Category: Mares: South America

Mares on Monday: Kerouac Writes Another Chapter for Haras Paso Nevado's "K" Family

8/31/2026

2020 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Tiz the Law was one of the hottest sires on the planet at the end of August, In a three-day period, the Ashford Stud stallion came up with a quartet of Grade/Group 1 winners in the United States and Chile. Among those top-level winners was Kerouac, who started the onslaught on August 28 by capturing the Premio Polla de Potrancas (CHI-G1) at Santiago for owner Stud Vendaval. Racing through the stretch as if much the best, the filly (who shares her name with American novelist Jack Kerouac) landed the win by 2¾ lengths over Immense Deep.

A third-generation product of Haras Paso Nevado, Kerouac is the first foal of Kirikina, who won the 2021 edition of the Polla de Potrancas for Stud Vendaval. Kirikina has since two more foals by Tiz the Law: Karajan, a 2024 colt, and Keltatuwe, a 2025 filly.

Kirikina is by multiple Grade 1 winner Verrazano, an exceptionally handsome son of More Than Ready whose best runner so far in North America is 2022 Test Stakes (USA-G1) winner Chi Town Lady (out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Toni’s Hollyday). Kirikina was bred along somewhat similar lines as she was produced from the 2015 Polla de Potrancas winner Kitcat, whose sire Scat Daddy, like Harlan’s Holiday, is from the Storm Cat male line.

t is a rare female lineage indeed that manages to produce three generations of winners of the same Group 1 race, and it is also a rare family that comes up with a mare capable of producing four top-level winners. Also the winner of the 2016 Premio Club Hipico de Santiago (CHI-G1), Kitcat is one of four Chilean Group 1 winners produced by the American import Kossanova, who won four of her five Chilean starts and was second in the last. Sired by 1990 American champion juvenile male Fly So Free, Kossanova's other Group 1 winners are 2006 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Kossimo (by Gracioso), 2010 Premio Nacional Ricardo Lyon winner Knockout (by Scat Daddy), and 2017 Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile winner Kurilov (by Lookin At Lucky). In addition to her racing stars, Kossanova is the dam of Koussi (by Powerscourt), dam of 2016 Gran Premio Criadores Salvador Hess Riveros (CHI-G2) winner Lucky Sisi and listed stakes winner Kou Star (both by Lookin At Lucky) and second dam of 2022 Premio Mil Guineas (CHI-G1) winner Joke Sisi (by Practical Joke); Kalispera (by Powerscourt), second dam of multiple Chilean Group 3 winner Krakken (by Seeking the Dia); and multiple Group 1-placed Katmai (by Scat Daddy), sire of 2024 Chilean Horse of the Year Kay Army and 2022 Chilean champion 2-year-old dirt filly Una Chiquitita.

Kossanova’s female line traces back to “Genetic Gem” Queen Sucree (by Ribot), whose dam, “Genetic Gem” Cosmah (by Cosmic Bomb), was the 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and a half sister to “Genetic Gem” Natalma (by Native Dancer). There are not too many female lines that boast more genetic firepower, in Chile or anywhere else, and it can be hoped that Kerouac will contribute her own share of fireworks when the time comes for her to retire to the broodmare ranks.

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Mares on Monday: "Summer" Is Hot in Winter in Brazil

8/10/2026

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Nitrogen’s gallant second-place effort in Saturday’s Whitney Stakes (USA-G1) justly drew much admiration. She is not the only filly in the Americas to have faced males in a recent Grade/Group 1 race, though. The Brazilian 4-year-old Summer do Iguassu, a Group 1 winner at 3, recently took down the boys in the Grande Prêmio Copa ABCPCC Clássica-Matias Machline over 2000 meters (about 1¼ miles) at Gávea. Racing for breeder-owner Haras do Iguassu, the filly defeated 12 rivals in one of the bigger races on the Brazilian winter calendar and continued a history of Group 1 success for a Brazilian branch of an Argentine family.

Summer do Iguassu’s family entered Brazil via Revisa, whose Irish-bred sire Flintham (by 1962 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp winner Fortino II, also the sire of champion racer and sire Caro) was exported to Argentina after winning the 1974 Goldene Peitsche (GER-G3). In winning the Goldene Peitche, historically one of Germany’s top sprint races, Flintham expressed the sprinting proclivity of his sire rather than the staying blood found on the distaff side of his pedigree.

