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Mares on Monday: Sacred Wish Scores G1 Win for Matriarch Kamar

12/2/2024

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​At the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale, Sidewalks Bloodstock and Donal Keane picked up Hip 451, a yearling colt by Knicks Go out of Indian Wish, for just US$40,000. That decision looks to be a lot more of a bargain now. A Grade 1-placed listed stakes winner at the time of her half brother’s sale, Sacred Wish held off favored Gina Romantica by a neck in Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1) at Del Mar, completing the mile race on firm turf in 1:34.76. By doing so, the 12-1 long shot improved her lifetime record to 17-4-6-3 with earnings of US$985,138 and picked up the Grade 1 win that Wet Paint denied her by a neck in the 2023 Coaching Club American Oaks.

Sired by the hot Giant’s Causeway horse Not This Time (who had picked up a Grade 3 win earlier in the afternoon when his son Clock Tower went wire-to-wire in the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes), Sacred Wish descends from the family of 1979 Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Kamar, the 1990 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. A winner of the Canadian Oaks during her own racing days, the daughter of Key to the Mint and 1973 Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Square Angel (herself a winner of the Canadian Oaks) continued her family’s skein of Oaks wins by sending out 1990 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) winner Seaside Attraction, a first-rate broodmare whose four graded/Group stakes winners include 1995 American champion 2-year-old filly Golden Attraction (by Mr. Prospector) and 1998 Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Cape Town (by Seeking the Gold).

Kamar also produced 1981 Canadian champion 3-year-old male Key to the Moon (by Wajima), multiple Grade 1 winner Gorgeous (by Slew o’ Gold), and 1986 Princess Margaret Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Hiaam (by Alydar). In addition, she produced Jood (by Nijinsky II), dam of 2001 European Horse of the Year Fantastic Light, and Wilayif (by Danzig), dam of 1999 Prix du Bois (FR-G3) winner Morning Pride (by Machiavellian) and, through her, second dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Flashing (by A.P. Indy).

Amid this galaxy of stars, one could be forgiven for overlooking Kamar’s 1982 daughter by Forli, Forlis Key. This filly never raced and had a moderate broodmare career that featured minor stakes winner Clever Return (by Clever Trick) as the best of her three winners from eight named foals. She left only two producing daughters, and the better of the two, the unraced Danzig mare Scipio, was only a modest improvement on her dam. She produced six winners from 10 named foals, including listed stakes winner Secret Sip (by Secret Hello). Her winners also included the Conquistador Cielo mare Sister Girl, who got the family back up to the graded stakes level by producing 2008 Dwyer Stakes (USA-G2) winner Mint Lane (by Maria’s Mon) and 2003 Vanity Handicap (USA-G1) runner-up Sister Girl Blues (by Hold for Gold), dam of 2015 Sunland Derby (USA-G3) winner and Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) runner-up Firing Line (by Line of David).

Indian Wish, Sister Girl’s daughter by Indian Charlie, was foaled the same year that Mint Lane won the Dwyer, and the cachet of being an Indian Charlie half sister to a recent Grade 2 winner and a Grade 1-placed runner helped boost her to a sale price of US$150,000 as a weanling at the 2008 Keeneland November mixed sale. After that, it would not be much of an exaggeration to say that she spent more time in sales rings than at the track. A US$70,000 RNA at the 2009 Keeneland September sale, she was sent to England and went twice through Tattersalls sales as a 2-year-old. By the time she returned to an American venue, her perceived value had sunk to US$35,000, which was her price at the 2012 Keeneland November sale, covered by three-time Group 1 winner Rip Van Winkle after a racing career in which she had failed to win in 17 tries. She sold again as an open mare for US$14,500 at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton February sale, and in 2019 changed hands for the last time thus far; with Sacred Wish in utero, she sold for US$22,000 to Chromedome Partners—this after her half sister So Sharp (by Saint Liam) had been represented by 2017 Cigar Mile Handicap (USA-G1) winner Sharp Azteca (by Freud) and another half sister, Remembered (by Sky Mesa) had come up with multiple Grade 1 winner Bowies Hero (by Artie Schiller).

