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Mares on Monday: Kerouac Writes Another Chapter for Haras Paso Nevado's "K" Family

8/31/2026

2020 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Tiz the Law was one of the hottest sires on the planet at the end of August, In a three-day period, the Ashford Stud stallion came up with a quartet of Grade/Group 1 winners in the United States and Chile. Among those top-level winners was Kerouac, who started the onslaught on August 28 by capturing the Premio Polla de Potrancas (CHI-G1) at Santiago for owner Stud Vendaval. Racing through the stretch as if much the best, the filly (who shares her name with American novelist Jack Kerouac) landed the win by 2¾ lengths over Immense Deep.

A third-generation product of Haras Paso Nevado, Kerouac is the first foal of Kirikina, who won the 2021 edition of the Polla de Potrancas for Stud Vendaval. Kirikina has since two more foals by Tiz the Law: Karajan, a 2024 colt, and Keltatuwe, a 2025 filly.

Kirikina is by multiple Grade 1 winner Verrazano, an exceptionally handsome son of More Than Ready whose best runner so far in North America is 2022 Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner Chi Town Lady (out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Toni’s Hollyday). Kirikina was bred along somewhat similar lines as she was produced from the 2015 Polla de Potrancas winner Kitcat, whose sire Scat Daddy, like Harlan’s Holiday, is from the Storm Cat male line.

t is a rare female lineage indeed that manages to produce three generations of winners of the same Group 1 race, and it is also a rare family that comes up with a mare capable of producing four top-level winners. Also the winner of the 2016 Premio Club Hipico de Santiago (CHI-G1), Kitcat is one of four Chilean Group 1 winners produced by the American import Kossanova, who won four of her five Chilean starts and was second in the last. Sired by 1990 American champion juvenile male Fly So Free, Kossanova's other Group 1 winners are 2006 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Kossimo (by Gracioso), 2010 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Knockout (by Scat Daddy), and 2017 Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile winner Kurilov (by Lookin At Lucky). In addition to her racing stars, Kossanova is the dam of Koussi (by Powerscourt), dam of 2016 Gran Premio Criadores Salvador Hess Riveros (CHI-G2) winner Lucky Sisi and listed stakes winner Kou Star (both by Lookin At Lucky) and second dam of 2022 Premio Mil Guineas (CHI-G1) winner Joke Sisi (by Practical Joke); Kalispera (by Powerscourt), second dam of multiple Chilean Group 3 winner Krakken (by Seeking the Dia); and multiple Group 1-placed Katmai (by Scat Daddy), sire of 2024 Chilean Horse of the Year Kay Army and 2022 Chilean champion 2-year-old dirt filly Una Chiquitita.

Kossanova’s female line traces back to “Genetic Gem” Queen Sucree (by Ribot), whose dam, “Genetic Gem” Cosmah (by Cosmic Bomb), was the 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and a half sister to “Genetic Gem” Natalma (by Native Dancer). There are not too many female lines that boast more genetic firepower, in Chile or anywhere else, and it can be hoped that Kerouac will contribute her own share of fireworks when the time comes for her to retire to the broodmare ranks.

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Mares on Monday: My Gun's Loaded Fires in Alabama Stakes

8/24/2026

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According to most experts, the Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales (USA-G1) was Counting Stars’s race to lose. According to My Gun’s Loaded, it was her race to win. Never far off the moderate pace set by the favorite, My Gun’s Loaded raced widest of all through the far turn and battled with Counting Stars and Measure through the stretch to secure victory by a neck over the latter filly; Counting Stars was third, another length and a half back. Now a Grade 1 winner in her stakes debut, the lightly raced daughter of Gun Runner remains unbeaten in three starts at 3, is three-for-four lifetime, and has earned US$460,500.

Bred by Corser Thoroughbreds, My Gun’s Loaded is the 15th top-level winner and 61st stakes winner sired by Gun Runner from his first five crops of racing age. The 2017 American Horse of the Year, Gun Runner is also responsible for this year’s Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) winner, Always a Runner, and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (USA-G1) winner Further Ado, along with 11 other stakes winners of 2026.

