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While Ghostzapper (TrueNicks,SRO) was represented by his first grade I winner when Stately Victor upset the Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I), his older half-brother City Zip (TrueNicks,SRO) , continued his progress when his daughter Unzip Me captured the Las Cienegas Handicap (gr. III). City Zip – who’s advertised stud fee for 2010 is just $10,000 – currently sits in fifteenth on the Leading Sire table, and already has five stakes winners, three graded this year.
 
Unzip Me (TrueNicks A+) is out of a mare by Arazi, and her dam is a Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II cross, just like the dam of City Zip’s sire, Carson City. When we checked this out a couple of weeks ago, we noted that City Zip has only 12 starters with Blushing Groom in the first four generations of the dam, and four of those horses are stakes winners (33% stakes winners to foals!).

Blushing Groom and Nijinsky II are also found together in the pedigree of Wasted Tears, who bested Champion Turf Female Forever Together in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (gr. II). Rated TrueNicks A, she is by Najran (by Blushing Groom’s son, Runaway Groom) out of a mare by Greinton (by Green Dancer, by Nijinsky II), and actually has a second shot of Nijinsky II at the bottom of the pedigree of Najran.
 
The big news among older grade I winners last week was obviously Zenyatta’s effortless win in the Apple Blossom Handicap (gr. I) on Friday. Oddly enough, the only other grade I for older horses, the Maker’s Mark Mile (gr. I) was also on the Friday. This was won by the eight-year-old Karelian (TrueNicks A+), by Bertrando (TrueNicks,SRO) out of the Theatrical mare, Leaning Tower. We haven’t seen a lot of Relaunch/Nureyev – which is what this cross is – but Bertrando has also worked with mares by Lyphard, a Northern Dancer son who has a rather similar background to Nureyev. The second dam is by Halo, a horse quite often found in the pedigrees of stakes winners by stallions carrying Relaunch. The prime example seems to be Put It Back (by Relaunch’s son, Honour and Glory), who has sired five stakes winners from 18 starters out of mares by sons of Halo, four out of eight from Jolie’s Halo mares.
 

Filed under: Recent Winners, Mares, Emerging Nicks, Sires, Pedigree Elements