At the time that Indian Wish went through the ring with her Grade 1-winning daughter in her womb, Not This Time was a “bubble year” stallion awaiting the debut of his first runners in 2020 and the mare’s first three runners, while winners, had been of the cheapest sort; She had also failed to produce a live foal in 2014, 2015, and 2019. Still, it isn’t every day that one can buy a half sister to a Grade 2 winner and two dams of Grade 1 winners for very nearly a song, and it seems safe to say that Indian Wish’s valuation would be considerably higher these days. She was bred to Epicenter for 2025. As for Sacred Wish, she too has come up in the world, having sold for US$80,000 as a yearling and US$50,000 as a 2-year-old in training. If not precisely the heroine of a rags-to-riches story, she has at least come the distance from Target to Neiman-Marcus, and the final chapter to her racing tale has not been written yet.
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Mares on Monday: Caitlinhergrtness Is Queen in the King's Plate

8/26/2024

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​On July 20, Caitlnhergrtness entered the Woodbine starting gate as a lukewarm favorite in the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Stella Artois (CAN-R) but was outfinished by second choice Kin’s Concerto. Since then, the two fillies have been on different trajectories. Sent to the second leg of Canada’s Triple Tiara series, the Bison City Stakes (CAN-R) on August 10, Kin’s Concerto ran the worst race of her career and ended up seventh after running rather erratically. Caitlinhergrtness, on the other hand, stepped up her game. Supplemented to Canada’s oldest and most prestigious Classic, the King’s Plate, on August 23, Caitlinhergrtness ran down heavily favored My Boy Prince (last year’s Canadian champion 2-year-old male) to win by three-quarters of a length for owners Siena Farm and WinStar Farm. Her record now stands at three wins and two placings from seven starts.

Bred by Jesse Korona, the King’s Plate winner is one of six 2024 stakes winners from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach. Runner-up to Maximum Security in Eclipse Award voting for champion 3-year-old male in 2019, the son of War Front is one of the best-bred young stallions out there. A half brother to American champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi (by Giant’s Causeway), he is out of Charming (by Seeking the Gold x 2013 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and multiple Grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady), a half sister to 2013 American champion 3-year-old male Will Take Charge (by Unbridled’s Song), 2012 Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Take Charge Indy (by A.P. Indy), and 2022 Beholder Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner As Time Goes By (by American Pharoah). This family was covered in more detail in a previous post (“Mares on Monday: The Lady Took Charge,” May 24, 2021).

On the distaff side, Caitlinhergrtness’s pedigree is no less interesting. Her third dam is stakes-placed Helsinki, a daughter of 1989 French champion 2-year-old male Machiavellian and 1985 Gilltown Stud Irish Oaks (IRE-G1) heroine Helen Street and so a full sister to 2002 Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner and successful sire Street Cry. Helsinki proved at least as good a broodmare as Street Cry was a sire, producing 2004 European champion 2-year-old male and 2005 French dual Classic winner Shamardal (by Giant’s Causeway; a fine stallion in his own right) and 2013 Beresford Stakes (IRE-G2) winner Geoffrey Chaucer (by Montjeu). Helsinki is also the dam of Shamarbelle (by Montjeu), second dam of 2022 Chilean champion 2-year-old turf filly Sos Genia.

Diamond Necklace, Helsinki’s 2004 daughter by Unbridled’s Song, was stakes-placed in Ireland during her own racing days. She is the dam of Grade 1-placed listed stakes winner Dogtag (by War Front) and has two stakes producers among her daughters. One, stakes-placed Raskova (by Henrythenavigator), is the dam of 2023 Hobartville Stakes (AUS-G2) winner Osipenko (by Pierro). The other is Belatrix (by Giant’s Causeway), who produced Caitlinhergrtness as her fourth foal. Belatrix has since produced Sovereign Star, an as-yet-unraced 2-year-old colt by Midnight Lute, before being sold for US$11,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November sale, in foal to Greatest Honour. She failed to produce a live foal and was bred back to Loggins for 2025.

After four starts on dirt with only a maiden win to show for them, Caitlynhergrtness has definitely improved since being switched to turf (she won an optional claimer on the grass prior to the Woodbine Oaks) and the Tapeta course at Woodbine. That puts a question mark on whether she will try the boys again in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes (CAN-R), which will be contested over 9.5 furlongs on the dirt at Fort Erie on September 10. The third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the September 29 Breeders’ Stakes (CAN-R), is over 12 furlongs on the turf at Woodbine, a surface more to her liking and perhaps more favorable in spacing between races as well.