My Gun’s Loaded is the fourth foal and first winner out of the stakes-placed Congrats mare Strive, a mare that Corser Thoroughbreds purchased for US$220,000, covered by City of Light, from the 2019 Keeneland November mixed sale. A half sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Hip Hop N Jazz (by Speightstown), Strive is out of 2007 Arlington Matron Handicap (USA-G3) winner Solo Survivor (by Pleasant Tap), a half sister to 1995 Ladies Handicap (USA-G2) winner Transient Trend.

Solo Survivor, in turn, is out of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Dactique (by d’Accord), whose half sister Nastique (by Naskra) won four Grade 1 races during her career before producing 1998 Honey Bee Handicap (USA-G3) winner Thunder Kitten (by Storm Cat) and multiple Japanese stakes winner Nobo True (by Broad Brush). Through Thunder Kitten, Nastique is the second dam of 2008 Ribbesdale Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Michita (by Dynaformer) 2014 Diamond Stakes (IRE-G3) winner and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) third Cat O’Mountain (by Street Cry), and Group 3-placed listed stakes winner Willing Foe (by Dynaformer). Other Nastique daughters include Teakabu (by Woodman), dam of 2014 Mexican champion 2-year-old filly Heakabu; Painted Lady (by Broad Brush), dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Skylighter (by Sky Mesa), listed stakes winner Speckled (by Street Cry), and stakes winner Cave Hill (by Frosted); and Kristique (by Kris S.), whose son War Affair (by O’Reilly) earned six championship titles in Singapore including 2013/14 Horse of the Year.

Returning to Dactique, she is also a half sister to Amanzimtoti (by Accipiter), dam of 1996 J & B Met (SAF-G1) winner La Fabulous (by Lustra) and second dam of 2001 Gold Medallion Stakes (SAF-G1) winner Rip Curl (by National Emblem). Dactique and her siblings are out of unraced La Fantastique, a Le Fabuleux half sister to 1972 American champion sprinter Chou Croute (by Lt. Stevens).

Although Counting Stars still has the resume to be considered the leader in the American 3-year-old filly division, My Gun’s Loaded now has the prospective divisional champion in her sights and may pick her off if she can defeat older females in her next start, most likely either the Beldame Stakes (USA-G2) at Belmont or the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) at Keeneland. The latter would probably be the tougher spot, given that it offers a purse of US$650,000 against one of US$250,000 for the Beldame, but it would also provide My Gun’s Loaded with a start over the same course and distance as the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1) as well as possibly earning the long-striding filly a second Grade 1 win. Regardless of what happens next out, My Gun’s Loaded certainly has the firepower to be a contender and has added an additional spark to her Eclipse Award division.

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Mares on Monday: Remembering Drumtop

8/17/2026

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On Saturday, six fillies and mares went into the Woodbine starting gate for the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (CAN-G2). Six was apparently the lucky number for Proctor Street, who was making her sixth start of the year. After falling short of victory five times, she finally got both her first win of the season and her first graded stakes win, catching Eponine by a neck after trailing the early pace. The victory boosted her lifetime record to six wins and five placings from 14 starts and increased her bankroll to US$667,800.

Bred and owned by Patricia Moseley, Proctor Street is a fourth-generation descendant of Drumtop, a mare that never won a championship but probably should have. The best race mare sired by the great Round Table, she was much in her sire’s mold: not overly big but tough, determined, and willing to take on all comers at any distance she was asked to tackle and over any kind of footing.

Although she was a winner on dirt as a youngster, Drumtop found her stride when transferred to the turf. At first, though, she remained properly feminine. She defeated fellow 3-year-old fillies in the Princeton Handicap at Garden State and took on older females to win the New York Handicap at Aqueduct. She also set a course record for 8.5 furlongs at Belmont, though her time was surpassed before the end of the season. At year’s end, the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap rated her at 16 pounds below the champion turf horse, the 5-year-old horse Hawaii.

American female turf horses were not given their own championship division until 1979, and the prize money was better in open company. Drumtop set out to grab her share in 1970. Facing males more often than she did females, she opened up the season against her fellow distaffers in the first division of the Columbiana Handicap at Hialeah and then was second in the Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap in open company, losing to front-running Vent du Nord by a length and a half.

