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Mares on Monday: A Graded Stakes Double Puts Coals on the Fire for Miss Newcastle

9/30/2019

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It's not every weekend that two horses descended from the same mare win graded stakes, but that's what happened on September 27-28, 2019, when Pee Wee Reese won the Eddie D Stakes (USA-II) on the 27th and Code of Honor took the Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-I) on the 28th. Both are fifth-generation descendants of the mare Miss Newcastle, one of the few foals sired by the near-sterile 1949 American co-Horse of the Year, Coaltown.

Miss Newcastle's name derived from that of an English city known for its coal production, and she was productive and long-lasting in both her racing and broodmare careers. After winning 15 of her 130 starts over seven seasons of racing, she then lived to produce 12 named foals. All were starters, reflecting creditably on their dam's hardiness, and nine were winners, including two stakes winners and one stakes-placed runner. Her best was Faneuil Boy (by Bolinas Boy), whose 22 wins from 108 starts included nine stakes races.

Both multiple stakes winner Faneuil Hall (named for the historic marketplace and meeting site in Boston) and stakes-placed Faneuil Girl are full sisters to Faneuil Boy, and they are the sources of the primary branches of Miss Newcastle's family. The elder of the two, Faneuil Hall, won 18 of 74 starts including four stakes events before carrying on the family traditions of longevity and fecundity by producing 15 foals, all of which started and 11 of which won. Hall of Reason (by Bold Reason) was a Grade III winner while the Native Charger colt Celebrated became a stakes winner in Belgium, but neither were of any importance as sires. It was left to Bold Boston, a daughter of Bold Forbes who ran unplaced in her only start, to carry on her dam's legacy, which she did by producing the stakes-winning fillies Tivli (by Mt. Livermore) and Lu Lu's Lullaby (by Palace Music) among her five foals.

Tivli was the superior of the two as a racer, and she was superior in the paddocks as well, producing Grade III winner Reunited (by Dixie Union) and stakes winners Deal Breaker (by Dixieland Band) and Wind Tunnel (by Summer Squall) among her 13 foals. In turn, two of her daughters have gotten in on the family act: unraced Dance Lively (by Kingmambo) is the dam of Japanese Group III winner Live Concert (by Singspiel) and English listed stakes winner Charleston Lady (by Hurricane Run), while Reunited produced Code of Honor (by Noble Mission) as her eighth foal.

Faneuil Girl was not as hardy as her brother and sister, making only 11 starts, but she made up for it by producing five stakes winners. The best of the bunch on the track was 1984 Matron Stakes (USA-I) winner Fiesta Lady (by Secretariat), and Faneuil Girl also had multiple Grade III winner Faneuil Lass (by Somebody II) and Grade II-placed stakes winner Land Rush (by Nijinsky II) to her credit.

While Fiesta Lady had the fancier pedigree and racing credentials and did become the second dam of multiple Grade I winner Thorn Song, Faneuil Lass had the better broodmare record, producing eight winners including Grade III winner Sam Who (by Lypheor) and stakes-placed Palestrina (by Al Nasr). Her daughter Breeze Lass (by It's Freezing) is the connecting link to the present; besides her stakes-winning daughter Afleet Lass (by Northern Afleet) and three stakes-placed runners, she is the dam of the winning Unbridled's Song mare Bluegrass Belle, dam of Pee Wee Reese.

Overall, Miss Newcastle's family is more notable for being prolific and hardy than top-class, but it has produced several high-class runners when given opportunities with upper-end stallions, and it has produced plenty of horses capable of earning their hay and oats. There are far worse things to be said of a family than that, and with a little luck, the descendants of Miss Newcastle will be putting coals on the fire for some time to come.
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Weekly Trivia Challenge for 9/27/2019

9/27/2019

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This Classic-winning racehorse could be considered the patron saint of a small church congregation in New Jersey. His owner had promised to build a church building for the congregation if the horse won the major race he was targeting, and kept his word handsomely after the animal's victory netted him an estimated US$2 million between the purse and his bets. Who was the horse, who was the owner, and what big race did the horse win to fund his master's act of generosity?
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Mares on Monday: A Polite Contender in the Sophomore Filly Division

9/23/2019

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While the sophomore filly division is not quite the jumble that the corresponding colt and gelding division has become, it is still one in which a strong late-season statement might propel any of several fillies to year-end honors. Thanks to her Cotillion Stakes (USA-I) upset of Guarana, Serengeti Empress, Jaywalk, and Bellafina, Street Band took a step toward making that statement. While the Cotillion is her first Grade I win, it was her third graded stakes win of the season and gives her a 2019 record comparable to any of her peers.

