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Mares on Monday: Accede Takes It to the Store in Bed o' Roses

6/24/2024

A nice homebred race mare is a gift to any breeder-owner, but when you have the quantity and quality of choice broodmares that form the band at Juddmonte Farms, combined with access to some of the world’s best stallions, those gifts do seem to come along pretty regularly. On June 15, Accede added her name to the list of graded/Group-winning fillies that Juddmonte has bred and campaigned by fending off long shot Just Katherine for a neck victory in the Bed o’ Roses Stakes (USA-G2).

The 75th graded or Group stakes winner for five-time American champion sire Into Mischief, Accede hails from the family of General Store. This lineage never seems to accrue quite the glamour of some of the great matriarchies but still turns out good horses at a nice clip nonetheless, with many of its greatest successes coming in Europe.

A foal of 1965, General Store was by To Market out of the Count Fleet mare Generals Sister and, thus, a full sister to 1970 Vanity Handicap winner Commissary and a half sister to multiple French Group 3 winner General Holme (by Noholme II). She was not nearly so talented as her siblings on the track, winning one of her five starts, but her produce record was quite commendable in spite of an unfortunate number of barren years and foal deaths. From nine named foals, she threw three stakes winners. The best of the trio was multiple Grade 2 winner Double Discount (by Nodouble), who placed in seven Grade 1 races and turned in the best performance of his career when smoking through 10 furlongs on grass in 1:57-2/5 (an American record) in the 1977 Carleton F. Burke Handicap (USA-G2). She also produced multiple listed stakes winner Summer Sale (by Summer Time Guy) and 1977 Rare Treat Handicap winner Chain Store (by Nodouble).

Four of General Store’s five daughters produced stakes winners, but it was Chain Store who did more than any of the others to carry General Store’s name forward to future generations. Her three stakes winners from nine named foals included 1985 Irish champion 3-year-old filly Al Bahathri (by Blushing Groom), dam of multiple English Group 1 winner Haafhd (by Alhaarth), 1991 Challenge Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Munir (by Indian Ridge), and Group 1-placed listed stakes winner Hasbah (by Kris) and second dam of 2013 Hong Kong Horse of the Year Military Attack (by Oratorio) and multiple Group 1 winner Gladiatorus (by Silic).

Multiple graded stakes winner Geraldine’s Store (Exclusive Native x Chain Store) proved a disappointment as a broodmare, but Chain Store’s unraced daughter Bloudan (by Damascus) helped make up for her sister by producing 1996 Prix Eugene Adam (FR-G2) winner Radevore (by Generous) and becoming the second dam of 2018 Joburg Spring Fillies & Mares Challenge Stakes (SAF-G2) winner Cascapedia (by High Chaparral). Another unraced Chain Store daughter, Chain Fern (by Blushing Groom), is the dam of 1999 Yellow Ribbon Stakes (USA-G1) winner Spanish Fern (by El Gran Senor) and the second dam of 2016 Belgian champion sprinter Daylight (by Firebreak), 2014 Fillies’ Mile Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Together Forever (by Galileo), 2018 Oaks Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Forever Together (by Galileo), 2009 Prix Jean Prat (FR-G1) winner Lord Shanakill (by Speightstown), and 2008 Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1) winner Heatseeker). A third unraced daughter of Chain Store, Superstore (by Blushing Groom), is the second dam of two-time Bahrainian champion Milyar (by Blue Ksar).

Peplum (by Nijinsky II), the third of Chain Store’s stakes-winning daughters, won the 1991 Shadwell Stud Cheshire Oaks (ENG-L) and was Group 3-placed. Like Geraldine’s Store, she was a disappointing broodmare during her own producing career, but she has two good producing daughters to her credit: Emplane (by Irish River), dam of 2011 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (USA-G2) winner Aviate (by Dansili) and 2004 Prix La Rochette (FR-G3) winner Early March (by Dansili), and Palisade (by Gone West), dam of 2016 Stewards’ Cup (HK-G1) winner Sea Defence (by Mizzen Mast) and multiple Grade 2 winner Jibboom (by Mizzen Mast). The last-named mare produced Accede as her seventh foal and was previously the dam of 2014 Athasi Stakes (IRE-G3) winner Flying Jib (by Oasis Dream). Through Jibboom’s full sister Magnifica, Palisade is also the second dam of 2023 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Gold Phoenix (by Belardo).

Generally speaking, members of this family have been most effective in the 8-10 furlong range and have favored turf over dirt. While the latter characteristic is not considered particularly desirable in North America, it has aided the success of General Store’s family in other parts of the world. As for Accede, her now-proven prowess on dirt will only make her a more desirable asset to Juddmonte’s North American operations, both during the remainder of the racing year and as a future broodmare.

