the 1858 English import Melrose.

Although Benner Island never won at a distance longer than a mile, Quietside has already outdone that, and there seems no reason to think that she cannot handle another sixteenth of a mile. Given Anthony’s Arkansas connections, it seems likely that her next outing will probably be the Fantasy Stakes (USA-G3) on March 29 over the same track and distance. This race was the springboard for last year’s Kentucky Oaks winner, Thorpedo Anna, and a solid performance to follow up yesterday’s could set Quietside up nicely for a chance at making history repeat itself.

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Mares on Monday: Good Cheer Looks Good in Rachel Alexandra Stakes

2/17/2025

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On Saturday, Good Cheer made her seasonal debut in the Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes (USA-G2). If there was any rust on the Brad Cox trainee since her last outing, a comfortable win in the Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2) over the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend, it wasn’t apparent. Facing a short field of three rivals, Good Cheer never looked like anything but a winner and galloped in by 6¼ lengths to keep her unbeaten record intact. She now has 70 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), topping the Oaks leaderboard.

Cox insists that they “don’t make races long enough” for his filly, and on paper, there is absolutely no reason to believe that Good Cheer cannot go as far as 3-year-old fillies are asked to go on dirt in the United States. The Godolphin homebred is by a well-proven sire of two-turn horses in Medaglia d’Oro, who won the 2002 Travers Stakes (USA-G1) during his own racing days and is already the sire of Kentucky Oaks winners Rachel Alexandra and Plum Pretty. Her dam is Wedding Toast, a daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Street Sense who scored a handy win in the 2015 Beldame Stakes (USA-G1) over 9 furlongs. If further evidence is needed as to Good Cheer’s likely distance capacity, Wedding Toast previously produced listed stakes winner Ya Hayati (by Dubawi), whose average winning distance is 9.17 furlongs.

Wedding Toast is out of unraced Golden Sheba, whose sire, the quirky but talented Coronado’s Quest, emulated his sire Forty Niner (the American champion juvenile of 1987) by winning the Travers Stakes ten years after Forty Niner’s gritty triumph over Seeking the Gold. Produced from Mari’s Sheba, Golden Sheba is a half sister to Arazi’s best son, Congaree, who won five Grade 1 races at distances from 7 to 10 furlongs. She is also a half sister to stakes winner Sangaree (by Awesome Again) and to Mari’s Thunder (by Thunder Gulch), dam of listed stakes winner Storm Belt (by More Than Ready).

Mari’s Sheba herself ran third in the 1995 Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1) over 8.5 furlongs but preferred shorter distances. A half sister to 1992 Austrian champion 3-year-old male Rubico (by Big Spruce), she is by the Northern Dancer horse Mari’s Book out of Sheba Little, a daughter of 1980 English champion miler Known Fact. This female line traces back to 1965 Oaks Stakes winner Long Look, a daughter of the stamina influence Ribot.

With last year’s champion 2-year-old filly, Immersive, on the sidelines due to bone bruising, Good Cheer’s primary rival for preeminence in her division thus far in the season is Tenma, who came home with equal ease over an even shorter field in the Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G3) on February 2. With Tenma likely to stay in California for now while Good Cheer remains in the East, their paths are unlikely to cross prior to the Kentucky Oaks itself. One would like to see what they can do against larger fields of quality rivals before they get to the biggest target of the spring for sophomore fillies, but for now, they have done what has been asked of them with style, and they can hardly be blamed for not beating horses that were not there.

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Mares on Monday: Chilean Group 3 Winner Modelina Adds to Family of Toussaud

2/10/2025

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Last week, “Mares on Monday” covered Lucky Red’s win in Chile’s El Derby (CHI-G1), but she was not the only filly of interest on that weekend’s racing card. The other Group stakes at Valparaiso on February 2 was the Premio Albero Solari M. for 3-year-old fillies going 1600 meters. It was won by Modelina, a product of Haras Paso Nevada who was picking up her first stakes win for her owner, Stud Vendaval. A daughter of 2016 American champion 2-year-old male Classic Empire, Modelina is the latest graded/Group stakes winner for the family of 2003 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Toussaud, whose history is well worth reviewing,

A daughter of Northern Dancer’s son El Gran Senor, who won four championship titles in England and Ireland, Toussaud was produced from 1980 Milady Handicap (USA-G2) winner Image of Reality (by In Reality). She lived up to her regal heritage on the track, though not without some interesting moments for trainer Bobby Frankel due to her quirky, stubborn disposition. She won four stakes races as a 4-year-old, topped by the 1993 Gamely Handicap (USA-G1), and was ranked second to champion Flawlessly in the 1993 American turf female division.

As a broodmare for breeder-owner Juddmonte Farms, Toussaud was nothing less than sensational in spite of chronically fragile feet that rendered her unable to rear her own foals (they were raised by nurse mares) and a tendency to pass on her temperament issues. From 10 named foals, she produced five stakes winners, four of them at the Grade/Group 1 level. The first, Chester House (by Mr. Prospector), won the 2000 Arlington Million Stakes (USA-G1). Unfortunately, he died in 2003, cutting short what would probably been an excellent stud career as he begot 28 stakes winners from 223 named foals. Next up was 2000 Santa Monica Handicap (USA-G1) winner Honest Lady (by Seattle Slew), dam of 2008 Forego Handicap (USA-G1) winner First Defence (by Unbridled’s Song) and listed stakes winners Phantom Rose (by Danzig), Honest Quality (by Elusive Quality), and Honest Mischief (by Into Mischief). On January 19, 2025, Honest Lady was represented by her great-granddaughter Toupie (Uncle Mo x Avertume, by Tapit x Honest Pursuit, by Storm Cat), who won the Las Cienegas Stakes (USA-G3) over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course.

