On October 3, Private Mission took another step up the class ladder in the Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G2). A last-out winner of the Torrey Pines Stakes (USA-G3) at the Del Mar meeting, the 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief had no difficulty dusting off seven rivals in the Santa Anita test for fillies and mares aged 3 and up---and, frankly, probably had a much easier time of it against moderate competition from the Southern California older females than if she had gone east to contest the Cotillion Stakes (USA-G1) against the best of her own division last weekend. Still, the filly is now 4-for-5 lifetime and has earned a "Win and You're In" berth to the Breeder's Cup Distaff (USA-G1), which is being contested at Del Mar this year.
Private Mission is the latest rising star for the family of her great-granddam Miss Eva, an Argentine import who was a successful broodmare in both Chile and the United States. The daughter of the good Ribot horse Con Brio II was a winner in Chile but was a much better producer than racer, helping cement her sire's reputation as a good sire of broodmares in South America.
Miss Eva kicked off her produce record in fine fashion with her 1984 daughter Miss Brio, whose sire Semenenko (by Vaguely Noble) was a champion sire and broodmare sire in Chile. The winner of two Group 1 events in Chile in 1987, Miss Brio was transferred to the United States and won three graded stakes in 1989, including the Maskette Stakes (USA-G1). Unfortunately, she was a disappointing producer in spite of excellent opportunities.
Miss Brio was a tough act to follow, but her 1985 half sister Maria Candela (by the Argentine import Balconaje, a multiple champion sire and broodmare sire in Chile) was even better. She won three Chilean Group 1 races, including two Classics in Las Oaks (CHI-G1) in 1988 and El Derby (CHI-G1) in 1989. Sent to the United States, she also failed to live up to the hopes placed on her as a producer, but her daughter Look Smart (by Smart Strike) was sent to Argentina and there produced Look Strike (by Jump Start), a Group 3 winner in Peru. Through another daughter, Special Friend (by Belong to Me), Maria Candela is the third dam of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Star Austral (by Comic).
After being imported to the United States in 1990, Miss Eva justified her importation with the first of her three American-bred foals. This was Private Status (by Alydar), who won the listed Bourbonette Stakes as a 3-year-old of 1994 and was Grade 1-placed. She equaled her dam's production of three stakes winners and like, her, became a Classic producer. In her case, it was her first foal, Secret Status (by A.P. Indy), who turned out to be the best runner, winning the 2000 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1). Secret Status failed to produce any stakes winners, but her son Dunkirk (by Unbridled's Song) ran second in the 2009 Florida Derby (USA-G1) and Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) and has had some success at stud in Chile. Secret Status is also the dam of Code Book (by Giant's Causeway), second dam of 2020 La Brea Stakes (USA-G1) winner Fair Maiden (by Street Boss).
Private Status's 1999 full brother to Secret Status, Alumni Hall, won two Grade 3 stakes before going on to an undistinguished stud career in Canada. Another mating to A.P. Indy produced Royal Box, whose son Picahielo (by After Market) was a multiple listed stakes winner in Panama.
The third of Private Status's stakes winners is Private Gift (by Unbridled), who won the listed Truly Bound Handicap as a 3-year-old, and the increasing prestige of her family is reflected in her sale for US$2.3 million, in foal to A.P. Indy, at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November mixed sale. Prior to her sale, she had produced the Bernardini filly Gift List, whose third foal turned out to be 2019 Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dunbar Road (by Quality Road). Private Gift's next two foals, both fillies by A.P. Indy, have not accomplished much so far, but the mare's third foal by the two-time American champion sire is Grade 3-placed listed stakes winner Secret Someone. Private Mission is Private Gift's tenth foal, and the mare's most recent foals are unraced Batik, a 2019 daughter of Honor Code, and a 2021 colt by Candy Ride.
Private Mission's immediate destiny is uncertain, for while she now has an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Distaff, she may not be able to take advantage of it. As a member of Bob Baffert's stable, she, like her stablemate Medina Spirit (who has a "Win and You're In" slot for the Breeders' Cup Classic thanks to his win in the Awesome Again Stakes, USA-G1), may be on the outside looking in if the Breeders' Cup decides to ban horses trained by Baffert because of Medina Spirit's earlier positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone. In the wake of a series of drug positives that have turned up on other horses in the Baffert barn over the past several years, such action would be understandable, but one can hope that Private Mission will have future opportunities to demonstrate that she ranks with the best of her crop, whether in the Distaff or in top races at 4. Regardless, she already done enough to be a highly desirable broodmare prospect, and with the opportunities she is likely to get, she may take Miss Eva still further along the road to being considered a modern matriarch.