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Mares on Monday: Puca Joins the Club

6/10/2024

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Lightning, they say, never strikes twice in the same place. Apparently, “they” never met Puca. The 12-year-old daughter of Big Brown and the Silver Ghost mare Boat’s Ghost has been represented by three runners thus far, and after debuting with a multiple stakes-placed Gun Runner filly, Gunning, she produced back-to-back colts by 2017 American champion 2-year-old male Good Magic. Named Mage and Dornoch, respectively, they have now elevated their dam to membership in an elite club indeed. By winning the 2023 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1) (Mage) and the 2024 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (USA-G1) (Dornoch), they have made their dam the proud producer of two winners of American Triple Crown races.

The lineage of this club goes back to well before the American Triple Crown became a linked series in the public mind in the 1930s. Its founder is Maggie B. B., a stakes-winning daughter of Australian and the Boston mare Madeline, whose produce record includes 1879 Preakness Stakes winner Harold (by Leamington) and 1884 Belmont Stakes winner Panique (by Alarm). It also includes Iroquois (by Leamington), who was sent to England and became the first American-bred horse to win the father of all Derbies, the Derby Stakes (and, for good measure, the St. Leger Stakes, third leg of the English Triple Crown), in the mother country in 1881. Jaconet, a full sister to Harold and Iroquois, added to the family’s luster by becoming the dam of 1888 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Dixon.

Cinderella, an evil-dispositioned, weedy mare by Blue Ruin or Tomahawk out of the Brown Bread mare Manna, followed Maggie B. B,’s feats by throwing 1896 Belmont Stakes winner Hastings (by Spendthrift; the paternal grandsire of the immortal Man o’ War) and 1898 Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit (by Himyar). Both her Classic-winning sons became the progenitors of male lines that still persist today, though in tenuous state—through the sons of Tiznow and Put It Back in Hastings’s case, and through Holy Bull to Macho Uno to Mucho Macho Man in Plaudit’s. In addition, Cinderella’s daughter Slippers (by Meddler) produced 1913 Preakness winner Buskin and is the granddam of two-time American champion filly Prudery, who produced 1927 Kentucky Derby winner Whiskery and 1928 Preakness Stakes winner Victorian to covers by Whisk Broom II.

In between Cinderella and Prudery, three more mares produced two winners each of races that would later be considered part of the American Triple Crown. Lady Margaret (The Ill-Used x Lady Rosebery, by Kingfisher) was a stakes winner from a family that served the breeding program of August Belmont well, and she continued that tradition for August Belmont II by producing 1896 Preakness winner Margrave (by St. Blaise) and 1901 Belmont winner Masterman (by Hastings), as well as two other stakes winners. In addition, her daughter Lady Madge became the second dam of 1924 Belmont winner Mad Play as well as 1921 American co-champion handicap male Mad Hatter.

Ignite (Woodlands x Luminous, by Alarm) was next up, and she won the 1892 Alabama Stakes before becoming the dam of 1900 Preakness winner Hindus (by Volante) and 1906 Kentucky Derby winner Sir Huon (by Falsetto) as well as the stakes-winning filly Altuda (by Alvescot). She was followed by Leisure (Meddler x Yorkville Belle, by Miser), a member of Harry Payne Whitney’s broodmare band who produced Preakness winners Royal Tourist (1908) and Holiday (1914) to covers by Sandringham and Broomstick, respectively. Her daughters did not breed on with any distinction, nor did Prudery’s only daughter, Coquetry (by Chicle), have any impact.

Following Prudery, there was a long dry spell before the next dam of two American Triple Crown races came along, though Margaret Lawrence (Vulcain x Bohemia, by Wagner) achieved a unique distinction by producing the only full brother-and-sister pair to win the Kentucky Derby (Lawrin, 1938) and Kentucky Oaks (Inscolassie, 1940), both sired by Insco. For good measure, Margaret Lawrence also produced 1939 American co-champion 3-year-old filly Unerring (by Insco), dam of 1947 Preakness winner Faultless (by Bull Lea). Another remarkable matron of this period was Calumet Farm foundation mare Blue Delight (Blue Larkspur x Chicleight, by Chicle), a good stakes winner in her own right and dam of Kentucky Oaks winners Real Delight (1951), Bubbley (1952), and Princess Turia (1956)—the first two to covers by Bull Lea, and Princess Turia to a cover by Heliopolis. No other mare in American racing history has produced three winners of the same Classic race, and Princess Turia added an exclamation point by producing Forward Pass (by On-and-On), who won the 1968 Kentucky Derby on the disqualification of Dancer’s Image and won the Preakness on his own merits.

