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Second season sire Toccet had an interesting stakes double over the weekend, winning both the British Columbia Derby (gr. III) with Winning Machine, and the British Columbia Oaks with La Rocca. He now has four stakes winners from his first crop, and a stakes winning two-year-old from his second crop. Winning Machine, out of a mare by Carson City, is TrueNicks rated A, and La Rocca, out of a Boston Harbor mare, with a second dam by Carson City, is rated A++. What particularly caught our eye here, however, is the clustered inbreeding. Toccet’s sire, Awesome Again (TrueNicks,SRO), is by a son of Vice Regent (by Northern Dancer) out of a mare by Blushing Groom, with a second dam by Mr. Prospector. Carson City is a Mr. Prospector/Blushing Groom cross, and the dams of both Winnning Machine and La Rocca also reinforce the Northern Dancer. Of course Awesome Again and Carson City sire Ghostzapper (TrueNicks,SRO) and City Zip (TrueNicks,SRO) out of the same mare, so perhaps it’s not surprising to see them combining successfully. We wonder how many mares Ghostzapper has seen with Carson City in the pedigree?

Still with second season sires, the remarkable Candy Ride (ARG) (TrueNicks,SRO) was represented by his fifth graded scorer from his first crop when Canadian invader El Brujo, captured the Kentucky Cup Sprint Stakes (gr. III). Rated A by TrueNicks, El Brujo is out of Enchanted Spell, a daughter of Devil’s Bag. Since Candy Ride is out of a mare by a son of Blushing Groom, and Devil’s Bag is a brother to Glorious Song, the dam of Blushing Groom’s important son, Rahy, it’s not particularly surprising to see these elements working well together.

One cross that we wouldn’t have particularly anticipated as a potential successful one – and also involving Mr. Prospector and Blushing Groom – is that of Smart Strike (TrueNicks,SRO) with mares by Rahy. However, so far the cross has produced six foals of racing age, out of six different mares, and two stakes winners, including Furthest Land, who captured the Kentucky Cup Classic (gr. II) at the weekend.