Mares on Monday - American Classic Pedigrees

Mares on Monday: Lightning Strikes Twice for Lavant

11/24/2025

Talk about lightning striking twice. Last week, Perfect Plastic’s win in Cidade Jardim’s Grande Prêmio Diana (BRZ-G1) became the springboard to a discussion of the family of Lavant, who began her life as a “half-bred” and ended it as an acknowledged Thoroughbred due to the merit of her produce. This week, Lavant’s family came through with another Group winner in Brazil thanks to Shallow Now, who won Saturday’s Grande Prêmio Presidente Antonio Grisi Filho (BRZ-G3) at Cidade Jardim.

A 5-year-old mare, Shallow Now picked up her third Group 3 win of 2025 and her seventh victory of the year and has established herself as quite a useful sprinter-miler. She is a daughter of the Kitten’s Joy horse Camelot Kitten, a full brother to Grade 1 winner Bobby’s Kitten who stands at Haras Rio Iguassú. The winner of the 2016 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (USA-G2) and American Turf Stakes (USA-G2), as well as two Grade 3 races, Camelot Kitten was tenth on the Brazilian general sire list in 2023/24 and seventh in 2024/25. He is currently sixth in the 2025/26 standings.

Shallow Now and Perfect Plastic are both great-granddaughters of Brazilian Group 3-placed Femme Fatale (by Clackson), a fourth-generation descendant of Lavant. Their lines diverge at the next generation with the half sisters Next Star (by Royal Academy) and Precious Rafaela (by Know Heights). The former, a winning full sister to 2005 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) winner Movie Star, is the granddam of Perfect Plastic. The latter, a winning full sister to multiple Brazilian Group 2 winner Simply the Best, is the granddam of Shallow Now via her daughter Band on the Run (by 2004 American champion sire Elusive Quality). A three-time winner over sprint distances at Gávea, Band on the Run has produced two other foals of racing age, neither of any distinction.

Aside from their common female-line descent, Shallow Now and Perfect Plastic share a common tail-male descent from Sadler’s Wells. In addition, both are maternal granddaughters of Elusive Quality. “Breed the best to the best and hope for the best” is a long-established breeding adage, but just as lightning tends to strike the tallest trees repeatedly, repeating successful pedigree patterns tends to yield more success than more random combinations at the same level of overall quality—a point worth considering when planning a mating.

Mares on Monday: Lavant's Family Proves Fully Thoroughbred in Brazil

11/17/2025

From the viewpoint of a North American observer, Brazil’s Classic scene is a delightful mess with both Gávea (Rio de Janeiro) and Cidade Jardim (São Paulo) hosting “Triple Crowns” for both sexes. As part of the confusion, both tracks host a Grande Prêmio Diana, a Group 1 event that is its host track’s premier event for 3-year-old fillies, and both are contested at the same 2000-meter distance on turf.

Generally, it is the Gávea race that is referred to when a racing enthusiast in the English-speaking sphere mentions the “Brazilian Oaks.” However, the Cidade Jardim race does not lack for prestige, and it is normally contested by quality fields. This year, a dozen fillies ran in São Paulo’s version of the Grande Prêmio Diana, and the winner by a comfortable 1¼ lengths was Perfect Plastic, who added the big race to two previous Group-level scores.

Bred by Haras Belmont, Perfect Plastic is by Irish import Goldikovic, who is as regally bred as any stallion on the planet. A son of the great Irish-based sire Galileo, who in turn was the most important son of the record-shattering Sadler’s Wells (by Northern Dancer), Goldikovic is out of the mighty mare Goldikova, a champion in both the United States and Europe and the only horse to win the same Breeders’ Cup event (the Mile) three times. Goldikovic could not live up to that heritage as a racehorse, managing only one third-place finish in three starts, but his bloodlines virtually guaranteed that he would receive a trial at stud somewhere. So far, he has justified the decision to give him that opportunity in Brazil; currently seventh on the nation’s general sire list, he has finished among Brazil’s top ten sires for the last four years.