Sent to Brazil as a youngster, Revisa was a consistent performer in her class, winning five races at Gávea over 1300-1600 meters and finishing second in another five out of 13 starts. Put to the more stamina-oriented Present the Colors (a stakes-winning son of Hoist the Flag who became a good sire for Haras Santa Maria de Araras) for her first mating, Revisa produced Tawanna, winner of the 1989 Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro (BRZ-G1) over 2000 meters. Another mating to Present the Colors produced Vannieres, a winner over 1200 meters who was exported back to Argentina and there produced Vanguardia (by Sekari), winner of the 2005 Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Argentine One Thousand Guineas, ARG-G1).

Revisa’s other two important foals were both by the great Brazilian-based sire Ghadeer. The first, Azzedine, ran third in the 1992 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) over 1600 meters and became the dam of Brazilian listed stakes winner Ligeiro e Corredor (by Notation), who scored his signature win over 1200 meters. The other, Fit to Fly, scored her only win from nine starts in an 1100-meter event at Gávea but proved a valuable broodmare with three Group stakes winners to her credit. They were Must Be Flying (by the Forty Niner horse Jules, the Brazilian champion sire of 2002/03), who won the 2003 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1); Time to Fly (by five-time Brazilian champion sire Roi Normand), who won the 2011 Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara (BRZ-G3); and Montardon (by 2012/13 Brazilian champion sire Northern Afleet), who won the Grande Premio Dezesseis de Julho (BRZ-G3).

Best on the track, Must Be Flying was also the most important in the breeding shed despite having produced only two foals. Her daughter Catch a Wave (by 1999 Early Times Turf Classic, USA-G1, winner Wild Event, a five-time Brazilian champion sire and a great sire of broodmares) was a winner over 1000 meters at Gavea and produced Summer do Iguassu (a daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Camelot Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy) as her fourth foal and fourth winner. Her only subsequent foal is Maracatana, a 2023 daughter of multiple Grade 2 winner Synchrony (by Tapit) who has yet to race.

As Tawanna and Summer do Iguassu has demonstrated, this family is capable of throwing runners capable of winning at the highest level over 2000 meters, but the rest of its produce record suggests that speed is its true forte; in fact, none of Summer do Iguassu’s older siblings have won at more than 1500 meters. It will be interesting to see if “Summer” reverts to the family type when she enters the paddocks. In the meantime, observers can hope that she will get at least a few more opportunities to showcase her talent against all comers, male and female alike.

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Mares on Monday: A Group 1 Double in Brazil for a Misnamed Mare

6/29/2026

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On June 14, 2026, Brazilian broodmare Dead End made history at Rio de Janeiro’s Gávea racetrack, On that date, her son Plano B (by the Unbridled’s Song horse Emcee) won the Grande Prêmio Jockey Club Brasileiro (BRZ-G1), one of the country’s top events for juveniles. That was the fourth race on the card. In the very next race, Plano B’s 3-year-old full sister On the End won the Grande Premio Jockey Club Brasileiro (BRZ-G1) against open company, giving Dead End two Group 1 winners in the space of 40 minutes. Not bad for less than an hour’s work.

Bred by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, Dead End is a daughter of seven-time Brazilian champion broodmare sire Wild Event, who has an insurmountable lead for claiming an eighth straight title for the 2025/26 season. The winner of the 1999 Early Times Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1) and five other graded turf stakes during his racing career, Wild Event earned over US$3.4 million but, as a long-winded turf horse with an uncommercial pedigree, was not an appealing prospect for the Kentucky stallion market. Brazil took a much greater interest in getting a Wild Again half brother to 1994 American champion turf male Paradise Creek and “nephew” to 1987 American champion turf male and successful sire Theatrical (a half brother to Wild Event’s dam), and after Wild Event stood the 2000-2006 Northern Hemisphere seasons at Bridlewood Farm in Florida while shuttling to Brazil in 2002 and 2004-2005, the stallion relocated permanently to Brazil’s Haras Santa Maria de Araras, where he died in July 2018 after heading the Brazilian general sire list five times.

Dead End won two of her five starts, scoring at 1300 and 1400 meters at Gávea. Retired to the broodmare ranks at Haras Santa Maria de Araras, she opened her broodmare record with the winning colt Liking Park, a 2019 son of Adriano, and Multiplication, a winning 2020 daughter of the Argentine stallion Catch a Flight. After a missed year, Dead End produced On the End and Plano B back to back. Her most recent foal is an unnamed 2024 filly by Taareef.

Dead End is a fourth-generation product of Haras Santa Maria de Araras. She was produced from Paradise Queen, winner of the 2005 Grande Prémio Francisco Villela de Paula Machado (BRZ-G2) and the 2006 Grande Prémio Roger Guedon (BRZ-G3). Sired by 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile (USA-G1) winner Royal Academy, Paradise Queen is also the dam of Vôo Libre (by Northern Afleet), winner of the 2011 Grande Prémio Antenor Lara Campos (BRZ-G2), and listed stakes winner Feliz Rainha (by Put It Back).

