Category: Racing Commentary

Mares on Monday: A Splendid Result in the Beholder Mile

3/9/2026

Splendora may be lightly raced, but she has a way of making her presence felt when she does step onto the racetrack. A sharp winner of the 2025 PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (USA-G1) at Del Mar after a tuneup win in the Tranquility Lake Stakes over the same track, the now 5-year-old mare came back after a three-month freshener to win the D. Wayne Lukas Stakes (USA-G2) at Santa Anita on February 7. She returned to the Grade 1 level in the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile Stakes presented by FanDuel a month later and looked every inch the part of a 1-10 favorite, simply cruising over four outmatched opponents to score by 5¾ lengths. Her lifetime record stands at seven wins and four seconds from 12 starts with US$1,160,800 in the bank, a nice return on the US$125,000 she cost as a yearling at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale.

Bred in Maryland by the Elkstone Group, Splendora is the first top-level winner sired by the Into Mischief son Audible. The winner of the 2018 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (USA-G1), Audible is out of the sprint winner Blue Devil Bel, whose sire Gilded Time was the American champion 2-year-old male of 1992. Audible's female line traces back to Romanita, the 1956 American champion 2-year-old filly.

Splendora is the second foal of Miss Freeze, whose first foal is the winning Always Dreaming mare Firsttimeinforever. Sold for US$45,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November mixed sale while carrying the Breeders’ Cup winner, she has since produced the unraced Demarchelier 3-year-old Oracle of Beaufort and a 2025 Tiz the Law filly before being covered by National Treasure for 2026.

The winner of the restricted Lynbrook Stakes over 6 furlongs at Belmont as a juvenile of 2014, Miss Freeze is a daughter of the Giant’s Causeway horse Frost Giant, who got his signature win in the 2008 Suburban Handicap (USA-G1). She was produced from the winner Reata’s Vixen, whose Irish-bred sire, Sligo Bay (by Sadler’s Wells), won the 2002 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (USA-G1) and was a prominent sire in Canada. Sligo Bay was produced from Angelic Song, a full sister to 1980 Canadian Horse of the Year Glorious Song, 1983 American champion 2-year-old male Devil’s Bag, and Grade 2 winner and 2005 American champion sire Saint Ballado.

A half sister to multiple listed stakes winner Royal Currier (by Red Bullet), who spent his racing career sprinting up and down the East Coast, Reata’s Vixen did her best running at at a mile or a mile and one-sixteenth on the turf but apparently passed on more of the speed of her broodmare sire, two-time Carter Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lite the Fuse. The female line traces back to 1966 Kentucky Oaks winner Native Street, a speedy filly who owed her Oaks win over a mile and one-sixteenth to sheer determination (she never won a stakes race before or afterward at more than 6 furlongs) and passed on that speed and gameness to her descendants.

Splendora’s pedigree shows a mix of speed and stamina elements, but given that her sire, her broodmare sire, and her second dam’s sire all did their best running around two turns, her preference for shorter distances seems a little surprising even given the speedy nature of her direct female line. Nevertheless, she was beaten five lengths by Seismic Beauty in her one try at 9 furlongs (the 2025 Santa Margarita Stakes, USA-G2), and the horse in front of you is always more important than the pedigree on paper. Pedigrees show genetic potentials; the horse itself is the reality, and it’s a wise owner and trainer who let the horse rather than a piece of paper dictate what it wants to do.

Future plans for Splendora are still unsettled, but trainer Bob Baffert and co-owner Michael Talla (whose By Talla Racing shares ownership in the mare with Boyd Racing) have indicated that the long-term goal will probably be a defense of her title in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with an Eclipse Award in mind. Should she remain sound and healthy, her results up to now suggest that she has a good chance of doing just that,

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Mares on Monday: She Be Smooth Makes It Look Easy in Davona Dale

3/2/2026

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Following a solid win in the Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G3) on January 31, On Time Girl was a 4-5 favorite for Gulfstream Park’s Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2) on February 28. She was a reasonable choice in a field in which only one of the other six fillies, Cash Run Stakes winner Haute Diva, had won anything but a maiden special weight. Maiden winner She Be Smooth had other ideas, though. Making only her second lifetime start, the Todd Pletcher trainee dawdled behind the field early but made up nearly six lengths between the three-quarter pole and the stretch call to go from over four lengths off the lead to a length and a half in front. From there, she kept widening under mild urging, finishing six lengths ahead of My Miss Mo, who held the place by half a length over On Time Girl.

