Filtering through Thoroughbred racing and breeding data day in and day out is -- there's no other way to say it, so I'm going to be frank here -- really, truly, spectacularly fun. And working on the most recent TrueNicks special report (Identifying Thoroughbred Mares Carrying Foals With Promise) was especially enjoyable, as it allowed me to pore over the Keeneland January catalogs without worrying about spending too much time drooling over the mares being offered.
One of offerings at the winter sale is a mare that has long been on my own personal "watch" list -- hip #775, a mare named Delicias Blues. I like her female family -- her second dam is the family 1-r mare Charedi. Charedi is a close genetic relative of the multiple champion mare Ta Wee: Charedi is by a son of Ta Wee's sire (Intentionally), and out of a daughter of her dam (Aspidistra). You probably already know Charedi best as the dam of Pentelicus and the second dam of Unbridled... well, it so happens that in addition to having Charedi as her granddam, Delicias Blues (pedigree) claims a Rasmussen Factor inbreeding to this mare, because Delicias Blues is a daughter of the Unbridled stallion Grindstone.
To be honest, inbreeding to Unbridled bloodlines is a bit of a question mark for me -- even though I am generally a proponent of strong inbreeding patterns -- just because of soundness concerns. The cross that resulted in Delicias Blues, however, introduced the sound influences of Buckpasser, In Reality, Dr. Fager -- without replication of Native Dancer / Raise a Native bloodlines, and doesn't involve a direct inbreeding to Unbridled himself.
Delicias Blues already has a decent produce record -- her first foal, a newly-turned-3-year-old filly, is a two-time juvenile winner of over $75,000, and, while unplaced in black type contests, she did run in a couple of grade I races.
Even better, according to TrueNicks, the foal that Delicias Blues is carrying now (by Forest Grove (SRO)) is a solid A-rated nick.
You'll find Delicias Blues -- and the nick ratings of all of her foals -- on the "Turnarounds" list within the free Identifying Thoroughbred Mares Carrying Foals With Promise report.