Paradise Queen, in turn, is out of 1994 Copa ANPC-Eguas (BRZ-G3) winner Careless Queen (a daughter of the stakes-winning Hoist the Flag horse Present the Colors) and is a half sister to 2004 Grande Prêmio Henrique de Toledo Lara (BRZ-G3) winner Nomenclature (by Ghadeer). Produced from 1986 Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks, BRZ-G1) winner Queen Cell, Careless Queen is a full sister to 1992 Brazilian champion 2-year-old filly Beauty Queen and listed stakes winner Along the Way and is a half sister to 2000 Grande Prêmio Presidente Emilio G. Medici (BRZ-G2) winner Henry the King (by Tokatee).

Generally speaking, Dead End’s family has been a source of miler speed, and both Plano B and On the End fit this pattern, having won their Group 1 races over 1600 meters. Dead End herself is only 14, and with two daughters already on the ground, her name is certainly a misnomer, for her family is at anything but a dead end. With a bit of luck, this female line may continue to serve Haras Santa Maria de Araras well for generations more.

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Mares on Monday: Oh Promise Me Blazes a Trail to Group 1 Glory in Brazil

6/15/2026

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On June 13, Oh Promise Me delivered on earlier promise in Group 1 company with her first Group 1 win, making a strong run in the stretch to land the Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Seabra (BRZ-G1) at Rio de Janeiro’s Gávea course by three-quarters of a length. Bred in the purple from top to bottom, the filly is a new star for a South American branch of an old Darby Dan family, that of On the Trail.

The most important daughter of Darby Dan foundation mare Golden Trail, On the Trail (by Olympia) never raced but produced 1982 Top Flight Handicap (USA-G1) winner Andover Way (by His Majesty), the dam of multiple Group 2 winner and important stamina sire Dynaformer (by Roberto); 1977 Saratoga Special (USA-G2) winner Darby Creek Road (by Roberto); stakes winner Regal Road (by Graustark), third dam of three Grade/Group 1 winners including 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos; and three other daughters who did not earn black type but had some importance as broodmares. Among them was Darby Trail (by Roberto), who never raced but produced multiple listed stakes winner Cobra Classic (by Graustark).

Slew of Darby (by Slew o’ Gold), the eldest of Darby Trail’s daughters, was unplaced in two starts. She produced nine winners including stakes-placed King of Swamps (by Peteski) but had only one producing daughter, the 2000 Pine Bluff mare Neblina. Neblina, in turn, produced Tangerina (by Bernstein), who was sent to Brazil and there produced 2014 Grande Prêmio Presidente Julio Mesquita (BRZ-G3) winner Batenamadeira (by Northern Afleet). She also produced Group 3-placed Frutada (Wild Event), who produced Oh Promise Me as her third foal.

Hofburg, the sire of Oh Promise Me, is a stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed son of Tapit who was ninth on last year’s Brazilian general sire list and is currently sixth in this year’s standings. Frutada has since produced the unraced juvenile filly Parody (by Hofburg) and a yearling colt named Quotidien (by Pimper’s Paradise). Her most recent foal is Rebolation, a full sister to Oh Promise Me who arrived on October 14, 2025.

Oh Promise Me’s victory was doubly sweet for breeder-owner Haras Santa Maria de Araras, the sponsor of the Grande Prêmio Roberto e Nelson Seabra. Previously second in Gávea’s Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks, BRZ-G1) on March 8, the filly was fourth in the Grande Prêmio Zélia Gonzaga Peixoto de Castro on April 12 before finally climbing to the top of the class ladder with Saturday’s win. As a South American 3-year-old, she will turn 4 on July 1, so Haras Santa Maria de Araras now has a decision to make: to retire her to the paddocks with a Group 1 win on her resume, or to continue racing her as a 4-year-old. Where her trail will lead is still undecided, but it should be an interesting one to follow.

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Mares on Monday: A Glad Result for Man o' War in the Brazilian Oaks

3/16/2026

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The In Reality/Man o’ War male line may be hanging on by a thread, but it isn’t dead yet. On March 8, 2026, the late Put It Back added another Group 1 winner to his tally as his daughter Orange Riviera flashed home a length to the good in the Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks) at Gávea. She is the first Group 1 winner from the 53 named foals from the stallion’s final crop, and one can hope she will not be the last.

