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Mares on Monday: A Group 1 Double in Brazil for a Misnamed Mare

6/29/2026

On June 14, 2026, Brazilian broodmare Dead End made history at Rio de Janeiro’s Gávea racetrack, On that date, her son Plano B (by the Unbridled’s Song horse Emcee) won the Grande Prêmio Jockey Club Brasileiro (BRZ-G1), one of the country’s top events for juveniles. That was the fourth race on the card. In the very next race, Plano B’s 3-year-old full sister On the End won the Grande Premio Jockey Club Brasileiro (BRZ-G1) against open company, giving Dead End two Group 1 winners in the space of 40 minutes. Not bad for less than an hour’s work.

Bred by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, Dead End is a daughter of seven-time Brazilian champion broodmare sire Wild Event, who has an insurmountable lead for claiming an eighth straight title for the 2025/26 season. The winner of the 1999 Early Times Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1) and five other graded turf stakes during his racing career, Wild Event earned over US$3.4 million but, as a long-winded turf horse with an uncommercial pedigree, was not an appealing prospect for the Kentucky stallion market. Brazil took a much greater interest in getting a Wild Again half brother to 1994 American champion turf male Paradise Creek and “nephew” to 1987 American champion turf male and successful sire Theatrical (a half brother to Wild Event’s dam), and after Wild Event stood the 2000-2006 Northern Hemisphere seasons at Bridlewood Farm in Florida while shuttling to Brazil in 2002 and 2004-2005, the stallion relocated permanently to Brazil’s Haras Santa Maria de Araras, where he died in July 2018 after heading the Brazilian general sire list five times.

Dead End won two of her five starts, scoring at 1300 and 1400 meters at Gávea. Retired to the broodmare ranks at Haras Santa Maria de Araras, she opened her broodmare record with the winning colt Liking Park, a 2019 son of Adriano, and Multiplication, a winning 2020 daughter of the Argentine stallion Catch a Flight. After a missed year, Dead End produced On the End and Plano B back to back. Her most recent foal is an unnamed 2024 filly by Taareef.

Dead End is a fourth-generation product of Haras Santa Maria de Araras. She was produced from Paradise Queen, winner of the 2005 Grande Prémio Francisco Villela de Paula Machado (BRZ-G2) and the 2006 Grande Prémio Roger Guedon (BRZ-G3). Sired by 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile (USA-G1) winner Royal Academy, Paradise Queen is also the dam of Vôo Libre (by Northern Afleet), winner of the 2011 Grande Prémio Antenor Lara Campos (BRZ-G2), and listed stakes winner Feliz Rainha (by Put It Back).

Paradise Queen, in turn, is out of 1994 Copa ANPC-Eguas (BRZ-G3) winner Careless Queen (a daughter of the stakes-winning Hoist the Flag horse Present the Colors) and is a half sister to 2004 Grande Prêmio Henrique de Toledo Lara (BRZ-G3) winner Nomenclature (by Ghadeer). Produced from 1986 Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks, BRZ-G1) winner Queen Cell, Careless Queen is a full sister to 1992 Brazilian champion 2-year-old filly Beauty Queen and listed stakes winner Along the Way and is a half sister to 2000 Grande Prêmio Presidente Emilio G. Medici (BRZ-G2) winner Henry the King (by Tokatee).

Generally speaking, Dead End’s family has been a source of miler speed, and both Plano B and On the End fit this pattern, having won their Group 1 races over 1600 meters. Dead End herself is only 14, and with two daughters already on the ground, her name is certainly a misnomer, for her family is at anything but a dead end. With a bit of luck, this female line may continue to serve Haras Santa Maria de Araras well for generations more.

