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Mares on Monday: Court Lady Scores Second G1 Double of 2024

8/12/2024

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If there is one family in Brazil that is absolutely red-hot, it is that of the remarkable matron Court Lady. Already the source of two Classic winners in Brazil in 2024 (on the same day, yet—see “Mares on Monday: Rare Double for Court Lady,” April 15, 2024), Court Lady came up with another Group 1 double on August 4 at Gávea. On that date, her great-great-grandson Vitruvian added his name to the list of top-level winners descended from the matriarch in the fifth race on the card by winning the Grande Prêmio J. Adhemar de Almeida Prado. Two races later, Court Lady’s great-grandson Underpants franked the form he had shown in winning the 2024 Grande Premio Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazilian Derby) by taking the Grande Prêmio A.B.C.P.C.C. Clássica.


In human terms, Vitruvian and Underpants are “nephew” and “uncle.” Both are descendants of Court Lady’s daughter Onefortheroad (by Ghadeer), who won Cidade Jardim’s Grande Prêmio Diana (BRZ-G1) during her own racing days. As noted in the earlier post on Court Lady and her family, Onefortheroad proved a wonderful broodmare in her own right, foaling 2008/09 Brazilian Horse of the Year Flymetothemoon, 2007 Grande Prêmio Diana (Cidade Jardim) (BRZ-G1) winner Eissoai, and 2002/03 Brazilian champion 2-year-old male Ay Caramba, all by five-time Brazilian champion sire Roi Normand.


The matriarch of by far the most active and powerful branch of Court Lady’s family, Onefortheroad is the second dam of 2020/21 Brazilian champion older male Pimper’s Paradise (by Put It Back) and 2013 Grande Prêmio João Borges Filho (BRZ-G2) winner I Say You Stay (by Northern Afleet) through her daughter Bye Bye Caroline (by Royal Academy). Adding to Onefortheroad’s honors, her Roi Normand daughter Chere Gigi is the dam of 2016 Grande Prêmio Margarida Polak Lara (BRZ-G1) winner Nostalgie (by Fluke) and 2018 Grande Premio Adayr Eiras de Araujo (BRZ-G3) winner Platine (by Wild Event). Yet another daughter, Valley Road (by De Quest) is the second dam of 2023 Grande Premio Doutor Frontin (BRZ-G2) winner Callejero (by Agnes Gold) and the third dam of 2024 Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) winner Uni Te (by Verrazano), whose big win came in the third leg of Gávea’s Triple Crown series for fillies.


Underpants is out of Onefortheroad’s daughter Kissingafool (by Elusive Quality), and the mare produced yet another important daughter in the winner I’m a Lady (by Wild Event). The dam of 2020 Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Grimaldi Seabra (BRZ-G1) winner Perigoosa (by Public Purse) and 2024 Grande Prêmio Ciudad Maravilhoso (BRZ-G3) winner U Said I Do (by Verrazano), I’m a Lady is also the dam of Organic Lady (by Redattore), who managed only a second-place finish in her only start but produced Vitruvian as her first foal. Organic Lady has since produced an unraced 2-year-old filly by Verrazano, Zulu Dance, and a yearling full brother to Vitruvian, already named Abitofgold.


Touching further on Vitruvian, the colt is from the first crop of the young Tapit stallion Hofburg, who finished 33rd on the 2023/2024 Brazilian general sire list with only 2-year-olds racing and is fifth in the current year’s standings. The winner of the 2018 Curlin Stakes (USA-L) and placed in that year’s Florida Derby (USA-G1) and Belmont Stakes (USA-G1), Hofburg entered stud during the 2020 Southern Hemisphere season at Haras Santa Maria de Araras. His chance at stud was not based only on his race record but on his pedigree: produced from the Touch Gold mare Soothing Touch, he is from an excellent branch of the family of Natalma (dam of the epochal sire Northern Dancer) that includes the important European sire Machiavellian, Argentine champion sire and broodmare sire Orpen, and Brazilian champion sire Jules. Also the sire of Brazilian Group 2 winner Navy of War and multiple Brazilian Group 3-placed Vanilla Pie from a crop that just started its 3-year-old season in July, Hofburg seems to be moving in the right direction to become an important sire in his own right.
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Mares on Monday: Everland Lands a Kentucky Oaks Berth in Bourbonette Oaks