A Calumet Farm homebred, She So Smooth is the fourth stakes winner and first graded stakes winner from the first crop of 2021 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lexitonian. The stallion is a son of Speightstown out of the Tapit mare Riviera Romper, whose dam, Swap Fliparoo (by Exchange Rate), won the 2006 Test Stakes (USA-G1). This seems a speed-oriented pedigree, but Lexitonian is also the sire of Fire and Wine (out of Double Latte, by The Factor), who won the 9-furlong Coronation Futurity last year at Woodbine.

On the dam’s side, She Be Smooth is the last foal of 2009 Ogden Phipps Handicap (USA-G1) winner Seattle Smooth. The dam of six previous winners, including Grade 3-placed Seattle Slang and minor stakes-placed Gunfire (both by Tapit), Seattle Smooth is by Quiet American, now the broodmare sire of 147 stakes winners, and is out of unraced Our Seattle Star (by Washington D. C. International, USA-G1, winner Seattle Song), making her a half sister to stakes-placed Storming Starlet and to Moonshine Gal (by Forest Wildcat), dam of 2018 Ladies Handicap (USA-L) winner Just Got Out (by Harlington).

A half sister to multiple restricted stakes winner Rare Star (by Rare Performer), Our Seattle Star is out of stakes-placed Starsburg (by Whitesburg), a half sister to minor stakes winner Bold Decision (by Handsome Boy). Produced from juvenile stakes winner Dot’s Star (by the good juvenile Su Ka Wa, a son of 1956 American champion 2-year-old male Barbizon), Starsburg is part of a line of descent from Helen Barbee, a tough race mare crowned by racing historians as the American champion older female of 1912.

On paper, She Be Smooth looks more like a come-from-behind miler than a filly that really wants a two-turn distance, but one never can tell for certain without trying, and with 50 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) already in the bank, there seems no reason not to try her at a longer trip and plenty of reason to do so. Although come-from-behind runners always run the risk of encountering traffic jams, the responsiveness she showed to Flavien Prat’s handling and her quick acceleration should serve her well in a larger field and give her a good chance to prove herself as a genuine Kentucky Oaks contender against stronger competition.

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Mares on Monday: Will Lovely Bloodlines Be Enough to Carry Bella Ballerina to Kentucky Oaks Glory?

2/16/2026

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Some horses are born with golden spoons or the equivalent (golden bits?) in their mouths. Bella Ballerina would seem to be one such. Sired by a Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner out of a Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1)-producing dam and representing the same connections that won the Oaks with her half sister Pretty Mischievous in 2023, Bella Ballerina came into the world with every possible advantage. Being a horse, she does not blush for it. She simply does what a Thoroughbred is born to do: run. And so far, she has not put a foot wrong. Following a game score in the Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra (USA-G2) Stakes—a race also won by Pretty Mischievous—she is now three-for-three and has earned US$481,525 for owner Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh.

Bella Ballerina is more lightly raced than was Pretty Mischievous at this stage of her career, having made three starts to her sister’s five. Part of this may reflect the difference in their sires, as the stock of Into Mischief (sire of Pretty Mischievous) tend to be earlier developing than those of Bella Ballerina’s sire, Street Sense. To be sure, Street Sense was a champion juvenile before landing the 2007 Kentucky Derby, and his wins included the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (USA-G1) by a record 10 lengths. He also has a respectable record of siring winning juveniles, with nearly 24 percent of his winners earning their first victories as 2-year-olds. Nevertheless, his runners usually wait until at least the last months of their 2-year-old seasons to start making headway, in part because they on average need more distance than the Into Mischiefs. Into Mischief is a six-time champion juvenile sire (according to The Blood-Horse) for good reason, with almost 33 percent of his winners making their first scores at 2, and Pretty Mischief was 3-for-4 at that age with a win in the Untapable Stakes to her credit.

Still, although Bella Ballerina made but two starts at 2, she made them count, taking a Keeneland maiden special weight on October 5, 2025, and the Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2) (a race in which Pretty Mischievous finished third in 2022) on November 29. It is worth remembering that the sisters’ dam, Pretty City Dancer, was also a good juvenile, dead-heating for the 2016 Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1), though she failed to progress from that victory and did not win again in seven starts as a 3-year-old. Given that Pretty City Dancer is a Tapit half sister to Lear’s Princess (by Lear Fan), who upset Rags to Riches in the 2007 Gazelle Stakes (USA-G1), her failure to develop further had to be a disappointment, especially given that her dam Pretty City (by Carson City) is a half sister to 1988 Bernard Baruch Handicap (USA-G1) winner My Big Boy.

