Mares on Monday - American Classic Pedigrees

Mares on Monday: Romance Sea Outruns Family in Argentine Oaks

10/30/2023

On October 14, Romance Sea rebounded from a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1) to become Argentina’s latest Classic winner in the Gran Premio Selección (Argentine Oaks, ARG-G1). The robust filly made use of a powerful run in the last 100 meters to take the measure of Polla de Potrancas winner Madonna Benois and earn her third victory from four starts.

Romance Sea is a daughter of 2017 Champagne Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Seahenge, a son of Scat Daddy and the stakes-winning Not for Love mare Fools in Love who has been shuttling between Haras de Haies Nueve in France and Haras Vacación in Argentina since entering stud in 2019. The filly is from her sire’s first Southern Hemisphere crop, which also includes Premio Old Man (ARG-G3) winner Beauty Sea.

On the distaff side of her pedigree, Romance Sea’s female family entered Argentina via the English-bred Little Miss Tootle (by 1960 July Cup winner Tin Whistle). Little Miss Tootle produced the 1971 Snow Ball mare La Independencia, in turn the dam of two stakes-producing daughters. One, Ibera Pub (by Pappe II) won both her starts before producing multiple Argentine Group winner Pub River (by the stakes-winning Ramsinga horse Riverside Sam). The other, La Iberica (by Argentine Group 3 winner El Escorial), produced 1992 Premio Republica de Panama (ARG-G3) winner Ebro Side (by Riverside Sam).

Ebro Side, in turn, produced Ebro Speed (by Ibero), dam of 2008 Premio General Belgrano (ARG-G2) winner Speed Sale (by Not for Sale), and Ebrolize (by 1988 United Nations Handicap, USA-G1, winner and 1997 Argentine Stallion of the Year Equalize). The latter mare won only one of five starts but proved a good broodmare with her 2004 foal, Lucky Island (by Lucky Roberto), who was sent to the United States and won the 2008 Tom Fool Handicap (USA-G2) and Bold Ruler Handicap (USA-G3).

Ebrolize’s next foal was unraced Summer Romance (by Argentine champion sire and broodmare sire Orpen), dam of 2021 Premio Omega (ARG-G2) winner J Be Mallorca (by J Be K) and Argentine listed stakes winner J Be Man (by J Be K). She followed up with Lize Song (by Sultry Song), dam of Argentine listed stakes winner Donna Gaia (by Don Valiente), and in 2010 produced a second stakes winner in multiple Group 3 winner Romance Night (by Orpen), who produced Romance Sea as her third foal. Romance Night has since produced the 2022 colt Reggaetonero (by Equal Stripes) and the 2023 colt Romance Latino (by Il Mercato).

The best members of Romance Sea’s family have been milers, and given that neither her sire, Seahenge, nor her broodmare sire, Orpen, showed significant form at distances of a mile or more, the source of the stamina she used to win a 2000-meter race (about 1¼ miles) is a little mysterious. Most likely, she is throwing back to her second dam’s sire, Equalize, who won the Red Smith Handicap (USA-G2) over 10 furlongs and set a new course record in winning the 9½ furlong United Nations Handicap. Regardless of where it came from, her ability to stay adds an extra dimension to an improving family.

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Mares on Monday: Maybe Next Year for Vahva

10/23/2023

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As everyone at the top end of racing gears up for the Breeders’ Cup, it’s worth keeping an eye out for those horses that won’t be there this year but might be a year away from competing on American racing’s biggest stage. Among those horses in 2023 is Vahva, who seems to have found a home for herself at 7 furlongs—which is, of course, the distance of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1). Sent after the 7-furlong Lexus Raven Run Stakes (USA-G2) after annexing the 7-furlong Charles Town Oaks (USA-G3) in her last outing, Vahva handled the step up in class in professional fashion, grinding her way past front-running Alva Star in the final sixteenth of a mile. She posted a career-best Equibase figure of 110—her second consecutive triple-digit performance—and improved her lifetime record to 10-4-2-2 with earnings of US$873,810.

A 3-year-old daughter of 2017 American Horse of the Year Gun Runner (who currently leads the American third-crop sire list and is second on the general sire list), Vahva is the fifth winner and first stakes winner from six foals of racing age produced from Holiday Soiree (by multiple Grade 1 winner and 2012 American champion juvenile sire Harlan’s Holiday). Also responsible for listed stakes-placed Signal From Noise (by Arrogate), Holiday Soiree most recently produced a 2022 filly by City of Light that went for US$400,000 at Keeneland September and a 2023 filly by Nyquist.

