Last week was a good one for the late Into Mischief stallion Can the Man, whose progeny swept two top-level 1600-meter events for 3-year-olds at Brazil’s Gávea course on February 1 as well as picking up a Group 3 win in the same country on February 7. The leading lady in this series of successes was Veil, who got the better of a testing stretch battle to win the Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1). The runner-up in Cidade Jardim’s version of the Grande Prêmio Diana (BRZ-G1) in her last outing back in November, Veil collected her second Group score and her first at the Group 1 level, adding another elite success to the record of a family that has been producing good horses in the Western Hemisphere for nearly two centuries.
Tracing back to the Irish-bred Vamp, who was imported to the United States in 1835, this branch of Bruce Lowe Family 1-o kicked into high gear through Friar’s Carse. Although she was a daughter of 1916 American Horse of the Year Friar Rock, who was commonly reckoned to be the best stayer of his day in the United States, Friar’s Carse took more after the speed commonly imparted by her maternal grandsire, Superman (a grandson of the brilliant Domino) and was considered the best American juvenile filly of 1925 in spite of a wind problem that prematurely ended her racing career.
Friar’s Carse was one of the few top-quality race mares put to the great Man o’ War during the latter part of his stud career, and she did not waste those opportunities. Her son War Relic, although vile-tempered and no better than the third-best 3-year-old colt of 1941—and it was not close between him and his superiors, American Triple Crown winner Whirlaway and the grand stayer Market Wise—managed to continue Man o’ War’s male line through his sons Intent and Relic, and his full sisters Speed Boat and War Kilt were both good race mares and important producers.
Anchors Ahead was also a full sister to War Relic but never made it to the track. She made up for that by producing three stakes winners, the best of which was 1944 Spinaway Stakes winner and stakes producer Price Level (by Sickle). Anchors Ahead also produced Honor Bound (by Bull Dog), another excellent broodmare whose foals included 1968 Widener Stakes winner Sette Bello (by Ribot), 1956 Westerner Stakes winner Count of Honor (by Count Fleet), and 1955 Vanity Handicap winner Countess Fleet (by Count Fleet), as well as the noteworthy broodmares Her Honor and Contessa Honora (both by Count Fleet).
Count Fleet, the 1943 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year, was both a champion sire of racehorses and a champion broodmare sire, and Countess Fleet lived up to both sides of that heritage. She produced the good 1960s turf runner Flit-to (by Turn-to), the equivalent of a multiple graded stakes winner; stakes winner Sir Earl (by Sir Gaylord); and 1976 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (USA-G2) winner Fleet Victress (by King of the Tudors), dam of stakes winner Minstress (by The Minstrel). Unfortunately, Countess Fleet left only one other filly, the winner Fleet Empress (by Young Emperor), and while Fleet Empress did produce the minor stakes winner Band Practice (by Stop the Music), she did not seem a likely candidate to carry the line much further—especially after none of her seven daughters managed to produce a stakes winner.
The eldest of those daughters was the winning Advocator mare Queen’s Advice, who failed to produce any winners among her six named foals. This might have been the end of the story, except that her younger daughter, the Megaturn mare Pointe Du Bout, was exported to Brazil after being purchased for US$2,500 as a short yearling from the 1990 Keeneland January mixed sale. That was a turning point in the family fortunes, as Point Du Bout, a winner in her adopted country, first produced three-time listed stakes winner Charge Ahead (by Irish Fighter) and then the 1999 Trempolino filly Zimbamia, who won the 2002 Grande Prêmio Diana at Cidade Jardim. Point Du Bout also produced Tua Carina (by Our Emblem), dam of 2025 Grande Prêmio Proclamacao da Republica (BRZ-G2) winner Piu Carina (by Kentuckian), and Vestida de Noiva (by Dubai Dust), who produced Veil as her fifth foal.