Decarchy (by Distant View), the next of Toussaud’s black-type runners, won the 2002 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap (USA-G2) but did not achieve anything noteworthy as a sire. He was followed by Chiselling (by Woodman), winner of the 2002 Secretariat Stakes (USA-G1), and then by Empire Maker. A first-rate racehorse when he cared to show his full ability, the son of Unbridled won the 2003 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) and Florida Derby (USA-G1). He sired 75 stakes winners headed by three-time American champion Royal Delta and, through his Grade 1-winning son Pioneerof the Nile, is the paternal grandsire of 2015 American Horse of the Year American Pharoah, the first American Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Two of Toussaud’s unraced daughters have added to their dam’s produce record by having some success as broodmares. The elder, Tinge (by Kingmambo), is the second dam of 2024 Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes (USA-G3) winner Artislas (Catalina Cruiser x Moms Pride, by Into Mischief). The younger is Mesmeric (by A.P. Indy), dam of 2017 New Orleans Handicap (USA-G2) winner Honorable Duty (by Distorted Humor) and, through her Mizzen Mast daughter Modulate, the second dam of Modelina, Since producing Modelina, Modulate has given birth to the unraced 2022 Classic Empire colt Macanazo and to Moonlit, a 2024 filly by Tiz the Law.

Overall, Toussaud’s record for breeding on through her daughters is somewhat disappointing given her own great accomplishments as a broodmare, but no mare with four top-level winners, a Grade 1-producing daughter, and a couple of good sire sons to her credit needs to blush for her production. It is to be hoped that Toupie, Modulate, Modelina, and other female-line descendants will be able to come up with some more notable runners and producers who will carry Toussaud’s name forward to future generations.

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Mares on Monday: Lucky Red Made Her Own Luck in Chilean Derby

2/3/2025

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Although two Grade 3 Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) preps ran over the weekend, with Eclatant (Into Mischief x Downside Scenario, by Scat Daddy) taking the Fasig-Tipton Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park on February 1 and Tenma winning the Fasig-Tipton Las Virgenes Stakes on February 2, the best performance of the weekend by a 3-year-old filly didn’t take place in North America. Instead, it fell to Chile’s Valparaiso course to host the showstopper, as Lucky Red outran 15 other colts and fillies to capture the Premio El Derby (Chilean Derby, CHI-G1).

Both Lucky Red and third-place Cassis Violeta are daughters of 2008 American champion 2-year-old male Midshipman out of daughters of multiple European Group 1 winner Henrythenavigator, a cross that seems promising considering that of six Midshipman foals out of six different daughters of “Henry,” two others have won in addition to the two Group 1-winning fillies. (Prior to her third in El Derby, Cassis Violeta won the 2024 Premio Arturo Lyon Peña, CHI-G1.) Midshipman also accounted for the El Derby runner-up, the colt Ponteau, and all three placers were bred by Haras Don Alberto, which has led the Chilean breeders’ list annually since 2011.

A half sister to listed stakes winner Tommy Shelby (by Constitution), Lucky Red is out of the winner La Fortezza, half sister to Group 1-placed listed stakes winner Larco (by Ivan Denisovich). La Fortezza’s dam, the winning Dushyantor mare Lady in White, is out of unraced Lady Lopez (by the Blushing Groom horse Lord Florey), whose gelded half brother Weeping (by Worldwatch) won the 1991 Premio Francisco Astaburuaga (CHI-G3). The next dam in Lucky Red’s tail-female lineage, the winning Maribeau mare Sensitive, was imported to Chile in utero and is out of the winner Sensitiv Elizabeth (by Sensitivo), whose half sister Miss Wildcatter (by Mr. Prospector) is the dam of 1993 American champion 3-year-old filly Hollywood Wildcat.

Lucky Red was bred on Southern Hemisphere time, so she is about six months ahead of her North American counterparts, who are just getting started on their 3-year-old seasons and are still several months away from the spring Classics. Both Eclatant and Tenwa earned 20 points toward a starting spot in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), but the former, who posted an Equibase figure of 87 in winning the Forward Gal, is well behind Tenma, whose Equibase figure of 99 for the Las Virgenes is more what you would like to see for a possible Oaks contender. However, Tenma (whose antecedents were discussed in “Mares on Monday: Tenma Continues Anne Campbell’s Success with Juveniles in Del Mar Debutante,” September 9, 2024) faced only two rivals in the Las Virgenes and had things her own way well before the turn for home, so how much she got out of her race is open to question. In any event, all three fillies will bear watching as the first half of 2025 continues.

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Mares on Monday: Quietside Makes Some Noise in Honeybee Stakes

Mares on Monday: Good Cheer Looks Good in Rachel Alexandra Stakes

Mares on Monday: Chilean Group 3 Winner Modelina Adds to Family of Toussaud

Mares on Monday: Lucky Red Made Her Own Luck in Chilean Derby

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