Whereas Goldikovic’s parentage could hardly be more orthodox or more patrician, Perfect Plastic’s tail-female line traces back to a mare whose lineage was not given Thoroughbred status in that most hallowed register of the breed, the General Stud Book, until March 1969. This was Lavant, a 1955 daughter of the useful French racer and sire Le Lavandou. As a son of Djebel and hence from a strain of French horses denied entry to the General Stud Book under the terms of the Jersey Act because of the taint of “impure” American strains, Le Lavandou’s pedigree had only received the cachet of full Thoroughbred status following a 1949 amendment to the Jersey Act that granted GSB admission to animals whose pedigree records showed them to be the result of eight or nine crosses of pure blood, to trace back for at least a century, and to have relatives in the immediate family whose racing merit gave reason to believe in the “purity of [their] blood.”

Lavant’s problem was that, while her female lineage could be traced to the first half of the nineteenth century, it could not show eight consecutive crosses to purebred sires thanks to Lavant’s great-granddam, Verdict (winner of the 1924 Coronation Cup), who was sired by the half-bred stallion Shogun. A good stakes winner at 2 and 3, Shogun also came from a line of mares with less than impeccable antecedents, and so his “half-bred” status canceled all the crosses to pure blood that had been made along Verdict’s dam line before he covered Verdict’s dam, Finale. Lavant, then, came from a female line that had only three consecutive crosses to stallions who were accounted Thoroughbreds, and so was recorded as a half-bred.

Lavant was not much of a race mare, but as a broodmare she was something else again, producing six winners. That number included Lucasland (by Lucero) and So Blessed (by Princelu Gift), both winners of the historic July Cup and accounted as the best or near the best sprinters of their respective crops. Their merit caused the keepers of the General Stud Book to reconsider Lavant’s case for admission, and she was finally recognized as a Thoroughbred after 14 years of being accounted a “half-bred.”

Perfect Plastic’s branch of Lavant’s family was imported to Brazil via Lavant’s Irish-bred granddaughter Rogeria (by Targowice), who produced On Pass Pas to a cover by 1967 Prix Jean Part winner and 1977 Brazilian champion sire Locris. A winner of three races from 1100 to 1400 meters at Gávea, On Pass Pas produced Brazilian Group 3 winner Access (by the top Brazilian racer and sire Clackson) and her Group 3-placed full sister, Femme Fatale. Femme Fatale, in turn, produced 2005 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) winner Movie Star (by Royal Academy) and multiple Brazilian Group 2 winner Simply the Best (by Know Heights).

Next Star, a full sister to Movie Star, did not live up to her name; her resume boasted only one minor win from five starts. She did not particularly distinguish herself as a broodmare either but did produce unraced Artista Plastica (by Elusive Quality), who produced Perfect Plastic as her sixth foal. The mare’s most recent foals are Paint Monet, a 2023 full brother to Perfect Plastic who has yet to race, and a 2025 Drosselmeyer filly who has been given the name Raquelita.

For the most part, the caution exercised by the keepers of the General Stud Book over the centuries has been warranted; as a highly specialized breed, it has been long years since the Thoroughbred was apt to benefit as a racehorse by outcrossing to non-Thoroughbreds. Nevertheless, after generations of breeding a half-Thoroughbred and its descendants back to pure Thoroughbreds, there comes a time when the designation of “half-bred” represents a technicality more than it does a genetic distinction. Lavant and her family had clearly reached that point, and as Perfect Plastic demonstrated last Saturday, the breed has only benefited by admission of a mare with imperfect bloodlines but excellent genetics.

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

8/12/2024

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.

Mares on Monday: Everland Lands a Kentucky Oaks Berth in Bourbonette Oaks

3/25/2024

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.

Mares on Monday: Florida Breeding Gets a Day in the Sun in Forward Gal

2/5/2024

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.

Mares on Monday: Lift a Glass to Gin Gin

1/15/2024

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.

Mares on Monday: Introducing Genetic Gems

1/8/2024

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:

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.
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.”
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.

Mares on Monday: Nothing Else Like Nothing Like You in Starlet

12/11/2023

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.

Mares on Monday: Hot Beach Turns Up the Heat at Ellis Park

8/14/2023

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.

Mares on Monday: Doubling Two Queens Yields a King

11/18/2019

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.