On January 25, Michael Ryan’s Irish-bred mare Be Your Best took another step up the class ladder in the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf presented by SirDavis American Whiskey (USA-G2). Already a multiple Grade 3 winner, the daughter of 2015 European champion sprinter Muhaarar ran down pacesetter In Our Time and then held off the closing rally of Sacred Wish to claim her first Grade 2 victory in the mile and one-sixteenth event and bump her earnings up to US$900,309. Her lifetime record currently stands at five wins and five placings from 18 starts, and she notched a career-best Equibase speed figure of 111 for her effort, besting the 109 given to fellow Saffie A, Joseph Jr. trainee White Abarrio for his victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1).
Be Your Best is a fourth-generation descendant of the excellent matron Up the Flagpole, who proved a gem in William S. Farish III’s broodmare band. The winner of the 1984 Delaware Oaks (USA-G2), Up the Flagpole produced seven stakes winners from 10 named foals. Three earned honors at Grade/Group 1 level: Prospectors Delite (by Mr. Prospector), who won the 1992 Ashland Stakes and Acorn Stakes before going on to become the 2003 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year; 1995 Premio Presidente della Repubblica winner Flagbird (by Nureyev), the highweight older female over 9.5-11 furlongs in England, Ireland, and Italy; and Runup the Colors (by A.P. Indy), winner of the 1997 Alabama Stakes.
Flagbird was a disappointing producer during her time in the paddocks, with 2002 Arlington-Washington Futurity (USA-G3) runner-up Anasheed (by A.P. Indy) proving the best of her five winners on the track. She has fared better as a dam of broodmares, though. Her stakes-placed daughter Dubai Belle (by Mr. Prospector) is the dam of 2008 Ashland Stakes (USA-G1) winner and Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) runner-up Little Belle (by A.P. Indy), herself the dam of 2017 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dickinson (by Medaglia d’Oro; dam of listed stakes winner Wadsworth, by Quality Road). Little Belle’s stakes-winning full sister Dubai Dancer is the second dam of 2021 Woodbine Oaks (CAN-R) winner and Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Munnyfor Ro.
Returning to Flagbird, she is also the dam of Scarlet Ibis (by Machiavellian), dam of 2012 Albany Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Newfangled (by New Approach). Another daughter of Flagbird, Lophorina (by King’s Best), is the dam of listed stakes winner Lady Alexandra (by More Than Ready), runner-up in the 2018 Highlander Stakes (CAN-G1). Finally, Flagbird is the dam of Kotuku (by A.P. Indy), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Bay of Plenty (by Medaglia d’Oro) and of Grade 1-placed Fortify (by Distorted Humor), a three-time runner-up on the Argentine general sire list. Kotuku’s best producing daughter so far is Kamakura (by Medaglia d’Oro), who produced Be Your Best as her third foal before producing an unnamed 2023 colt by Too Darned Hot and a 2024 filly by Baaeed.
Up the Flagpole traces back to the breed-shaping matriarch La Troienne through Ogden Phipps’s foundation mare Striking, a granddaughter of La Troienne and a stakes-winning full sister to 1945 American Horse of the Year Busher. This is a family that has created much of the rich legacy of the Phipps family’s breeding program and has yielded many a gold nugget for other breeders as well, among them Be Your Best’s breeder, St. Croix Bloodstock. As a Grade 2-winning member of this legendary lineage, Be Your Best will obviously be a valuable broodmare prospect when the time comes for her retirement, but it can be hoped that she will get a fair chance to add Grade 1 glitter to her name before she departs racing for motherhood,
Be Your Best is a fourth-generation descendant of the excellent matron Up the Flagpole, who proved a gem in William S. Farish III’s broodmare band. The winner of the 1984 Delaware Oaks (USA-G2), Up the Flagpole produced seven stakes winners from 10 named foals. Three earned honors at Grade/Group 1 level: Prospectors Delite (by Mr. Prospector), who won the 1992 Ashland Stakes and Acorn Stakes before going on to become the 2003 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year; 1995 Premio Presidente della Repubblica winner Flagbird (by Nureyev), the highweight older female over 9.5-11 furlongs in England, Ireland, and Italy; and Runup the Colors (by A.P. Indy), winner of the 1997 Alabama Stakes.
Flagbird was a disappointing producer during her time in the paddocks, with 2002 Arlington-Washington Futurity (USA-G3) runner-up Anasheed (by A.P. Indy) proving the best of her five winners on the track. She has fared better as a dam of broodmares, though. Her stakes-placed daughter Dubai Belle (by Mr. Prospector) is the dam of 2008 Ashland Stakes (USA-G1) winner and Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) runner-up Little Belle (by A.P. Indy), herself the dam of 2017 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dickinson (by Medaglia d’Oro; dam of listed stakes winner Wadsworth, by Quality Road). Little Belle’s stakes-winning full sister Dubai Dancer is the second dam of 2021 Woodbine Oaks (CAN-R) winner and Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Munnyfor Ro.
Returning to Flagbird, she is also the dam of Scarlet Ibis (by Machiavellian), dam of 2012 Albany Stakes (ENG-G3) winner Newfangled (by New Approach). Another daughter of Flagbird, Lophorina (by King’s Best), is the dam of listed stakes winner Lady Alexandra (by More Than Ready), runner-up in the 2018 Highlander Stakes (CAN-G1). Finally, Flagbird is the dam of Kotuku (by A.P. Indy), dam of Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Bay of Plenty (by Medaglia d’Oro) and of Grade 1-placed Fortify (by Distorted Humor), a three-time runner-up on the Argentine general sire list. Kotuku’s best producing daughter so far is Kamakura (by Medaglia d’Oro), who produced Be Your Best as her third foal before producing an unnamed 2023 colt by Too Darned Hot and a 2024 filly by Baaeed.
Up the Flagpole traces back to the breed-shaping matriarch La Troienne through Ogden Phipps’s foundation mare Striking, a granddaughter of La Troienne and a stakes-winning full sister to 1945 American Horse of the Year Busher. This is a family that has created much of the rich legacy of the Phipps family’s breeding program and has yielded many a gold nugget for other breeders as well, among them Be Your Best’s breeder, St. Croix Bloodstock. As a Grade 2-winning member of this legendary lineage, Be Your Best will obviously be a valuable broodmare prospect when the time comes for her retirement, but it can be hoped that she will get a fair chance to add Grade 1 glitter to her name before she departs racing for motherhood,
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