3/25/2024

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​
In 2022, a former claimer who was once taken for a US$30,000 tag ended up winning the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve—Rich Strike, who upset the big race at the second-longest odds ever (80.80 to 1). This year, it looks as though another former US$30,000 claimer will be in the starting gate on Derby Weekend. Her name is Everland, and thanks to her victory in the Bourbonette Oaks (USA-L) on March 23, she has 50 qualifying points for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), enough to guarantee her a starting spot.

Now 7-3-0-1 lifetime, Everland has won three of her last four starts and seems to be moving up at the right time. She has also shown the ability to overcome adversity, always a plus in what is likely to be a large and contentious Kentucky Oaks field, and she certainly has the breeding to continue her improvement, especially over longer distances.

Everland is from the final crop of Arrogate, who is responsible for two previous Classic winners in 2022 Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath and 2023 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Arcangelo. Now the sire of 20 stakes winners from his 325 named foals, the gray son of Unbridled’s Song became a case of “what might have been” as a stallion after lighting up the world with his racing heroics during six months in 2016-2017. The American champion 3-year-old male of 2016, he ran down two-time American Horse of the Year California Chrome in the closing strides of that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1) and also scored breathtaking victories in the 2016 Travers Stakes (USA-G1), 2017 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1), and 2017 Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1). His death in June 2020 after just three seasons at stud is looking more and more like a great loss to the Thoroughbred.

On the distaff side, Everland is the first foal of the winning Tapit mare Ever Changing, whose other foals are the unraced 2022 Caravaggio colt Chagall and a 2023 filly by American Pharoah. Ever Changing, in turn, is out of 2008 European champion 2-year-old filly Rainbow View (by Dynaformer), who trained on to win the 2009 Matron Stakes (IRE-G1) as a 3-year-old. Rainbow View was also second in the 10-furlong Nassau Stakes (ENG-G1) and E. P. Taylor Stakes (Can-G1) at 3, so there seems to be little reason to think that Everland will not relish the 9 furlongs of the Kentucky Oaks or even longer distances as she continues growing into herself. Adding to the family’s luster, Rainbow View is out of 2000 Del Mar Oaks (USA-G1) winner No Matter What (by Nureyev out of multiple listed stakes winner Words of War, by Lord At War), also the dam of 2009 Northern Dancer Breeders’ Cup Turf Stakes (CAN-G1) winner Just As Well (by A.P. Indy), 2014 Dixie Stakes (USA-G2) winner Utley (by Smart Strike), multiple Grade 3 winner Winter View (by Thunder Gulch), and 2019 Winter Derby (ENG-G3) winner Wissahickon (by Tapit).

The biggest question regarding Everland is whether she will make the transition from Turfway’s Tapeta racing surface to the dirt at Churchill Downs, a question that will probably make her a double-digits long shot in the Oaks. If she relishes the dirt as much as her sire did, though, she may be in a position to win the first graded race of her career on the biggest stage of the spring.
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Mares on Monday: Florida Breeding Gets a Day in the Sun in Forward Gal

2/5/2024

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The Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G3) is the first graded stakes on Florida’s road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), but for winner R Harper Rose, it will probably be the last step on that path—not because the filly lacks quality, but because sprinting appears to be her game. The winner of the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl Stakes from last year’s Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds, R Harper Rose cut back to her favorite trip after falling short in the 8.5 furlong My Dear Girl Stakes in her final race at 2 and had no difficulty making her 2024 debut a winning one, scoring by two lengths over Fiona’s Magic.