A daughter of the swift miler Istan (now exiled to Saudi Arabia), Street Band is a fourth-generation descendant of Politely, a first-rate mare who was never quite able to nail a championship down but was nonetheless the pride of Maryland while she was racing. Her combination of class, consistency and durability is well worth remembering in a time when few top horses seem to be keeping their best form for more than half a season.

Sired by the willful but highly talented Amerigo, a son of Nearco who got his signature win in the 1960 San Juan Capistrano Handicap, Politely was a member of a good family that includes 1945 Kentucky Derby winner Hoop, Jr. and 1932 American Derby winner Gusto. Like many of her kith and kin, she took some time to mature and was at her peak at 4 and 5. Unfortunately for her, her best seasons coincided with the handicap championship years of Straight Deal (1967) and Gamely (1968), who both sealed their titles in head-to-head competition with the daughter of Amerigo,

Politely, thus, served as something of a measuring stick for the best of her division for two consecutive seasons, and the standard she set was a high one, The rugged mare won five stakes at 4, including a track-record trouncing of Straight Deal in the Matchmaker Handicap, and bettered herself with seven stakes wins at 5, including the rich Delaware Handicap and a second win in the Matchmaker (in which she equaled her own track record). In her final major victory, she carried 131 pounds to the laurels in the Firenze Handicap. She retired having won 21 of 49 starts with 14 placings and earnings of $552,972. In its year-end assessments for 1968, the Daily Racing Form awarded her a consolation prize; she did not win the voting for the official championship, but the DRF's handicapper Kenny Noe, Jr., rated her 2 pounds above Gamely, who carried off the official title.

As a broodmare, Politely was modestly successful considering her own class and that of her mates. Her best runners were Grade II-placed stakes winner Northerly (by Northern Dancer) and Salutely (by Hoist the Flag), a colt of similar record who did his racing in Ireland. Politely's overall record, however, was upgraded by her first three daughters, all of which became graded stakes producers.

Syriasly (by Damascus) was the third of those daughters, and her chief contribution to Politely's family was 1987 Selima Stakes (USA-I) winner Minstrel's Lassie (by The Minstrel). In spite of her performance and bloodlines, Minstrel's Lassie was also something of a disappointment as a broodmare, with Grade III-placed stakes winner Grand Heritage (by Grand Slam) as her only black-type winner. Minstrel's Lassie, however, was bred to a lesser collection of sires than was Politely, and her Street Cry daughter Street Minstrel has gone some way to redeem her dam by producing Street Band as her sixth foal. Since then, Street Minstrel has foaled a 2017 full sister to Street Band, Street Missy; a 2018 colt by Summer Front; and a 2019 filly by Summer Front.

Street Band still has a way to go to emulate her great-great-granddam, but it can be hoped that she will continue to bring back memories of a mare who, if not quite great, was not far from it. There are far worse role models to have.



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Weekend Trivia Challenge for 9/20/2019

9/20/2019

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After his stable star lost several important 2-year-old races by close margins, this trainer decided to teach the colt to stretch out his neck by putting his feed just barely within reach at mealtimes. The unorthodox regimen may or may not have helped, but the colt did win a Triple Crown race at 3. Who was the trainer, and who was the colt?
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Mares on Monday: No Class? El Tormenta Says "No Way"

9/16/2019

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Foaled 45 years ago, Sam-Son's foundation mare No Class has to be one of the most misnamed animals in Thoroughbred history. Stakes-placed on the track, the daughter of Nodouble produced four Canadian champions (one also an American champion) and founded a matriarchy that leads to Sam-Son homebred El Tormenta, upset winner of the Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes (CAN-IT).