Taken out to California, Drumtop was not quite able to run down Sallina in the Santa Barbara Handicap, and throughout her career, she would demonstrate that the harder California courses did not really suit her. On returning East to courses that were more to her liking, she showed her heels to the boys in the Edgemere Handicap at Aqueduct. It took her eight more tries to capture another stakes race, but seven of those eight races were against the upper echelon of the male turf runners, and she was never worse than fourth. She finally closed out her season in the Canadian International Championship Stakes, turning back stiff challenges from Jungle Cove and Frenetico to capture the 13-furlong event. Her efforts earned her a season-ending rating of 123 pounds, 9 points below Fort Marcy (who shared the Horse of the Year title with the star 3-year-old, Personality) but tied for sixth in the division. She took home US$190,708 for the year, good money in a year in which only 14 horses exceeded US$200,000 in earnings. She was also the top-rated turf horse on the Canadian Free Handicap, though she was ineligible for a year-end championship in Canada as she had not made the requisite three starts in that country.

Drumtop had reached full maturity in 1971, and she celebrated that status by playing the Amazon warrior to the hilt. After opening her season with a win in the Palm Beach Handicap and a surprise fourth in the Bougainvillea Handicap, she finished her run through the Hialeah turf division with a head victory in the Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap in course record time of 2:26-4/5 over The Pruner; favored Fort Marcy was another 1¾ lengths back in third in the 12-furlong event. A second trip out to California netted her placings in the San Luis Rey Handicap and the Century Handicap, and then it was back to the East, where she threw a Garden State course record of 1:59-4/5 for 10 furlongs at her victims in the Camden Handicap. A second edition of the Edgemere Handicap was the next trophy for her collection, and she handed Fort Marcy another defeat in the Bowling Green Handicap, setting her third course record of the season as she ran the 12 furlongs in 2:25-2/5.

Unfortunately, Drumtop’s victory may have been pyrrhic. The Belmont course was unusually hard for the event, and the mare was clearly not her usual self when she finished fourth in her next outing, the Ford Pinto Turf Invitational Handicap at Hollywood Park. Her season and her career ended in the Kelly-Olympic Handicap at Atlantic City on September 4, in which she bowed a tendon. The injury forced Drumtop to miss the prestigious fall events of the division, and the 3-year-old colt Run the Gantlet took advantage of her absence to win the United Nations Invitational Handicap, the Man o’ War Stakes, and the Washington, D. C., International Invitational Stakes. He had already won the Kelly-Olympic (though no one considered that a true measure of his abilities versus Drumtop’s), and his late-season victories tipped voting in the divisional championship in his favor. Drumtop got a consolation prize in the form of a 126-pound rating on the Free Handicap, best in the division and 2 pounds above Run the Gantlet. She closed out her career with 44 starts, 17 wins, 9 seconds, and 3 thirds, having banked US$493,738.

Drumtop belonged to the famous family of Rough Shod II, and her dam, Zonah (Nasrullah x Gambetta, by My Babu), was closely related to three-time American champion Gamely (Bold Ruler [by Nasrullah] x Gambetta). In addition, Zonah produced Drumtop’s full brother Take Your Place, winner of the 1975 Observer Gold Cup (ENG-G1). With such credentials, Drumtop was expected to become an excellent broodmare. She did not quite live up to those expectations although she produced three stakes winners: Topsider (by Northern Dancer), who defied his dam’s genetics to become a dirt sprinter; 1983 Prix Berteux (FR-G3) winner Brogan (by Nijinsky II), who was the runner-up in that year’s Derby Italiano (ITY-G3); and minor stakes winner War of Words (by Arts and Letters).

Topsider became a good stallion, and Drumtop has a continuing female line of descent through her winning Mr. Prospector daughter, Aliata, dam of multiple Puerto Rican stakes winner Storm Allied (by Stormy Atlantic). Aliata’s stakes-placed Storm Cat son Storm Boot became a useful sire of speed. Storm Boot’s stakes-placed half sister Archstone (by Arch) produced multiple Grade 2 winner Proctor’s Ledge (by Ghostzapper), and Proctor’s Ledge produced Proctor Street (a daughter of Street Sense) as her second foal. And Drumtop has another legacy, as her heroics (which many horsemen thought should have earned her an official title) brought recognition to female turf runners and perhaps played a role in the 1979 creation of an Eclipse Award exclusively for fillies and mares on grass. There are far worse ways to be remembered.