Whether or not Caitlinhergrtness tackles the males again, it seems likely that she will stay in Canada for now. On speed figures, she would need to make a substantial jump to be competitive with Thorpedo Anna, whose game stretch run in the Draftkings Travers Stakes (USA-G1) fell a shrinking head short of catching 2023 American champion 2-year-old male and 2024 Curlin Florida Derby (USA-G1) winner Fierceness. There are several good options coming up at Woodbine on both the main track and the turf course, however, and trainer Kevin Attard can afford to give his filly whatever time she needs to be at her best for her next race as he plots a course toward a possible Sovereign Award.
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Mares on Monday: Kin's Concerto Shows Spark of an Old Flame in Woodbine Oaks

7/22/2024

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​Inaugurated in 1956, the Woodbine Oaks is Canada’s counterpart to the Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). Although it does not command the same level of prestige, being restricted to Canadian-breds, it is nonetheless an interesting race that usually draws together the best of the sophomore fillies foaled under the Maple Leaf flag. As such, it has often served as a springboard to a Canadian championship campaign within the division or an assault on the boys in Canada’s premier Classic, the King’s Plate, which this year will be held on August 17.

This year’s winner is Kin’s Concerto, who ran down favored Caitlinhergrtness in the final seventy yards to win by a neck. The victory made Sofia Vives the first female jockey to score in Canada’s top filly Classic and gave trainer Josie Carroll her third Woodbine Oaks win, and Equibase gave the winner a respectable speed rating of 95, marking the fifth straight race in which Kin’s Concerto has shown a small improvement.

This cannot be said to have been a stellar Oaks field, given that Caitinhergrtness had won but two of her five starts and had no previous black type and that Kin’s Concerto was second choice in spite of having only a maiden win to her credit from four starts. Nevertheless, the winner’s development is on a good trajectory thus far, and she has an interesting pedigree that suggests that greater accomplishments may not be outside her scope in the future.

Kin’s Concerto is a daughter of the enigmatic Mendelssohn, a Scat Daddy half brother to four-time American champion Beholder and to five-time American champion sire Into Mischief. The winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) and the 2018 United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-G2), Mendelssohn clearly had high-class talent, but many observers felt that his 3-year-old campaign lacked focus and perhaps placed too much stress on the colt through several long trips between racing venues, causing him to achieve less than he might otherwise have.

Retired to Ashford Stud at the end of his 3-year-old season, Mendelssohn was well received but had to compete with a still better son of Scat Daddy in 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify. His results have so far not justified early hype; Kin’s Concerto is only his 13th stakes winner from 627 named foals of racing age, and so far, none of his foals have shown anything close to the level of talent he himself possessed.

Even so, Mendelssohn has the kind of genetics and performance behind him to enable him to sire a breakout horse at any time, and while Kin’s Concerto seems unlikely to be that horse, she does have significant potential. She is the seventh foal and fourth winner produced from Kincardine, an unraced daughter of 2000 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus. Like Mendelssohn, “Fu Peg” was a highly talented and magnificently bred horse (by Mr. Prospector out of a full sister to 1992 Preakness Stakes, USA-G1, winner Pine Bluff) who proved erratic as a sire but did beget a few top individuals, among them 2007 Australian champion 3-year-old male Haradasun, 2014 Chilean champion older male Bronzo, and Roman Ruler, a Grade 1 winner in the United States and a two-time champion sire in Argentina.

Kincardine is a full sister to Vulcan Rose, dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Flameaway (by Scat Daddy) and Canadian stakes winner Ellan Vannin (by Spring At Last). Also a half sister to 2007 Canadian Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Essential Edge (by Storm Cat) and to Flaming Rose (by Grand Slam), dam of two-time Nijinsky Stakes (CAN-G2) winner Tiz a Slam (by Tiznow), Kincardine is out of Rose of Tara, a half sister by 1991 Irish Horse of the Year Generous to five stakes winners produced by the magnificent broodmare Flame of Tara.

A daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Artaius (by Round Table), Flame of Tara was a fine race mare in her own right, collecting Group 2 wins in England and Ireland, but she outbred herself tremendously when she produced Salsabil (by Sadler’s Wells) as her second foal. After winning the 1990 General Accident One Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1) and Gold Seal Oaks (ENG-G1), she then conquered males in the Budweiser Irish Derby (IRE-G1). She also collected two Group 1 wins in France during her career, winning the 1989 Prix Marcel Boussac and 1990 Prix Vermeille and produced three graded/Group stakes winners of her own during a brief broodmare career.

None of Flame of Tara’s other foals was quite the equal of Salsabil, but even without Salsabil’s exploits, Flame of Tara’s record would have been more than respectable. Bred to 1986 English and French champion sprinter Last Tycoon in 1987, she produced Marju, who won the 1991 St. James’s Palace Stakes (ENG-G1) at the Royal Ascot meeting and proved to be a useful sire. Her next stakes winner was Danse Royale (by 1983 French champion 3-year-old male Caerleon), who won the 1993 Prix de Psyche (FR-G3) but was a disappointing broodmare. Salsabil’s 1992 full brother Song of Tara was not a patch on his elder sister but was much better than an empty stall, winning the listed Prix Nimbus in France and placing in three Group races in England and Ireland, and the last of Flame of Tara’s stakes winners, Flame of Athens (by Royal Academy) won the 1995 P. V. Doyle Memorial Railway Stakes (IRE-G3) as a 2-year-old. Throw in two Group 2-placed runners in Nearctic Flame (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of two listed stakes winners) and Spirit of Tara (by Sadler’s Wells; dam of multiple Group stakes winner Echo of Light, by Dubai Millennium, and two other stakes winners), and Flame of Tara’s broodmare record looks very good indeed.

Generous, the sire of Rose of Tara, was an excellent stayer who tended to beget horses of similar stripe, and given that Fusaichi Pegasus clearly stayed 10 furlongs well, it seems quite reasonable to conjecture that Kin’s Concerto is the sort of filly who would favor a distance of ground, particularly as she matures. This naturally leads to the question of how she might do if sent after the 10-furlong King’s Plate, in which the likely favorite would by My Boy Prince. A son of Cairo Prince, My Boy Prince is riding a three-race win streak and won the Plate Trial Stakes on the same day that Kin’s Concerto won the Woodbine Oaks, earning an identical Equibase speed figure of 95. On earlier speed figures, he is decidedly faster than Kin’s Concerto has thus far shown on his day, but those days have come at sprint distances or on turf.

Kin’s Concerto could, of course, stay within her division and contest the Bison City Stakes, the second leg of Canada’s Triple Tiara, on the King’s Plate undercard, but that race is at a mile and one-sixteenth and carries a purse of CAN$250,000 against CAN$1 million for the King’s Plate. Her connections’ choice, and its outcome, may reveal whether she has more than just a spark of what made Flame of Tara and her progeny burn so brightly.
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Mares on Monday: Loyalty in Legacy of Great Lady M.

11/13/2023

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On November 11, Loyalty made her case for a Sovereign Award as Canada's champion female sprinter with a solid win in Canada’s biggest race for the division, the Bessarabian Stakes (CAN-G2). Seven-wide on the turn for home, the 4-year-old Josie Carroll trainee more than made up the lost ground and powered home to a 1½-length win over a dozen rivals, stopping the clock in 1:22.27 for the 7 furlongs. Also the winner of the Hendrie Stakes (CAN-G3) in July, Loyalty owns a 4-3-0-1 record in Canada this year and a lifetime record of 11-7-0-2. She has earned $398,647 for co-owners Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck) and LNJ Foxwoods, more than winning out the US$270,000 she cost as a yearling.

Bred by Best a Luck Farm (Tommy and Lori Fackler) and Godolphin, Loyalty is by 2007 King’s Bishop Stakes (USA-G1) winner Hard Spun, who has forged a solid stud career just below the top level. A son of Danzig and the stakes-winning Turkoman mare Turkish Tryst, he has sired 100 stakes winners as of November 13, 2023, including 2012 American champion 3-year-old filly Questing and Breeder’s Cup winners Aloha West (2021 Sprint) and Spun to Run (2019 Dirt Mile).