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Mares on Monday: A Storm Rolls in at Royal Ascot

6/22/2026

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Arguably the most prestigious test of stamina on the planet, the Gold Cup (ENG-G1) at the Royal Ascot meeting requires more than a grinding plodder to win it. It calls for stamina, yes, but also for a tactical turn of foot that can be called on when the chips are down and for boundless courage in a tight finish. Those qualities were displayed in sterling fashion by the top two finishers in this year’s edition of the Cup. Last year’s winner, Trawlerman, set a strong gallop from flag-fall to finish and showed great determination when hooked, actually edging to the fore again. But his challenger, Scandinavia, would not be denied. The winner of last year’s St. Leger Stakes (ENG-G1) at Doncaster, the 4-year-old son of Justify found a final surge that his 8-year-old rival could not quite hold off, earning the victory by a nose.

Certainly, Justify can be credited with much of Scandinavia’s talent, but not all. Standing behind the colt’s unraced dam, Fabulous (by the grand racer and sire Galileo) is her dam, Mariah’s Storm, who both displayed and passed on both a strong dash of speed and the kind of determination that can be only inborn, never instilled by training.

A daughter of the fine Blushing Groom horse Rahy and 1982 Little Silver Handicap (USA-G3) winner Immense (by Roberto), Mariah’s Storm seemed likely to be a championship contender among the American juvenile fillies of 1993 after winning the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (USA-G2). Instead, she fractured a front cannon bone, placing not only her racing career but her life in jeopardy. The grit that she had displayed on the racetrack came through in her fight for life and more. In a comeback that became the inspiration for the 2005 movie Dreamer, Mariah’s Storm fought her way back to the races, winning five more graded stakes at ages 3 and 4 before retiring to the paddocks.

For her first mating in 1996, Mariah’s Storm was put to Storm Cat, a horse noted for the high energy and hot desire to win he put into his progeny—and, not coincidentally, the male-line ancestor of Justify. The resulting colt, Giant’s Causeway, showed a combination of brilliance and absolute determination worthy of both parents. Dubbed the “Iron Horse,” the tough colt won the Prix de la Salamandre (FR-G1) as a 2-year-old of 1999. The following year, he ran in eight consecutive Group 1 races in England and Ireland, winning five of them and finishing second in the other two. He then crossed the Atlantic and, in his first attempt on dirt, staged a pulsating duel with Tiznow through the stretch. In the giant colt from California, he met his match in raw will to win, but he lost no stature whatsoever in going down by a neck. Standing in Ireland and later in Kentucky, Giant’s Causeway led the American general sire list three times.

Mariah’s Storm produced two more noteworthy colts by Storm Cat in Freud and Tumblebrutus. Both Group 2-placed during their racing careers, they received chances at stud due to their elder brother’s prowess and made the most of them, with Freud leading the New York regional sire list six times as well as having some success in Argentina; Tumblebrutus became a three-time champion sire in Chile. The daughters of Mariah’s Storm by Storm Cat were no less distinguished, with 2007 Cherry Hinton Stakes (ENG-G2) winner You’resothrilling taking advantage of repeated matings to Galileo to become the dam of 2014 Irish One Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) winner Marvellous, 2015 Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1) and Irish Two Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) winner Gleneagles, 2021 Prix de Diane Longines (French Oaks, FR-G1) winner Joan of Arc, 2017 Moyglare Stud Stakes (IRE-G1) winner Happily, Australian Group 2 winner Taj Mahal, and Grade 1-placed Irish Group 3 winner Coolmore. You’resothrilling’s full sister Pearling, a non-winner, produced multiple Group 1 winner Decorated Knight, also by Galileo.

Mariah’s Storm visited Galileo’s record-breaking sire, Sadler’s Wells, in 2007 and produced Love Me Only the following spring. Love Me Only never raced but produced 2015 Great Voltigeur Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Storm the Stars to a cover by Galileo’s excellent half brother Sea the Stars. Fabulous, the last of Mariah’s Storm’s important foals, also never raced but, in addition to Scandinavia, is the dam of 2022 Prix Saint-Alary (FR-G1) winner Above the Curve (by American Pharoah) and is thus the first mare to produce Group 1 winners by two different winners of the American Triple Crown.

