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Mares on Monday: Romance Sea Outruns Family in Argentine Oaks

10/30/2023

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​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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A Blue-Collar Hero Says Farewell

6/27/2017

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Ben's Cat has never been the kind of horse to wow fans with raw talent. He is a working man's horse: honest, hard-trying, and giving the best he has every time. He and Hall of Fame trainer King Leatherbury suited each other like a couple of old warriors, and Maryland fans took both to their hearts. They were fixtures on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, seemingly ageless.

Age, however, is an opponent that can't be outrun forever, even though Ben's Cat tried. Now 11, the gelding has trained with as much enthusiasm as ever. But in the heat of a race, the final edge of speed that makes the difference between a winner and an also-ran just wasn't there anymore. For too many old geldings, that begins the spiral down into lower and lower levels of competition until an aging body can finally take no more.

Leatherbury, however, wasn't about to let that happen to a horse who has given him his best so many times. Instead, he made the decision to retire the Cat while he was still healthy and still enjoying the routine he has known for so many years. And so the horse he has known and cared for since his birth (for Leatherbury is breeder and owner as well as trainer), will go to a well-earned retirement in Kentucky, living a life of leisure.

As for Leatherbury, he will still go to the barn every day; he's been doing that since before most of us were born. It's his life, and he will continue leading it as he always has. He still has horses to train and races to win. Nonetheless, there will be a void where Ben's Cat was. You can never replace a horse like that, or the kind of connection that existed between these two old friends.

To the Cat and the King---thanks for the memories.
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In Memoriam: Seeking the Gold

7/30/2016

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He was never anyone's pet. Fiercely competitive on the racetrack, he displayed the same strong will in stall, breeding shed and paddock. For Seeking the Gold there was one way to do things---his---and you crossed him at your own peril. Even those to whom he gave grudging respect knew better than to relax around him. In every aspect of life he demanded respect, and he got it in the old-fashioned way---he earned it.

Looks? He was a magnificently handsome specimen, combining the power and muscle of his sire Mr. Prospector with the elegance and scope of his maternal grandsire Buckpasser. Pedigree? Aside from the particulars already mentioned, he came from a champion-producing family developed by Ogden Phipps.

Racing? Probably the third-best colt in a talented crop, he was out of the money only once, earned over US$2.3 million and staged two ding-dong battles with Forty Niner that were among the best races of 1988. That he lost the Haskell Invitational and the Travers by two noses to such a talented opponent was no disgrace to him, and he gained further stature by running 1988 American Horse of the Year Alysheba to a neck in the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1). It was sheer ill fortune that an injury suffered in the 1989 Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1) denied him the chance to win a championship.

Breeding? The American champion freshman sire of 1993, he never quite managed to parlay that into a general sire championship but came close, finishing second to Storm Cat in 2000. His 91 stakes winners include five champions; his daughters have put him among the top 10 American broodmare sires for the last seven consecutive years. And despite the early loss of his magnificently talented son Dubai Millennium to grass sickness, his male line appears to have a future through his grandson Dubawi, who is about the best sire in Europe not named Galileo.

With Seeking the Gold's death at Claiborne Farm on July 28, an era has come to an end. While the male line of Mr. Prospector is alive and well elsewhere, there is now no direct male representative of his line at Claiborne, where the son of Raise a Native became one of the great progenitors on the breed above and beyond the reputation he had previously gained in Florida. This does not mean that Mr. Prospector does not wield major influence in the Claiborne stallion farm; every active stallion in the barn carries Mr. Prospector's blood, including 2010 champion older male Blame, a maternal grandson of Seeking the Gold. It simply points to a shift that is common to most male lines: over the passing of time, they become more and more commonly seen on the distaff side of pedigrees. This is where Seeking the Gold already fits in, and it is no dishonorable legacy.
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Seventh Sense Could Be a Turkish Delight

3/17/2016

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On March 12, Seventh Sense turned in a sharp performance in the fifth race at Santa Anita, a maiden special weight. That by itself wouldn't be too remarkable. He is, after all, a full brother to multiple graded stakes winner Reneesgotzip, a speedy filly whose five Grade 1 placings include a second in the 2013 GEICO Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1). What is remarkable is the country code after his name: TUR.

Turkish-breds are still a long way from making regular appearances on American racetracks, but it was only a matter of time before the Turks turned out one capable of winning in good company in North America. Like Korea, Turkey has shown quite an appetite for American-bred bloodstock, especially stallions with high-class racing ability and at least some demonstrated ability to get winners. Both nations are on the same path to international racing success taken by other nations such as Argentina, Brazil and Japan: buy top racehorses if disappointing sires from countries already racing at the top level, leaven the stud pool with beautifully pedigreed animals that didn't quite come up to the mark on the track, and keep upgrading as improving success and finances permit. When you keep accumulating the best genes available in the breed however you can get them, sooner or later you're bound to come up with a horse capable of competing anywhere.