Bred in Florida by Sally Andersen, R Harper Rose is a daughter of four-time Florida champion sire Khozan, a Distorted Humor half brother to three-time American champion filly Royal Delta. The winner of both his starts by a total of 16½ lengths before suffering a career-ending injury, Khozan has 15 other stakes winners to his credit including graded winners Background, Foggy Night, and Hot Peppers.

R Harper Rose is the first stakes winner and fourth winner produced from True Bliss, whose sire, Yes It’s True, won the 1999 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) and seven other graded sprint stakes before becoming a good speed sire. A half sister to 2012 The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial Stakes (USA-G3) winner Hierro (by Hard Spun) and listed stakes winner Cherokee Triangle (by Cherokee Run), True Bliss is out of 2001 Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (USA-G3) runner-up Brief Bliss. The next dam in R Harper Rose’s tail-female line, Annul, is a winner by 1982 American Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo out of Lyphard’s winning daughter Bygones, a half sister to 1986 Chevington Stud Rockfel Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Al Risk (by Mr. Prospector). This is a decidedly speed-leaning family and probably a major contributor to making R Harper Rose a promising sprinter rather than a two-turn candidate.

Although R Harper Rose is unlikely to go further along the Lily Lane, runner-up Fiona’s Magic may get another chance after earning 10 Oaks points for her runner-up performance. A Florida-bred daughter of St. Patrick’s Day (a Group 3-placed full brother to 2015 American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah), she tired after carving out an opening half-mile in :45.90 but still hung on well for second, and this after being a bit slow at the break. A half sister to juvenile stakes winner Cajun’s Magic (by Cajun Breeze), she is out of Mollie’s Magic, whose sire, the Storm Cat horse Factum, is a winning half brother to War Front. Mllie’s Magic herself is an unraced half sister to stakes winners Two T’s at Two Bs (by Untuttable), Scandalous Act (by Act of Duty), and Boo Boo Kitty (by Poseidon’s Warrior).

Chi Chi filled out a Florida-bred trifecta in the Forward Gal, earning six points toward an Oaks starting berth, and may have the best pedigree of all for stretching out to the 9 furlongs of the “Lilies for the Fillies.” A daughter of 2018 Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Audible, she is a half sister to 2022 Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2) winner Simplification, who ran a creditable fourth in that year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1), and is from the family of 2004 Oaks winner and American champion 3-year-old filly Ashado, who went on to repeat as an Eclipse winner as a 4-year-old. For both her and Fiona’s Magic, the March 2 Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2), which offers 50 points toward the Oaks to the winner, may be the logical next step along this year’s Lily Lane.
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Mares on Monday: Lift a Glass to Gin Gin

1/15/2024

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​On January 13, the New York road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) kicked off in the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. The winner was Calumet Farm’s homebred Gin Gin, who collected 20 points toward an Oaks starting berth with a one-length victory over Princess Mayfair. Race favorite Shimmering Allure, previously the winner of the 2023 Tempted Stakes (USA-L) and second in the 2023 Demoiselle Stakes (USA-G2), was third. Ridden by Trevor McCarthy for trainer Brad Cox, Gin Gin stopped the clock for the 9-furlong race over a muddy, sealed surface in 1:53.31, earning an 82 Equibase speed figure.

Gin Gin is a daughter of the Mineshaft horse Hightail, who picked up his only win from 10 starts in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint (USA-L). Produced from the winning Storm Cat mare Stormy Renee (whose full sister Ominous Cat is the dam of listed stakes winner Dark Artist, by Paynter), Hightail is a grandson of Fleet Renee (by Seattle Slew), winner of the 2001 Ashland Stakes (USA-G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1), and is, thus inbred 3x3 to Seattle Slew and 4x4 to Secretariat.