As Bella Ballerina continues on the Fair Grounds path along the Lily Lane to the Kentucky Oaks—she will likely be seen next in the Fair Grounds Oaks, a race in which Pretty Mischievous finished second—the question now is how much upside she has. On paper, it should be quite a bit given her ancestry. Her Equibase figures are all in the upper 80s, however, showing virtually no progression. That might be good enough against this year’s Eastern filly division, which frankly looks like a rather weak bunch, but the California girls have posted figures more in line with previous years’ Oaks winners and as a group seem to be several lengths better than what Bella Ballerina has been facing. Blood may tell when the lilies are awarded on May 1, but another adage may prove out in the heat of competition: pretty is as pretty does.

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Mares on Monday: On Time Girl Says "Yes, This Time" in Forward Gal

2/2/2026

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If the cards keep falling into place for Not This Time, life may hand him a “yes, it’s time” for the spring Classics. Already the sire of impressive UAE Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) winner Six Speed, the stallion added two more hopefuls for the first weekend in May at Churchill Downs on the last weekend in January at Gulfstream Park. After airing by 5¾ lengths in the Holy Bull Stakes (USA-G3) on January 31, Not This Time’s son Nearly moved into the position of the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1) following the defection of Ted Noffey from the Derby trail. Two races earlier on the same card, his daughter On Time Girl gained credentials and points toward a start in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) with a three-length score in the Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G3).

Bred and owned by the Albaugh family (who also campaigned Not This Time as a homebred), On Time Girl improved her record to four wins and a second from five starts while overcoming reluctance to start and a less-than-ideal trip. Already the winner of a 6½ furlong stakes race over the Churchill Downs strip, she has yet to be tried beyond sprint distances, but on paper, there is no reason yet to think her a pure speedster.

On Time Girl is the second foal and first winner for Uncle Mo's daughter Girl Daddy, a mare the Albaughs acquired as a US$500,000 yearling from the 2019 Keeneland September sale. In a three-start racing career, Girl Daddy easily trounced a maiden special weight field at Ellis Park, scampered home by two lengths in the 2020 Pocahontas Stakes (USA-G3), and ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1), two lengths and a nose behind divisional champion Vequist and Frizette Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dayoutoftheoffice, respectively. Her first foal, the 2022 Into Mischief filly Show and Tell, has not raced, and the mare’s only other produce is a yearling full sister to On Time Girl.

Girl Daddy is one of two winners from four named foals produced from the Unbridled’s Song mare Cara Marie, also the dam of a 2025 filly by Life Is Good. A Grade 2-placed stakes winner in her own racing days, Cara Marie is a half sister to Grade 3-placed listed stakes winner Abby’s Angel (by Touch Gold), whose gelded son Comicas (by Distorted Humor) won the 2018 Dubawi Stakes (UAE-G3), and to 2010 Irish Oaks (IRE-G1) runner-up Miss Jean Brodie (by Maria’s Mon). Cara Marie is also a half sister to Miss Ludy, whose daughter Ludy Lucia (by multiple Grade 1 winner Aragorn) won the 2017 Premio Copa de Plata Italo Traverso (CHI-G2), and to Twiggles (by Maria’s Mon), dam of multiple stakes winners Sweet Bye and Bye (by Sky Mesa) and Buy Land and See (by Cairo Prince).

Cara Marie, in turn, is out of the unraced A.P. Indy mare Miss Kilroy, a half sister to 2004 Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2) winner Miss Coronado (by Coronado’s Quest), dam of 2013 Sharp Cat Stakes (USA-L) winner Arethusa (by A.P. Indy), and to multiple Grade 3 winner Karen’s Caper (by War Chant), dam of 2012 UAE Two Thousand Guineas winner Kinglet (by Kingmambo). The next dam in On Time Girl’s tail-female line, Miss Caerleona (by Caerleon), was a good staying filly who won the 1996 Cardinal Handicap (USA-G3) and placed in graded events at up to 1½ miles.