Holiday Soiree won the restricted Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga in 2013 and placed in five other stakes races, her efforts including a third in the 2013 Humana Distaff Stakes (USA-G1). A half sister to Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Marquee Prince (by Cairo Prince), Holiday Soiree was produced from multiple stakes-placed Try to Remember, a full sister to stakes winner Midnight Soiree. Try to Remember is also a half sister to stakes winners Silver Time (by Indian Charlie), Ciguaraya (by Latent Heat), and Fuerteventura (by Summer Front).

Include, the sire of Try to Remember and Midnight Soiree, won the 2001 Pimlico Special Handicap (USA-G1) and became the last successful sire from the male line of Domino to stand in the United States. For many years a stalwart at Brereton Jones’s Airdrie Stud, he also stood in Argentina, where he led the general sire list in 2015. Unfortunately for the continuation of his male line, he was a much better sire of fillies than colts, and his lone Group 1-winning son, 2016 Gran Premio 25 de Mayo winner Don Inc, died young. Try to Remember was produced from the Smart Strike mare Casanova Striker, a half sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Duveen (by Horse Chestnut) and restricted stakes winner Cherry Hill Lady. The female line traces back to the English import Pastorella, dam of the great Colin—an unbeaten member of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame—but it has been a long time since this female lineage produced anything remotely close to Colin’s level of class, and Vahva is the best horse produced by her tail-female line in generations.

Vahva is inbred 4x4x5 to two-time American champion sire and seven-time champion juvenile sire Storm Cat, a reliable source of speed and precocity as well as overall class. Given that her sire and dam were at their best as 4-year-olds, there seems to be good reason to hope that she will continue her improvement in 2024. If she does, look for her in the Breeders’ Cup starting gate in 2024.

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Mares on Monday: Tony Ann Proves a Good Bet in Franklin Stakes

10/16/2023

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Reigning Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1) winner Caravel was a heavy favorite for the Franklin Stakes (USA-G2) at Keeneland on Sunday, but Tony Ann apparently hadn’t gotten the word. The fifth choice in the field of eight fillies and mares, the lightly raced 5-year-old battled stride for stride with the multiple Grade 1 winner through the final sixteenth of a mile and at the wire prevailed by a neck. It was the first stakes win for the daughter of Cairo Prince and raised her lifetime record to 10-5-1-3 with earnings of US$511,883.

Tony Ann is a fifth-generation descendant of Itsabet, the foundation mare for Harry Isaacs’s Brookfield Farm. Like Fred Hooper down in Florida, Isaacs was something of a maverick, making use of his own homebred sires and of lines better known for soundness and toughness than for briliance and fashion. His results can hardly be faulted, as he developed a family that has had remarkable worldwide influence.

Itsabet was the first stakes winner to carry Isaacs’s colors, and she was a nice racer by anyone's standards. The daughter of two-time American champion sire Heliopolis and the Rolled Stocking mare Jayjean won four sprint stakes during her career including the 1948 Colonial Handiap and Prioress Stakes, suggesting that she was probably at least the equivalent of a modern Grade 3 winner. Following her retirement to the paddocks, she produced the stakes winners Ifabody (by Brookfield) and Isendu (by Inyureye), but her true gift to her breed was through her daughters.

The main branches of Itsabet’s family extend through Ironically (by two-time San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner Intent) and Iaround (by Round Table). The former is the ancestress of 1975 American champion 2-year-old filly Dearly Precious, 2000 European Horse of the Year and three-time American champion sire Giant’s Causeway, 1982 Oaks d’Italia (ITY-G1) winner Ilenia, and English Group 2 winner You’resothrilling, the dam of European Classic winners Marvellous, Gleneagles, and Joan of Arc as well as Irish Group 1 winner Happily. The latter is the ancestress of Grade/Group 1 winners Leroy S., Is Your Pleasure, Little Baby Bear, So Factual, and I Believe I You and is also the granddam of 1977 Irish champion 2-year-old filly Sookera, whose daughter Kerali is the second dam of American champions Leroidesanimaux, Banks Hill, and Intercontinental as well as Canadian Horse of the Year Champes Elysees.

Is Certain, Itsabet’s 1966 daughter by 1963 Wood Memorial Stakes winner No Robbery (by Swaps), is less accomplished but not inconsequential. The dam of 1976 Riggs Handicap (USA-G3) winner Surely Royal (by Young Emperor), she also produced Grade 2-placed stakes winner In True Form (by multiple stakes winner Imasmartee, by Amerigo) and the winning Cormorant mare I’m Well Bred, second dam of 1998 Jersey Derby (USA-G2) winner Who Did It and Run.

