Blog Archives

Mares on Monday: West Will Power's Family Worth Getting to Know

10/31/2022

West Will Power isn’t a horse that belongs with the greats of the sport or even the best horses of this season, but he is a horse that an awful lot of owners and trainers would love to have in their barns. The 5-year-old son of Bernardini is lightly raced for his age, having made but 12 starts, but he is as consistent as anyone could ask, with five wins and five seconds to his credit. To those credentials, he has added the cachet of “graded states winner,” taking advantage of a favorable pace scenario to dominate the Hagyard Fayette Stakes (USA-G2) on October 29 at Keeneland.

West Will Power is a fifth-generation descendant of Who’s to Know, whose family’s career has somewhat paralleled her great-great-great-grandson’s—never quite the height of equine fashion or accomplishment, but more than respectable. A daughter of Fleet Nasrullah and the stakes-winning Spy Song mare Masked Lady, she traces back in tail-female to the champion race mare and twentieth-century foundation mare Myrtlewood, who through other branches of her family is the ancestress of champions and Classic winners such as Seattle Slew, Vagrancy, Black Tarquin, and Durazna as well as the great sire Mr. Prospector.

Who’s to Know became a minor stakes winner at age 4 before heading to the broodmare ranks. The best of her nine foals on the track was 1978 Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G2) and Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G3) winner Angel Island (by Cougar II), who in turn produced multiple Grade 2 winner Sharrood (by Caro) and stakes winners Our Reverie (by J. O. Tobin) and Island Escape (by Slew o’ Gold) and is the second dam of 2005 Texas Mile Stakes (USA-G3) winner High Strike Zone (by Smart Strike). Among Who’s to Know’s other daughters, multiple stakes-placed Confirmed Affair (by Affirmed) produced stakes winner This One’s for Us (by Cox’s Ridge) and is the second dam of Brazilian Group 2 winner Ojos Claros (by American Gipsy), while unraced All Too True (by Caro) produced 1988 Ascot Handicap (USA-G3) winner Truly Met (by Mehmet).

Jolie Jolie (Sir Ivor x Who’s to Know) was also unraced, but she proved to be the jewel among her siblings as a producer, coming up with four stakes winners. The best of the group was Jolie’s Halo (by Halo), a confirmed front runner who overcame physical issues to be a three-time Grade 1 winner at ages 4 and 5. A muscular, top-heavy horse with sharp natural speed, Jolie’s Halo stood three seasons in Florida at Bridlewood Farm before being exported to Japan, where he died in 2005 as the result of a paddock accident. He sired 21 stakes winners from 737 named foals, the best of which was 2000 Florida Derby (USA-G1) and 2002 Gulfstream Park Handicap (USA-G1) winner Hal’s Hope.

Jolie Jolie also produced 1987 Nashua Stakes (USA-G2) winner Cougarized (by Cougar II), Grade 2-placed listed stakes winner Mister Jolie (by Valid Appeal), and multiple stakes winner Pleasant Jolie (by Pleasant Colony). The last-named mare is the dam of listed stakes winner Jolie the Cat (by Tale of the Cat) and is the second dam of the bad-footed and not overly correct but talented Southern Image (by Halo’s Image), whose six wins from eight starts included the 2003 Malibu Stakes (USA-G1), the 2004 Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1), and the 2004 Pimlico Special Handicap (USA-G1). In addition, Pleasant Jolie is the second dam of Peruvian champion Elita Bonita and Japanese Group 3 winner Black Bar Spin (by Put It Back) and is the third dam of 2012 United Nations Handicap (USA-G1) winner Turbo Compressor (by Halo’s Image).

