Yanks Music (USA)
May 31, 1993 – May 15, 2008
Air Forbes Won (USA) x Traipsing (USA), by Darby Creek Road (USA)
Family 11-g
May 31, 1993 – May 15, 2008
Air Forbes Won (USA) x Traipsing (USA), by Darby Creek Road (USA)
Family 11-g
Although the pedigree of Yanks Music was solid, it was a bit off the trail of equine fashion, and she was not outstanding as a physical specimen. Nonetheless, the filly’s 3-year-old season amply demonstrated that she had inherited the best from her genetic background. The most consistent filly of her crop, she won four Grade 1 events in 1996, two of them against her elders, to earn an Eclipse Award. Regrettably, she was not nearly as good a broodmare as she was a racehorse, partly due to being plagued by reproductive problems.
Race record
9 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds, 0 thirds, US$787,600
1996:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (1996)
As an individual
A bay mare, Yanks Music had a lovely, feminine head but according to her trainer, Leo O’Brien, had a “game face” that “psyched out” her opponents. She typically raced at mid-pack before launching her bid. She was retired after injuring an ankle while in training for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1).
As a producer
Yanks Music produced five named foals, of which three started and two won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Yanks Music was bred by the Irish American Bloodstock Agency. She was owned by Audrey H. Cooper and Michael Fennessy and was trained by Leo O’Brien. She was ridden throughout her championship season by John Velazquez. Consigned to the 1997 Keeneland November mixed sale in foal to Storm Cat, she sold for US$1 million to Frank Stronach. She was euthanized in May 2008 due to gastrointestinal problems discovered during colic surgery; she was in foal to Thunder Gulch at the time of her death.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1982 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) winner Air Forbes Won (by Bold Forbes), Yanks Music is inbred 4x4 to eight-time American champion sire Bold Ruler, the 1957 American Horse of the Year; she is also inbred 5x5 to two-time American champion sire Heliopolis. She is out of Traipsing, whose sire Darby Creek Road (by Roberto) won the 1977 Saratoga Special (USA-G2) and is the answer to the trivia question, “Who finished third behind Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Belmont Stakes?”.
Traipsing, in turn, is out of Boasting (by Bold Lad), a winning half sister to 1972 Champagne Stakes winner Stop the Music (by Hail to Reason) and multiple Grade 1 winner Hatchet Man (by The Axe II). Boasting is also a half sister to listed stakes winner Flag Waver (by Hoist the Flag), dam of stakes winner Abidjan (by Sir Ivor) and second dam of 1999 Illinois Derby (USA-G2) winner Vision and Verse, and to Crazy Music (by Hail to Reason), dam of Grade 3 winner Crazy Moon (by Stage Door Johnny).
Bebopper, the dam of Boasting and her siblings, is a winning daughter of Tom Fool and the stakes-placed French import Bebop II (by 1951 French champion sire Prince Bio), a half sister to 1954 Oaks Stakes winner Sun Cap (by Sunny Boy) and 1952 Prix Jean Prat winner La Verende (by Blue Moon). She is a half sister to stakes-placed Stepping High (by No Robbery), dam of 1978 Saranac Handicap (USA-G2) winner Buckaroo (by Buckpasser) and listed stakes winner Parade Marshal (by Caro)—both sires of some significance. Bebopper is also a half sister to Larceny Gal (by No Robbery), dam of stakes winner Smuggled (by Sham) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Astudillo, and to Clasbio (by Outing Class), dam of restricted stakes winner Genista (by Good Counsel).
Books and media
Footage of Yanks Music’s win in the 1996 Alabama Stakes can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHg50NaWpuI.
Fun facts
Last updated: November 17, 2023
Race record
9 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds, 0 thirds, US$787,600
1996:
- Won Beldame Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- Won Ruffian Handicap (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Belmont)
- Won Alabama Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga)
- Won Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Monmouth Breeders' Cup Oaks (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Monmouth)
- 2nd Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (1996)
As an individual
A bay mare, Yanks Music had a lovely, feminine head but according to her trainer, Leo O’Brien, had a “game face” that “psyched out” her opponents. She typically raced at mid-pack before launching her bid. She was retired after injuring an ankle while in training for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1).
As a producer
Yanks Music produced five named foals, of which three started and two won. Her important foals are as follow:
- American Sound (by Awesome Again), never raced but is the dam of multiple restricted stakes winner Zealous Vision (by The Visualiser).
- Girl Can Rock (2006, by El Prado) won two of her 16 starts. She is the dam of juvenile stakes winner Blonde Bomber (by Fort Larned), who ran third in the 2017 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1).
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Yanks Music was bred by the Irish American Bloodstock Agency. She was owned by Audrey H. Cooper and Michael Fennessy and was trained by Leo O’Brien. She was ridden throughout her championship season by John Velazquez. Consigned to the 1997 Keeneland November mixed sale in foal to Storm Cat, she sold for US$1 million to Frank Stronach. She was euthanized in May 2008 due to gastrointestinal problems discovered during colic surgery; she was in foal to Thunder Gulch at the time of her death.
Pedigree notes
Sired by 1982 Wood Memorial Stakes (USA-G1) winner Air Forbes Won (by Bold Forbes), Yanks Music is inbred 4x4 to eight-time American champion sire Bold Ruler, the 1957 American Horse of the Year; she is also inbred 5x5 to two-time American champion sire Heliopolis. She is out of Traipsing, whose sire Darby Creek Road (by Roberto) won the 1977 Saratoga Special (USA-G2) and is the answer to the trivia question, “Who finished third behind Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Belmont Stakes?”.
Traipsing, in turn, is out of Boasting (by Bold Lad), a winning half sister to 1972 Champagne Stakes winner Stop the Music (by Hail to Reason) and multiple Grade 1 winner Hatchet Man (by The Axe II). Boasting is also a half sister to listed stakes winner Flag Waver (by Hoist the Flag), dam of stakes winner Abidjan (by Sir Ivor) and second dam of 1999 Illinois Derby (USA-G2) winner Vision and Verse, and to Crazy Music (by Hail to Reason), dam of Grade 3 winner Crazy Moon (by Stage Door Johnny).
Bebopper, the dam of Boasting and her siblings, is a winning daughter of Tom Fool and the stakes-placed French import Bebop II (by 1951 French champion sire Prince Bio), a half sister to 1954 Oaks Stakes winner Sun Cap (by Sunny Boy) and 1952 Prix Jean Prat winner La Verende (by Blue Moon). She is a half sister to stakes-placed Stepping High (by No Robbery), dam of 1978 Saranac Handicap (USA-G2) winner Buckaroo (by Buckpasser) and listed stakes winner Parade Marshal (by Caro)—both sires of some significance. Bebopper is also a half sister to Larceny Gal (by No Robbery), dam of stakes winner Smuggled (by Sham) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Astudillo, and to Clasbio (by Outing Class), dam of restricted stakes winner Genista (by Good Counsel).
Books and media
Footage of Yanks Music’s win in the 1996 Alabama Stakes can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHg50NaWpuI.
Fun facts
- Yanks Music was so highly regarded by O’Brien that she was nominated to both the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (USA-G1) with the Classic as her first preference—this in spite of the expected Classic entry of Cigar, the defending American Horse of the Year.
- Another of racing’s bargain basement stories, Yanks Music failed to reach her reserve on a bid of $US6,500 at the 1994 Keeneland September sale and again failed to change hands at the 1995 Ocala Breeders’ Sales April sale of 2-year-olds in training as a US$20,000 RNA.
Last updated: November 17, 2023