In True Form also became a multiple stakes producer, throwing multiple restricted stakes winner Top of Our Game (by Steinlen) and claiming stakes winner Truly Needy (by Yukon), in turn the dam of 2004 Native Diver Handicap (USA-G3) winner Truly a Judge (by Judge T. C.). In addition, she produced Freedom Dance (by Irish Group 3 winner Moscow Ballet, by Nijinsky II), who won nine of her 17 starts without gaining black type. Freedom Dance, in turn, produced 2008 Ancient Title Breeders’ Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Cost of Freedom (by Cee’s Tizzy) and the winning In Excess mare Never Ever, who produced Tony Ann as her eighth foal and most recently foaled 4-year-old Midnight’s Girl, a winning daughter of Midnight Storm.

While Caravel will go on to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint if all goes well, further plans have not yet been announced for Tony Ann. While most breeding farms would be more than happy to welcome her to their broodmare band, it can be hoped that she will get at least another chance or two to demonstrate her class and her courage before she goes to the paddocks.

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Mares on Monday: Just a Three-Race Champion?

10/9/2023

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Figuring out a 2-year-old’s true merit is a maddening exercise these days, given the frequent appearance of maiden winners (however impressive) coming off that single start to run in what is supposedly a Grade 1 race. When the race is run over an off track, the form becomes even more difficult to decipher. That is worrisome enough for horseplayers, who will be looking at a lot of animals in the juvenile races of the Breeders’ Cup who are coming in off only two or three lifetime starts. For those looking at pedigrees and performances with an eye to the next generation, it is still more concerning; there are Grade 1 wins that indicate ability easily in the top percentile of the breed, and there are Grade 1 wins that mark the victor only as the best of a weak group on a particular day.

Among the newly presented puzzle pieces in the juvenile filly division is Just F Y I, who earned a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” slot for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1) off a drawing-off 3¾ length win in the Frizette Stakes (USA-G1). A first-out winner in a 6-furlong maiden at Saratoga on August 26, the Bill Mott trainee faced three other fillies with only a maiden win to their credits in Life Talk (who was making her third lifetime start), Central Avenue, and even-money favorite Emery. The only Frizette entrants to have won twice were Princess Indy, who won the one-mile Sorority Stakes at Monmouth on August 20 for her second win from three starts, and Irish Maxima, who came in undefeated in two races.

Bill Mott has never been known for cranking down hard on juveniles, especially when bigger targets lie ahead, and perhaps the sealed track had something to do with a lackluster set of performances across the board; according to Equibase speed figures, not one filly in the field matched or outdid her previous best form, and most regressed substantially. Nonetheless, Just F Y I’s figure was the worst in the Frizette since 2006, when Sutra pulled a 12.50-1 upset, and it was about 20 points below the average figures posted by the champions and serious championship contenders that have won this race since then. That’s not what you want to see going into racing’s biggest weekend.

Still, if Just F Y I has the talent to be more than a Grade 1 winner in a field that so far appears well below Grade 1 quality, Mott is the man to pull it out and develop it, and on pedigree it should be there. The filly is a daughter of 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify, who has been red-hot lately with Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches (FR-G1) winner Opera Singer, Jessamine Stakes Presented by Keeneland November (USA-G2) winner Buchu, and Miss Grillo Stakes (USA-G2) winner Hard to Justfy all emerging since the beginning of October. Now the sire of 18 stakes winners, who also include 2023 Grade 1 winners Arabian Lion and Aspen Grove, Justify may well see a bump to the US$100,000 stud fee he commanded in 2023 when Ashford Stud releases its 2024 fees.

On the distaff side, Just F Y I is one of three winners from as many foals of racing age produced by Star Act, whose only other produce is a 2023 full sister to Just F Y I. A stakes-placed daughter of 2002 Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Street Cry, Star Act is a half sister to Celebrity Cat (by Storm Cat), whose son Uncle Benny (by Declaration of War) won two listed races and ran second in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1).

Star Act, in turn, is out of Starrer, who gave the performance of a lifetime in finishing first in the 2001 Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) by 11 lengths. Unfortunately, she did so without the services of her jockey, Chris McCarron, who had been unseated at the break, but she later made up for the missed opportunity by winning the 2003 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (USA-G1) and Santa Maria Handicap (USA-G1) as well as three Grade 2 races. A daughter of the top stamina influence Dynaformer, Starrer is a half sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Stellar Jayne (by Wild Rush) and is out of multiple Grade 3-placed To the Hunt (by Relaunch), whose half sister American Royale (by American Standard), a multiple Grade 2 winner, was one of the fastest sprint fillies ever seen in New York for as long as she stayed healthy.