Jolie’s Valentine (Storm Cat x Jolie Jolie) failed to win but is the second dam of multiple Chilean Group 1 winner La Buena Vida (by Gemologist), while another Jolie Jolie daughter, Sweet and Dandee (by Pass the Line), is the third dam of 2009 American Derby (USA-G2) winner Reb (by Stormy Atlantic). West Will Power is descended from yet another daughter, Has Promise (by Skip Trial), whose daughter Frosty Promise (by the world record setting His Majesty horse Frosty the Snowman) produced 2007 Arcadia Handicap (USA-G2) winner Icy Atlantic (by Stormy Atlantic) and 2008 My Charmer Handicap (USA-G3) winner Wild Promises (by Grade 1 winner and five-time Brazilian champion sire Wild Event); Wild Promises, in turn, produced West Will Power as her sixth foal. Her only subsequent foal is Cross Your Heart, an unraced 4-year-old filly by Curlin.

By the standards of other branches of Myrtlewood’s family, the record of Who’s to Know and her descendants has not been particularly spectacular. By almost any other yardstick, however, this is a family almost any breeder would be happy to tie into. It has not tended to produce the prettiest of specimens, limiting its commercial appeal, and its three Grade 1-winning males, all from the Halo male line, have not exactly set the world on fire as sires. For these reasons, West Will Power seems likelier to end up in a regional market or abroad than in Kentucky when his time comes to go to stud. Nonetheless, this is a family worth studying, not least for its tendency to throw clusters of stakes winners by the same or closely related sires. For the prudent breeder who believes in digging for gold where it has been previously found, who’s to know what further success lies waiting to be mined?

0 Comments

Mares on Monday: Success North and South of the Border With Doreen

10/24/2022

0 Comments

On October 15, Natan captured the second leg of Argentina's Triple Crown series, taking the Gran Premio Jockey Club (ARG-G1) at San Isidro after three straight second-place finishes in Group 1 events. Bred by leading Argentine stud farm Haras Carampangue, the son of the Group 2-placed Candy Ride horse Señor Candy races for Caballeriza Las Monjitas.

Natan is from the family of two-time Argentine champion Dorine, who was bred on the same cross of Argentine champion sire Aristophanes over daughters of Advocate that produced the great Forli. This family is well known in the United States through Dorine's daughter Grecian Banner (by Hoist the Flag) whose daughter Personal Ensign (by Private Account) became the American champion older female of 1988 and the Kentucky Broodmare of the Year of 1996. More than just a successful broodmare during her own producing career, Personal Ensign is a modern matriarch whose family is continuing to expand. (For my most recent post on Personal Ensign and her family, see "Mares on Monday: Dynamic One Keeps Flags Flying," July 11, 2022.)

Prior to her export from Argentina, Dorine produced Dory (by the English import Right of Way), who has been the primary conduit for the Argentine branch of the family. Bred and owned by the famous Argentine stud Haras Ojo de Agua, Dory neither became a major winner nor produced any, but her daughter Our Dory (by 1974 Saratoga Special, USA-G2, winner Our Talisman) proved the worth of her genes by producing Doryanna (by the important Argentine sire and broodmare sire Fitzcarraldo), winner of the 1991 Las Oaks (Chilean Oaks, CHI-G1), and 1995 Premio Cyllene (ARG-G2) winner Grand Dory (by Grand Chelem). Our Dory is also the second dam of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Dorylda (by Bernstein) and Premio Criadores Dorama (CHI-G2) winner Mi Coqueta (by Scat Daddy) and the third dam of 2008 Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena (ARG-G1) winner Luna Arrabalera (by Silver Planet).

Dory's daughter Doryanne (by champion Argentine sire and broodmare sire Good Manners) also had some importance in the paddocks, producing multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Dorian Gray (by Merce Cunningham), but the daughter of Dory important to Natal's history is Doryl, a full sister to Our Dory. A good allowance winner while racing in the United States, Doryl is the dam of 2003 Argentine champion sprinter Forty Doriana (by Roar), 2000 Gran Premio Estrellas Sprint (ARG-G1) winner Dionisio Tom (by Shy Tom), and listed stakes winner Shy Dory (by Shy Tom). Through her Argentine-bred daughters, Doryl is also the second dam of Premio General Manuel Belgrano (ARG-G2) winner Forty Dorico (by Roar), Premio Miguel Angel y Tomas Juarez Celman (ARG-G2) winner Pure Doris (by Pure Prize), and Premio Fernando Coloma Reyes (CHI-G2) winner Salomar (by Practical Joke), who earned her Group brackets on the same day as Natal's victory.

