The Calvin Hougland Iroquois Steeplechase is a rite of spring in Nashville, Tennessee, drawing tens of thousands to Percy Warner State Park for a day of fresh air, racing, fashion, and fun. A Grade 1 race according to the National Steeplechase Association, it is also the most prestigious and lucrative event on the spring steeplechasing calendar in the United States. This year’s edition was won by Abaan, who covered the three-mile course in 5:42 to capture his first graded steeplechase win. Also a Grade 3 winner on the flat (he won the 2022 William L. McKnight Stakes, USA-G3), he is the latest star for the family of Take a Stand (by Amerigo), a modern matriarch who can trace her roots back to one of the few old American lines still extant.
A member of American Family 29, Take a Stand produced two stakes winners but did her best work through her stakes-placed daughter Strike a Pose (by Iron Ruler), who was a foundation mare for Pin Oak Stud. The majority of Strike a Pose’s top descendants trace to her daughter Strike a Balance (by Green Dancer), dam of 1995 Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valleys (by Mt. Livermore) and ancestress of Grade 1 winners Higher Power (see “Mares on Monday: Higher Power Takes a Stand in the Pacific Classic, August 19, 2019) and Mucho Gusto among others, but the branch tracing through Strike a Pose’s 1981 Blushing Groom filly, Wedding Picture, is of little less importance.
Wedding Picture was a stakes winner at both 3 and 4, and she produced four stakes winners headed by 1996 Fort Lauderdale Handicap (USA-G3) winner Winged Victory (by Nijinsky II); she also produced stakes-placed Wedded Bliss (by His Majesty), dam of three stakes winners of her own and second dam of 2020 Robert Sangster Classic Stakes (AUS-G1) winner Bella Vella (by Commands), and With This Ring (by Green Dancer), dam of 2004 Nearctic Handicap (CAN-G2) winner I Thee Wed. In addition, Wedding Picture produced Constant Companion (by Relaunch), dam of 2008 American champion turf female Forever Together (by Belong to Me).
Wedding Vow, a 1988 full sister to Winged Victory, was much less accomplished on the track, winning only a maiden race from six starts. She was decidedly better as a broodmare, getting out of the blocks with multiple stakes winner Threshold (by Homebuilder), and improved markedly on that effort with her fourth foal, Broken Vow (by Unbridled). Winner of the 2001 Philip H. Iselin Handicap (USA-G2) and Ben Ali Stakes (USA-G3), Broken Vow became a good stallion for Pin Oak, siring 902 winners and 82 stakes winners so far from 1372 named foals of racing age before being pensioned in October 2021 (he died in 2022).
A full sister to stakes producer Vow That Binds (Miswaki x Wedding Vow), Cross Your Heart is the dam of multiple stakes-placed Anchorage (by Tapit), who produced Abaan to a 2016 cover by 2013 American champion 3-year-old male Will Take Charge. Also the dam of 2023 Hallandale Beach Stakes winner Omaha Girl (by Omaha Beach), Cross Your Heart produced her last foal in 2022; that foal, the Game Winner colt Grand Han, has yet to race.
As a gelding, Abaan will have no opportunity to contribute to future generations but at age 8 is at the height of his powers by steeplechase standards and should be a fun one to watch in the American steeplechase division during the rest of the 2025 season. As for the family of Take a Stand via Strike a Pose, it has plenty of well-bred female descendants around and will probably continue doing what it does best: producing a steady stream of solid stakes horses and occasionally coming up with one that rises to the top level.
A member of American Family 29, Take a Stand produced two stakes winners but did her best work through her stakes-placed daughter Strike a Pose (by Iron Ruler), who was a foundation mare for Pin Oak Stud. The majority of Strike a Pose’s top descendants trace to her daughter Strike a Balance (by Green Dancer), dam of 1995 Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valleys (by Mt. Livermore) and ancestress of Grade 1 winners Higher Power (see “Mares on Monday: Higher Power Takes a Stand in the Pacific Classic, August 19, 2019) and Mucho Gusto among others, but the branch tracing through Strike a Pose’s 1981 Blushing Groom filly, Wedding Picture, is of little less importance.
Wedding Picture was a stakes winner at both 3 and 4, and she produced four stakes winners headed by 1996 Fort Lauderdale Handicap (USA-G3) winner Winged Victory (by Nijinsky II); she also produced stakes-placed Wedded Bliss (by His Majesty), dam of three stakes winners of her own and second dam of 2020 Robert Sangster Classic Stakes (AUS-G1) winner Bella Vella (by Commands), and With This Ring (by Green Dancer), dam of 2004 Nearctic Handicap (CAN-G2) winner I Thee Wed. In addition, Wedding Picture produced Constant Companion (by Relaunch), dam of 2008 American champion turf female Forever Together (by Belong to Me).
Wedding Vow, a 1988 full sister to Winged Victory, was much less accomplished on the track, winning only a maiden race from six starts. She was decidedly better as a broodmare, getting out of the blocks with multiple stakes winner Threshold (by Homebuilder), and improved markedly on that effort with her fourth foal, Broken Vow (by Unbridled). Winner of the 2001 Philip H. Iselin Handicap (USA-G2) and Ben Ali Stakes (USA-G3), Broken Vow became a good stallion for Pin Oak, siring 902 winners and 82 stakes winners so far from 1372 named foals of racing age before being pensioned in October 2021 (he died in 2022).
A full sister to stakes producer Vow That Binds (Miswaki x Wedding Vow), Cross Your Heart is the dam of multiple stakes-placed Anchorage (by Tapit), who produced Abaan to a 2016 cover by 2013 American champion 3-year-old male Will Take Charge. Also the dam of 2023 Hallandale Beach Stakes winner Omaha Girl (by Omaha Beach), Cross Your Heart produced her last foal in 2022; that foal, the Game Winner colt Grand Han, has yet to race.
As a gelding, Abaan will have no opportunity to contribute to future generations but at age 8 is at the height of his powers by steeplechase standards and should be a fun one to watch in the American steeplechase division during the rest of the 2025 season. As for the family of Take a Stand via Strike a Pose, it has plenty of well-bred female descendants around and will probably continue doing what it does best: producing a steady stream of solid stakes horses and occasionally coming up with one that rises to the top level.
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