Put It Back was an unlikely horse to achieve more than notice as a nice regional sire. A son of 1996 Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1) winner Honour and Glory (by Relaunch, by In Reality), who had a highly uneven stud career, he was produced from the winner Miss Shoplifter, whose sire Exuberant (by What a Pleasure) spent most of his stud career as a regional sire in Florida. As a Grade 2-winning sprinter with a rather brief racing career (seven starts) and an undistinguished female family, he lacked the resume to be of interest to Kentucky breeders and started his stud career in Florida at Bridlewood Farm.

Put It Back did fairly well there, getting the Grade 1-winning sprinters In Summation and Jessica Is Back, but he found his true destiny in South America thanks to international breeder Haras Santa Maria de Araras. A Brazilian-based concern with operations in Florida and Argentina, they bought into Put It Back and eventually purchased him in toto for permanent relocation to the Southern Hemisphere after getting good results from early shuttle crops. In Brazil, he proved outstanding, earning the Mossoró Trophy as “Stallion of the Year” for three straight years. To date, he has sired 116 stakes winners, including 26 Group 1 winners, but none of his top racing sons have so far been able to assume his mantle as a sire. Some are still quite young, however, so all is not yet lost.

Put It Back’s great success in Brazil led to his being presented with good mares from the best available families, and Orange Riviera hails from one such, that of the excellent Argentine matron Glad. A two-time Pellegrini Award winner as Argentine Broodmare of the Year, Glad produced 1981 Argentine Horse of the Year I’m Glad and 1984 Argentine Mare of the Year So Glad to covers by Liloy. She is also the dam of Argentine-bred but Brazilian-raced Gas Mask (by Decorum, a major winner in both Argentina and Brazil), who has established a strong branch of Glad’s family.

The winner of the 1975 Grande Prêmio Duque de Caxias (BRZ-G2), Gas Mask produced four stakes winners including 1988 Grande Prêmio Diana (Gávea) (BRZ-G1) winner Slew in Mask and 1986 Grande Premio Marciano de Aguiar Moreira (BRZ-G1) winner Quip Mask (both by 1965 Prix du Cadran winner Waldmeister). The latter mare produced the 2000 With Approval gelding Necessaire, a champion in Uruguay, but her long-term legacy rests with her American-bred daughters Lucciola (by Numerous) and Fricote (by multiple Grade 1 winner Ogygian, by Damascus). The former is the third dam of 2021 Gran Premio Estrellas Mile (ARG-G1) winner Che Capanga; the latter is the dam of 2004 Premio Juan Shaw (ARG-G2) winner Frieda Fritz (by Roy) and of the Group stakes producers Fraulien Eva, Fruit Cup, and French Riviera (all by 2005 Argentine champion sire Lode, by Mr. Prospector).

Of the three, French Riviera was the most successful. Sent to Brazil, she produced multiple Group 1 winner Fanciful, 2016 Grande Prêmio Costa Ferraz (BRZ-G3) winner Double Talk, and 2019 Grande Prêmio Euvaldo Lodi (BRZ-G3) winner Go to Riviera, all by five-time Brazilian champion sire Wild Event, whose daughters have produced 141 winners (73.8%) and 25 stakes winners (13.1%) so far from 191 named foals by Put It Back. Orange Riviera is among those stakes winners, having been produced from Go to Riviera.

Fans of the Rasmussen Factor (inbreeding to superior females) would doubtless be pleased by Orange Riviera’s pedigree as she carries a 4x5 cross to Gonfalon (the dam of Ogygian and the maternal granddam of Honour and Glory). How much this has to do with the filly’s own obvious talent is anyone’s guess, and even less may be attributable to a century-old male-line link to the horse many still regard as the best American racehorse of all time. And if a Brazilian Oaks winner represents a final flourish for her late sire’s career, there are worse ways to go out than with a last-crop Classic winner.

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Mares on Monday: Unveiling a South American Branch of a Top American Family

2/9/2026

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Last week was a good one for the late Into Mischief stallion Can the Man, whose progeny swept two top-level 1600-meter events for 3-year-olds at Brazil’s Gávea course on February 1 as well as picking up a Group 3 win in the same country on February 7. The leading lady in this series of successes was Veil, who got the better of a testing stretch battle to win the Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1). The runner-up in Cidade Jardim’s version of the Grande Prêmio Diana (BRZ-G1) in her last outing back in November, Veil collected her second Group score and her first at the Group 1 level, adding another elite success to the record of a family that has been producing good horses in the Western Hemisphere for nearly two centuries.

Tracing back to the Irish-bred Vamp, who was imported to the United States in 1835, this branch of Bruce Lowe Family 1-o kicked into high gear through Friar’s Carse. Although she was a daughter of 1916 American Horse of the Year Friar Rock, who was commonly reckoned to be the best stayer of his day in the United States, Friar’s Carse took more after the speed commonly imparted by her maternal grandsire, Superman (a grandson of the brilliant Domino) and was considered the best American juvenile filly of 1925 in spite of a wind problem that prematurely ended her racing career.