Not many stallions can boast of having Triple Crown winners occupying four places in the first four generations of their pedigrees, along with having horses that earned the title of American Horse of the Year as sire, paternal grandsire, and male-line great-grandsire, and Hightail has made use of his genetic heritage to achieve good results from limited opportunities. He has 87 named foals in his first eight crops (foals 3 years old and older as of January 1), and six of those are stakes winners, including 2019 Awesome Again Stakes (USA-G1) winner Mongolian Groom. This year, in addition to Gin Gin, he is responsible for Khanate, third in the Jerome Stakes on January 6 in his first crack at stakes company.

On the distaff side, Gin Gin is the second named foal produced from Grade 3-placed Before You Know it (by Hard Spun), previously responsible for the winning American Pharoah colt Know It Now. The mare also has a newly-turned 2-year-old colt by City of Light, named Quick City, and was barren for 2023; she was bred to both Hightail and Lexitonian for 2024. She is a half sister to Grade 3-placed Instant Reflex (by Quality Road), dam of 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (USA-G1) winner Hard to Justify (by Justify).

A US$170,000 purchase as a broodmare prospect from the 2015 Keeneland November mixed sale, Before You Know It is out of the winning Seeking the Gold mare Without Delay, a half sister to 2013 La Coupe (FR-G3) winner Slow Pace (by Distorted Humor) and 2018 Pat Day Mile Stakes (USA-G3) winner Funny Duck (by Distorted Humor). Without Delay is also a half sister to Slow Sand (by Dixieland Band), dam of 2020 Lambolm South Tampa Bay Derby (USA-G2) winner King Guillermo (by Uncle Mo) and second dam of 2021 July Cup (ENG-G1) winner Starman (by Dutch Art). In addition, Without Delay is a half sister to Jolie Chanson (by Mount Nelson), dam of Group 3-placed English listed stakes winner Majestic Dawn (by Dawn Approach).

Without Delay’s dam Slow Down (by Seattle Slew) won the listed Hillsborough Handicap as a 4-year-old in 2001 and is a half sister to Grade 1-placed multiple Grade 3 winner Olmodavor (by A.P. Indy) and two-time Prairie Bayou Stakes winner Dac (by Distorted Humor). Slow Down, in turn, is out of 1994 Beverly Hills Handicap (USA-G1) winner Corrazona (El Gran Senor x Heartbreak, by Stage Door Johnny), a half sister to 1990 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) winner and Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) runner-up Thirty Six Red (by Slew o’ Gold). Gin Gin, thus, is inbred 4x4x4 to Seattle Slew and also carries a 4x4 cross to the great sire Mr. Prospector.

As a stakes winner with such a potent genetic package, Gin Gin will doubtless be a welcome addition to the Calumet broodmare band when the time comes. She has other tasks to attend to first, however, and her next step on her quest for a possible Oaks start may well be in the Gazelle Stakes (USA-G3) in April, another 9-furlong event at Aqueduct and one that carries 100-50-25-15-10 in Oaks qualifying points to the first five finishers. A first or second-place finish would lock up a Kentucky Oaks berth, and a third-place finish would put her in the hunt.

Only one previous Busanda winner, Princess of Sylmar (2013), has gone on to wear the lilies in Kentucky, and Gin Gin is going to need to make substantial progress this spring to become the first Kentucky Oaks winner for Calumet Farm since Davona Dale took the spring classic on the way to an Eclipse Award as the champion 3-year-old filly of 1979. Still, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the filly made her first step along the Lily Lane a good one. Time will tell whether that is as far as she goes or whether she will earn the right to proceed further.




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Mares on Monday: Introducing Genetic Gems

1/8/2024

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​Great sires have always gotten the lion’s share of attention when it comes to Thoroughbred breeding. This is not without reason. Proverbially, the bull is half the herd, and the stallion occupies a parallel role in horse breeding; many a renowned farm has ridden to the heights on the progeny of a single exceptional sire. Economically, a top stallion is also a huge moneymaker that can generate income from stud fees and the sale or racing of its progeny over a period of two decades or more.