It has been said that the full impact of a stallion or mare on the Thoroughbred breed cannot truly be assessed until fifty years after the animal’s death, but with three fine stallion sons to her credit and two daughters who are the dams of multiple Group 1 winners, it is hard to believe that Mariah’s Storm will ever be remembered as anything but one of the great matriarchs of her breed. She may be gone now, but the fire in her blood is still storming on and seems likely to do so for the foreseeable future.

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Mares on Monday: Oh Promise Me Blazes a Trail to Group 1 Glory in Brazil

6/15/2026

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On June 13, Oh Promise Me delivered on earlier promise in Group 1 company with her first Group 1 win, making a strong run in the stretch to land the Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Seabra (BRZ-G1) at Rio de Janeiro’s Gávea course by three-quarters of a length. Bred in the purple from top to bottom, the filly is a new star for a South American branch of an old Darby Dan family, that of On the Trail.

The most important daughter of Darby Dan foundation mare Golden Trail, On the Trail (by Olympia) never raced but produced 1982 Top Flight Handicap (USA-G1) winner Andover Way (by His Majesty), the dam of multiple Group 2 winner and important stamina sire Dynaformer (by Roberto); 1977 Saratoga Special (USA-G2) winner Darby Creek Road (by Roberto); stakes winner Regal Road (by Graustark), third dam of three Grade/Group 1 winners including 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos; and three other daughters who did not earn black type but had some importance as broodmares. Among them was Darby Trail (by Roberto), who never raced but produced multiple listed stakes winner Cobra Classic (by Graustark).

Slew of Darby (by Slew o’ Gold), the eldest of Darby Trail’s daughters, was unplaced in two starts. She produced nine winners including stakes-placed King of Swamps (by Peteski) but had only one producing daughter, the 2000 Pine Bluff mare Neblina. Neblina, in turn, produced Tangerina (by Bernstein), who was sent to Brazil and there produced 2014 Grande Prêmio Presidente Julio Mesquita (BRZ-G3) winner Batenamadeira (by Northern Afleet). She also produced Group 3-placed Frutada (Wild Event), who produced Oh Promise Me as her third foal.

Hofburg, the sire of Oh Promise Me, is a stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed son of Tapit who was ninth on last year’s Brazilian general sire list and is currently sixth in this year’s standings. Frutada has since produced the unraced juvenile filly Parody (by Hofburg) and a yearling colt named Quotidien (by Pimper’s Paradise). Her most recent foal is Rebolation, a full sister to Oh Promise Me who arrived on October 14, 2025.

Oh Promise Me’s victory was doubly sweet for breeder-owner Haras Santa Maria de Araras, the sponsor of the Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Seabra. Previously second in Gávea’s Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks, BRZ-G1) on March 8, the filly was fourth in the Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro on April 12 before finally climbing to the top of the class ladder with Saturday’s win. As a South American 3-year-old, she will turn 4 on July 1, so Haras Santa Maria de Araras now has a decision to make: to retire her to the paddocks with a Group 1 win on her resume, or to continue racing her as a 4-year-old. Where her trail will lead is still undecided, but it should be an interesting one to follow.

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Mares on Monday: Classic Q on Her Game at Saratoga

6/8/2026

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Classic Q has been a work in progress, and on June 6, she delivered the performance that trainer Mark Casse knew she had in her. Coming into the Just a Game Stakes Presented by Resolute Racing (USA-G1) off a win in the Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (USA-G2), the daughter of 2016 American champion juvenile male Classic Empire went to the front from the start. The delicate-looking filly hung as tough as anyone could ask, scoring her first Grade 1 win by 1¼ lengths under a beautifully judged ride by savvy veteran John Velazquez. She has now earned US$1,349,865, an excellent return on the US$40,000 she cost as a 2023 Keeneland September yearling.

Bred by Winning Bloodstock, Classic Q came along too late to do anything for Classic Empire’s stud career, as he had been exported to South Korea following the 2023 breeding season. According to Thoroughbred Daily News, she is the seventh Classic Empire stakes winner produced from Scat Daddy mares but is the first representative of the cross of earn black type outside South America.

