Home

The highly successful Danzig / Sharpen Up nick had a very good weekend. Mount Nelson (A++ TrueNicks rating), a son of Rock of Gibraltar out of the Selkirk mare Independence, found most in a driving finish to win the Coral-Eclipse (gr. I) at Sandown, in doing so he returned to the form that saw him capture a grade I race at 2.

Bred along similar lines, Anna Pavlova (A++), a daughter of Rock of Gibraltar's Coolmore barn mate Danehill Dancer, found success in the Lancashire Oaks (gr. II) at Haydock Park. As we have previously stated on this site, we find it very interesting and rather common to see success where the dam and the broodmare sire of the sire are from the same sireline. In Anna Pavlova's case, Danehill Dancer is out of a mare by Sharpen Up while her dam is by Sure Blade, a grandson of Sharpen Up.

Finally the Darley stallion Kheleyf sired his first group/graded stakes winner in Percolator (B+), winner of the Prix du Bois (gr. III) in France. Kheleyf is by Danzig's son Green Desert and Coffee Cream, the dam of Percolator is by Common Grounds, a grandson of Sharpen Up.

*******

Speaking of Danehill Dancer, he had a nice 2-year-old stakes winner in the shape of Abbeyside (B+), winner of the Prix Yacowlef at Deauville. He was bred by Paul Makin of Starcraft fame....

*******

We mentioned it a little earlier with Anna Pavlova but the pedigree of Deutsches Derby (gr. I) winner Kamsin (A++) is certainly worth looking at. He is a son of Samum, a German Derby winner himself who is by Monsun out of the Old Vic mare Sacarina. Monsun has done terrifically well when mated to mares by Sadler's Wells and his sons. Kamsin's dam is by Winged Love, a grandson of Sadler's Wells (thus Sadler's Wells appears in the sire line of Kamsin's dam and the broodmare sire line of his sire). Added to this, Kasmin's dam is out of a mare by Surumu who also appears as the broodmare sire of Monsun.

*******

Pure Clan (A++), a half to the one time classic contender Greater Good, remained perfect on the weeds when winning the American Oaks Invitational (gr. I). Pure Clan comes from the second crop of the royally-bred Vinery stallion Pure Prize (TrueNicks, SRO). Her broodmare sire, the Secretariat stallion General Assembly, was disappointing as both a sire and a broodmare sire but it is interesting to note that he has found great success when his daughters have been mated to sons of Storm Cat. Pure Clan, Mountain General (by the equally-abysmal Mountain Cat), and Storm Tale (by Crown Ambassador) are all stakes winners by sons of Storm Cat out of General Assembly mares.

*******

Airdrie Stud stallion Friends Lake has started his career in the best fashion possible siring the Bashford Manor Stakes winner Screen Your Friend (B). A homebred for William Carl, Screen Your Friend is bred on the highly successful combination of A.P. Indy and Mr. Prospector. While this cross has been tried an awful lot of times with sons of A.P. Indy, it still rates quite well and it is uncanny how the first stakes winner by a first-season sire is invariably bred on the best possible cross for his own sire.

*******
Speaking of first-season sires, Adena Springs stallion Congaree (TrueNicks, SRO) sired his first stakes winner on the weekend in the ultra impressive - if unexpected - winner Congo Kaye (A+). Bred by Rosemont Farm, Congo Kaye was an A+ rated runner prior to winning the stakes race with the stakes winners Nasheej, Walzertraum, and Mountain Mambo all stakes winners by Blushing Groom-line stallions out of Kingmambo mares.

*******

Unbridled's Song (TrueNicks, SRO) had a Breeders' Cup contender emerge on the weekend in the shape of the Firecracker Stakes (gr. II) winner Thorn Song (A++). Interesting to note that Unbridled's Song has two stakes winners out of mares by Storm Bird as well as stakes winners out of mares by Storm Bird's sons Storm Cat and Bluebird.

*******

The ill-fated Chester House is certainly looking to be a real loss to the industry. Phoenix Tower (A++) went within a lip of winning the Coral-Eclipse (gr. I) in England... royally-bred Many Volumes (A+) won the Gala Stakes at Sandown on the same day...Castle Berry Road (A+) won the Pola Benoit Memorial at Evangeline Downs in North America, while Chestoria (A++) returned to form when she won the Mariensky Stakes at Belmont Park.

*******

The time-honored Durban July (gr. I) was run at Greyville in South Africa on the weekend. The race was a thrilling finish with Pocket Power (A++) and Dancer's Daughter (A) being inseparable when they reached the wire. Pocket Power is a son of the Champion Jet Master (SAF) and is out of a mare by Prince Florimund (SAF), a South African-bred son of the rather obscure Dowdstown Charley (GB). As obscure as the pedigree seems to be, Pocket Power is actually one of three stakes winners sired by Jet Master's sire Rakeen and his sons with mares by Dowdstown Charley (GB) and his sons. Dancer's Daughter, owned by Gainesway Stud's Graham Beck, has a more conventional pedigree being by the good 2-year-old Act One (GB), a son of In the Wings out of a mare by Mr. Prospector's son Damister.

*******

The international nature of pedigrees could be highlighted no better than in the win of Kinshasa No Kiseki (A+) in the Hakodate Sprint (gr. III) in Japan on the weekend. Try and get your head around this. Kinshaha no Kiseki is Australian-bred (thus he races against horses that are 6 months older than him as a southern hemisphere-bred) . He is by Fuji Kiseki (JPN), a Japanese-bred son of the Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence and is out of a French-raced daughter of Kentucky stallion Pleasant Colony. Kinshasa No Kiseki was bred by John Messara's Arrowfield Stud in partnership with Sydney businessman John Leaver.

Filed under: Racing and Training