Before Doryl was shipped back to Argentina from the United States, she had produced five foals, the last of which was a 1990 California-bred daughter of the Icecapade horse Fatih (a multiple Grade 2 winner). Named Native Doryl, she won one of nine starts before being exported to Chile, from whence she eventually made her way to Haras Carampangue. Her one foal of importance is the Argentine-bred Nuit (by 1998 Prix Morny, FR-G1, winner Orpen, a champion sire and broodmare sire in Argentina), a winner of three of 16 starts who is now the dam of two Argentine Group 1 winners in 2022. One is Natan; the other is Nievre (by Catcher in the Rye), winner of the Gran Premio Republica Argentina on May 1. Nuit's most recent foals are the 2021 Suggestive Boy filly Nieva and the 2022 Nicholas colt Notting Hill.

While the North American and South American branches of Dorine's family have pursued largely independent courses, both have produced some top-flight runners while contributing substantially to the fortunes of some major breeders on both continents. One could hardly ask for more as the legacy of a champion mare whose influence in the New World continues to grow.

0 Comments

Mares on Monday: Gina Romantica Creates a Special Moment for Special Me

10/17/2022

0 Comments

On October 15, Gina Romantica won the first running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (USA-G1) since Her Majesty’s death on September 8. As special a moment as it was for the filly’s current connections, it was perhaps still more special for Craig and Carrie Brogden, whose Machmer Hall bred Gina Romantica from the Unbridled’s Song mare Special Me. From an initial US$6,000 outlay for the mare, the Brogdens have bred a group of foals that includes four graded stakes winners and has collective earnings of nearly US$3.1 million.

As a broodmare, Special Me has been a case of breeding up from rather modest stock. Her fifth dam, Pamper Me, was sired by the excellent racehorse Alsab, a two-time American champion who was a solid but unspectacular sire, out of Blandish, a daughter of Blenheim II and the English import Winsome Way. Blandish was a half sister to 1935 American champion 2-year-old filly Forever Yours, but she failed to place in two starts, and Pamper Me was the best of her seven foals, winning the 1957 Jasmine Stakes at Hialeah and placing in two other stakes events. Pamper Me, in turn, produced four winners from seven foals, including two stakes-placed runners.

Pretty Delta, Pamper Me’s 1967 filly by the good but not particularly fashionable sire Delta Judge (a speedy runner who took his biggest win in the 1962 Sapling Stakes) did not even accomplish that much, managing four placings from nine starts, and she produced only two foals. The first, Delta Junction (by Pia Star) was a useful sort who won six of 29 starts and was stakes-placed; the second, Golden Delta, was an unraced daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Gold and Myrrh (by Damascus), another horse who was a decent sire but would not have made anyone’s list of fashionable stallions.

Golden Delta’s standing as a broodmare can be judged by the stallions she was put to to produce her five foals: Island Sultan, Same Direction, and Cool Victor, none of which were exactly household names. To her credit, she produced the best runner sired by Same Direction (a stakes-placed son of Vice Regent) and one of only two stakes winners for that sire, Domasca Dan, who won the 1989 Jamaica Handicap (USA-G2) and three Canadian stakes races. His full sister Domasco Danielle showed some promise, running third in the 1989 Fanfreluche Stakes (CAN-R) as a juvenile, but was forced into retirement after only three starts.

As a broodmare, Domasco Danielle got better opportunities than her dam, seeing a list of stallions that had either proved their quality as racehorses or were at least reasonably good as sires. Her best runner was sired by her first mate, 1980 American champion 2-year-old male Lord Avie, who did very well as a stallion without ever cracking the top rank. The offspring of this union was Delta Danielle, who won eight of her 37 starts and placed in three stakes races. She, in turn, produced 11 winners from 13 foals, among them 2004 Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) winner Our New Recruit (by Alphabet Soup), whose prowess probably had something to do with Delta Danielle’s being accepted for the 2005 book of Unbridled’s Song.