Overall, On Time Girl’s pedigree suggests that the 9 furlongs of the Kentucky Oaks should be within her scope, and trainer Brad Cox has indicated that she may start next in the one-mile Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2) on February 28. This gradual stepping up in distance from 6 to 6½ to 7 to 8 furlongs is a rather old-fashioned approach for a modern trainer, but gradual development may be much the best approach for a filly whose sire and dam both had only brief (if highly promising) racing careers. One can hope that her reluctance to start in the Forward Gal does not reflect the development of a physical or mental problem that may bring her own racing career to a premature end.

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Mares on Monday: Destino d'Oro Flies Down Stretch in Pegasus

1/26/2026

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There were plenty of cheers for 7-year-old warrior Skippylongstocking earning a Grade 1 win at long last in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1), but the performance of the day may have been turned in earlier on the card when Destino d’Oro steamrollered past eight rivals in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (USA-G2). A previous winner of the 2025 Pucker Up Stakes (USA-G3), she covered the final five-sixteenths of a mile in the neighborhood of 28.1 seconds and won by a going-away half-length over fellow late runner Crevalle d’Or. A daughter of Bolt d’Oro, Destino d’Oro captured her fifth win and third stakes win from eight lifetime starts and boosted her bankroll to US$829,884.

Bred by Hurstland Farm and James H. Greene Jr., Destino d’Oro is the latest star for a fine old family tracing back to Belair Stud foundation mare Marguerite, now mostly remembered as the dam of 1930 American Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox (by Sir Gallahad III). Although that was no small accomplishment, there was actually quite a bit more to Marguerite’s record than that, though not on the track; she wrenched her back in her only start and never raced again. Her legacy would lie elsewhere.

Marguerite’s produce record would have been much above the ordinary even without Gallant Fox, whose full brothers were 1938 English champion 2-year-old male Foxbrough and the good stakes winner Fighting Fox. Foxbrough had no impact at stud, but Gallant Fox begot 1935 American Triple Crown winner Omaha and his Ascot Gold Cup-winning full brother Flares (who handed on the male line of Sir Gallahad III to his son Chop Chop and grandson Victoria Park) as well as 1936 American Horse of the Year Granville, while Fighting Fox’s 18 stakes winners included 1952 American champion handicap male Crafty Admiral, another useful stallion and the broodmare sire of 1978 American Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Prior to her three fine sons by Sir Gallahad III, Marguerite had been put twice to Wrack, and the result of the first of those matings was Petee-Wrack, whose eight stakes wins included the 1928 Travers Stakes, the 1929 Metropolitan Handicap, and the 1930 Suburban Handicap.

None of Marguerite’s five daughters proved exceptional on the track, the best of them being 1937 Pimlico Oaks runner-up Lucky Pledge (by Sir Gallahad III), but three of them became multiple stakes producers. The most important of the trio is Marguery (by Sir Gallahad III), dam of 1949 Long Branch Handicap winner Whirling Fox (by Whirlaway) and 1956 Sorority Stakes winner Marullah (by Nasrullah). Marullah produced 1967 Amory L. Haskell Handicap and Brooklyn Handicap winner Handsome Boy and two-time Delaware Handicap winner Blessing Angelica to covers by Beau Gar, and Marguery also produced Marullah’s full sister Russ-Marie, whose daughter Margarethen (by Tulyar) won five stakes races, including two editions of the Beverly Handicap, before founding a branch of the family that leads to French and American champion Trillion, 1991 Irish Horse of the Year Generous, 2001 Irish One Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) and Vodafone Oaks Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Imagine, and others of merit.

Tim Marie, a Tim Tam half sister to Margarethen, was devoid of her sister’s talent, running unplaced in four starts. She redeemed herself in the breeding shed, producing multiple Grade 1 winner Life’s Hope (by Exclusive Native) and multiple stakes winner Little Happiness (by Raise a Native; dam of juvenile stakes winner Happy Bid, by Spectacular Bid) as her first two foals. She also produced the winning Codex filly Ventured, whose stakes-placed daughter Doc’s Destiny (by Doc’s Leader) is the dam of Heart of Destiny (by Lion Heart), runner-up in the 2011 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (USA-G1). Heart of Destiny, in turn, produced Destino d’Oro as her seventh and final foal.

Now a 4-year-old, Destino d’Oro came up flat in her only previous attempt at Grade 1 company, the 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1), but trainer Brad Cox has indicated that he will probably target a Grade 1 race with her in the not-too-distant future, possibly at the spring Keeneland meeting. Given the form she showed on Saturday, she should be a contender to add more Grade 1 glory to a distinguished family.