Lovely Em, the dam of Classic Q, won four of her 19 starts and apparently was not an impressive physical specimen, as she sold for only US$9,500 when offered at the 2020 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Copper Bullet. The foal she was carrying (her second) was stakes-placed Copper Em. After producing Classic Q, Lovely Em visited Mo Town and then went back through the sale ring, selling for US$10,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. In her most recent trip to the sales, Lovely Em, then in foal to Vekoma, sold to Barry Ostager for US$38,000 at the 2024 Keeneland November sale. Her Vekoma foal, now a yearling filly, has already been named Red Unit and has undoubtedly appreciated in value thanks to Classic Q, as has Lovely Em. The 13-year-old mare visited Solomini this spring.

A half sister to Bear Holiday (by Harlan’s Holiday), a two-time listed stakes winner as a juvenile, Lovely Em is also a half sister to Kajawa (by Cross Traffic), dam of restricted stakes winner No More Cents (by Goldencents). The siblings were produced from the winner Milagra (by Maria’s Mon), whose Grade 1-placed half sister Rhiana (by Runaway Groom) is the dam of 2008 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (USA-G2) winner Behindatthebar (by Forest Wildcat). Milagra, in turn, was produced from the Fappiano mare Tatiana, whose stakes-placed half sister Nu Myoozik (by Cure the Blues) produced 1996 Gran Premio Nacional Augusto B. Leguia (PER-G1) winner Sol Del Norte (by Local Talent).

Classic Q can be temperamental and quirky, but John Velazquez is now 2-for-2 with her in 2026 and appears to have her figured out. The big question now is the road map through the rest of the season. As a turf miler, her likeliest long-term spot would be the Breeders’ Cup Mile (USA-G1)—always a tough spot, but if anyone can develop this filly further, Casse can. Regardless of where she appears next, she will be one to watch.

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Mares on Monday: Japanese Derby winner Lovcen Hits a High Note for Embur's Song

6/1/2026

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On May 31, Lovcen overcame a less-than-ideal start and being shuffled back further than desired in the early going to capture his third Group 1 win in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, JPN-G1). Already the winner of the Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, JPN-G1), he is now in position to make a run at history in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, JPN-G1) on October 25. Should he win that race, he would become the ninth winner of the Japanese Triple Crown.

Lovcen is by 2019 Kikuka Sho winner World Premiere, who is by Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact out of a stoutly bred German mare, so he comes by stamina honestly. The question is more where he got the devastating turn of foot that allowed him to run down Basse Terre and Realize Sirius in the final strides to claim victory by a head. The answer just might be a Canadian mare who had a sharp flight of speed in her own right and a family with Classic connections in both the United States and Canada.

Lovcen’s dam, Songwriting, could not win in eight starts in Japan, but as a daughter of Giant’s Causeway, she was going to get good opportunities as a broodmare regardless. A European Horse of the Year, Giant’s Causeway had a fine turn of foot in his own right, and that ability to turn on the jets was reinforced by Songwriting’s dam, Embur’s Song.

Many of the progeny of Unbridled’s Song excelled as sprinter-milers, and that proved to be Embur’s Song’s forte. After placing in two of the three races of Canada’s Triple Tiara series as a 3-year-old, Embur’s Song began her 4-year-old season with tries on dirt and turf at Gulfstream Park finishing ninth and fourth, respectively. Taken to Keeneland, which still had a synthetic surface at the time, the filly came to life. Entered in the Hillard Lyons Doubledogdare Stakes (USA-G3) at a mile and one-sixteenth, Embur’s Song popped out of the gate first and stayed there throughout, winning by a neck in track record time of 1:41.62.

Following that race, Embur’s Song went back to Woodbine and its friendly all-weather surface. Cut back to six and one-half furlongs for the Hendrie Stakes (CAN-G3), she used different tactics than she had shown in the Doubledogdare, stalking the early pace and driving home in the last furlong. She then went to Presque Isle Downs for the one-mile Windward Stakes (a listed race), again over a synthetic surface, and again went gate-to wire, though she lasted by only a nose over a moderate field. Then she went back to Woodbine and went gate-to-wire in the Ontario Matron Stakes (CAN-G3) over a mile and one-sixteenth.