As important as a good stallion is, the great breeders who have sustained excellence over many years have cherished something even more precious: their foundation mares and their families. The same limitation that tends to keep mares out of the limelight—the fact that a mare can produce but one foal a year—is also the reason why the daughters of old families maintained by operations such as Claiborne, the Phipps family, Juddmonte Farms, and Darley do not often come on the market; there are not very many of them. It is far easier to buy the services of a good stallion than to purchase a mare that comes from a deep, rich family. The alternative method for the breeder looking for long-term success is to build up one or more families in-house, a process that can literally take a lifetime.

Over the history of the Thoroughbred, some mares have come to have an outsized influence on the breed in spite of the tiny number of foals that even the most prolific broodmare produces compared to the number sired by a top stallion. While there have been some attempts to identify these mares, most notably by the late Ellen Parker with her Reines-de-Course, the identification of a matron as a “superior female” or “foundation mare” or “matriarch” is of necessity affected by the criteria selected by the pedigree expert identifying a mare as such—criteria that are often not made explicit. Many countries have “Broodmare of the Year” titles, but these are by definition based on a mare’s production during her lifetime, too soon to reflect her long-term importance.

In the tradition (or perhaps hubris) of other long-time pedigree students, I am introducing the category of “Genetic Gems” to honor those mares that I believe have had exceptional influence on the Thoroughbred, either through breeding careers in the Americas or through offspring imported to the Western Hemisphere. Since my focus is on the long term, my criteria are as follow:

  1. The mare must have at least fifth-generation descendants, with sixth-generation descendants coming on the scene. This means that my selections will have been foaled at least 50 years ago and probably more.
  2. The mare must have been an above-average producer of racing stock, or have an exceptional record as the dam of successful stallions and/or good broodmare daughters, with preference given to a combination of the above. If the mare is remembered today on the basis of only one or two foals, she certainly deserves respect for that but will not qualify as a “Genetic Gem.”
  3. The mare’s family must have one or more branches that are continuing to produce top racehorses, successful sires, and/or exceptional broodmares. There have been a number of fine broodmares that enjoyed considerable success over their own lifetimes but whose families have petered out as sources of good horses. I am looking for sustained success. Obviously, some mares are far enough back in time that daughters, granddaughters, or great-granddaughters have established major families of their own, and these mares may receive identification as “Genetic Gems” in their own right.

“Genetic Gems” will be designated as such in the header of their horse profiles, just below their family numbers. Some of my selections will be quite obvious, being well known to even the relatively casual student of pedigrees; others may be less familiar, especially when it comes to South American families (I still have much to learn there). I am hoping that in due time, I can provide some sketches of my selections’ families to outline how they have have achieved importance. Like much else that is on my plate, this is a long-term project, but one that I am hoping will be both useful and enjoyable as it goes along.
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Mares on Monday: Nothing Else Like Nothing Like You in Starlet

12/11/2023

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​In a day in which the top juveniles of the year often make but three starts—a maiden race, a major 2-year-old stakes, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile or Juvenile Fillies, Nothing Like You is almost a throwback. When she was sent after the Starlet Stakes (USA-G2) as Los Alamitos on December 9, she was making her sixth lifetime start. Her experience showed in a smooth, professional performance from start to finish as she gave jockey Juan Hernandez exactly what he asked for. At the finish, she strolled in 5¼ lengths ahead of her closest pursuer. Capturing her second straight stakes win and third straight victory, she boosted her lifetime record to 6-3-1-0 with earnings of US$237,160 and matched the 93 Equibase speed figure she put up in the Desi Arnaz Stakes last out, suggesting that her current form is right up there with the best fillies of her crop.