Private Mission is the latest rising star for the family of her great-granddam Miss Eva, an Argentine import who was a successful broodmare in both Chile and the United States. The daughter of the good Ribot horse Con Brio II was a winner in Chile but was a much better producer than racer, helping cement her sire's reputation as a good sire of broodmares in South America.
Miss Eva kicked off her produce record in fine fashion with her 1984 daughter Miss Brio, whose sire Semenenko (by Vaguely Noble) was a champion sire and broodmare sire in Chile. The winner of two Group 1 events in Chile in 1987, Miss Brio was transferred to the United States and won three graded stakes in 1989, including the Maskette Stakes (USA-G1). Unfortunately, she was a disappointing producer in spite of excellent opportunities.
Miss Brio was a tough act to follow, but her 1985 half sister Maria Candela (by the Argentine import Balconaje, a multiple champion sire and broodmare sire in Chile) was even better. She won three Chilean Group 1 races, including two Classics in Las Oaks (CHI-G1) in 1988 and El Derby (CHI-G1) in 1989. Sent to the United States, she also failed to live up to the hopes placed on her as a producer, but her daughter Look Smart (by Smart Strike) was sent to Argentina and there produced Look Strike (by Jump Start), a Group 3 winner in Peru. Through another daughter, Special Friend (by Belong to Me), Maria Candela is the third dam of multiple Argentine Group 2 winner Star Austral (by Comic).
After being imported to the United States in 1990, Miss Eva justified her importation with the first of her three American-bred foals. This was Private Status (by Alydar), who won the listed Bourbonette Stakes as a 3-year-old of 1994 and was Grade 1-placed. She equaled her dam's production of three stakes winners and like, her, became a Classic producer. In her case, it was her first foal, Secret Status (by A.P. Indy), who turned out to be the best runner, winning the 2000 Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1). Secret Status failed to produce any stakes winners, but her son Dunkirk (by Unbridled's Song) ran second in the 2009 Florida Derby (USA-G1) and Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) and has had some success at stud in Chile. Secret Status is also the dam of Code Book (by Giant's Causeway), second dam of 2020 La Brea Stakes (USA-G1) winner Fair Maiden (by Street Boss).
Private Status's 1999 full brother to Secret Status, Alumni Hall, won two Grade 3 stakes before going on to an undistinguished stud career in Canada. Another mating to A.P. Indy produced Royal Box, whose son Picahielo (by After Market) was a multiple listed stakes winner in Panama.
The third of Private Status's stakes winners is Private Gift (by Unbridled), who won the listed Truly Bound Handicap as a 3-year-old, and the increasing prestige of her family is reflected in her sale for US$2.3 million, in foal to A.P. Indy, at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November mixed sale. Prior to her sale, she had produced the Bernardini filly Gift List, whose third foal turned out to be 2019 Alabama Stakes (USA-G1) winner Dunbar Road (by Quality Road). Private Gift's next two foals, both fillies by A.P. Indy, have not accomplished much so far, but the mare's third foal by the two-time American champion sire is Grade 3-placed listed stakes winner Secret Someone. Private Mission is Private Gift's tenth foal, and the mare's most recent foals are unraced Batik, a 2019 daughter of Honor Code, and a 2021 colt by Candy Ride.
Private Mission's immediate destiny is uncertain, for while she now has an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Distaff, she may not be able to take advantage of it. As a member of Bob Baffert's stable, she, like her stablemate Medina Spirit (who has a "Win and You're In" slot for the Breeders' Cup Classic thanks to his win in the Awesome Again Stakes, USA-G1), may be on the outside looking in if the Breeders' Cup decides to ban horses trained by Baffert because of Medina Spirit's earlier positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone. In the wake of a series of drug positives that have turned up on other horses in the Baffert barn over the past several years, such action would be understandable, but one can hope that Private Mission will have future opportunities to demonstrate that she ranks with the best of her crop, whether in the Distaff or in top races at 4. Regardless, she already done enough to be a highly desirable broodmare prospect, and with the opportunities she is likely to get, she may take Miss Eva still further along the road to being considered a modern matriarch.
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