My Charmer (USA)
March 25, 1969 – 1993
Poker (USA) x Fair Charmer (USA), by Jet Action (USA)
Family 13-c
March 25, 1969 – 1993
Poker (USA) x Fair Charmer (USA), by Jet Action (USA)
Family 13-c
A mare of fairly modest immediate antecedents, My Charmer was a useful race mare but no more than that. She was something else again as a broodmare, kicking off her second career by producing 1977 American Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew as her first foal. While she could hardly be expected to equal that performance with any of her later foals, she did produce three other stakes winners including 1983 Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1) winner Lomond, making her one of the few mares to produce Classic winners on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Her daughters bred on with success though not at the level of one of the great matriarchies of the turf.
Race record
34 starts, 6 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$34,133
1972:
Assessments
Rated at 108 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1972, 18 pounds below champion Susan’s Girl.
As an individual
A strong, well-balanced, lengthy bay mare, My Charmer appeared to be slightly short-legged for her height and was not very tall. Plain in make, she had a deep girth and short cannons. She was tough enough to make 18 starts as a juvenile.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, My Charmer produced 12 named foals, of which eight started and six won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled at Ben Castleman's White Horse Acres Farm in Kentucky, My Charmer was bred by Martin Fiege and Castleman. She was owned by Ben Castleman and was trained by Larry Robideaux. She was sold to William S. Farish, Warner L. Jones, Jr., and William S. Kilroy for an undisclosed price in early 1977, prior to Seattle Slew's Triple Crown sweep. My Charmer was sold again as part of the dispersal of Jones' Hermitage Farm at the 1987 Keeneland fall mixed sale, being purchased for US$2.6 million by Allen Paulson. She died at Paulson's Brookside Farm in 1993.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1967 Bowling Green Handicap winner Poker (by Round Table), My Charmer is inbred 4x4 to 1937 American Triple Crown winner and 1945 American champion sire War Admiral and to the prominent broodmare Baby League through the full sisters Busher (the 1945 American Horse of the Year) and Striking (the 1961 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and winner of the 1949 Schuylerville Stakes). She is also inbred 5x4 to 1930 Derby Stakes winner Blenheim II, the American champion sire of 1941. She was the only important foal produced from Fair Charmer, a winning daughter of the good stakes winner Jet Action (Jet Pilot x Busher) and a half sister to 1954 Frizette Stakes winner Myrtle’s Jet (by Jet Pilot).
Fair Charmer is out of 1948 American champion 2-year-old filly Myrtle Charm (by Alsab), whose half sister Spinosa (by Count Fleet) is the second dam of French Group 3 winner Raise a Lady. Myrtle Charm, in turn, is out of Crepe Myrtle (by Equipoise), a daughter of 1936 American champion sprinter and handicap female Myrtlewood (by Blue Larkspur).
Fun facts
Last updated: October 21, 2025
Race record
34 starts, 6 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$34,133
1972:
- Won Fair Grounds Oaks (USA, 8.5FD, Fair Grounds)
Assessments
Rated at 108 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1972, 18 pounds below champion Susan’s Girl.
As an individual
A strong, well-balanced, lengthy bay mare, My Charmer appeared to be slightly short-legged for her height and was not very tall. Plain in make, she had a deep girth and short cannons. She was tough enough to make 18 starts as a juvenile.
As a producer
Designated as a Reine-de-Course by pedigree analyst Ellen Parker, My Charmer produced 12 named foals, of which eight started and six won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Seattle Slew (1974, by Bold Reasoning) won four Eclipse Awards including 1977 American Horse of the Year and was a champion every year he raced. He led the American sire list in 1984 and twice led the American broodmare sire list.
- Clandestina (1978, by Secretariat) placed in a minor Irish stakes race as a 3-year-old. She is the dam of 1992 Royal Lodge Stakes (ENG-G2) winner Desert Secret (by Sadler’s Wells) and is the third dam of 2013 Chilean champion 3-year-old dirt male Hakassan, multiple Chilean Group 2 winner En Guerra, Brazilian Group 2 winner Champion Star, and Australian Group 3 winner Alzora. Her more distant descendants include 2010 Uruguayan Horse of the Year Relento and Group 3 winners Leinster, Mehzebeen, and Wolfgang.
- Lomond (1980, by Northern Dancer) won the 1983 Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1). He sired 30 stakes winners from 750 named foals, headed by multiple Group 1 winners Marling and Valanour.
- Argosy (1981, by Affirmed) won the listed Kilfrush-What a Guest Stakes in Ireland as a 3-year-old. He sired 22 stakes winners from 505 named foals.
- Seattle Dancer (1984, by Nijinsky II) was auctioned off for a world-record US$13.1 million as a yearling. A multiple Group 2 winner in Ireland, he sired 35 stakes winners from 906 named foals, headed by Grade/Group 1 winners Caffe Latte, Dance the Day Away, Pike Place Dancer, and Seattle Rhyme.
- Charming Tiara (1986, by Alydar) never raced but is the third dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Caixa Eletronica.
- Ghashtah (1987, by Nijinsky II) never raced but is the second dam of English Group 2 winner Nasheej. Her more distant descendants include 2016 Irish Two Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) winner Awtaad, multiple Irish Group 3 winner Madhmoon, and Grade 3 winner Village Voice.
Connections
Foaled at Ben Castleman's White Horse Acres Farm in Kentucky, My Charmer was bred by Martin Fiege and Castleman. She was owned by Ben Castleman and was trained by Larry Robideaux. She was sold to William S. Farish, Warner L. Jones, Jr., and William S. Kilroy for an undisclosed price in early 1977, prior to Seattle Slew's Triple Crown sweep. My Charmer was sold again as part of the dispersal of Jones' Hermitage Farm at the 1987 Keeneland fall mixed sale, being purchased for US$2.6 million by Allen Paulson. She died at Paulson's Brookside Farm in 1993.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1967 Bowling Green Handicap winner Poker (by Round Table), My Charmer is inbred 4x4 to 1937 American Triple Crown winner and 1945 American champion sire War Admiral and to the prominent broodmare Baby League through the full sisters Busher (the 1945 American Horse of the Year) and Striking (the 1961 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and winner of the 1949 Schuylerville Stakes). She is also inbred 5x4 to 1930 Derby Stakes winner Blenheim II, the American champion sire of 1941. She was the only important foal produced from Fair Charmer, a winning daughter of the good stakes winner Jet Action (Jet Pilot x Busher) and a half sister to 1954 Frizette Stakes winner Myrtle’s Jet (by Jet Pilot).
Fair Charmer is out of 1948 American champion 2-year-old filly Myrtle Charm (by Alsab), whose half sister Spinosa (by Count Fleet) is the second dam of French Group 3 winner Raise a Lady. Myrtle Charm, in turn, is out of Crepe Myrtle (by Equipoise), a daughter of 1936 American champion sprinter and handicap female Myrtlewood (by Blue Larkspur).
Fun facts
- My Charmer took nine tries to break her maiden, and when she did, it was in a US$7,500 claimer. Four of her six career wins were in claiming company.
Last updated: October 21, 2025