Favored at 4-5 for the Santa Ynez Stakes (USA-G2) on January 3 at Santa Anita, Kalypso did not let her backers down. Dropped back from 8.5 furlongs to 7, the last-out runner-up in the Starlet Stakes (USA-G1) overcame a speed duel that lasted through the first five furlongs and proved to have more than enough to withstand the challenge of stablemate Frosteria. Drawing clear in the final furlong, Kalypso was under a hand ride as she went under the wire.
Whether Kalypso will turn out to have enough stamina to be a viable contender for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) is still open to question, though her pedigree suggests that 9 furlongs should not be beyond her scope. What is not open to question is that the Brody' s Cause filly has both talent and natural speed, and perhaps a little of both qualities has come down to her through her fourth dam, 1987 American champion older female North Sider.
Sired by the good Northern Dancer stallion Topsider (whose progeny tended to be sprinters like himself), North Sider was produced from the Ack Ack mare Back Ack. On that breeding, North Sider was entitled to be fast, and she was that. She was also tough, durable, and capable of stretching her speed up to 9 furlongs though she was essentially a miler. She made 17 starts during her championship season, winning seven, and up through her victory in the Maskette Stakes (USA-G1) on September 12, 1987, she was a determined and consistent competitor. After that race, she was badly beaten in her last three starts, suggesting that something was physically or mentally amiss, and she retired to the paddocks with 15 wins and 12 placings from 36 starts.
North Sider had plenty of opportunities to add to her laurels in the paddocks, but although she was for the most part bred to high-class stallions, none of the nine starters among her 12 named foals added any distinction to her name. As a group, her daughters fared no better as broodmares, with one exception. This is the 1993 Capote mare Cape North, who failed to win in eight starts but is the dam of the minor stakes winners Spirited Away (by Awesome Again) and Fufty Too (by Speightstown).
Spirited Away was much the best of Cape North's daughters on the track, and she was also by far the best as a producer. Sent to Malibu Moon for her first mating, she produced Prospective, winner of the 2012 Tampa Bay Derby (USA-G2) and two other graded stakes. She failed to repeat that success in five subsequent matings to Malibu Moon, but Prospective's non-winning full sister Malibu Cove found her own way to justifying the repetition, producing Kalypso as her second foal. Since then, Malibu Cove has produced a 2019 filly by Hit It a Bomb and a 2020 colt by Mor Spirit before being bred to Jimmy Creed for 2021.
Malibu Cove's full sisters Enhanced and Vienna Melody are also young broodmares, and Malibu Cove has two winning half sisters, Boston Tesoro (by Temple City) and Josie (by Race Day) who have yet to start their producing careers. Between Kalypso and the other young mares from this family, perhaps more good things will be forthcoming to keep alive the memory of a mare who, if not the most brilliant runner to ever grace the American racing scene, had plenty of other qualities worth remembering.
Whether Kalypso will turn out to have enough stamina to be a viable contender for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) is still open to question, though her pedigree suggests that 9 furlongs should not be beyond her scope. What is not open to question is that the Brody' s Cause filly has both talent and natural speed, and perhaps a little of both qualities has come down to her through her fourth dam, 1987 American champion older female North Sider.
Sired by the good Northern Dancer stallion Topsider (whose progeny tended to be sprinters like himself), North Sider was produced from the Ack Ack mare Back Ack. On that breeding, North Sider was entitled to be fast, and she was that. She was also tough, durable, and capable of stretching her speed up to 9 furlongs though she was essentially a miler. She made 17 starts during her championship season, winning seven, and up through her victory in the Maskette Stakes (USA-G1) on September 12, 1987, she was a determined and consistent competitor. After that race, she was badly beaten in her last three starts, suggesting that something was physically or mentally amiss, and she retired to the paddocks with 15 wins and 12 placings from 36 starts.
North Sider had plenty of opportunities to add to her laurels in the paddocks, but although she was for the most part bred to high-class stallions, none of the nine starters among her 12 named foals added any distinction to her name. As a group, her daughters fared no better as broodmares, with one exception. This is the 1993 Capote mare Cape North, who failed to win in eight starts but is the dam of the minor stakes winners Spirited Away (by Awesome Again) and Fufty Too (by Speightstown).
Spirited Away was much the best of Cape North's daughters on the track, and she was also by far the best as a producer. Sent to Malibu Moon for her first mating, she produced Prospective, winner of the 2012 Tampa Bay Derby (USA-G2) and two other graded stakes. She failed to repeat that success in five subsequent matings to Malibu Moon, but Prospective's non-winning full sister Malibu Cove found her own way to justifying the repetition, producing Kalypso as her second foal. Since then, Malibu Cove has produced a 2019 filly by Hit It a Bomb and a 2020 colt by Mor Spirit before being bred to Jimmy Creed for 2021.
Malibu Cove's full sisters Enhanced and Vienna Melody are also young broodmares, and Malibu Cove has two winning half sisters, Boston Tesoro (by Temple City) and Josie (by Race Day) who have yet to start their producing careers. Between Kalypso and the other young mares from this family, perhaps more good things will be forthcoming to keep alive the memory of a mare who, if not the most brilliant runner to ever grace the American racing scene, had plenty of other qualities worth remembering.
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