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Mares on Monday: Taken by the Wind Shoots Straight in Silverbulletday

1/19/2026

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In recent decades, the New Orleans road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) has been a strong predictor of success at Churchill Downs, most recently producing 2025 Oaks victress Good Cheer, who remained unbeaten through her path to the lilies. This year, another unbeaten filly has just begun 2026 with an early stepping stone on the Lily Lane. Taken by the Wind, whose name comes from the lyrics of the Fleetwood Mac song “Rhiannon,” set the pace all the way in the Silverbulletday Stakes at the Fair Grounds and dug in gamely in the stretch to claim both the lioness’s share of the purse and the 20 points toward an Oaks starting berth.

Adding in the 10 points she earned for winning the Pocahontas Stakes (USA-G3) last fall, Taken by the Wind is now tied for second in the Oaks standings with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1) winner Super Corredora at 30 points, five behind current leader Explora. Luv Your Neighbor, a last-out second in the Untapable Stakes over the same track and distance (a mile and 70 yards) on December 20, climbed to fifth on the Oaks leaderboard with her second-place finish, bringing her total Oaks points to 15.

Bred in Florida by Courtney Meagher, Taken by the Wind is one of two stakes winners from the first crop of he Candy Ride horse Rock Your World. The winner of the 2021 RUNHAPPY Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1), Rock Your World was produced from the Grade 1-placed stakes winner Charm the Maker (by Empire Maker), who belongs to a solid family descended from the mid-twentieth-century Irish import Albany Isle.

On the distaff side, Taken by the Wind is a member of American Family 5. This line was quite prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but last produced a top-level winner when Afleet Express won the 2010 Travers Stakes. The connecting link between his tail-female line and that of Taken by the Wind is Thora, a foal of 1878 who is generally considered to be the American champion older female of 1882. Thora produced two-time American champion filly Yorkville Belle, and it is through Yorkville Belle that Taken by the Wind’s line descends.

Bubble, a granddaughter of Yorkville Belle, produced 1928 Alabama Stakes winner Nixie (by Peter Pan) and her unraced full sister Champagne. From there, the next point of interest in the line is Champagne’s granddaughter Iseult (by Sir Gallahad III), who won the 1933 Acorn Stakes and produced 1937 Spinaway Stakes winner Merry Lassie (by Stimulus), one of the best juvenile fillies of her year. Iseult also produced juvenile stakes winner Navigating (by Hard Tack), dam of 1961 American champion handicap female Airmans Guide (by One Count), and the winning Snark filly Arrogance, dam of juvenile stakes winner Snooty (by Better Self).

Sister Snob, Snooty’s half sister by Mr. Busher, had no reason to be snobbish about her racing performance; she won only twice from 33 starts. Her daughter Holly-O. (by Victory Morn) was much better, taking the 1966 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and the 1967 Barbara Fritchie Handicap. A half sister to juvenile stakes winner Lightning Lark (by Petare), Holly-O. In turn produced 1975 Fantasy Stakes (USA-G2) winner Hoso (by Solo Landing), dam of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Raise a Prospector (by Mr. Prospector).

Hoso’s best producing daughter was Raise a Prospector’s full sister Love from Mom, who produced 1998 San Vicente Stakes (USA-G2) winner Sea of Secrets (by Storm Cat), 1998 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes (USA-G3) winner Love That Jazz (by Dixieland Band), 1995 Broward Handicap (USA-G3) winner Fight for Love (by Fit to Fight), and 1992 Board of Governors’ Handicap (USA-G3) winner Dancing Jon (by Gate Dancer). She also produced Love Always (by Saint Ballado), who was unplaced in three starts but produced the winner Up for Grabs (by First Samurai). A US$3,000 purchase for Meagher from the 2013 Ocala Breeders’ Sales fall mixed sale, she is now the dam of Taken by the Wind—her fifth winner and second black-type runner, following stakes-placed Running Memories—as her eighth foal. The mare’s most recent produce is an unnamed juvenile colt by Global Campaign. She is awaiting a 2026 foal by Champions Dream and will visit Mullikins afterward.

On speed figures, Taken by the Wind is well behind both Explora and Super Corredora at this stage of her development. Fillies can develop very rapidly in the spring, though, and she is in the hands of Kenny McPeek, a trainer who certainly knows how to get a filly ready for the “Lilies for the Fillies.” If she isn’t in the class of McPeek’s 2024 Oaks winner, Thorpedo Anna, Taken by the Wind still hasn’t met the filly that can beat her yet, and the determination she showed in winning the Silverbulletday should stand her in good stead as she continues along the Lily Lane.

