In reviewing the results from last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup, one thing that stood out was the dominance of speedy female families in the open sprint races. In the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (USA-G1), upset winner Starlust traces back to the family of Dangerous Dame, a matriarchy that provided an injection of high-quality speed into Harry Guggenheim’s breeding program. In the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1), Straight No Chaser hails from the family of Big Dreams, who just happens to be the dam of two-time American champion sprinter Housebuster. Both families are worthy of a closer look.
Dangerous Dame, a daughter of Nasrullah and 1946 Irish champion 2-year-old filly Lady Kells (whose dam Anyway was also a juvenile stakes winner), was bred for speed and precocity but was not quite of stakes caliber. Her fame rests primarily on her two stakes-winning daughters: 1959 Kentucky Oaks winner Hidden Talent (by Dark Star), dam of multiple sprint stakes winner and 1986 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Too Bald (by Bald Eagle) and granddam of 1986 American champion 2-year-old male Capote and Hall of Fame member Exceller, and 1959 Matron Stakes winner Heavenly Body (by Dark Star), one of the better members of a remarkable crop of juvenile fillies and future matriarchs that included champion and blue hen My Dear Girl, Demoiselle Stakes winner Irish Jay, Round Table's precocious sister Monarchy, and disqualified Spinaway Stakes winner Natalma.
At the time that Heavenly Body won the Matron, the race was at 6 furlongs, and she also captured the important Princess Pat Stakes at Washington Park over a similar trip. At the close of her 2-year-old season, veteran trainer Woody Stephens thought her the superior of her Oaks-winning full sister, but she was unable to return to the races at 3 and left the question of whether she had the stamina to win the Kentucky Oaks (then at a mile and one-sixteenth) or any longer races open.
As a broodmare, Heavenly Body’s best runner was her 1975 daughter by Hoist the Flag, A Thousand Stars, who won the 1978 Prix Perth (FR-G3) over 1600 meters and placed in Group 1 races over similar distances; in the United States, A Thousand Stars equaled the Del Mar track record for a mile. She was not particularly successful as a broodmare, but her stakes-placed half sister, Tobira Celeste (by Ribot) produced 1987 Princess of Wales’s Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Celestial Storm (by Roberto) and 1993 Ribbesdale Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Thawakib (by Sadler’s Wells) and is the ancestress of Starlust through her winning Lyphard daughter, Reves Celestes. The dam of multiple Scandinavian and German stakes winner Matahif (by Wassl), Reves Celestes also produced stakes-placed Keswa (by Kings Lake), whose hardy daughter Compradore (by Mujtahid) produced 2012 Prix de Saint-Georges (FR-G3) winner Beyond Desire (by Invincible Spirit), dam of Starlust.
Generally, the family of Dangerous Dame has been genetically flexible to its mates’ influence and has been able to produce solid mile-and-a-half horses, good milers, and zippy speedsters depending on how its representatives have been bred. This is a characteristic also seen with the descendants of Big Dreams. A daughter of the tough sprinter Great Above (whose dam is two-time American champion sprinter Ta Wee), Big Dreams was a multiple sprint stakes winner during her own racing days. Bred to the fine sprinter Mt. Livermore (by Blushing Groom), she produced Housebuster as her second foal. Her other stakes winners were Quero Quero (by the miler Royal Academy, by the staying Nijinsky II), who proved effective at 8-9 furlongs, and Cat Buster (by the sprinting Tale of the Cat), who won a minor sprint stakes.
Housebuster’s unraced full sister Dreamscape also demonstrated the genetic versatility of the line. Bred to American champion sprinter Artax, she produced the multiple sprint stakes winner Tax Refund. Bred to 2005 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) Bellamy Road, she produced the miler Sophia’s Song, a stakes winner who in turn produced 2023 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Bright Future when bred to Curlin, For good measure, Sophia’s Song is also the dam of Musical Mischief (by Into Mischief) who captured the Fasig-Tipton Locust Grove Stakes (USA-G2) over a mile and one-sixteenth in September.
Desireux, Big Dreams’s 1989 filly by Fappiano, was an unknown quantity with regard to stamina as she never raced, but Straight No Chaser is the result of two successive crosses of sprinter or miler sires to her line. The first, to Capote, resulted in Smile Maker, a mare whose sole win was over 6 furlongs. The second matched Smile Maker with 2001 European and American champion 2-year-old male Johannesburg to produce Margarita Friday, who likewise scored her lone win over 6 furlongs. Straight No Chaser is Margarita Friday’s seventh foal, and she had a previous stakes winner in Hangover Saturday (by the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Pomeroy), who won the one-mile Juvenile Filly Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park West in 2014.