As illustrated by the history of the family of Friar’s Carse, not every branch of even the best families will continue to produce at a high level. Some will be culled out from the better breeding programs, and most of those failures will continue to display why they became culls. Every now and then, though, one becomes a pleasant surprise. Point du Bout has been one such, going from bargain-basement yearling to Group 1 producer, and it can be hoped that Veil and Piu Carina will continue the upward trend, both in the remainder of their racing careers and as producers.
Tracing back to the Irish-bred Vamp, who was imported to the United States in 1835, this branch of Bruce Lowe Family 1-o kicked into high gear through Friar’s Carse. Although she was a daughter of 1916 American Horse of the Year Friar Rock, who was commonly reckoned to be the best stayer of his day in the United States, Friar’s Carse took more after the speed commonly imparted by her maternal grandsire, Superman (a grandson of the brilliant Domino) and was considered the best American juvenile filly of 1925 in spite of a wind problem that prematurely ended her racing career.
Friar’s Carse was one of the few top-quality race mares put to the great Man o’ War during the latter part of his stud career, and she did not waste those opportunities. Her son War Relic, although vile-tempered and no better than the third-best 3-year-old colt of 1941—and it was not close between him and his superiors, American Triple Crown winner Whirlaway and the grand stayer Market Wise—managed to continue Man o’ War’s male line through his sons Intent and Relic, and his full sisters Speed Boat and War Kilt were both good race mares and important producers.
Anchors Ahead was also a full sister to War Relic but never made it to the track. She made up for that by producing three stakes winners, the best of which was 1944 Spinaway Stakes winner and stakes producer Price Level (by Sickle). Anchors Ahead also produced Honor Bound (by Bull Dog), another excellent broodmare whose foals included 1968 Widener Stakes winner Sette Bello (by Ribot), 1956 Westerner Stakes winner Count of Honor (by Count Fleet), and 1955 Vanity Handicap winner Countess Fleet (by Count Fleet), as well as the noteworthy broodmares Her Honor and Contessa Honora (both by Count Fleet).
Count Fleet, the 1943 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year, was both a champion sire of racehorses and a champion broodmare sire, and Countess Fleet lived up to both sides of that heritage. She produced the good 1960s turf runner Flit-to (by Turn-to), the equivalent of a multiple graded stakes winner; stakes winner Sir Earl (by Sir Gaylord); and 1976 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (USA-G2) winner Fleet Victress (by King of the Tudors), dam of stakes winner Minstress (by The Minstrel). Unfortunately, Countess Fleet left only one other filly, the winner Fleet Empress (by Young Emperor), and while Fleet Empress did produce the minor stakes winner Band Practice (by Stop the Music), she did not seem a likely candidate to carry the line much further—especially after none of her seven daughters managed to produce a stakes winner.
The eldest of those daughters was the winning Advocator mare Queen’s Advice, who failed to produce any winners among her six named foals. This might have been the end of the story, except that her younger daughter, the Megaturn mare Pointe Du Bout, was exported to Brazil after being purchased for US$2,500 as a short yearling from the 1990 Keeneland January mixed sale. That was a turning point in the family fortunes, as Point Du Bout, a winner in her adopted country, first produced three-time listed stakes winner Charge Ahead (by Irish Fighter) and then the 1999 Trempolino filly Zimbamia, who won the 2002 Grande Prêmio Diana at Cidade Jardim. Point Du Bout also produced Tua Carina (by Our Emblem), dam of 2025 Grande Prêmio Proclamacao da Republica (BRZ-G2) winner Piu Carina (by Kentuckian), and Vestida de Noiva (by Dubai Dust), who produced Veil as her fifth foal.
As illustrated by the history of the family of Friar’s Carse, not every branch of even the best families will continue to produce at a high level. Some will be culled out from the better breeding programs, and most of those failures will continue to display why they became culls. Every now and then, though, one becomes a pleasant surprise. Point du Bout has been one such, going from bargain-basement yearling to Group 1 producer, and it can be hoped that Veil and Piu Carina will continue the upward trend, both in the remainder of their racing careers and as producers.
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