On paper, Just F Y I has the potential for some significant upside as she continues to develop, and she will need to tap into some of that potential if she is to compete with the likes of FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante Stakes (USA-G1) winner Tamara, Darley Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G1) winner Candied, and Chandelier Stakes (USA-G2) winner Chatalas, all of whom have run substantially faster figures during their own brief careers. Any one of these fillies can nail down a championship by proving in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies that her signature win thus far was not a one-off. The likelihood is that when the dust has settled, the juvenile filly champion will be unbeaten but with only three starts under her girth—not very satisfying to those of us who can remember when even 2-year-old champions were much more thoroughly tested, but reflective of today’s racing world, at least in North America.

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Mares on Monday: Streaking Adare Manor is a Distaff Contender

10/2/2023

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On paper, Sunday’s Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G2) at Santa Anita looked like a paid workout for heavily favored Adare Manor, a last-out winner of the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (USA-G1). In this case, the reality was perfectly in line with the prediction. Only three other fillies and mares entered the starting gate, and none had the early speed to go with Adare Manor. On cruise control from start to finish, the big filly easily added her third Grade 2 win of the season to go with her Grade 1 score. She won by 5¼ lengths, stopping the timer for the 8.5 furlongs in 1:43.70.

A daughter of Uncle Mo, Adare Manor is from the family of the mid-20th century matriarch Rough Shod II through a branch descended from the great mare’s granddaughter Aphonia. A half sister by Tom Fool’s good racing son Dunce to three-time American champion Gamely, Aphonia produced stakes winners George Spelvin (by Nantallah), Messina (by Secretariat), and Sitzmark (by J. O. Tobin) as well as the good Florida sire Cutlass (by Damascus) and multiple stakes producer Nosey Nan (by Nantallah), dam of stakes winners Regal Rumor (by Damascus; dam of stakes winner Bayou Hebert, by Hoist the Flag), Table the Rumor (by Round Table), and No Cabeza (by Executioner).

These results were good but hardly spectacular, and unraced Secret Rumor (a full sister to Regal Rumor) did not even rise to that level, producing five low-class winners from nine foals. Among her non-winners were two unraced mares by Spectacular Bid. One, Spectacularsecret, was sent to Brazil, where she produced Grande Prêmio João Borges Filho (BRZ-G2) winner Hot Way (by Robbama, by Roberto x Table the Rumor), Grande Prêmio Federico Lundgren (BRZ-G3) winner Exalting (by New Colony), and Brazilian listed stakes winner Moroti. The other is unraced Jennifer’s Bid (by Spectacular Bid), who produced only two foals but came up with a decent runner in listed stakes winner Miss Bid Flash (by Horse Flash), in turn the dam of listed stakes winner Spectacular Cat (by Forest Wildcat).

Maya’s Note, a winner by Editor’s Note, was the only producing daughter of Miss Bid Flash, and she continued the modest success of this branch of the family via stakes winner Effie Trinket (by Freud), who placed in three Grade 2 races, and unraced Explosive Story (by the winning Storm Cat horse Radio Star), dam of 2016 Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare Stakes (USA-G3) winner Brooklynsway (by multiple Grade 3 winner Giant Gizmo, by Giant’s Causeway). Brooklynsway, in turn, produced Adare Manor as her first foal; she has since foaled an unnamed 2-year-old filly by Into Mischief, the 2022 Ghostzapper filly Nosleeptilbroodklyn, and a 2023 colt by Uncle Mo before being bred back to Tapit.

On her 4-year-old form, Adare Manor is the best runner produced by her branch of the Rough Shod II family since Gamely, and she appears to be heading into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1) with a good shot off a five-race win streak and five consecutive triple-digit Equibase speed figures. In a year in which the major contenders in the division have taken turns in producing top performances and then falling to another rival, her consistency is welcome; the question is whether she has the wherewithal to beat the best race that the likes of Nest, Clairiere, Secret Oath, or Idiomatic can deliver. On past performances, if any of these contenders brings her “A” game, Adare Manor has yet to show that she can quite match that level. Let the others falter even slightly, however, and the door may be wide open for Adare Manor to gallop through.

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Mares on Monday: Romance Sea Outruns Family in Argentine Oaks

Mares on Monday: Maybe Next Year for Vahva

Mares on Monday: Tony Ann Proves a Good Bet in Franklin Stakes

Mares on Monday: Just a Three-Race Champion?

Mares on Monday: Streaking Adare Manor is a Distaff Contender

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