Special Me never really had the opportunity to demonstrate whether she possessed any of her half brother’s talent; born premature, she was lucky to even stay alive and grew to only 14.2 hands. She raced only at 2, going unplaced in three starts, and sold to the Brogdens for US$6,000 at the 2009 Keeneland January sale as a horse of racing age. She was bred to Street Hero that same year and in 2010 produced the winner Restricted List. Her next foal began revealing her potential as a broodmare; under the name of Stonetastic, the daughter of Mizzen Mast won the 2014 Prioress Stakes (USA-G2) and the 2016 Inside Information Stakes (USA-G2) and placed in six other graded events, including a runner-up finish in the 2016 Humana Distaff Stakes (USA-G1).

Since then, Special Me has gone from strength to strength as a producer. Her 2013 colt, Gift Box (by Twirling Candy), won the 2019 Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1) and two editions of the San Antonio Handicap (USA-G2); a strongly-made, deep-bodied horse, he entered stud at Lane’s End Farm in 2021. 2019 was also the year that Special Me’s sixth foal, Special Forces (by Twirling Candy’s sire Candy Ride) won the Autumn Stakes (CAN-G2) at Woodbine, and he has since won the 2021 Durham Cup Stakes (CAN-G3) as well as placing in four Grade 3 races. Gina Romantica, a daughter of Into Mischief, is Special Me’s most recent star, and the mare has since produced a 2021 filly by Curlin and a 2022 colt by Into Mischief. She was bred to Twirling Candy for 2023.

Not every undersized, poor-performing young mare is going to become a great bargain; most US$6,000 horses have that kind of price tag for a reason. In Special Me’s case, a vital clue that she might be something more than she seemed was her medical record, which provided a legitimate reason other than genetics for her tiny size and less than inspiring racing career. Now 16, she does not have too many more foals left in her, but a group of well-bred daughters, Gina Romantica included, will have all the opportunities that could be asked to help their dam take the next step up from top-flight producer to foundation mare. If they do, they will constitute another chapter written in the story of a mare who is already one of the great bargains of the turf.

0 Comments

Mares on Monday: Slammed by New Mexico at Keeneland

10/10/2022

0 Comments

Sometimes a good horse seems to come from nowhere. Such was the case when Slammed dominated Keeneland's Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (USA-G2) on October 8. The New Mexico-bred filly had won five non-blacktype stakes races against fellow New Mexico-breds but had not quite gotten the job done in her graded stakes debut, the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (USA-G3) at Del Mar, when she was second by a half-length to 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1) runner-up and multiple Grade 3 winner Edgeway after a stretch-long battle. This time she got away cleanly and went straight to the lead, and that was where she stayed throughout. She hit the finish line with ears pricked and over six lengths in front, leaving multiple graded stakes winner Sconsin, Grade 3 winner Carribean Caper, and three other stakes winners in her wake.

Like most horses who emerge from off the beaten path, Slammed has some pedigree in back of parents who were less than stellar. Bred by co-owner Brad King (who owns the filly in partnership with Suzanne Kirby and Barbara Coleman) and trainer Todd Fincher, Slammed is from the first crop of the Bernardini horse Marking. Runner-up in the 2015 Malibu Stakes (USA-G1) and the 2016 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (USA-G3), Marking is a half brother to 2019 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2) winner Lake Avenue (by Tapit) and is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Seventh Street (by Street Cry), a half sister to 2013 Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) winner Reynaldothewizard (by Speightstown). Seventh Street is also a half sister to Grade 2-placed American Story (by Ghostzapper), dam of 2017 Longines Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner American Gal and stakes winner Americanize (both by Concord Point) and is out of multiple listed stakes winner Holiday Runner (by Meadowlake), so Marking is far from an off-bred horse.

Slammed is out of Hennesey Smash, whose family has been doing good work on the Southwestern circuit since her fourth dam Wembley Blue (a half sister to multiple California stakes winner Honored Sir, by Count of Honor) became the foundation mare for the New Mexico-based breeding program of Margaret O. duPont and Margaret V. Bloss. A daughter of the unheralded sire British Roman (a stakes-winning son of Endeavour II), Wembley Blue produced stakes winners Half Smash (by the unraced Khaled horse Binary), Service Over (by New Policy), and Smash It (by Foggy Road).