Friar’s Carse was one of the few top-quality race mares put to the great Man o’ War during the latter part of his stud career, and she did not waste those opportunities. Her son War Relic, although vile-tempered and no better than the third-best 3-year-old colt of 1941—and it was not close between him and his superiors, American Triple Crown winner Whirlaway and the grand stayer Market Wise—managed to continue Man o’ War’s male line through his sons Intent and Relic, and his full sisters Speed Boat and War Kilt were both good race mares and important producers.

Anchors Ahead was also a full sister to War Relic but never made it to the track. She made up for that by producing three stakes winners, the best of which was 1944 Spinaway Stakes winner and stakes producer Price Level (by Sickle). Anchors Ahead also produced Honor Bound (by Bull Dog), another excellent broodmare whose foals included 1968 Widener Stakes winner Sette Bello (by Ribot), 1956 Westerner Stakes winner Count of Honor (by Count Fleet), and 1955 Vanity Handicap winner Countess Fleet (by Count Fleet), as well as the noteworthy broodmares Her Honor and Contessa Honora (both by Count Fleet).

Count Fleet, the 1943 American Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year, was both a champion sire of racehorses and a champion broodmare sire, and Countess Fleet lived up to both sides of that heritage. She produced the good 1960s turf runner Flit-to (by Turn-to), the equivalent of a multiple graded stakes winner; stakes winner Sir Earl (by Sir Gaylord); and 1976 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (USA-G2) winner Fleet Victress (by King of the Tudors), dam of stakes winner Minstress (by The Minstrel). Unfortunately, Countess Fleet left only one other filly, the winner Fleet Empress (by Young Emperor), and while Fleet Empress did produce the minor stakes winner Band Practice (by Stop the Music), she did not seem a likely candidate to carry the line much further—especially after none of her seven daughters managed to produce a stakes winner.

The eldest of those daughters was the winning Advocator mare Queen’s Advice, who failed to produce any winners among her six named foals. This might have been the end of the story, except that her younger daughter, the Megaturn mare Pointe Du Bout, was exported to Brazil after being purchased for US$2,500 as a short yearling from the 1990 Keeneland January mixed sale. That was a turning point in the family fortunes, as Point Du Bout, a winner in her adopted country, first produced three-time listed stakes winner Charge Ahead (by Irish Fighter) and then the 1999 Trempolino filly Zimbamia, who won the 2002 Grande Prêmio Diana at Cidade Jardim. Point Du Bout also produced Tua Carina (by Our Emblem), dam of 2025 Grande Prêmio Proclamacao da Republica (BRZ-G2) winner Piu Carina (by Kentuckian), and Vestida de Noiva (by Dubai Dust), who produced Veil as her fifth foal.

As illustrated by the history of the family of Friar’s Carse, not every branch of even the best families will continue to produce at a high level. Some will be culled out from the better breeding programs, and most of those failures will continue to display why they became culls. Every now and then, though, one becomes a pleasant surprise. Point du Bout has been one such, going from bargain-basement yearling to Group 1 producer, and it can be hoped that Veil and Piu Carina will continue the upward trend, both in the remainder of their racing careers and as producers.

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Mares on Monday: When You're Hot, You're Hot---Just Ask Lavant

1/12/2026

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“When you’re hot, you’re hot” is an old show business adage meaning that success builds on success. It also applies to the world of Thoroughbred breeding, and right now, it applies to the family of the one-time “half-bred” Lavant. Responsible for Grande Prêmio Diana (BRZ-G1) winner Perfect Plastic in November of last year (“Mares on Monday: Lavant’s Family Proves Fully Thoroughbred in Brazil,” November 17, 2025) and Grande Premio Presidente Antonio Grisi Filho (BRZ-G3) winner Shallow Now just a week later (“Mares on Monday: Lightning Strikes Twice for Lavant,” November 24, 2025), Lavant’s family completed a Group-winning hat trick on January 6, 2026, when Brazilian-bred Native Extreme fought his way to a head victory in Uruguay’s biggest race, the Gran Premio José Pedro Ramírez (URU-G1) at Montevideo’s Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas. The son of the Unbridled’s Song horse Emcee picked up his first top-level win after previously gaining a listed stakes win in 2025 at Maroñas.

