Do you ever wish you had a glossy
program for the Keeneland Sales?
Sometimes the youngsters go through the ring so fast I don’t always
catch who they are and who their relatives are.
If someone would pay $5.00 for a
magazine with photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s offspring, imagine what
horse racing fans would pay for the same privilege to see the siblings of
Zenyatta and Big Brown.
All kidding aside, here are some
of the yearlings that I will be keeping an eye out for this week in the first
two hundred through the ring. Who do you
like?
http://apps.keeneland.com/sales/sep08/pdfs/book1.pdf
Hip 10 – (A.P. Indy
out of Penny’s Fortune by Storm Cat) This colt is out of a half-sister to Old
Trieste, who was also sired by A.P. Indy out of the Vigors mare Lovlier
Linda. This is the dam’s first foal. Old Trieste barely had time to leave his mark
on the breed before his death at the age of eight. We will never know just how good he could
have been. His offspring seemed to be
speedy, but also liked turf, which might have made him a desirable sire for
synthetic surfaces.
Old Trieste showed some affinity
for dams by the sires His Majesty, sons of Roberto and the sire and offspring
of Deputy Minister. Since this colt is
by A.P. Indy this makes him very close in breeding to the departed stallion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ3VW5T2aMg
Old Trieste’s son, Silver Train,
winning the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Belmont Park
Hip 12 – (Giant’s
Causeway out of Playful Act (IRE) by Sadler’s Wells) If a broodmare with an aborted breeding sold
with only a weanling filly (this one) under her name is worth a record setting
$10.5 million dollars, what is her first daughter by Giant’s Causeway
worth?
Playful Act was sold by Swettenham
Stud (Sangster family) last fall. Sheikh
Mohammed purchased the broodmare on behalf of
his Darley operation after one of those famous battles with Coolmore. It is reasonable to think that the value
could have been a little skewed because of the parties involved, but Sadler’s
Wells is probably the best broodmare sire in the world. This could be the last and only offspring
sold from the mare Playful Act, and with the sire being Coolmore stallion, one
has to wonder if Darley will abstain or if they will want to ensure they are
the only ones with Playful Act’s offspring.
Their actions may determine the price level this filly reaches. It is hard to imagine Coolmore letting this
one get away for any reasonable price.
Hip 20 – (Gone West
out of Queen (IRE) by Sadler’s Wells) This gray colt out of a daughter of the
grade 1 stakes winner, Infamy (IRE).
Infamy was a lovely gray filly who swished her tail like a propeller
when she ran. She beat the males in the
1988 Grade 1 Rothmans International and then went to Churchill Downs for the
Breeder’s Cup Turf. She was part of a
trio of very accomplished racemares, along with Triptych and Indian
Skimmer. Infamy did not handle the trip
on that day, while Indian Skimmer survived a rank trip and proved the best of
the three behind pacesetter, Great Communicator.
Peter Brant’s Triptych won
multiple Group 1 races and placed in the Epsom Derby and the Prix
de l'Arc de Triomphe twice.
She won the Irish Champion Stakes, the Cornation Cup twice and the list
goes on-and-on.
The other gray filly in the race
was Indian Skimmer, Sheikh Mohammed’s champion mare. She did not reproduce herself as a broodmare
and was retired from that job at Darley to reside with his retired
broodmares. She does have a paternal
side granddaughter you might have heard about, Ipi Tombe, by Indian Skimmer’s
son Manshood (by Mr. Prospector). She
was the winner of 12 of 14 starts, a South African champion and legend.
Triptych was bred to Mr.
Prospector the year following her fourth-place-finish in the Breeder’s Cup
Turf. Unfortunately she died in a freak
accident with a security vehicle making nightly rounds.
Infamy has gone on to produce four
black-type-offspring and ten winners including Innuendo and Rostropovich.
The 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3ZOSh1qG5M
Hips 48 (Ghostzapper out of Secret Status by A.P. Indy),
138 (Ghostzapper out of Bird Town by Cape Town) and 383 (Ghostzapper out of
Belva by Theatrical (Ire) –Ghostzapper gets 27 of his first crop in this
important sale, produced from mares like Grade 1 Test Stakes winner Victory
Ride, dams of multiple Grade 1 winner Greg’s Gold, Grade 1 winner Joey Franco
and Grade 2 winners Runway Model and Zanjero.
Also, Grade 1 winners Mandy’s Gold and Collect the Cash. But these three really stand out on paper
because of their accomplishments either on the track or in the breeding
shed. Two are Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks
winners and the other is the dam of eclipse turf champion English Channel.