​
Loyalty is 3x5 inbred to Hard Spun’s paternal grandsire, Northern Dancer, and is also 4x4 to 1990 champion American sire Alydar. Behind both these inbred ancestors is two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer, the maternal grandsire of Northern Dancer and the paternal grandsire of Alydar through his sire Raise a Native. As another Raise a Native son, two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, is the male-line great-grandsire of Loyalty’s dam, and Native Dancer’s maternal grandson Icecapade is the sire of Loyalty’s fourth dam, the “Gray Ghost” appears 5x6x6x7x6x7 in Loyalty’s pedigree, with an additional cross of Native Dancer’s sire Polynesian appearing at the sixth remove.

Turning to Loyalty's female line, she is a half sister to 2018 American champion female sprinter Shamrock Rose (by First Dude) and is out of the unraced Elusive Quality mare Slew’s Quality, whom the Facklers bought for US$35,000 at the 2007 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Consolidator. An attempted resale at the 2008 Ocala Breeders’ Sales October mixed sale fell through when Slew’s Quality failed to make her reserve on a US$39,000 bid, and the Facklers have good reason now to be glad it did. Aside from Loyalty and Shamrock Rose, they have bred two stakes-placed runners and three other winners from their star broodmare, and the mare’s 2022 colt by Authentic (a US$425,000 RNA at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale) is said to be looking very promising; according to the Facklers, he will probably be offered at the 2024 OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training. Slew’s Quality was barren in 2023 but may be headed for a return date with Hard Spun in 2024.

A half sister to multiple French Group 3 winner Slew the Red (by Red Ransom), Slew’s Quality is out of Great Lady Slew (by Seattle Slew). A winner on the track, Great Lady Slew is also the dam of two stakes-placed runners and of the Diesis mare Marple, the second dam of South African champion 2-year-old filly Mahbooba (by Galileo).

Great Lady Slew, in turn, is a half sister to stakes winner Baldy’s Dream (by Green Dancer) and is out of the winner Great Lady Sharon. Sired by Alydar from Great Lady M. (by Icecapade), Great Lady Sharon is a half sister to 1986 American Horse of the Year Lady’s Secret (by Secretariat); to stakes winner Missy Slew (by Seattle Slew), dam of restricted stakes winner Vow (by Rahy); and to Great Christine (by Danzig), dam of 2003 Japanese champion older female Believe (by Sunday Silence) and second dam of 2022 Sprinters Stakes (JPN-G1) winner Gendarme (by Kitten’s Joy).

Great Lady M. was not a great race mare, but she was solid, tough, and consistent, picking up seven sprint stakes wins among her 14 wins from 58 starts, and she put the lie to the notion that hard-raced mares make poor broodmares, with no less than six of her daughters figuring in the production of graded or Group stakes winners. Her family has often skipped generations when it came to producing anything with significant class, but it keeps coming up with good horses nonetheless. If Loyalty does capture a Sovereign Award, she will be the sixth national champion descended within five generations from a tough little mare whose good qualities have persisted in pedigrees for nearly forty years and show no signs of slowing down.


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Erupting From a Fountain of Class

7/14/2015

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About the best of Northern Dancer's daughters on the track, Fanfreluche was also a broodmare of international significance. Her family gained a new luminary when her great-great-grandson Erupt (by Dubawi) scored an impressive win in the 2015 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (FR-G1) on July 14.

A half brother to Group 3-placed stakes winner Marie de Medici (by Medicean; dam of multiple Group 3 winner Local Time, by Invincible Spirit) and to Hespera (by Danehill), dam of Group 1-placed stakes winner Lady Penko (by Archipenko), Erupt is out of the Caerleon daughter Mare Nostrum.  This of course draws in another strand of Northern Dancer, as Caerleon's sire is the great Nijinsky II, arguably the Dancer's best racing son. Fanfreluche and Nijinsky II share similar genetic backgrounds as they are both from Teddy-line mares inbred to that great sire through the full brothers Sir Gallahad III and Bull Dog. In both cases, the Sir Gallahad III cross comes through 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox via either 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha or his full brother Flares, and the Teddy inbreeding is reinforced by multiple crosses to the speedy Domino, a highly compatible strain.

