It takes a special kind of filly to win Saratoga's Test Stakes at seven furlongs and then come back two weeks later to score at 1 ¼ miles in the Alabama Stakes, but that's what the H. Allen Jerkens-trained November Snow (Storm Cat out of Princess Alydar, by Alydar) did in 1992. In the 30 years since, only one other filly, Society Selection, achieved this Grade 1 Saratoga double, and she, too, was trained by the late Hall of Famer who has been memorialized with a Grade 1 race named in his honor during the Saratoga meet.
Some other very good fillies have won both the Test and Alabama prior to November Snow, including Love Sign (1980), Go for Wand (1990) and Versailles Treaty (1991).
After retiring with eight wins from 22 starts and earnings in excess of $500,000, November Snow did not produce any stakes winners herself, but her daughters have more than made up for that shortcoming. Graded stakes-placed November Slew (by Seattle Slew) produced Hiraboku Wild, a multiple stakes winner in Japan. Arctic Drift (Gone West) produced Australian Group 2 winner Kuroshio. Indian Snow (A. P. Indy) produced G1 Carter Handicap and G2 Pennsylvania Derby winner and sire Morning Line (Tiznow) and listed winner Liam's Pride (Liam's Map).
I'm a Flake, a 2008 foal by Mineshaft, became the latest black-type producer for November Snow earlier this year when Express Train, a 4-year-old colt by classic-winning wire Union Rags, won the G2 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita for Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable and trainer John Shirreffs. He added a second G2 at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap in August and most recently the G2 San Antonio Stakes on Santa Anita's opening day program on Dec. 26.
While Express Train has yet to hit the jackpot with a G1 victory (finishing second to Charlatan in the 2020 Malibu, second to Idol in the Santa Anita Handicap last March and third in the Gold Cup and Awesome Again during the summer and fall), he has defeated a host of G1 winners, most recently G1 Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie and G1 American Pharoah winner Eight Rings in the San Antonio. Consistent and determined (he's been 1-2-3 in 12 of 15 starts), Express Train has the ability to score at the highest level.
Unplaced in four starts, I'm a Flake was bred in 2011 to Tiznow and entered in the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where she was purchased for $290,000 by Dixiana Farms, the historic Thoroughbred nursery purchased in 2004 by Florida businessman William Shively. The resulting foal, Snowbird was unplaced in three starts. Her second foal, Master Magician (also by Tiznow), was unplaced in eight starts.
I'm a Flake's first two foals sold well as yearlings, but Shively opted to keep the next one, a Union Rags filly named Layla. She broke her maiden at first asking, then was unsuccessful in two subsequent starts and is now a member of Dixiana's band of about 50 broodmares.
I'm a Flake had one more foal prior to Express Train, another son of Tiznow who brought $850,000 as a 2-year-old in training at the 2017 OBS March Sale. Named Praetorian, the gelding will soon turn 7 and remains in training, having won six of 36 starts, with 11 second-place finishes, primarily in claiming races.
After a barren year, I'm a Flake produced Express Train, who was purchased for $500,000 by the Mayberry Farm of Jeanne, April and Summer Mayberry on behalf of C R K Stable at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
According to Dixiana farm manager Robert Tillyer, I'm a Flake then had two successive barren years after being bred to Tiznow in 2017 and Gun Runner in 2018. Her 2020 foal, a colt by Accelerate, was purchased by Mayberry Farm on behalf of C R K Stable for $300,000 at Keeneland September.
Tillyer said Dixiana has a Union Rags–I'm a Flake weanling colt on the farm that likely will head to next year's Keeneland September Sale and she is currently in foal to Munnings, with an expected foaling date in late April. “The plan is to go back to Gun Runner,” Tillyer said.
Layla, the full sister to Express Train retained by Shively, has a Liam's Map 2021 colt that Tillyer said “is as nice as a weanling can be.”
This is Tillyer's second go-round at Dixiana, having worked at the farm when it was under different ownership in the late 1990s after arriving from England.
“A lot of good horses have come off that farm,” he said, naming 1997 champion and Group 1 Epsom Derby winner Benny the Dip and 1999 European champion 2-year-old colt Fasliyev, among others.
After spending 18 years working for Kentucky horseman William Betz, Tillyer returned to Dixiana in 2020 and has seen the farm reach new heights, selling its first million-dollar yearling this past year when a Quality Road colt brought $1.15 million.
The farm, located off Russell Cave northeast of Lexington, now encompasses about 840 acres and includes property from the old Domino Stud that once was part of the original Dixiana, whose founding dates back to 1877.
There is a lot of history to Dixiana Farms (you can read about it here), but new chapters continue to be written.
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