All three of Wembley Blue's black-type runners won juvenile stakes races on the New Mexico circuit, and Half Smash won a minor stakes at Sunland Park as a 3-year-old as well. Both she and Smash It were successful broodmares on their level. From three foals, Smash It produced Luckily Smashed (by What Luck) and Sunnily Smashed (by Sunny South), both of which won stakes races at 2 and 3 and both of which became dams of non-blacktype stakes winners in the Southwest.

Half Smash was retained by her breeders after her racing career and proved the best of Wembley Blue's daughters as a producer, coming up with listed stakes winner Last Eight Club (by Grade 2-placed Native Uproar, by Raise a Native), listed-placed multiple stakes winner Rad (by Al Hattab), and stakes winner A Smash (by Star de Naskra). By this time, the family had been sufficiently upgraded that duPont and Bloss were able to breed A Smash to Grade 1 winner Mogambo on a foal share with Calumet Farm, and the resulting foal was A Smashing Chance, winner of the 1992 Old Town Derby at Albuquerque.

A Smash failed to produce another stakes winner, but she continued to get opportunities with decent stallions, among them the multiple stakes winner and successful Southwestern regional sire Rare Brick (by Mr. Prospector). The result, the 1995 filly Some Smash, never made it to the race track, but she made up for it with progeny that amassed just over US$2.3 million in earnings, including restricted stakes winners Star Smasher (by Full Choke), Some Ghost (by Ghostly Moves), ZZZs Ghost (by Ghostly Moves) and Smash Dancer (by Robyn Dancer). She also produced Hennesey Smash (by Grade 3 winner Roll Hennessy Roll, by Hennessy out of multiple graded stakes producer Roll Over Baby), who was a multiple stakes winner in state-bred company and became the only one of her sibling group to take an open stakes when she won the 2012 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park.

Slammed is a half sister to Grade 3-placed open stakes winner Smash Ticket (a daughter of Midnight Lute who earned her graded black type by running third in the 2021 Sorrento Stakes and to multiple state-bred stakes winner Roll On Diabolical (by Diabolical). Since producing Smash Ticket, Hennesey Smash has produced Arro Gate, an unraced 2-year-old son of Arrogate, and an unnamed 2022 colt by Star Guitar, a foal bred with the Louisiana-bred program in mind. The mare was most recently bred to City of Light for 2023.

Slammed's female family is hardly fashionable, but it does demonstrate the wisdom of looking at regional female families which have been top-class in their state-bred programs for generations when seeking broodmare prospects on a budget. Not every such family can be upgraded as successfully as Slammed's has been, but it is certainly worth trying, particularly when backed by a decent state-bred program where foals not up to open company can still be money makers. As for Slammed, the next question is her next start, since the "Win and You're In" slot she earned for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint does not include the US$200,000 it would take to make her eligible for the Breeders' Cup as the daughter of a non-nominated stallion. That sum would represent a big gamble for her connections, but if she does go in the Filly and Mare Sprint, she will have a fair chance to pull off a grand slam for her sire and for the New Mexico state-bred program.

0 Comments

Mares on Monday: A Chic Finish in the Miss Grillo Stakes

10/3/2022

0 Comments

On Saturday, October 1, the late sire More Than Ready added another graded stakes winner to his tally when his daughter Pleasant Passage scored a front-running win in the Miss Grillo Stakes (USA-G2) during the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting. A perfect 2-for-2, both times on the grass, the Emory Hamilton homebred now has a "Win and You're In" ticket for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile FilliesTurf (USA-G1).