One of 138 stakes winners sired by the late Malibu Moon, Nothing Like You is the sixth foal of multiple stakes winner Miss Derek (by multiple Grade 1 winner Brother Derek, by the useful Alydar horse Benchmark) and is a half sister to South of France (by Quality Road), winner of the 2018 Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct. Miss Derek, in turn, is one of only three foals out of Quick Text, a Tiznow mare whose six winning half siblings include Grade 1-placed multiple listed stakes winner Touch Tone (by Pick Up the Phone) and Senorita Ballado (by Saint Ballado), dam of Venezuelan stakes winner Pati Pati (by Big Prairie). Another half sister to Quick Text, Storm Tone (by Storm Creek), is the dam of restricted stakes winner City Tone (by City Street).

Super Senorita, the dam of Quick Text, was not classy but was a tough mare who won eight of her 54 starts over four seasons. A half sister to listed stakes winner Super Delight (by Superbity), she is out of stakes-placed Country Bird (by 1967 Man o’ War Stakes winner Ruffled Feathers, by Rough’n Tumble), a full sister to multiple stakes winner Ruff ‘n Irish and a half sister to multiple stakes winner Ohio Sugar (by Hy Frost). This female line traces back to Forget, a foundation mare for the Whitney family’s breeding program, but Nothing Like You appears to be the best runner produced by this branch of the line in some time.

Nothing Like You is inbred 3x5 to Mr. Prospector and 4x5 to Mr. Prospector’s sire, Raise a Native. This is not particularly close inbreeding, but some pedigree analysts have touted the benefits of inbreeding to multiple sires along the same sire line. Nothing Like You also exhibits the Derby pattern (seen in the highly successful breeding program of the 17th Earl of Derby) in which an inbred parent—in her case, Miss Derek, who is inbred 4x4 to Relaunch—is mated to an animal free of the inbred ancestor but reinforcing some other part of the inbred parent’s pedigree. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the breeding of Malibu Moon to Miss Derek seems to have produced a nice filly who should be interesting to follow as this year’s juveniles become 3-year-olds and head for the spring’s important races.
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Mares on Monday: Hot Beach Turns Up the Heat at Ellis Park

8/14/2023

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​Summer is the time for first-crop juveniles to turn up the heat for their sires. While fans enjoy seeing their old favorites’ babies beginning to show their stuff, stallion managers, consignors, and pinhookers watch with increasing anxiety for those make-or-break runners that may be the difference between a stallion being “hot” next spring and being on a path to oblivion, along with the youngsters sired in the “bubble” second and third crops.

Most of the attention at this time of year gets focused on Saratoga and Del Mar, the places that have historically showcased high-end East Coast and West Coast babies, respectively. Omaha Beach, though, just established a beachhead well away from the coasts. Her name is Hot Beach, and on Sunday, she became the seventh winner and first stakes winner for her sire in the Ellis Park Debutante Stakes. Trained by Brian Lynch for Boardshorts Stable, the dark bay or brown filly scored a solid two-length victory in the 7-furlong race after finishing second in her debut over 5 furlongs at the same track.

Adding interest to her triumph, Hot Beach is a great-granddaughter of 2001 American champion 3-year-old filly Xtra Heat. An extraordinarily consistent sprinter who overcame a middling pedigree, small size, and stifle lesions to become a champion, Xtra Heat was a better racer than broodmare, with two minor stakes winners to her credit. Nonetheless, her family has persisted through her best racing daughter, Elusive Heat.

A US$750,000 purchase from the 2008 Fasig-Tipton February sale of 2-year-olds in training, Elusive Heat was stalked by a misfortune and lasted only long enough to make four starts on the racetrack. A winner in her only start at 2, a maiden race at Gulfstream, she followed up in a Gulfstream allowance in January 2009. She then disappeared for seven months, suggesting the emergence of a physical issue. Brought back out at that summer’s Saratoga meeting, she secured black type by winning the restricted Geyser Spring Stakes, racking up gaudy speed figures of 114 from Equibase and 110 from BRIS. Four months later, she made her final start, dropping a nose decision to Gemswyck Park in the Old Hat Stakes (USA-G3) at Gulfstream. Her broodmare career was equally brief as she produced only one foal, the 2011 Medaglia d’Oro filly Hot Water, who never raced.