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Mares on Monday: A Dame Dazzles in the Busanda

1/5/2026

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Aqueduct’s Busanda Stakes on January 3 became a showcase for Dazzling Dame, who picked up the first 20-point race of 2026 towards a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1). Picking up her third stakes win from five starts, the admirably consistent filly romped by 11½ lengths and ran the one-mile distance 0.66 seconds faster than My World did in capturing the Jerome Stakes against sophomore males on the same card. The daughter of 2017 betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) winner Girvin earned a solid Beyer Speed Figure of 91 for her effort.

Big winners at Aqueduct in January seldom figure at Churchill Downs when May rolls around, and Dazzling Dame’s well-beaten fourth-place run in the Pocahontas Stakes (USA-G3) last September 13 was not a good omen for future Kentucky Oaks glory—assuming that the filly is even pointed in that direction, as trainer Brittany Russell remarked after the Pocahontas that Dazzling Dame had never seemed comfortable at Churchill Downs prior to the race. Sophomore fillies can develop at remarkable speed in the spring, however, and the Busanda was certainly a step in the right direction for Respect the Valleys’ star, who represents an old American family.

Designated as American Family 4, Dazzling Dame’s lineage traces back to an unnamed daughter of Medley and includes such luminaries as National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame members Swaps and California Chrome. The latter horse is more closely related to Dazzling Dame as both trace their tail-female lines to Princess Ribot, a 1964 daughter of the unbeaten European champion Ribot and Princess Matoaka, by Princequillo. Stakes-placed in Ireland, Princess Ribot produced four stakes winners, the best of which was 1977 American champion older female Cascapedia (by Chieftain). Cascapedia, in turn, produced 1984 Malibu Stakes (USA-G2) winner Glacial Stream (by Crystal Water) and 1991 Rancho Bernardo Breeders’ Cup Handicap (USA-G3) winner Cascading Gold (by Mr. Prospector) and is the second dam of the popular sprinter Big Jag, a multiple Grade 2 winner and victorious in the 2000 Dubai Golden Shaheen (then a listed race).

California Chrome descends from another daughter of Princess Ribot, the Vaguely Noble mare La Belle Fleur, who never made it to the track but produced Chrome’s stakes-winning great-granddam Chase the Dream (by Sir Ivor). But two years prior to producing Cascapedia, Princess Ribot produced the Chieftain filly Tappahannock. The winner of the 1974 Pucker Up Stakes (USA-G3), Tappahannock was troubled by frequent barrenness but produced five named foals, including three fillies. The eldest, Peppermint Day (by Al Hattab), produced 1993 Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2) winner Duc d’Sligovil (by Sezyou). The second, Alyannock (by Alydar), was no credit to either sire or dam.

Mostly Misty (by Grey Dawn II), Tappahannock’s third daughter, produced 1996 Pucker Up Stakes (USA-G2) winner Ms. Mostly (by Copenlan), who produced two stakes-placed runners and eight other winners from 15 named foals of racing age produced over 15 consecutive seasons. Her first foal, Most Awesome (by Awesome Again), was not one of those winners, managing only a single third-place finish from seven starts before producing two multiple stakes-placed runners and four other winners from nine named foals. Awesome Dama (by multiple Grade 1 winner Corinthian) was one of Most Awesome’s two black-type runners, and Dazzling Dame is her fifth foal and third winner. Awesome Dama has since produced an unnamed juvenile filly by Pinehurst and a yearling filly by Engage who has already been given the name Ms. Engaged.

Dazzling Dame is a confirmed front runner, and such animals can be quite dangerous when they can get loose on the lead—just ask those owners and trainers whose fillies were left in La Cara’s wake in last year’s Central Bank Ashland Oaks (USA-G1) and DK Horse Acorn Stakes (USA-G1). As La Cara also demonstrated, however, most front runners are much less dangerous when unable to take command early or when pressured throughout. To be a serious Oaks contender, Dazzling Dame needs to show the ability to be rated, and she will also need to step up her game substantially against better competition than the four hapless rivals she mauled on Saturday. Still, she is an interesting early development in the new racing season, and she should be a fun filly to keep an eye on.

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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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