Like Perfect Plastic and Shallow Now, Native Extreme descends from the Locris mare On Pass Pas, a Brazilian-bred great-granddaughter of Lavant. Their pedigrees diverge at the next step. Up until now, On Pass Pas’s Group 3-placed daughter Femme Fatale (by Clackson) has gained more recent notice, her branch of the family including Perfect Plastic and Shallow Now as well as 2005 Grande Prêmio Henrique Possolo (BRZ-G1) winner Movie Star and multiple Brazilian Group 2 winner Simply the Best.

Native Extreme brings the spotlight to another daughter of On Pass Pas, Access. A full sister to Femme Fatale, Access was the better racer, winning the 1995 Grande Prêmio Thomaz Teixeira de Assumpção Junior (BRZ-G3) and placing in another Group 3 event. She was also a successful broodmare, producing 2007 Grande Premio Henrique Possolo winner Que Fuerza (by five-time Brazilian champion sire Wild Event, by Wild Again) and 2004 Grande Premio Associacao de Criadores e Proprietarios de Cavalos de Corrida do Rio de Janeiro (BRZ-G3) winner Nikinipó (by the Forty Niner horse Jules, a champion sire in Brazil).

Although Que Fuerza did not quite succeed in reproducing her own class, she still did fairly well as a broodmare, producing 2020 Premio Asamblea de La Florida (URU-G3) winner Hechicero (by multiple graded stakes winner Adriano, by A.P. Indy)) and Amor Gitano (by Northern Afleet), a multiple listed stakes winner in Brazil and Uruguay. She is also the dam of three stakes-placed daughters including Extreme Justice (by Adriano), who produced Native Extreme as her third foal. Now deceased, Extreme Justice has one foal yet to race in Paddington Station, a 2023 colt by 2020/21 Brazilian champion older male Pimper’s Paradise.

How long the Lavant family’s hot streak will continue is anyone’s guess, but the Group 1 wins of Perfect Plastic and Native Extreme will certainly help in securing better matings for broodmares from this clan, including Extreme Justice’s half sisters. Breeders, like everyone else, look for success where success has already been found, and the descendants of Lavant through On Pass Pas have certainly found plenty in recent months.

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Mares on Monday: A Sublime Finish to 2025 in Chile

12/29/2025

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Chile’s Las Oaks (CHI-G1) is usually the last Classic race of the year in the Western Hemisphere. This year’s edition went off on December 26 at Club Hípico de Santiago, and Noche Sublime concluded 2025 with a flourish by galloping home three lengths in front of dual Chilean Group 1 winner Eccentric after a brief tussle at mid-stretch. Bred by Haras Don Alberto, the daughter of 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) winner Mendelssohn gave him his fourth Group 1 winner of the year and padded his lead in the 2025 Chilean sire standings, making it all but certain that Mendelssohn will be crowned the country’s champion sire.

Noche Sublime is the seventh named foal produced from the stakes-placed winner Noche Clasica, whose sire Indy Dancer (by A.P. Indy) ran third in the 2003 Florida Derby (USA-G1) and ranked seven times among Chile’s top 10 sires before dying earlier this year. A full sister to 2008 Premio Selección de Potrillos (CHI-G3) winner Indiscutable, Noche Clasica is also a half sister to Plaza de Mayo (by More Royal), dam of 2011 Premio Carlos Campino (CHI-G2) winner Indy May (by Indy Dancer) and multiple Chilean Group 3 winner Indy Noble (by Indy Dancer).

Noche Clasica and her siblings are out of the winner Noche de Mayo, a daughter of the winning Nijinsky II horse Dancing Groom. Noche de Mayo, in turn, is out of Nobleness, a winning daughter of the winning Nureyev horse Nureyev Dancer. A half sister to Chilean stakes winner Mendelson (by Mr. Long), Nobleness was produced from Elegantosa (by the Chilean stallion Ghirlandao), a half sister to 1983 Paddock Stakes (CHI-G3) winner Touch of Class (by Mr. Long). The female line traces back to the great English matron Feola, whose daughters had marked success in Europe and also introduced branches of this family to the United States (via Knight’s Daughter, dam of the great Round Table and Claiborne foundation mare Monarchy) and Argentina (via Starling, dam of three-time Argentine champion sire Sideral and 1953 Argentine champion 3-year-old filly Siderea).

Noche Sublime was registering only her second win in seven starts in Las Oaks, but the dominance of her victory suggests that better things may be in store for her and for owner Stud Doña Lili. Assuming she remains in training in 2026, she should be one to watch for in Chile’s remaining Classic events.