Many years ago, an old horseman was asked what was most important to a good horse. “Speed,” he answered. When he was asked “What else?”, he answered, “More speed, sir, more speed. That’s what makes a good horse.” One gets the impression that he would have been pleased with the weekend’s results, and equally pleased with the swift and versatile families that led to them.
Dangerous Dame, a daughter of Nasrullah and 1946 Irish champion 2-year-old filly Lady Kells (whose dam Anyway was also a juvenile stakes winner), was bred for speed and precocity but was not quite of stakes caliber. Her fame rests primarily on her two stakes-winning daughters: 1959 Kentucky Oaks winner Hidden Talent (by Dark Star), dam of multiple sprint stakes winner and 1986 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Too Bald (by Bald Eagle) and granddam of 1986 American champion 2-year-old male Capote and Hall of Fame member Exceller, and 1959 Matron Stakes winner Heavenly Body (by Dark Star), one of the better members of a remarkable crop of juvenile fillies and future matriarchs that included champion and blue hen My Dear Girl, Demoiselle Stakes winner Irish Jay, Round Table's precocious sister Monarchy, and disqualified Spinaway Stakes winner Natalma.
At the time that Heavenly Body won the Matron, the race was at 6 furlongs, and she also captured the important Princess Pat Stakes at Washington Park over a similar trip. At the close of her 2-year-old season, veteran trainer Woody Stephens thought her the superior of her Oaks-winning full sister, but she was unable to return to the races at 3 and left the question of whether she had the stamina to win the Kentucky Oaks (then at a mile and one-sixteenth) or any longer races open.
As a broodmare, Heavenly Body’s best runner was her 1975 daughter by Hoist the Flag, A Thousand Stars, who won the 1978 Prix Perth (FR-G3) over 1600 meters and placed in Group 1 races over similar distances; in the United States, A Thousand Stars equaled the Del Mar track record for a mile. She was not particularly successful as a broodmare, but her stakes-placed half sister, Tobira Celeste (by Ribot) produced 1987 Princess of Wales’s Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Celestial Storm (by Roberto) and 1993 Ribbesdale Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Thawakib (by Sadler’s Wells) and is the ancestress of Starlust through her winning Lyphard daughter, Reves Celestes. The dam of multiple Scandinavian and German stakes winner Matahif (by Wassl), Reves Celestes also produced stakes-placed Keswa (by Kings Lake), whose hardy daughter Compradore (by Mujtahid) produced 2012 Prix de Saint-Georges (FR-G3) winner Beyond Desire (by Invincible Spirit), dam of Starlust.
Generally, the family of Dangerous Dame has been genetically flexible to its mates’ influence and has been able to produce solid mile-and-a-half horses, good milers, and zippy speedsters depending on how its representatives have been bred. This is a characteristic also seen with the descendants of Big Dreams. A daughter of the tough sprinter Great Above (whose dam is two-time American champion sprinter Ta Wee), Big Dreams was a multiple sprint stakes winner during her own racing days. Bred to the fine sprinter Mt. Livermore (by Blushing Groom), she produced Housebuster as her second foal. Her other stakes winners were Quero Quero (by the miler Royal Academy, by the staying Nijinsky II), who proved effective at 8-9 furlongs, and Cat Buster (by the sprinting Tale of the Cat), who won a minor sprint stakes.
Housebuster’s unraced full sister Dreamscape also demonstrated the genetic versatility of the line. Bred to American champion sprinter Artax, she produced the multiple sprint stakes winner Tax Refund. Bred to 2005 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) Bellamy Road, she produced the miler Sophia’s Song, a stakes winner who in turn produced 2023 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Bright Future when bred to Curlin, For good measure, Sophia’s Song is also the dam of Musical Mischief (by Into Mischief) who captured the Fasig-Tipton Locust Grove Stakes (USA-G2) over a mile and one-sixteenth in September.
Desireux, Big Dreams’s 1989 filly by Fappiano, was an unknown quantity with regard to stamina as she never raced, but Straight No Chaser is the result of two successive crosses of sprinter or miler sires to her line. The first, to Capote, resulted in Smile Maker, a mare whose sole win was over 6 furlongs. The second matched Smile Maker with 2001 European and American champion 2-year-old male Johannesburg to produce Margarita Friday, who likewise scored her lone win over 6 furlongs. Straight No Chaser is Margarita Friday’s seventh foal, and she had a previous stakes winner in Hangover Saturday (by the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Pomeroy), who won the one-mile Juvenile Filly Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park West in 2014.
Many years ago, an old horseman was asked what was most important to a good horse. “Speed,” he answered. When he was asked “What else?”, he answered, “More speed, sir, more speed. That’s what makes a good horse.” One gets the impression that he would have been pleased with the weekend’s results, and equally pleased with the swift and versatile families that led to them.
RSS Feed