On March 3, Martin Luther King became the third Brazilian Group 1 winner produced from the mare Romany Queen, taking the Grande Prêmio Francisco Eduardo e Linneo Eduardo de Paula Machado (the second leg of Rio de Janeiro’s Triple Crown series) at Gávea. A son of two-time Brazilian champion sire Put It Back, a male-line descendant of the great Man o’ War, the colt belongs to an equally prestigious line of descent in the female line, which traces to Lady Be Good, a foal of 1956 who is still having an impact on modern pedigrees.
Sired by Better Self (a good son of Bimelech who had the misfortune to come along in Citation’s year) out of Past Eight, an Eight Thirty half sister to 1939 Suburban Handicap winner Snark (by Boojum) and 1933 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Edelweiss (by Chicle), Lady Be Good was bred by Gladys Mills Phipps’s Wheatley Stable. She was a good juvenile, winning two stakes races and placing in three more during a busy 12-start campaign but made only one start at three before ending her racing career.
Lady Be Good proved a treasure as a broodmare, producing four stakes winners among her 13 foals as well as stakes-placed Bold Example (by Bold Lad), who proved an important broodmare as did her stakes-winning half sisters Discipline (by Princequillo) and In Hot Pursuit (by Bold Ruler). Several more of Lady Be Good’s lesser racing daughters also became stakes producers, among them Impish.
A daughter of Majestic Prince, Impish won her only start, but the combination of Majestic Prince’s heavy body with Lady Be Good’s crooked legs did her no favors as regards a longer racing career and probably did not help her as a broodmare. Only seven of her 14 foals ever started, though all seven of the ones that did start became winners. The best of them was multiple Grade 2 winner Lay Down (by Spectacular Bid), and Impish also produced listed stakes winner Karly’s Harley (by Harlan).
I Pass, Impish’s 1978 daughter by Buckpasser, also combined potential with fragility, winning two of three starts and running second in the other. Bred to Mr. Prospector, she produced the heavy-topped but wickedly fast Mining, who numbered the 1988 Vosburgh Stakes (USA-G1) among six consecutive victories before ending both his unbeaten streak and his racing career in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1). Mining was only modestly successful as a sire but did number 1999 Grande Prêmio Organização Sulamericana de Fomento ao Puro-Sangue de Corrida-OSAF (BRZ-G1) winner Fast Mile and 1994 Ballerina Handicap (USA-G1) winner Roamin Rachel among his 29 stakes winners from 625 named foals.
Defer, Mining’s 1983 half sister by Damascus, never made it to the races but produced the minor stakes winner Defer West (by Gone West), dam of 2005 Honorable Miss Handicap (USA-G2) winner Forest Music (by Unbridled’s Song) and 2000 Sapling Stakes (USA-G3) winner Shooter (by Dehere). In addition, Defer produced three other daughters with stakes winners to their credit. The best of the trio was Defer West’s full sister Cabaret Queen, dam of 2001 Grande Prêmio Salgado Filho (BRZ-G2) winner Jimmy Hollyday (by Phone Trick), 2007 Grande Prêmio Presidente Emilio Garrastazu Medici (BRZ-G2) winner Onward Royal (by Royal Academy), and Group 3-placed Queen Cabaret (by Wild Event), in turn the dam of Premio Ensayo (ARG-G2) winner Quechua (by Pure Prize), a three-time champion in Singapore, and 2021 Grande Prêmio Roger Guedon (BRZ-G3) winner Queller (by Roman Ruler).
Romany Queen, the last of Cabaret Queen’s daughters, is by the legendary Brazilian-based sire Ghadeer (by Lyphard), who led the Brazilian general sire list six times and the Brazilian broodmare sire list 14 times. A member of the great stallion’s penultimate crop (foals of 2004), she failed to win in nine starts but has more than atoned for her sins as a racer by her performance as a broodmare for her breeder-owner, Haras Santa Maria de Araras. Aside from Martin Luther King, she is the dam of 2015 Grande Prêmio Bento Goncalves (BRZ-G1) winner Diesmal and of Martin Luther King’s full brother English Major, the Brazilian champion 2-year-old male of 2015/16.