To be sure, Seventh Sense is only technically a Turkish-bred, having been conceived in the United States before his dam No Dress Code was exported to Turkey in 2012. He is not a top racehorse yet, either, though this maiden victory is certainly promising. He was a much more focused horse with blinkers added than in his first start, winning under a hand ride in the last 100 yards after peeling off opening quarters in 21.84 and 23 flat and then repelling a challenge by Giant Expectations. After that performance, he probably won't be going off at 7-1 in his next start. And if he continues to make progress, he just may make history by becoming Turkey's first North American stakes winner, marking another milestone for the Turkish breeding industry.
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Hakassan: Opportunity or Obscurity?

1/28/2016

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Move over, American Pharoah. You aren't the only Triple Crown winner in Kentucky any more.

Granted, if American Pharoah could read the headlines, he probably wouldn't be worrying about it. Millennium Farm's new acquisition Hakassan won his Triple Crown in Chile in 2012, along with a title as the best Chilean 3-year-old colt on dirt.

How far those credentials will get him in Kentucky is anyone's guess, but mine is that a good many horsemen won't give him much respect. Chilean form isn't familiar to most American horsemen, and the list of top South American runners who have failed at stud in North America is a long one. In fact, during the last century, only three horses from South America have been unequivocal successes at stud in Kentucky, all of them Argentine-bred: Forli, Lord At War, and Candy Ride. All three were champions in their native land, and all three showed high-class form in North America before going to stud.

As a group, Chilean horses haven't fared too well in the United States stallion market, although Cougar II was quite useful and begot 1982 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Gato del Sol. Nonetheless, Hakassan shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. One of seven champions sired by the Storm Cat horse Sir Cat (a multiple Grade 2 winner in the United States), he gave the impression that he greatly outclassed his peers during his Triple Crown campaign. His bloodlines aren't bad either: he is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Fusaichi's Angel, whose dam Sand Pebbles (by Sadler's Wells) is a full sister to 1992 Royal Lodge Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Desert Secret and to Group 1-placed Bineyah, second dam of Australian Group 3 winner Alzora. The family is that of the great Seattle Slew, a half brother to Hakassan's third dam, Clandestina.

Hakassan's bloodlines and performance suggest that he may be a good choice for adding some stamina to a quick mare without sacrificing too much in the way of speed and precocity. Nonetheless, Kentucky horsemen tend to have the Missouri attitude of "show me" when it comes to the unfamiliar, and Hakassan is going to need to make the most of any early opportunities if he's to gain any traction in a tough and competitive market.


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Scat Daddy's Last Song

12/14/2015

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Thoroughbred breeding suffered a sad loss with the sudden demise of Scat Daddy this morning. One of Kentucky's most popular sires, the Ashford Stud stallion bred 217 mares in 2015 and was expected to draw another large book in 2016 after cracking the top 10 on the 2015 American general sire list with 30 stakes winners and over US$9.5 million in progeny earnings. He will also be missed in Chile, where he was champion sire in 2013/14 and has seven Group 1 winners of 2015 including El Derby winner Il Campione and Las Oaks heroine Wapi.

A handsome, good-bodied son of 2001 American and European champion 2-year-old male Johannesburg and the unraced Mr. Prospector mare Love Style, Scat Daddy himself was a high-class racehorse, winning the Champagne Stakes (USA-G1) at 2 and the Florida Derby (USA-G1) at 3.  He got his stud career off with a bang as he led the 2011 American freshman sire list and was third on that year's juvenile sire list. Since then, he has consistently been among the best young sires in the country, finishing a close second to Hard Spun on the 2012 American second-crop sire list and fourth on the 2013 American third-crop sire list. To date, Scat Daddy has sired 38 Northern Hemisphere stakes winners and another 31 Southern Hemisphere stakes winners, and 42 of his stakes winners have scored at graded/Group level.

Scat Daddy's greatest attraction as a stallion was versatility; he could get European speedsters, intermediate-distance North American dirt runners and South American horses capable of getting classic distances. In this, his stud career appears to reflect that of Mr. Prospector, to whom he was inbred 4x2. Nonetheless, his greatest strength has been throwing good juveniles, a hallmark of the Storm Cat male line in general. This year, Scat Daddy set a new North American record by number of juvenile stakes winners with nine, headed by Frizette Stakes (USA-G1) winner Nickname. And the horse whose record he broke? Storm Cat, of course.