Sky Classic, who was the American champion turf male of 1992 in addition to winning three Canadian championships, was the best runner produced by No Class and was a successful sire as well. Nonetheless, the jewel in the crown of the 1985 Canadian Broodmare of the Year was her daughter Classy 'n Smart (by Smarten). The Canadian champion 3-year-old filly of 1984, Classy 'n Smart made two magnificent contributions to her breed that led to her being recognized as a Canadian Broodmare of the Year in her own right. The first, Dance Smartly (by Danzig), swept the Canadian Triple Crown and won the Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-I) to earn titles as Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old filly in 1991 before producing two Queen's Plate winners and becoming the third generation of her family to become a Canadian Broodmare of the Year. The other was Smart Strike, a Grade I winner who became the last great sire son of Mr. Prospector. Twice America's champion sire, he has been well succeeded by his sons Curlin and English Channel.

Classy 'n Smart also produced Grade I winner Full of Wonder and Grade II winner Strike Smartly (both by Mr. Prospector), and her unraced daughter Seattle Classic (by Seattle Slew) has not been too far behind Dance Smartly as a broodmare. Her best runner was 1999 Mazarine Stakes (CAN-I) winner Hello Seattle (by Deputy Minister), the Canadian champion 2-year-old filly of that year, and she also produced stakes winner Sail from Seattle (by Gone West).

Unfortunately, Hello Seattle did not live to produce any foals, but her half sister Fleet of Foot (by Gone West) has helped fill in the gap. While she made only five starts, she showed some ability by placing in three stakes races at ages 3 and 4, and she is the dam of multiple Grade III winner His Race to Win (by Stormy Atlantic). Still in production as of 2019, she slipped this year's foal but has a 2018 full brother to His Race to Win waiting in the wings. Equally important for the future, two of her daughters have already become stakes producers: Torreadora (by El Prado), who is the dam of El Tormenta to a cover by Stormy Atlantic, and Fresia (by El Prado), whose 2016 Uncle Mo colt Galilean is a three-time stakes winner.

No Class has plenty of well-bred female descendants still in production, so her family is hardly in danger of extinction. Nonetheless, it is nice to see her clan returning to its Canadian roots and capturing one of the biggest Canadian races of the year for the farm that has nurtured this bloodline for generations.  

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Weekend Trivia Challenge for 9/13/2019

9/13/2019

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Rescues and retirement operations have been a much-needed refuge for Thoroughbreds in need of homes after completing their racing and/or breeding careers, and they have been around a lot longer than many people realize. Who was the first Kentucky Derby to live out his days in the care of such an organization?
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Mares on Monday: Dona True Carries Phipps Bloodline to Argentina

9/9/2019

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With the proliferation of North American-bred stallions appearing in South American pedigrees during the last few decades, it was only a matter of time before top North American female families started migrating south as well. One of those families turned up in Argentina last weekend, when Dona True won the Premio Condesa (ARG-III) at San Isidro. Bred by Haras La Layenda after being imported to Argentina in utero, the 4-year-old daughter of Yes It's True traces her female lineage to one of the Phipps family's matriarchs, Blitey.

Blitey has already had a substantial impact in Chile through her Alydar daughter Home Leave, dam of the Polish Navy mare Weekend Leave. Exported to Haras Paso Nevado in Chile, Weekend Leave produced 2004/2005 Chilean champion 3-year-old male We Can Seek and 2007/2008 Chilean champion 3-year-old filly Weekend Trip, both by the Gone West horse Seeker's Reward. Weekend Leave also produced We Can Leave, a stakes-winning full sister to her champions who in turn produced 2015/2016 Chilean champion 3-year-old filly Wapi (by Powerscourt). Wapi brought the history of this branch of the family full circle by being imported to the United States, where she produced colts by Curlin and Gun Runner before dying of colic in July 2019, but We Can Leave and Weekend Leave both have other Chilean-bred daughters to continue the family in that country.

In Argentina, Blitey's previous influence has been on the sire's side of pedigrees via her great-grandson Pure Prize. A son of Storm Cat out of 1994 American champion 3-year-old filly Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold x Oh What a Dance, by Nijinsky II x Blitey), Pure Prize was a Grade II winner in the United States before heading to Argentina, where he has been champion sire twice. His best American-bred runner is Pure Clan, a multiple Grade I winner.

Dona True traces to Blitey through another daughter, the Mr. Prospector mare Fantastic Find. The winner of the 1990 Hempstead Handicap (USA-I), Fantastic Find produced multiple Grade I winner Finder's Fee (by Storm Cat) and the good steeplechaser Tax Ruling (by Dynaformer) and is the second dam of Grade II winner T. D. Vance and multiple Grade III winner Optimizer. Her 2001 Dixieland Band filly Grand Gala did not accomplish much as a racer or broodmare, but her 2010 Tiznow daughter Curly Sue produced Dona True as her first foal. She has since produced Argentine-bred fillies by the El Prado horse Cosmic and by the Bernstein horse Storm Embrujado.

