As impressive as Knicks Go's victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) was, the performance of the day on the January 23 card at Gulfstream Park may have been in a maiden special weight six races earlier. The field included American Triple Crown winner Justify's half brother Stage Raider, a seven-figure son of Curlin from a strong stakes-producing family (Ghazaaly), and several other youngsters who to judge by their sale prices as yearlings were reasonably well-regarded by their connections, but at the end of the seven-furlong event, Prevalence was 8-1/2 lengths in front under a hand ride and not drawing a deep breath. The time was 1:23.00, just two-fifths of a second off the time of seasoned graded stakes mares in the Inside Information Stakes (USA-G2) three races later on the same card.
A son of Medaglia d'Oro, Prevalence is from the family of Desert Stormer. Unlike many other sons and daughters of Storm Cat (whose accomplishments at stud included seven titles as American champion juvenile sire), Desert Stormer was a late developer who became a Grade 3 winner at 4 and a Grade 1 winner at 5. That Grade 1 win was in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the race showcased the tenacity the mare had at her best. Leading throughout but never able to open up any breathing space, Desert Stormer repelled the challenge of the speedy 3-year-old Mr. Greeley by a neck at the wire with that year's champion sprinter, Lit de Justice, checking in third.
Desert Stormer ended up producing 10 winners from her 14 named foals, but only two earned any black type, and one only picked up a minor stakes placing, This was the Seeking the Gold mare Ensenada, who is the dam of Casino Host (by Dynaformer), a multiple Grade 2 winner on turf as a 4-year-old.
Desert Stormer's other black-type winner is her first foal, Sahara Gold. A full sister to Ensenada, Sahara Gold was much the better race mare, winning stakes at 2 and 3 and notching her best performance in the 2000 Stonerside Beaumont Stakes (USA-G2). Good-looking enough to be a US$1.45 million RNA at the 1998 Keeneland July yearling sale, Sahara Gold parlayed her racing performance, pedigree, and conformation into a successful broodmare career with three stakes winners to her credit. The best of them is multiple turf Grade 1 winner Better Lucky (by Ghostzapper), and Sahara Gold is also the dam of Sahara Heat (by A.P. Indy), who won the 2007 Marine Stakes (CAN-G3) on the Polytrack at Woodbine. Sahara Gold's third stakes winner is Final Frontier, a 2015 Ghostzapper gelding who won the listed Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational Stakes in 2019.
Prevalence's dam is Sahara Gold's 2008 daughter Enrichment, a full sister to Better Lucky and Final Frontier. Unable to win herself in eight tries, Enrichment has already compiled a respectable record as a broodmare with UAE Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) winner Estihdaaf (by Arch), restricted stakes winner Libreta (by Girolamo), and one other winner to her credit from Prevalence's four older siblings. Since producing Prevalence, Enrichment has since given birth to a 2019 colt by Quality Road and a 2020 colt by Frosted.
A Godolphin homebred, Prevalence has a pedigree tipped slightly more toward speed than stamina, but that is hardly uncommon in modern American breeding. What will be interesting now is watching for Godolphin's next move with him. It is no secret that Godolphin owner Sheikh Mohammed would very much like to win the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1), one of the few of the world's great races that has so far escaped him, and it is not out of the question that, in an age when even "seasoned" high-class juveniles may have only three or four starts under their belts, Prevalence may attempt to follow the path of Justify and take his chances in a race on the Triple Crown trail in his next race or two. Then again, it may be wiser to wait and let him run through a condition or two as the distances stretch out, for to win a Triple Crown race, he will need more than his great-granddam's speed; he will also need her tenacity as well as any stamina passed down from three successive crosses of Desert Stormer and her line to horses that could stay 10 furlongs in top company. Time will tell if this exciting colt has inherited the best of both worlds from his ancestry or whether he is simply another promising youngster who has already had his day in the sun.
A son of Medaglia d'Oro, Prevalence is from the family of Desert Stormer. Unlike many other sons and daughters of Storm Cat (whose accomplishments at stud included seven titles as American champion juvenile sire), Desert Stormer was a late developer who became a Grade 3 winner at 4 and a Grade 1 winner at 5. That Grade 1 win was in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the race showcased the tenacity the mare had at her best. Leading throughout but never able to open up any breathing space, Desert Stormer repelled the challenge of the speedy 3-year-old Mr. Greeley by a neck at the wire with that year's champion sprinter, Lit de Justice, checking in third.
Desert Stormer ended up producing 10 winners from her 14 named foals, but only two earned any black type, and one only picked up a minor stakes placing, This was the Seeking the Gold mare Ensenada, who is the dam of Casino Host (by Dynaformer), a multiple Grade 2 winner on turf as a 4-year-old.
Desert Stormer's other black-type winner is her first foal, Sahara Gold. A full sister to Ensenada, Sahara Gold was much the better race mare, winning stakes at 2 and 3 and notching her best performance in the 2000 Stonerside Beaumont Stakes (USA-G2). Good-looking enough to be a US$1.45 million RNA at the 1998 Keeneland July yearling sale, Sahara Gold parlayed her racing performance, pedigree, and conformation into a successful broodmare career with three stakes winners to her credit. The best of them is multiple turf Grade 1 winner Better Lucky (by Ghostzapper), and Sahara Gold is also the dam of Sahara Heat (by A.P. Indy), who won the 2007 Marine Stakes (CAN-G3) on the Polytrack at Woodbine. Sahara Gold's third stakes winner is Final Frontier, a 2015 Ghostzapper gelding who won the listed Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational Stakes in 2019.
Prevalence's dam is Sahara Gold's 2008 daughter Enrichment, a full sister to Better Lucky and Final Frontier. Unable to win herself in eight tries, Enrichment has already compiled a respectable record as a broodmare with UAE Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) winner Estihdaaf (by Arch), restricted stakes winner Libreta (by Girolamo), and one other winner to her credit from Prevalence's four older siblings. Since producing Prevalence, Enrichment has since given birth to a 2019 colt by Quality Road and a 2020 colt by Frosted.
A Godolphin homebred, Prevalence has a pedigree tipped slightly more toward speed than stamina, but that is hardly uncommon in modern American breeding. What will be interesting now is watching for Godolphin's next move with him. It is no secret that Godolphin owner Sheikh Mohammed would very much like to win the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1), one of the few of the world's great races that has so far escaped him, and it is not out of the question that, in an age when even "seasoned" high-class juveniles may have only three or four starts under their belts, Prevalence may attempt to follow the path of Justify and take his chances in a race on the Triple Crown trail in his next race or two. Then again, it may be wiser to wait and let him run through a condition or two as the distances stretch out, for to win a Triple Crown race, he will need more than his great-granddam's speed; he will also need her tenacity as well as any stamina passed down from three successive crosses of Desert Stormer and her line to horses that could stay 10 furlongs in top company. Time will tell if this exciting colt has inherited the best of both worlds from his ancestry or whether he is simply another promising youngster who has already had his day in the sun.
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