Hot Water’s broodmare career has helped make up for the disappointments of her dam’s racing and breeding histories, as Hot Beach is her sixth winner and fourth stakes winner from seven named foals. Her previous stakes winners are the 2016 Street Sense gelding Tracksmith, who won the 2019 Frisk Me Now Stakes at Monmouth and ran third in that year’s Commonwealth Turf Stakes (USA-G3); the 2018 Nyquist colt Scalding, winner of the 2022 Ben Ali Stakes (USA-G3) and $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes (USA-G3); and the 2019 Speightster filly Hot and Sultry, winner of this year’s American Beauty Stakes (USA-L) and third in the Apple Blossom Handicap (USA-G1). Hot Water had no foal in 2022 and produced a Charlatan filly this spring before visiting Life Is Good.

The downside of this pedigree is that Hot Water appears to have passed along some of the issues inherited from her fragile dam; of her previous foals, only Tracksmith has managed more than eight starts, and he made only 11 in a career spanning three seasons. That does not bode well for Hot Beach’s durability. Nonetheless, she should be interesting to keep an eye on, and if she has inherited Xtra Heat’s soundness as well as a measure of her talent, she may be stepping up to bigger things as the season progresses.
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Mares on Monday: Doubling Two Queens Yields a King

11/18/2019

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After placing in the Grande Prêmio Ipiranga (BRZ-G1), 3-year-old Atila the King came through with his first stakes win on November 9 in the Grande Prêmio Premio Gobernado da Estado (BRZ-G2). Fans of the Rasmussen Factor (inbreeding to superior females) should have been ecstatic, for Atila the King has a pedigree that is a showcase for the RF; he is inbred 3x3 to Terlingua and has an additional 5x5 cross to Sequence.

As the dam of two-time American leading sire and seven-time American leading juvenile sire Storm Cat, Terlingua is probably the more familiar nowadays. The daughter of Secretariat and the sizzling-fast Crimson Saint (herself a first-rate producer) was one of the best juvenile fillies of her year before retiring to the paddocks, where Storm Cat was her second foal. Her third foal was multiple Grade 2 winner Chapel of Dreams (by Northern Dancer), and her eighth was the Mr. Prospector colt Pioneering.

Pioneering won two of his six starts and gained a chance at stud based on pedigree. He has proved worthy of the opportunity. The sire of at least 59 stakes winners including American Grade 1 winner Behaving Badly and Brazilian Group 1 winners Emperor Cat, Farrier and Meu Chuck, he initially stood alongside Storm Cat at Overbrook Farm before being purchased by a consortium of Brazilian breeders in 2009. A top-10 sire in his adopted country, he is the broodmare sire of Atila the King, whose sire is the Storm Cat horse Forestry.

Sequence, a granddaughter of the excellent racer and foundation mare Myrtlewood was, like Terlingua, a good juvenile. As befitted a daughter of Count Fleet, she was also a fine producer and is best known for her daughter Gold Digger, whose brood included Pioneering's sire Mr. Prospector. A great sire of sires, Mr. Prospector heads up by far the most successful branch of the sire line of the great Native Dancer (his paternal grandsire), and Gold Digger's branch of her family has bred on through her daughters as well.

Neither of Sequence's stakes-winning sons had any influence on future generations, but another branch of her family extends through the Bold Ruler mare Bold Sequence. Bred to Dr. Fager, Bold Sequence produced Surgery, dam of Grade 1 winners Sewickley (by Star de Naskra) and Shared Interest (by Pleasant Colony). Shared Interest, in turn, is the dam of none other than Forestry, a Grade 1 winner in his own right and a successful sire in North America before being exported to Brazil in his old age.