Mare Nostrum was a Group 1-placed Group 3 winner in her own right and is a half sister to 1994 Yellow Ribbon Invitational Stakes (USA-G2) winner Aube Indienne (by Bluebird), Group 3-placed stakes winner Raisonnable (by Common Grounds) and Group 2-placed stakes winner Special Gallery (by Tate Gallery). Their dam, Salvora, is a winning daughter of 1980 American Horse of the Year Spectacular Bid and Grand Luxe, one of Fanfreluche's five stakes winners. A daughter of Sir Ivor, Grand Luxe produced only one stakes winner, the Mr. Prospector horse Smackover Creek, but she also produced Grade 2-placed Lode (by Mr. Prospector), a champion sire in Argentina. In addition, Grand Luxe is the second dam of multiple Australian Group 1 winner and champion sire Flying Spur and the third dam of Australian Group 1 winner and champion sire Encosta de Lago.

As Erupt's sire Dubawi also carries a 4x5 cross to Northern Dancer through the great sire's sons Shareef Dancer and Lyphard, Erupt is 5x6x4x5 to the Dancer, not all that unusual for a top European horse these days. He looks like quite a nice horse off his Grand Prix de Paris form, and given the manner in which he handled dual Classic-placed Storm the Stars, it will be interesting to see how he stacks up against Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs as the European season moves toward the important late summer and fall races.
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Speightster: Another Colt With "No Class"

7/5/2015

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Pedigrees don't get much better than those of Saturday's Dwyer Stakes (USA-G3) winner Speightster, now unbeaten after three starts. By the fine sire Speightstown, the colt is from a family that just keeps producing, that of the great Canadian matriarch No Class.

No Class' six stakes winners and four champions include 1984 Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Classy 'n Smart (by Smarten), whose produce record is not much less impressive than her dam's. The 1991 Canadian Broodmare of the Year, Classy 'n Smart is the dam of 1991 Canadian Horse of the Year Dance Smartly (by Danzig), Grade 1 winner and two-time American champion sire Smart Strike (by Mr. Prospector, and Smart Strike's full siblings Full of Wonder (2002 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap, CAN-G1) and Strike Smartly (2002 Chinese Cultural Center Stakes, CAN-G2).

Speightster's dam Dance Swiftly is an unraced full sister to Dance Smartly. Previously the dam of listed stakes winners Paiota Falls (by Kris S.) and West Coast Swing (by Gone West), she is also the dam of Speight Swiftly, a 2-year-old full brother to Speightster who went for $500,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training.

Now 17 years old, 2004 American champion sprinter Speightstown has produced winners of major races all over the American distance spectrum. The son of Gone West had a big Independence Day as he is also the sire of Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) winner Force the Pass. Force the Pass highlights Speightstown's ability to add his own speed to his mates' best attributes as he is out of Social Queen, a Grade3I winner on the grass by the strong stamina influence Dynaformer. Speightstown has been among the top 10 American sires for the last five years (including a runner-up finish to Kitten's Joy in 2013) and is currently sixth on the general sire list.

How far Speightster will want to go is still a question. His pedigree is tilted more toward brilliance than that of Force the Pass, but his "aunt" Dance Smartly could go up to 12 furlongs, so longer distances than he has yet run certainly aren't out of the question. If he continues to develop as well as he has done so far, he could definitely spice things up in an already memorable year.
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Hollywood finish

11/29/2014

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In what will probably be his final start of 2014, California Chrome justified his 7-10 odds by cruising home an easy winner in the Hollywood Derby (USA-G1). Excepting the Queen's Plate winner Lexie Lou, who put in a valiant effort to be a clear second best, the field he defeated was not much to write home about. Nonetheless, Chrome's connections have to be excited about the ease with which the colt glided over the course. The fact that he finished up in a healthy 36.40 for his final three-eighths -- 12.17 for the final furlong -- and clearly could have gone faster if asked is icing on the cake.

Whether or not this race lands Chrome an Eclipse Award, it looks as though this gamble was one well worth taking. Not only does this victory open up racing options next year, but it also makes Chrome a more attractive stallion prospect, particularly to foreign interests in countries where turf racing is the norm. Even if he does not leave the country -- and Perry Martin and Steve Coburn certainly haven't shown any eagerness to sell -- the versatility he has shown will probably make his future foals more attractive to foreign buyers at the sales.

As for Lexie Lou, her connections deserve nothing but credit for their willingness to tackle one of the best 3-year-old males in the States. Even though she was second, her performance puts an extra shine on a 2014 record that looks like a cinch for giving her a Sovereign Award as best 3-year-old filly and should have her in the running for Canadian Horse of the Year.
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    Author

    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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