According to the dictionary, valiance is the quality of being brave or heroic, making it a nicely ringing choice for the name of a Thoroughbred. That name received due honor on August 29, when the 4-year-old Tapit filly Valiance turned in a neat and professional victory in the Eatontown Handicap. The race, perhaps, was not particularly outstanding; after it was taken off the turf due to heavy rains at Monmouth, it lost both its Grade 3 status (pending review by the American Graded Stakes Committee) and all but five of its intended starters. Nonetheless, there is some amusement that in this case, virtue (as embodied in the winner) started out with an original sin.
Valiance belongs to the family of Instant Sin, a winning half sister to 1959 American champion older female Tempted. Bred for eight consecutive years to 1961 Futurity Stakes winner Cyane, the name produced some delightfully named offspring, among them stakes winner Misgivings, stakes-placed runners Menage a Trois and Canoodling, and Nimble Folly, who proved herself a first-rate broodmare.
Misgivings and Canoodling both produced stakes winners, but the best Menage a Trois could do was to come up with three runners who were stakes-placed in minor events. Both of her stakes-placed daughters improved on their dam's record, however, beginning with the Val de l'Orne mare Trois Cloches. Put to a series of modestly credentialed sires, she still managed to produce Peruvian Group 2 winner Fazel (by Fast Gold), Ecuadorean champion Azulako (by Desert Secret), and listed stakes winner Doctoressa (by Doc's Leader).
Sent to California and given a similar level of mates, Trois Cloches' cleverly named half sister Three Flights Up (by Topsider) also came up with more success than might be suggested by either her racing performance or her opportunities. Bred to Slewvescent, she produced Lazy Slusan, a two-time Grade 1 winner as a 6-year-old in 2001.
As a Grade 1 winner, Lazy Slusan got far better opportunities than her dam, and while she produced only one stakes winner, this was 2013 Madison Stakes (USA-G1) winner Last Full Measure (by Empire Maker), dam of Valiance and of Harbor Bay, a 2018 Exaggerator colt currently working in a promising manner toward his first start. Last Full Measure last produced a 2019 Mastery filly and was bred to Constitution for 2021. Lazy Slusan may see further good things happening through her After Market daughter Humor Section, who is the dam of listed stakes winner Monkeys Uncle (by Uncle Mo) and has a 2019 Bernardini filly and a 2020 Uncle Mo colt waiting in the wings.
While the family of Instant Sin has not been spectacular, it has shown the happy quality of being able to outbreed its mates when not fashionable and to deliver on better opportunities when they arrive. And that, in Thoroughbred circles, is no sin at all.
Valiance belongs to the family of Instant Sin, a winning half sister to 1959 American champion older female Tempted. Bred for eight consecutive years to 1961 Futurity Stakes winner Cyane, the name produced some delightfully named offspring, among them stakes winner Misgivings, stakes-placed runners Menage a Trois and Canoodling, and Nimble Folly, who proved herself a first-rate broodmare.
Misgivings and Canoodling both produced stakes winners, but the best Menage a Trois could do was to come up with three runners who were stakes-placed in minor events. Both of her stakes-placed daughters improved on their dam's record, however, beginning with the Val de l'Orne mare Trois Cloches. Put to a series of modestly credentialed sires, she still managed to produce Peruvian Group 2 winner Fazel (by Fast Gold), Ecuadorean champion Azulako (by Desert Secret), and listed stakes winner Doctoressa (by Doc's Leader).
Sent to California and given a similar level of mates, Trois Cloches' cleverly named half sister Three Flights Up (by Topsider) also came up with more success than might be suggested by either her racing performance or her opportunities. Bred to Slewvescent, she produced Lazy Slusan, a two-time Grade 1 winner as a 6-year-old in 2001.
As a Grade 1 winner, Lazy Slusan got far better opportunities than her dam, and while she produced only one stakes winner, this was 2013 Madison Stakes (USA-G1) winner Last Full Measure (by Empire Maker), dam of Valiance and of Harbor Bay, a 2018 Exaggerator colt currently working in a promising manner toward his first start. Last Full Measure last produced a 2019 Mastery filly and was bred to Constitution for 2021. Lazy Slusan may see further good things happening through her After Market daughter Humor Section, who is the dam of listed stakes winner Monkeys Uncle (by Uncle Mo) and has a 2019 Bernardini filly and a 2020 Uncle Mo colt waiting in the wings.
While the family of Instant Sin has not been spectacular, it has shown the happy quality of being able to outbreed its mates when not fashionable and to deliver on better opportunities when they arrive. And that, in Thoroughbred circles, is no sin at all.
RSS Feed