Pleasant Passage is a fourth-generation descendant of Too Chic, whose family Hamilton has been nurturing since acquiring the filly for US$100,000 from the King Ranch consignment at the 1980 Fasig-Tipton July sale. Sired by French champion and Classic winner Blushing Groom from Remedia, a Dr. Fager daughter of 1962 Oaks Stakes winner Monade (see "Mares on Monday: The International Influence of Monade," October 26, 2020), the filly was probably worth the money just on her pedigree. She added to her appeal as a potential broodmare by winning the 1982 Maskette Stakes (USA-G1) and running second in that year's Alabama Stakes (USA-G1). In the paddocks, she did not disappoint, producing Grade 1 winners Chic Shirine and Queena as her first two foals.

Queena, a daughter of Mr. Prospector, was the better of the two on the track, earning laurels as the American champion older female of 1990. Following her retirement, she proved a fine broodmare, becoming the dam of 2000 Early Times Hollywood Derby (USA-G1) winner Brahms (by Danzig), 2003 Tempted Stakes (USA-G3) winner La Reina (by A.P. Indy), and stakes winner Olympic (by Danzig). She is also the second dam of Grade 2 winner Chief Havoc.

Her full sister Chic Shirine had to be content with a single Grade 1 win, this in the 1987 Ashland Stakes, but has had the greater influence in the paddocks over the decades. She is the dam of 1994 Ladies Handicap (USA-G2) winner Tara Roma and 1995 True North Handicap (USA-G1) winner Waldboro, both by Lyphard. Tara Roma, in turn, produced 2001 Go for Wand Handicap (USA-G1) winner Serra Lake (by Seattle Slew) and 2003 Ack Ack Handicap (USA-G3) winner Cappuchino (by Capote) and is the second dam of 2009 Salvator Mile Handicap (USA-G3) winner Coal Play. Chic Corine, a Nureyev half sister to Tara Roma, also did well in the paddocks, producing 2014 TVG Diana Stakes (USA-G1) winner Somali Lemonade (by Lemon Drop Kid) and stakes winner Rasta Farian (by Holy Bull) and becoming the second dam of 2011 Prix La Force (FR-G3) winner Baraan (by Dalakhani).

Chic Shirine was not done there when it came to broodmare daughters. Her 2004 Giant's Causeway filly Enchanted Rock is the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Verrazano (by More Than Ready) and 2012 Risen Star Stakes (USA-G2) winner El Padrino (by Pulpit). Chic Shirine is also the dam of Flying Passage (by A.P. Indy), dam of 2012 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (USA-G2) winner Hungry Island (by More Than Ready) and 2011 Hal's Hope Stakes (USA-G3) winner Soaring Empire (by Empire Maker).

Like her own dam, Flying Passage has been a good producer of broodmares. Her eldest daughter, the 2005 Dixieland Band mare Flying Dixie, produced only two foals, but one of them is 2019 Woodward Stakes (USA-G1) winner Preservationist (by Arch). Grade 3-placed Tokyo Time (by Medaglia d'Oro) is also a Grade 1 producer, her son Olympiad (by Speightstown) having earned top-level brackets in the 2022 Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1). Divine Rule (Empire Maker x Flying Passage) is the dam of 2022 UAE Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) winner Azure Coast (by Street Sense), and now Peaceful Passage (War Front x Flying Passage) has joined the family act by producing Pleasant Passage as her second foal. Following Pleasant Passage, Peaceful Passage produced a 2021 Kitten's Joy colt that sold for US$150,000 at the recent Keeneland September yearling sale and is in foal to Mendelssohn for 2023.

While Pleasant Passage's close relatives Hungry Island and Verrazano were best in the 8-9 furlong range, Peaceful Passage scored her only win over 12 furlongs, suggesting the possibility that Pleasant Passage may stretch out a bit further. In any event, she is a nice filly who appears to have a bright future ahead of her both on the race course and in the paddocks, and on pedigree and her performance thus far, she could hardly be more chic as a prospect to continue a fashionable and talented family.

0 Comments

Mares on Monday: West Will Power's Family Worth Getting to Know

Mares on Monday: Success North and South of the Border With Doreen

Mares on Monday: Gina Romantica Creates a Special Moment for Special Me

Mares on Monday: Slammed by New Mexico at Keeneland

Mares on Monday: A Chic Finish in the Miss Grillo Stakes

Author

Categories

Archives