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.
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.
RSS Feed