Horse racing and breeding has always been an international business, and Blitey's family simply represents a trend that has been going on for some time. While the increased influx of North American bloodlines into South America has diminished the outcross potential of these genetic pools with regard to one another, it has at the same time produced some top performers on both sides of the equator as well as a lively import/export market going both ways. Whether Dona True can help establish a branch of her distinguished family in Argentina is as yet unknown, but one thing is certain---as the trade in Thoroughbreds continues between north and south, there will be more to follow in her hoof prints.

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Weekend Trivia Challenge for 9/6/2019

9/6/2019

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This grandsire---sire---son series of Horse of the Year honorees had books written about them by the same author. Not all of them earned their Horse of the Year titles in the same country, but all are members of the same country's Hall of Fame. Name them and their biographer.
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Mares on Monday: A Perfect Alibi for Miss Carmie

9/2/2019

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Miss Carmie was a mare who defied predictions. Sired by 1961 American champion turf horse T. V. Lark out of the Ponder mare Twice Over, she was bred for stamina and durability. Instead, she became a stakes-winning juvenile and raced only 11 times. Bred to fairly moderate stallions during the first part of her broodmare career, she came up with two stakes winners, one of them a champion---then proceeded to disappoint when bred to a series of high-end sires. Her quirks as a racer and producer may have been frustrating at times, but nonetheless, she stands at the head of a modern family that came up with yet another top performer on August 31 in Perfect Alibi, winner of the Spinaway Stakes (USA-I).

Chris Evert, Miss Carmie's second foal, was sired by the high-class racer but moderate sire Swoon's Son. Named for the women's tennis champion, who was endorsing a line of sportswear for owner Carl Rosen, Chris Evert proved as classy as her human counterpart, earning a championship at 3 and ranking near the top of the tree at 2 and 4. Plagued by reproductive issues, she produced only two minor stakes winners from five foals but is the second dam of the American champion juvenile and fine sire Chief's Crown. She is also the second dam of multiple Grade I winner Classic Crown, 1997 Sharp Electronics Cup (SAF-I) winner Lambent Light and Grade II winner Revasser, and is the third dam of multiple Grade I winner Sightseek, 2003 Yellow Ribbon Stakes (USA-IT) winner Tates Creek, 2003 Prix de la Foret (FR-I) winner Etoile Montante, Chilean Group II winner Quiet Call and Grade II winner Bowman's Band.

Miss Carmie's other stakes winner is All Rainbows, a Bold Hour mare who won three stakes races and was Grade I-placed. All Rainbows is best known as the dam of 1988 American champion 3-year-old filly Winning Colors (by Caro), one of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby (USA-I). She is also the second dam of 2003 Japan Cup (JPN-I) winner Tap Dance City and the third dam of French Group III winner Indian Maiden.

None of Miss Carmie's other six daughters came close to their elder sisters' ability as race mares, but all six became stakes producers, three of them at the Grade I level. Among them is Missed the Wedding, a Blushing Groom daughter whose first foal is 1993 Test Stakes (USA-I) winner Missed the Storm (by Storm Cat), second dam of Argentine Group II winner Global Big.

Missed the Wedding also produced multiple Grade III winner Green Means Go (by Green Dancer). She has bred on through her winning Storm Cat daughter Every Cloud, dam of multiple Grade III winner Cloud Scapes (by Smart Strike) and through her Kris S. daughter Rumors Are Flying, dam of stakes winner No Use Denying (by Maria's Mon). No Use Denying is the dam of Perfect Alibi (a daughter of Sky Mesa), and Rumors Are Flying is also the dam of stakes-placed Happy Choice (by Broken Vow), dam of stakes winner Happy Mesa (by Sky Mesa).

Perfect Alibi has much to do yet if she is to come up to the level of the champions produced by this family, but with two graded stakes wins to her credit at the Saratoga meeting, she is off to a most promising start. As for Miss Carmie, she needs no alibis for her accomplishments, for all have been gained through her merits and those of her descendants. 

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    Author

    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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