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Mares on Monday: Reading the Rose Leaves for Peruvian Group 1 Winner Maria Luisa

12/22/2025

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The Premio Gran National Augusto B. Leguia (PER-G1) is the last top-level race of the calendar year for Peruvian 3-year-olds and is the country’s closest equivalent to England’s Derby Stakes as it is contested over 2400 meters on turf. This year, it drew a field of 10, with Radoslav and Compasión both coming in off Group 2 wins over the Hipódromo de Monterrico turf course, but neither proved equal to the challenge. Instead, the filly Maria Luisa flew the target from the outset and hung on gamely to hold off Argentine-bred Puppi’s Husband by a diminishing head.

While Maria Luisa was bred in Peru and upheld the honor of the home team, her five-generation pedigree shows only one ancestor bred anywhere in South America. Bred and owned by Stud Benedicta, Maria Luisa is by Irish-bred Singe the Turf, a product of Jim Bolger’s remarkable breeding program. How much talent Singe the Turf had is open to question, as the son of Galileo and stakes winner Affianced (by multiple Grade 1 winner Erins Isle) won at first asking in his only start at two, defeating future multiple Group 1 winner Declaration of War by six lengths. That seemed highly promising, but Singe the Turf finished off the board in his first outing at 3 and never ran again. As a full brother to 2007 Irish Derby (IRE-G1) winner Soldier of Fortune and Group 3 winner Heliostatic, he had plenty of pedigree for the export market. He was sent to Peru in 2013 and has stood at Haras Rancho Fatima since then. His top runners include Peruvian champions Don Feres and Saudita, but Maria Luisa is his first Group 1 winner.

Maria Luisa was produced from Peruvian-bred Candynsky, whose sire Bandini (by Fusaichi Pegasus) won the 2005 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (USA-G1) and 2006 Skip Away Handicap (USA-G3) and set track records for 7 furlongs and a mile at Gulfstream Park. A winner on the track, Candynsky is out of unraced Wings of Song (by Unbridled’s Song), whose half sister Somalia (by Mineshaft) is the dam of Canadian Grade 3 winners Lookin for Eight (by Lookin At Lucky) and Miss Mo Mentum (by Uncle Mo) as well as stakes winner Disco Pharoah (by American Pharoah).

Wings of Song and Somalia are out of multiple stakes-placed Cosmic Wing (by Halo), a half sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Charley Tango (by Maria’s Mon) and to Myrtle Beach (by Kingmambo), dam of Grade 1-placed multiple listed stakes winner Barcola (by Old Trieste). Produced from 1992 Pucker Up Stakes (USA-G3) winner Ziggy’s Act (by Danzig), Cosmic Wing is also a half sister to Issaqueena (by Mr. Prospector), dam of 2009 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (USA-G2) winner Tizaqueena (by Tiznow) and listed stakes winner New Trails (by Medaglia d’Oro), and to Miss Carolina (by Unbridled), whose son Bow Beaver was a multiple champion in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Cosmic Wing is a half sister to Saratoga Summer (by Smart Strike), dam of 2017 Orchid Stakes (USA-G3) winner Summersault (by Rock Hard Ten). The female line traces back to Summer Time, a full sister to five-time American champion sire Bull Lea.

The Peruvian breeding industry produces only a few hundred Thoroughbred foals annually. Ordinarily, that would mean that it would be nearly impossible to judge how good Maria Luisa actually is unless she left her native land to go raiding in Argentina, Brazil, or Chile. But in 2026, the best racehorses of South America will come to her as the Group 1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano (which rotates between South America’s major tracks) will be run at Monterrico to coincide with the 80th anniversary celebration of the Jockey Club del Perú---and in 2024, when the Latinoamericano was last run in Peru, Peruvian-based Manyuz made off with the prize. To be sure, Manyuz was Kentucky-bred, and a Peruvian-bred has not won the Latinoamericano since 2015, when Peruvian Horse of the Year Liberal came to Argentina’s Palermo track and won over multiple Argentine Group 1 winner Dont Worry. Still, the filly has now established home field advantage, and a win for her would do much to enhance Peru’s prestige in South American Thoroughbred circles. It has happened before, and it could happen again.

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Mares on Monday: Obataye Earns Pellegrini Victory Wreath for The Garden Club

12/15/2025

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Mid-December marks the time for one of Argentina’s biggest racing weekends. Featuring four Group 1 races including the nation’s most important all-aged race, the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini-Internacional, it invariably draws the nation’s best turf runners to Hipódromo de San Isidro near Buenos Aires. It also draws some good foreign raiders, and this year the Pellegrini fell to Brazil’s top older male, Obataye. The last-out winner of the Grande Prêmio Gran Premio Latinoamericano (BRZ-G1) at Gávea over top challengers from South America’s other racing nations, Obataye cemented his standing as the top turf horse on the continent by leaving his opposition for dead with a sharp burst of speed at mid-stretch and coming home by a measured length and a half. The runner-up, Argentine hopeful The Gladiator’s Hat, was coming in off a win in the Gran Premio Dardo Rocha-Internacional (ARG-G1) and made a powerful stretch move of his own but could not match the winner, who now owns a “Win and You’re In” slot for the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Turf (USA-G1).