Still, it was not until Weekend Surprise (Secretariat x Lassie Dear, by Buckpasser) came along that the club of mares with two American Triple Crown race members to their credit got another member, and she did so in style by producing 1990 Preakness winner Summer Squall (by Storm Bird) and 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy, whose Classic win became part of a Horse of the Year season. Returning to the standard set by Cinderella, Weekend Surprise, the 1992 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, is continuing to influence the Thoroughbred through her daughters as well as through both her Classic-winning sons.

Until Dornoch came through in the Belmont, Better Than Honour was the only 21st-century member of the club, producing back-to-back Belmont winners in Jazil (2006), by Seeking the Gold, and Rags to Riches (2007), by A.P. Indy; the latter also scored in the Kentucky Oaks and earned a title as American champion 3-year-old filly. The winner of the 1998 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2), Better Than Honour was named 2007 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and produced two other stakes winners, but it is her non-stakes-winning daughter Teeming (by Storm Cat) who is a Grade 1 producer and the second dam of 2023 Belmont winner and American champion 3-year-old male Arcangelo (by Arrogate).

Puca, thus, has joined some very distinguished company indeed, and has an unusual place even within this elite circle: she is the only one other than Prudery whose Classic-winning foals are full siblings. And she has a chance to add to that record. After producing the 2022 McKinzie colt Baeza, a mid-May foal who is still awaiting his first start, she was given a year off and then produced a Good Magic colt—a full brother to Mage and Dornoch—on April 4 of this year before revisiting Good Magic for yet another hoped-for sibling to her Classic winners. Will the lightning strike a third time? No one yet knows, but the possibility is there and undoubtedly hoped for by her new owner, John Stewart, who bought her from Robert Clay’s Grandview Equine for US$2.9 million via the 2023 Keeneland November sale and now has what may be the most valuable mare in the country in his possession.

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Mares on Monday: The Monroe Doctrine Still Producing Results

6/3/2024

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Beautifully bred and attractive, Scylla was always going to be an obvious broodmare prospect for breeder-owner Juddmonte Farms. The 4-year-old filly just raised her stock on June 1, when she romped in the Shawnee Stakes (USA-G3) over a nice field that included last year’s Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) winner, Wet Paint, and four other graded stakes winners.

As a full sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Tacitus, much was always expected of Scylla, who comes from a glittering female family. Sired by three-time American champion sire Tapit from 2014 American champion older female Close Hatches, Scylla traces back to the Sir Ivor mare Monroe, one of a clutch of good producers foaled by 1982 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and modern matriarch Best in Show.

In spite of a pedigree that suggested that classic distances should have been within her scope, Monroe was most effective in sprints and took down her biggest score in the 1980 Ballyogan Stakes (IRE-G3) over 5 furlongs at Leopardstown. She produced four stakes winners, the best of which was 1997 European champion 2-year-old male Xaar (by Zafonic), and six of her daughters became the dams of stakes winners with three producing graded or Group winners.

Xaar’s full sister Silver Star was not nearly as talented as he on the race course, turning in her best performance when third in the listed Prix Coronation in France, and her best produce as a dam of winners was Group 2-placed listed stakes winner Barsanti (by Champs Elysees). However, her most important foal is the winning Storm Cat mare Rising Tornado, who produced Close Hatches to a cover by 2008 Forego Stakes (USA-G1) winner First Defence (by Unbridled’s Song) as her first foal. Rising Tornado is also the dam of Close Hatches’ full sister Lockdown, a multiple Grade 1-placed stakes winner and the dam of 2023 American champion older dirt female Idiomatic (by Curlin). Rising Tornado’s most recent foal is the 2022 Tapit colt Pulse Storm, who has yet to race, and Lockdown also has an unraced 2-year-old in the wings, the Into Mischief filly Chasten.

Close Hatches, too, has not been idle in the paddocks since Scylla’s birth. The dam of the winning Tapit filly Batten Down in 2021, she has since produced the 2022 Constitution filly Resurge, an unnamed yearling filly by Uncle Mo, and a suckling filly by Gun Runner. Scylla herself still has racing to do before joining her dam as a matron in Juddmonte’s nursery, and there is an intriguing possibility that if she continues to develop, she may find herself on a collision course with her “cousin” Idiomatic, who began her defense of her crown with a win against a strong field in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes (USA-G1) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. Juddmonte, of course, is in a no-lose situation as the owner of both, and both are strong prospects to continue the legacy of Monroe for another generation when they finally retire.

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Mares on Monday: Accede Takes It to the Store in Bed o' Roses

Mares on Monday: Puca Joins the Club

Mares on Monday: The Monroe Doctrine Still Producing Results

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