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Mares on Monday: "Summer" Is Hot in Winter in Brazil

8/10/2026

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Nitrogen’s gallant second-place effort in Saturday’s Whitney Stakes (USA-G1) justly drew much admiration. She is not the only filly in the Americas to have faced males in a recent Grade/Group 1 race, though. The Brazilian 4-year-old Summer do Iguassu, a Group 1 winner at 3, recently took down the boys in the Grande Prêmio Copa ABCPCC Clássica-Matias Machline over 2000 meters (about 1¼ miles) at Gávea. Racing for breeder-owner Haras do Iguassu, the filly defeated 12 rivals in one of the bigger races on the Brazilian winter calendar and continued a history of Group 1 success for a Brazilian branch of an Argentine family.

Summer do Iguassu’s family entered Brazil via Revisa, whose Irish-bred sire Flintham (by 1962 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp winner Fortino II, also the sire of champion racer and sire Caro) was exported to Argentina after winning the 1974 Goldene Peitsche (GER-G3). In winning the Goldene Peitche, historically one of Germany’s top sprint races, Flintham expressed the sprinting proclivity of his sire rather than the staying blood found on the distaff side of his pedigree.

Sent to Brazil as a youngster, Revisa was a consistent performer in her class, winning five races at Gávea over 1300-1600 meters and finishing second in another five out of 13 starts. Put to the more stamina-oriented Present the Colors (a stakes-winning son of Hoist the Flag who became a good sire for Haras Santa Maria de Araras) for her first mating, Revisa produced Tawanna, winner of the 1989 Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) over 2000 meters. Another mating to Present the Colors produced Vannieres, a winner over 1200 meters who was exported back to Argentina and there produced Vanguardia (by Sekari), winner of the 2005 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1).

Revisa’s other two important foals were both by the great Brazilian-based sire Ghadeer. The first, Azzedine, ran third in the 1992 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) over 1600 meters and became the dam of Brazilian listed stakes winner Ligeiro e Corredor (by Notation), who scored his signature win over 1200 meters. The other, Fit to Fly, scored her only win from nine starts in an 1100-meter event at Gávea but proved a valuable broodmare with three Group stakes winners to her credit. They were Must Be Flying (by the Forty Niner horse Jules, the Brazilian champion sire of 2002/03), who won the 2003 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1); Time to Fly (by five-time Brazilian champion sire Roi Normand), who won the 2011 Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara (BRZ-G3); and Montardon (by 2012/13 Brazilian champion sire Northern Afleet), who won the Grande Premio Dezesseis de Julho (BRZ-G3).

Best on the track, Must Be Flying was also the most important in the breeding shed despite having produced only two foals. Her daughter Catch a Wave (by 1999 Early Times Turf Classic, USA-G1, winner Wild Event, a five-time Brazilian champion sire and a great sire of broodmares) was a winner over 1000 meters at Gavea and produced Summer do Iguassu (a daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Camelot Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy) as her fourth foal and fourth winner. Her only subsequent foal is Maracatana, a 2023 daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Synchrony (by Tapit) who has yet to race.

As Tawanna and Summer do Iguassu has demonstrated, this family is capable of throwing runners capable of winning at the highest level over 2000 meters, but the rest of its produce record suggests that speed is its true forte; in fact, none of Summer do Iguassu’s older siblings have won at more than 1500 meters. It will be interesting to see if “Summer” reverts to the family type when she enters the paddocks. In the meantime, observers can hope that she will get at least a few more opportunities to showcase her talent against all comers, male and female alike.

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Mares on Monday: Eunomia Puts the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes into Order

8/3/2026

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As royally bred as any filly currently racing in North America, Eunomia (whose name comes from the Greek for “good order”) has taken some time to find her proper place in the order of things in the Thoroughbred world. For owners Vincent Viola (St. Elias Stable) and William S. Simon (WSS Racing), the wait has proven worthwhile. Last Saturday, making her Grade 1 debut at 12-1 in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, Eunomia sat off an early speed duel between favorite Seismic Beauty and second choice Simply Joking, both previous Grade 1 winners. When jockey Micah Husbands called on her, she delivered, going to the front and holding off a closing challenge from multiple graded stakes winner Om n Joy to land first prize by a half-length. Simply Joking held on for third.