In light of Scat Daddy's too-early departure, this latest embellishment of an already strong stud record has to be bittersweet to his connections. Nonetheless, it may not be the last note in his career as he will have three more crops come to the races. We can hope that their members will provide a suitable coda to a song cut off too soon.
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John Nerud (2 Feb 1913 -- 13 Aug 2015)

8/13/2015

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An African proverb tells us that "when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground." If this is so, no one can measure the wealth of information lost to racing history with the death of John Nerud earlier today. His memories spanned eight decades of involvement in the Thoroughbred industry as a trainer, farm manager, agent, owner and breeder. To the end, he remained active in the sport he loved, pushing for needed change. Appropriately, the last racehorse to carry his colors is the winner Final Chapter, a homebred who won two races at Aqueduct earlier this year.

I did not know Nerud personally. Nonetheless, his legacy lives on in racing history and pedigrees. Without him, there would be no Dr. Fager, one of the greatest of the great. There would be no Ta Wee, and without her, no Holy Bull. There would be no Cozzene. And there would be no Fappiano and no Unbridled, a legacy that extends to American racing's newest superstar, American Pharoah. To me, that is praise enough.
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The Monday After

6/8/2015

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Racing is still feeling the euphoria from American Pharoah's sweep of the Triple Crown on Saturday. There's no reason not to enjoy the moment. Nonetheless, Pharoah's time in the limelight will be short. Even if he remains healthy and continues to sweep all before him, the chances are that the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic will be his swan song. After that, he will be off to stud and racing will be dealing with the same problems it had before.

As magnificent as American Pharoah is, he can't fix a fragmented leadership that still struggles to develop a coherent nationwide policy regarding medication use. He can't fix track owners whose failure to market their product to new customers and to take care of existing customers is cutting into fan base. He can't fix high-profile owners (not just his own) who justly or unjustly attract negative public opinion for perceived lack of integrity, questionable business practices or shady associations. And he can't fix the animal welfare issues that pop up every time a horse breaks down or is perceived as being mistreated in some way.

All of these problems are not going away. If anything, the need for action is even greater following American Pharoah's sweep, so that new fans and potential owners attracted to the sport by his excellence are not almost immediately turned off and lost. There are no quick fixes to any of these issues, but they must be addressed and addressed consistently and persistently, or racing may lose more than it gains from the glow it is enjoying now.
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Federal oversight of race-day meds: A mixed blessing

5/30/2015

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I have to admit to mixed feelings regarding Congressman Paul Tonko's proposed bill to inaugurate federal oversight of the Thoroughbred industry's use of medication and anti-doping efforts through the US Anti-Doping Agency, the same agency that provides similar functions for human athletes representing the United States in the Olympics and Paralympics. On the one hand, a national policy in these issues is well overdue and has been greatly hampered by the lack of cooperation among the various state racing agencies and other major players such as the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club. On the other hand, federal oversight brings with it the risk of federal intrusion and over-regulation -- no small risk, especially considering the current government climate that appears to prefer bureaucratic activism to getting laws passed properly through Congress.

If federal oversight is necessary, the USADA sounds like an excellent choice to conduct it. Further, I do agree that lack of a coherent national policy regarding medication fails to serve the well-being of the animals, the public perception of racing as a clean and humane sport, or the American Thoroughbred's position in the international marketplace. Nonetheless, I would have preferred to see racing's leaders resolve the problem internally and avoid the risk of being subject to the whims of lawmakers and officials whose political interests may not always align with those of horses and horsemen.
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Crowning a King

4/20/2015

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King Leatherbury has never been one of the glamor trainers in North America. He's as hard-knocking and honest as most of his runners and, like most of them, doesn't usually stray too far from the Mid-Atlantic circuit that has been his home for decades. He's never had a really "big name" horse, and you'll never see him chatting up the media at the Kentucky Derby. All he's done is win races -- a lot of them: 6,454 as of today, enough to put him fourth on the all-time North American trainers' list. It's also been enough to put Leatherbury into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, an honor announced today.

Blink a couple of times, and that number may have bumped up, because Leatherbury isn't exactly resting on his laurels even at the ripe old age of 82. His current stable star is four-time Grade 3 winner Ben's Cat, a nine-year-old gelding with an enthusiastic fan base in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Leatherbury trains him, owns him and bred him, and at this point the two old campaigners are as inseparable as bread and butter. And you can be sure that tomorrow morning, Leatherbury will be doing his rounds in the stable just as he has for decades, Hall of Fame or no Hall of Fame. After all, he didn't get into the Hall of Fame by leaving the little things undone, and you can bet he isn't starting now. He's one of a kind, and he finally has the crown that his career deserves.
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    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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