Forestry and Pioneering, thus, share strong links to two excellent families, and it will be interesting to see if Brazilian breeders attempt to exploit these links further by crossing these sires and their sons with one another's daughters. As for Atila the King, he appears to be a colt on the improve, and he may just have a future as one of the royalty of Brazilian breeding thanks to a genetic hand that contains two queens twice over.
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2018 Triple Crown Trail: Loud and Clear from Florida and Dubai

3/31/2018

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Aside from the exciting duel between Bolt d'Oro and McKinzie in the San Felipe Stakes (USA-G2) (which, alas, has been followed by McKinzie's defection from an expected rematch in the Santa Anita Derby, USA-G1, due to a possible hind leg injury), this season's Triple Crown trail has so far been more ho-hum than inspiring. Within the next two weeks, however, the major traditional Triple Crown preps will be on the line across the country, and the picture should come more sharply into focus. Those trainers with lightly raced but high-potential prospects have no choice but to show their cards now if their colts are to have the points needed to make the starting gate at Churchill Downs; the stars (such as they were) of the early season will have to reveal themselves as contenders or pretenders.

That should provide some excitement, provided any is needed after today's United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-G2) and Florida Derby (USA-G1). In the first, Mendelssohn---last seen winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1)---absolutely humiliated the other Dubai-based 3-year-olds with any pretensions to some ability while making it clear that he can handle dirt just fine, thank you. In the second, Audible proved his impressive victory in the Holy Bull Stakes USA-G2) was no fluke by dominating the Florida Derby, coming home a three-length winner.

Oddly enough, the two colts are uncle and nephew in human terms, as Mendelssohn is a Scat Daddy half brother to four-time champion Beholder and to 2007 CashCall Futurity (USA-G1) winner Into Mischief, sire of Audible. Both have the pedigrees to indicate that 10 furlongs should be within their scope, and Mendelssohn appeared to have any amount left in the tank at the end of his romp over 9.5 furlongs. Like the other Derby contenders, Audible has yet to be tested over more than the 9 furlongs he covered with aplomb at Gulfstream, but his professionalism and amenability to rating will help him out. Further, while his first two dams are by speedy sires, the family in back of them has plenty of stout Claiborne Farm breeding behind it.

By the time the dust has settled enough to reveal the likely field for the 2018 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, there will probably be at least a couple more impressive performances to savor and consider. Nonetheless, the bar for being considered a top contender for this year's Derby has just been raised quite a bit from where it was on Friday.
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A Treasure From the Past

7/3/2017

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When Windstoss came storming down the course to land the IDEE Deutches Derby (GER-G1), he did more than provide a Group 1 win for his connections and give promise of carrying on an important German sire line. He also provided living proof that the family of one of racing's greatest legends, Kincsem, is still alive and well, despite the vicissitudes of death and war.

Kincsem, whose name means "my treasure," may have been the greatest race mare of all time. Foaled in Hungary in 1874, she was homely in appearance but was perfection itself when racing. She ran 54 times and never knew defeat, winning major races in England and France as well as taking virtually every prize worth having in central Europe. When she died of colic in 1887, the people of Hungary mourned for the loss of their national heroine as if she had been human.

Kinscem left just five foals behind, though two became Classic winners: Budagyönge, a top-class filly who defeated males in the 1885 Deutches Derby, and Ollyan-Nincs, who won the 1886 Hungarian St. Leger. The latter filly proved to be Kinscem's primary link to the future, her descendants becoming a notable Classic family in central Europe. Unfortunately, Ollyan-Nincs' family took tremendous losses during the two World Wars, but it has survived in Germany as the noted "W" family descended from the Polish-bred mare Winnica, who was imported to Germany in 1922.

Of course, Windstoss is so far removed in time and generations from Kincsem that, aside from the contributions of mitochondrial DNA, his ability probably has far more to do with his immediate ancestry than with his link to his famous ancestress. Nonetheless, it is pleasant to think that at least a spark of her tremendous talent lives on in Germany's latest Classic winner.
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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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