Both of the Oaks winners have
produced bay colts while Belva has produced a chestnut filly, a May foal.
(Hip 138 has been withdrawn from
the sale) Bird Town’s 2003 Kentucky Oaks win
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQ2CazIVBI
Secret Status 2000 Kentucky Oaks
win
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzvLq5_E9vs
English Channel in his gutsy 2007
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqSlstExW80
Hip 62 – (Storm Cat
out of Spain by Thunder Gulch) This dark bay colt out of Breeders’ Cup Distaff
winner Spain is a full brother to Spain’s first foal, the three-year-old Plan
who won the Group 3 Keeneland International Stakes at the Curragh. He also placed in Winchester’s Grade 1
Secretariat Stakes at Arlington in his first start in the United States for the
IEAH and Michael Tabor partnership.
Spain is out of a tough knocking
filly named Drina. I was a fan of Drina’s. She raced at Calder failing to break her
maiden until her twelfth start on the Calder/Hialeah/Gulfstream circuit and
then only for the $15,000 level. She continued
to languish in those lower level claiming races until the tag was put on her
when she was claimed in her third year of racing, her 22nd start, by
Joseph Calascibetta, albeit for a tag of $15,000 in 1993.
Drina ran on lasix in her 23rd
start and won by nine lengths at Hialeah.
This was her first start on the turf.
Drina went on to win or place in eight of her next ten starts, dirt and
turf. She won the Viscaya Handicap at
Calder and ran second in the Ms Tropical Handicap. She was as tough as nails, like many Calder
campaigners. She ran and won on fast
dirt, mud and sloppy courses and turf courses.
She won at all three south Florida tracks.
The daughter of Regal and Royal
out of the Private Account mare Wandering Lace had a 44-race-career and won
over $205,000. Aside from Spain, she is
the dam of stakes winners, Fantastic Spain, Path of Thunder, and Puerto Banus.
Spain wins the 2000 Breeder’s Cup
Distaff at 50-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3qbgOsuJwE
Plan runs second in 2008 Arlington
Million
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGSSaegxRDM
Hip 69 (Storm Cat out of Starry Dreamer by Rubiano) – This is a bay colt out of the graded stakes winner Starry
Dreamer by Rubiano. Starry Dreamer has
produced graded stakes winners Teammate, War Front and Ecclesiastic. Although this colt is not grey, the grey line
in this family traces back hundreds of years, as does the talent.
War Front is Hip 69’s half brother
and here is his 2006 performance in the grade 2 Tom Fool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJaKpVZYy4
Hip 86 – (Pulpit out
of Tap your Heels by Unbridled) This
gray March-born filly is a full sister to Grade 1 stakes winner and sire
Tapit.
Tapit’s second dam is Ruby
Slippers, the daughter of Nijinsky (CAN).
She produced champion sprinter Rubiano and the dam, Tap Your Heels (by
Unbridled). Ruby Slippers is out of the
In Reality mare, Moon Glitter. Moon
Glitter is a full sister to the influential sire Relaunch, out of The Axe mare
Foggy Note. Relaunch sired Grade 1 winners
Waquoit, One Dreamer, Honour and Glory, With Anticipation and Skywalker.
Moon Glitter also produced the
speedy Dewan sire Glitterman, sire of Grade 1 winner Glitter Woman. Glitter Woman was not gray but she produced
the new Claiborne sire and Grade 1 winner Political Force (by Unbridled) who is
gray.
Tapit’s win in the 2004 Grade 1
Wood Memorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5wL8N-602M
Hip 107 – (Mr. Greeley out of Won’t She Tell by
Banner Sport) - this a chestnut colt out the half-sister to Affirmed, Won’t
She Tell. The dam is a foal of
1984. Her 1993 colt, Dr. Caton was a son
of Affirmed’s racing foe, Seattle Slew.
He was famously named after a physician who cared for D. Wayne Lukas’
son, Jeff, when he was terribly injured by the colt Tabasco Cat. There are quite a bit of common names in this
pedigree, but I liked the Affirmed connection
Mr. Greeley’s daughter Finsceal
Beo (IRE) winning the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sedL4r6APmk
Hip 131 – (A.P. Indy
out of Banshee Winds by Known Fact) This bay filly named EZ Indy is a
half-sister to champion three-year-old filly and Breeders’ Cup Distaff champion
Banshee Breeze. Banshee Winds also produced
the mare Unbridled Breeze. Her son,
Speed Limit, made an impressive debut at Saratoga in a well-meant-field, but
faltered in his second star after a rough trip for owner Overbrook Farm.