Generally speaking, Lady Be Good’s family has been inclined toward speed and precocity but has produced horses that could carry speed over a distance when bred to more stamina-oriented mates. Given its success in North America and Europe, the establishment of a successful South American branch was only a matter of time, for wherever the genes of Lady Be Good have gone, the lady has been very good indeed.
Sired by Better Self (a good son of Bimelech who had the misfortune to come along in Citation’s year) out of Past Eight, an Eight Thirty half sister to 1939 Suburban Handicap winner Snark (by Boojum) and 1933 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Edelweiss (by Chicle), Lady Be Good was bred by Gladys Mills Phipps’s Wheatley Stable. She was a good juvenile, winning two stakes races and placing in three more during a busy 12-start campaign but made only one start at three before ending her racing career.
Lady Be Good proved a treasure as a broodmare, producing four stakes winners among her 13 foals as well as stakes-placed Bold Example (by Bold Lad), who proved an important broodmare as did her stakes-winning half sisters Discipline (by Princequillo) and In Hot Pursuit (by Bold Ruler). Several more of Lady Be Good’s lesser racing daughters also became stakes producers, among them Impish.
A daughter of Majestic Prince, Impish won her only start, but the combination of Majestic Prince’s heavy body with Lady Be Good’s crooked legs did her no favors as regards a longer racing career and probably did not help her as a broodmare. Only seven of her 14 foals ever started, though all seven of the ones that did start became winners. The best of them was multiple Grade 2 winner Lay Down (by Spectacular Bid), and Impish also produced listed stakes winner Karly’s Harley (by Harlan).
I Pass, Impish’s 1978 daughter by Buckpasser, also combined potential with fragility, winning two of three starts and running second in the other. Bred to Mr. Prospector, she produced the heavy-topped but wickedly fast Mining, who numbered the 1988 Vosburgh Stakes (USA-G1) among six consecutive victories before ending both his unbeaten streak and his racing career in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1). Mining was only modestly successful as a sire but did number 1999 Grande Prêmio Organização Sulamericana de Fomento ao Puro-Sangue de Corrida-OSAF (BRZ-G1) winner Fast Mile and 1994 Ballerina Handicap (USA-G1) winner Roamin Rachel among his 29 stakes winners from 625 named foals.
Defer, Mining’s 1983 half sister by Damascus, never made it to the races but produced the minor stakes winner Defer West (by Gone West), dam of 2005 Honorable Miss Handicap (USA-G2) winner Forest Music (by Unbridled’s Song) and 2000 Sapling Stakes (USA-G3) winner Shooter (by Dehere). In addition, Defer produced three other daughters with stakes winners to their credit. The best of the trio was Defer West’s full sister Cabaret Queen, dam of 2001 Grande Prêmio Salgado Filho (BRZ-G2) winner Jimmy Hollyday (by Phone Trick), 2007 Grande Prêmio Presidente Emilio Garrastazu Medici (BRZ-G2) winner Onward Royal (by Royal Academy), and Group 3-placed Queen Cabaret (by Wild Event), in turn the dam of Premio Ensayo (ARG-G2) winner Quechua (by Pure Prize), a three-time champion in Singapore, and 2021 Grande Prêmio Roger Guedon (BRZ-G3) winner Queller (by Roman Ruler).
Romany Queen, the last of Cabaret Queen’s daughters, is by the legendary Brazilian-based sire Ghadeer (by Lyphard), who led the Brazilian general sire list six times and the Brazilian broodmare sire list 14 times. A member of the great stallion’s penultimate crop (foals of 2004), she failed to win in nine starts but has more than atoned for her sins as a racer by her performance as a broodmare for her breeder-owner, Haras Santa Maria de Araras. Aside from Martin Luther King, she is the dam of 2015 Grande Prêmio Bento Goncalves (BRZ-G1) winner Diesmal and of Martin Luther King’s full brother English Major, the Brazilian champion 2-year-old male of 2015/16.
Generally speaking, Lady Be Good’s family has been inclined toward speed and precocity but has produced horses that could carry speed over a distance when bred to more stamina-oriented mates. Given its success in North America and Europe, the establishment of a successful South American branch was only a matter of time, for wherever the genes of Lady Be Good have gone, the lady has been very good indeed.
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