Whether Obataye will make the trip or not is open to question: he will be a Southern Hemisphere 6-year-old by then, and between the wear and tear of further racing and the temptation to retire him to stud for the 2026 Southern Hemisphere breeding season, it is long odds that he will ever make it to the Breeders’ Cup even if owner Haras Rio Iguassu is willing to consider the Turf as a goal. (For what it is worth, he also had a “Win and You’re In” spot in 2024 after winning the Grande Prêmio Brasil, BRZ-G1, and did not come.) If he does come, however, he will be coming full circle to the land of his ancestors, for he descends from North American-bred horses in both his tail-male and tail-female lines. Sired by Courtier, a Juddmonte Farms-bred son of Pioneerof the Nile who currently leads the Brazilian sire standings for the 2025/26 season, Obataye is a fifth-generation descendant of The Garden Club, a mare carrying the rich heritage of one of Ogden Phipps’s best families.

Foaled in 1966, The Garden Club was sired by the imported French champion Herbager (then standing at Claiborne Farm, where the Phipps family has long boarded its mares) out of 1962 Adirondack Stakes winner Fashion Verdict. A half sister to two stakes winners and to 1965 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes runner-up Dapper Dan. Fashion Verdict is a granddaughter of Phipps foundation mare Striking, a stakes winner in her own right and a full sister to 1945 American Horse of the Year Busher. The female line traces back to La Troienne, the queen of 20th-century American matriarchs.

Despite her regal heritage, The Garden Club was only a moderate race mare, winning three of her 15 starts, and was culled from the Phipps breeding program. Eventually, she ended up in the hands of William S. Farish, for whom she produced 1981 Delaware Oaks (USA-G2) winner Up the Flagpole (by Hoist the Flag), multiple Grade 3 winner Nostalgia (by Silent Screen), and stakes winner Blushing Cathy (by Blushing Groom). Up the Flagpole, in turn, produced seven stakes winners, including Grade/Group 1 winners and important broodmares Prospectors Delite, Flagbird, and Runup the Colors, and is the granddam of 2003 American Horse of the Year Mineshaft.

The last of The Garden Club’s 12 foals was the 1986 Mr. Prospector filly Hidden Garden, who won three of her nine starts but did not earn black type. As a broodmare for Farish, she produced multiple Grade 3 winner Jazz Club (by Dixieland Band) and stakes-placed Garden Spot (by Danzig), both bred in partnership with Joseph Jamail. For the same partners, Hidden Garden produced Hidden Storm, a 1997 Storm Cat filly that never raced.

Hidden Storm produced six foals, none of which were particularly distinguished as racers, and neither of her daughters remained on American shores. Queen of France (by Danehill), who was stakes-placed in Ireland as a 4-year-old, remained in Ireland for her breeding career, producing three winners from six foals. Parisian Commune, an Unbridled’s Song filly who never raced, was sent to Brazil and ended up at Haras São José do Bom Retiro, where she produced 2017 Grande Prêmio Gervasio Seabra (BRZ-G2) winner Gargalo’s Hill’s to the cover of Roderic O’Connor. She is also the dam of unraced Surfi’n Usa (by the multiple Group 2-winning Sadler’s Wells horse Crimson Tide), who produced Obataye as her fourth foal.

Surfi’n Usa has since produced the unraced 4-year-old filly Paris Toujours (by the Uncle Mo horse Rally Cry), the unraced juvenile filly Rocket Talks (by Garbo Talks, a Group 1-winning son of two-time Brazilian champion sire Put It Back), and the yearling filly Surfi’n Bird (by Garbo Talks), so she will have a decent chance of extending this Brazilian branch of The Garden Club’s family further. As for Obataye, it is hard to gauge how he might stack up for a North American venture. Generally speaking, the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings have typically rated the best South American runner of a given year 10 pounds or more below the top North American and European runners, but we do have the examples of Siphon (BRZ), Riboletta (BRZ), Redattore (BRZ), Bal a Bali (BRZ), and Ivar (BRZ), among others, to show that Brazilian horses can compete successfully at the Grade 1 level in the United States given time to acclimate to Northern Hemisphere conditions. Whether Obataye will be given the chance to prove that he belongs in that group is a question for the future; for now, he appears to be the undisputed champion of his continent, and that is no small distinction to add to the record of his superb family.

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Mares on Monday: Obataye Earns Pellegrini Victory Wreath for The Garden Club

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