That was the last win of Embur’s Song’s career. Second in the Seaway Stakes (CAN-G3) over seven furlongs, she then tried to repeat her gate-to-wire performances in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) but found both the nine-furlong distance and the class of competition to be a bit much for her; after leading through six furlongs, she tired to finish next to last. She had her last race in the Bessarabian Stakes (CAN-G3) over seven furlongs at Woodbine but appeared to be over the top and ran third without showing her usual speed. Still, her season’s efforts were enough to land her a Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion older female.

Although Embur’s Song was not up to top-class competition, she had shown more than enough to make her a desirable broodmare prospect: she had speed, the ability to carry speed through an extended mile, and enough versatility to use different tactics if the situation demanded. When offered at the Keeneland November sale in 2015, in foal to More Than Ready, she fetched US$900,000. Unfortunately, she has been a disappointment as a broodmare, as reflected by her price of just US$22,000 (in foal to Knicks Go) when sold through Fasig-Tipton’s October digital sale in 2024, and it has been her first foal, Songwriting, and the brilliant Lovcen who have brought her a measure of redemption.

Embur’s Song had the genetics to suggest that lightning might strike among her descendants at any time, given reasonable opportunities. She is a half sister to Grade 3-placed juvenile listed stakes winner Ten Flat (by Meadowlake). She is also a half sister to stakes-placed Dawn Raid (by Vindication), the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Exaggerator (by Curlin), whose victories include the 2016 Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (USA-G1).

Embur’s Song and her siblings were produced from multiple stakes-placed Embur Sunshine (by the hardy sprinter Bold Ruckus, a ten-time Canadian champion sire), whose half sister Private Villa (by Private Terms) is the second dam of 2011 Ecuadorean champion 3-year-old male Villa Madrid. Embur Sunshine, in turn, is out of Vevila (by The Minstrel), a half sister to three-time Canadian champion Eternal Search (by Northern Answer), who is the second dam of 2021 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Mrs. Barbara (by Bodemeister), multiple Grade 2 winner Smokey Fire (by Smoke Glacken), 2012 Palos Verdes Stakes (USA-G2) winner Frumious (by Grindstone), and 2008 Dominion Day Stakes (CAN-G3) winner Jiggs Coz (by Cozzene).

Produced from Bon Debarras (by 1972 Manhattan Handicap winner Ruritania, by Graustark), Vevila is also a half sister to 1990 Queen’s Cup (AUS-G3) winner Raslaan (by Shareef Dancer), and to multiple Canadian stakes winner Gone to Royalty (by Royal Chocolate). In addition, Vevila is a half sister to Finally Found (by Lord Durham), dam of 2002 Jamaica Handicap (USA-G2) winner Finality (by Dehere) and 1991 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G3) winner Stolen Beauty (by Deputy Minister) and second dam of 2009 Swale Stakes (USA-G2) winner This Ones for Phil. Finally, Vevila is a half sister to listed stakes-placed Savethelastdance (by Nureyev), dam of 2004 Queen’s Plate winner Niigon (by Unbridled) and second dam of 2004 Acorn Stakes (USA-G1) winner Island Sand (by Tabasco Cat) and 2006 Mexican champion 2-year-old male Pozo de Luna (by Famous Again).

Taken in total, Embur’s Song may not seem particularly memorable compared to the great ones of her breed. But if she has indeed contributed some of the speed and fire that have gone into making Japan’s latest racing hero, her name will linger longer in memory than those of many others who started off with greater reputations. Good things, it seems, still come to those who wait.

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Mares on Monday: A Group 1 Double in Brazil for a Misnamed Mare

Mares on Monday: A Storm Rolls in at Royal Ascot

Mares on Monday: Oh Promise Me Blazes a Trail to Group 1 Glory in Brazil

Mares on Monday: Classic Q on Her Game at Saratoga

Mares on Monday: Japanese Derby winner Lovcen Hits a High Note for Embur's Song

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