With her victory in the Hirsch, Eunomia nailed down her fifth win in 16 lifetime starts, raising her bankroll to US$566,193. She also landed a “Win and You’re In” slot for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1) at Keeneland on October 31.

Bred by Breed First, Eunomia is the second Grade 1 stakes winner from the first Northern Hemisphere crop of Ashford Stud stallion Tiz the Law, who is also responsible for two Group 1 winners in Chile this year. A four-time Grade 1 winner during his own racing career, the son of three-time Chilean champion sire Constitution and the Tiznow mare Tizfiz is the sire of 24 stakes winners thus far. He is currently 12th on the American general sire list and second on the corresponding list in Chile, where he also leads the juvenile sire list.

Eunomia descends from the great 20th-century matron Bourtai, who produced five stakes winners, four of them fillies. Two of them, Delta (by Nasrullah) and Levee (by Hill Prince), earned honors as Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, establishing major branches of Bourtai’s family that have continued to produce top-level racehorses and classy broodmares in the 21st century.

The best of Bourtai’s daughters on the track was 1957 American champion 3-year-old filly Bayou (by Hill Prince), who produced the good race mare Batteur (by Bold Ruler) and bred on through no less than five of her daughters. The most distinguished of these was Alluvial, an unraced daughter of Buckpasser who produced two-time American champion Slew o’ Gold (by Seattle Slew) and multiple Grade 1 winner Coastal (by Majestic Prince). The latter horse was the spoiler in Spectacular Bid’s Triple Crown attempt in the 1979 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1). Alluvial is also the second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Aptitude and 1995 Hollywood Oaks (USA-G1) winner Sleep Easy and the third dam of Peruvian Group 1 winner and two-time champion Tunelero.

Bayou Blue, a full sister to Batteur, was only a maiden winner on the track and did not produce any stakes winners, but as a resident at Claiborne Farm, she had access to that legendary facility’s glittering roster of stallions. Put to the excellent sire Hoist the Flag in 1977, she produced the winner Harbor Flag, whose best runner was probably 1986 Louisiana Derby (USA-G3) winner Country Light (by Majestic Light). Harbor Flag also produced multiple stakes winner Packet, a daughter of three-time Grade 1 winner but disappointing sire Polish Navy.

Packet, in turn, also proved to be a good broodmare. The best of her foals on the racetrack was multiple Grade 2 winner Great Intentions, who was about as good as anything that 1999 Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1) winner Cat Thief ever sired. Packet also produced multiple stakes winner Sea Roads (by Tale of the Cat). Her 1999 Pulpit daughter, The Right Pew, was not as talented, but she kept up the family tradition of producing at least one high-class runner in each generation by giving birth to 2012 Ashland Stakes (USA-G1) winner Karlovy Vary (by Dynaformer). She also produced the winner Speedy Vanessa, a 2017 daughter of American Pharoah who produced Eunomia as her first foal.

Eunomia has already demonstrated a distaste for off going and may well remain in sunny California until the Breeders’ Cup. Given that trainer Saffie Joseph Jr, has indicated that he is unlikely to try her against males in the Pacific Classic (USA-G1) on August 22, that may point to the Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G2) at Santa Anita on September 27 as her likeliest Breeders’ Cup prep. Of course, if she does brave the more uncertain fall weather in the East, the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (USA-G1) on October 4 may enter the picture, given that it will be contested over the Distaff’s course and distance. Regardless of what comes next on the track, Eunomia now has all the pedigree and performance credentials she will need to have access to the best of sires as a broodmare, leading to the hope that one day, one of her daughters will emulate her deeds on the track before taking her due place in the cycle of life.

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Mares on Monday: Kerouac Writes Another Chapter for Haras Paso Nevado's "K" Family

Mares on Monday: My Gun's Loaded Fires in Alabama Stakes

Mares on Monday: Remembering Drumtop

Mares on Monday: "Summer" Is Hot in Winter in Brazil

Mares on Monday: Eunomia Puts the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes into Order

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