Banshee Breeze wins 1998 Breeder’s
Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEmjndKXBGk
Hip 148 (Unbridled’s Song out of Classic Approval by With
Approval) – This bay colt is out of
Classic Approval, dam of graded stakes winner Gulch Approval. This is a Fred Hooper female family with
stakes winners Class Kris, Patriot Act, Gradepoint, Sleeping Indian, Don’t Get
Mad and Grade 1 winner Student Council all under second dam Classic Value. The dam’s side is a who’s who of Hooper stakes
winners including Copelan, Tri-Jet, Crozier and Hooper’s champion Susan’s
Girl.
Susan’s Girl was three-year-old
champion in 1972 and the champion distaffer in both 1973 and 1975. She made 63 starts with 29 visits to the
winner’s circle and 25 placings. She was
inducted into the National Museum or Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1976.
Broodmare sire With Approval wins
the Canadian Triple Crown in the Breeders Stakes 1989
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gjAlqRP8JI
It is hard to think of With
Approval’s triple crown run without thinking of the 1990 triple crown winner
also owned by Kinghaven Farms, Izvestia.
A tragic injury in 1991 would take this talented son of Icecapade, a half-brother
to Ruffian. But here he gives his
connections a happier day with his win in the Breeder’s Stakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyFQnO0z2_A&feature=related
Hip 177 (Storm Cat out of Farda Amiga by Broad Brush) – This is a bay filly out of the 2002 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks
and the Alabama Stakes winner, Farda Amiga.
The victory for Farda Amiga over Take Charge Lady in the Kentucky Oaks
announced her great distance ability and her subsequent win in the Alabama
followed by a second place effort in the Breeder’s Cup behind Horse of the Year
Azeri sealed her three-year-old champion honors.
Farda Amiga wins the 2002 Kentucky
Oaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqgssHbj3P8
Farda Amiga’s 2002 Alabama stretch
run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXZwNNZi-wA
Hip 187 – (Distorted Humor
Colt out of Golden Ballet by Moscow Ballet)
Distorted Humor has kept the Forty Niner lineage alive in this country
and the speedy Golden Ballet seems like a nice fit for a sire that has produced
a double Whitney Stakes winner (Commentator), Travers winner Flower Alley and
Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide.
Golden Ballet was precocious at
two, winning the Cinderella Stakes but she was able to stretch out to win the
Sanita Anita Oaks as a three-year-old.
She won six of her ten starts and accumulated over $730,000 in
earnings.
Golden Ballet’s best offspring was
a $1.6 million dollar purchase for Darley.
The 2004 filly Stage Luck is by
Unbridled’s Song. She races for Darley
Stable and won or placed in all five of her starts. She won the Affectionately Handicap at
Aqueduct.
The product of this mating is a
chestnut colt.
Golden Ballet’s game win in the
2001 Santa Anita Oaks win
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9tftjwWm5Q
Hips 194 (Harlan’s Holiday out of Henderson Band by Chimes
Band) and 311 (Harlan’s Holiday out of Strollin Slew by Seattle Slew) – Both are
offspring of the promising sophomore stallion Harlan’s Holiday. His sire Harlan by Storm Cat out of the Gun Bow mare Country Romance would have been
a nice outcross for many of our mares if not for his untimely death in
1999.
With only four crops and a small
sampling, he produced outstanding colts like the subject stallion and the $1.7
million dollar earner Menifee, along with several other graded stakes winners
or placed horses.
Harlan’s Holiday, has produced
some nice runners in his first crop.
Denis of Cork, second in last year’s Belmont Stakes (G.1) and third in
the Kentucky Derby (G.1), Into Mischief winner of the Grade 1 Cashcall Futurity
and Sorrento Stakes (G.3) winner Tasha’s Miracle.
Hip 194 is a bay filly out of
Henderson Band. The yearling’s dam
produced Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes winner Cash Included. Hip 311 is a bay colt out of Strollin Slew
who is out of the Forty-Niner mare Footing who is from a steady female family
that melds a Claiborne family that produced Swale and Forty Niner and melds it
with great Florida breeding such as Tartan Farms’ great Dr. Fager who appears
in the fifth generation
Harlan’s Holiday wins the Grade 1
Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park
http://www.airdriestud.com/videos/harlans_holiday-donn_handicap_384.wmv
Denis of Cork by Harlan’s Holiday
wins the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NBEccCeDiY
Outside of those first 200, look
for hip 340 a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Balance and Horse of the Year
candidate, Zenyatta (Giant’s Causeway out of Vertigineux by Kris S.) and hip
484 a half-sister to Big Brown, another Horse of the Year candidate (Touch Gold
out of Mien by Nureyev).
