Tag: Bloodlines

Bloodlines: Rich History Flows Through Mandaloun’s Female Family For A Dozen Generations

In Thoroughbred pedigrees, there are numerous beginnings. These are those moments when a family, seemingly dead or class-impaired, rises again to show speed and fly anew.

This has not been a problem, however, for the family of Mandaloun, who won the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park via the disqualification of Hot Rod Charlie on July 17. Tracing back in the female line to the 1902 Cambridgeshire Handicap winner Ballantrae, Mandaloun comes from one of the great families of the English and American stud books, and of the 12 generations of broodmares back to Ballantrae, only one in the female line of Mandaloun did not earn black type.

Ballantrae ended her days in the stud of Marcel Boussac and produced Coeur a Coeur (by Teddy), the second dam of classic winner Djebel (Tourbillon) as her final foal in 1921 for Boussac. In Ballantrae's younger days, she crossed the Atlantic twice and the English Channel multiple times, and her most famous descendants outside the Boussac stud came successively in the studs of the Whitney family.

W.C. Whitney owned the mare when she won the Cambridgeshire, and he first sent her to America in 1904. In the States, Ballantrae produced a few nice foals before Clarence Mackay sent her to his stud in France.

Among Ballantrae's daughters in France, the first of great note was Balancoire (Meddler), bred by Mackay and winner of the Prix La Fleche. At stud, her two sons made better racehorses, but her daughters made history. H.P. Whitney had acquired Balancoire and brought her to his Brookdale Stud. There she produced Blondin (Broomstick), winner of the Empire City Derby and Long Branch Stakes and second in the 1926 Preakness Stakes, and Distraction (Chicle), winner of the 1928 Wood Memorial and eight other stakes.

Five of Balancoire's six daughters produced stakes winners, and of the group, the most important producer was Blondin's full sister Swinging, who was second in five stakes but never won one. Swinging's first foal was Equipoise (Pennant), who stood at or near the top of his class at 2, then again at 4 through 6, having missed his important 3-year-old season engagements due to a quarter crack.

Despite missing the classics, two of which were won by his archrival Twenty Grand, Equipoise is considered one of the great racehorses of American racing, as well as an important stallion. His best offspring was probably Shut Out, winner of the 1942 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Owned by C.V. Whitney, Equipoise died after only four crops, and sadly, his dam Swinging produced only three foals. In addition to Equipoise, she foaled Cito (St. James), who ran second in a steeplechase stakes, then after six empty years, the mare produced Equipoise's full sister Schwester, who did not race.

The two best of Schwester's produce were the full siblings Recce and Mameluke (both by the Whitney stallion Mahmoud, a Derby winner and son of Derby winner Blenheim). Mameluke won the Blue Grass and Metropolitan but is rarely seen in pedigrees; his sister was virtually of equal racing class, winning the Correction Handicap and finishing third in the Pimlico Futurity against colts, and she is one of the marvels of the Whitney Stud and 20th century American breeding.

From Recce come such important racers as Fun House (winner of the Del Mar Oaks and Ramona), Court Recess (Gulfstream Park Handicap), Chompion (Travers), Divine Grace (Oak Leaf Stakes), Quicken Tree (Jockey Club Gold Cup and Santa Anita Handicap), G1 winner Court Ruling, and the stakes winner and important South American sire Good Manners (Nashua).

One of the fastest of Recce's descendants was stakes winner Swoon's Tune (Swoon's Son), who produced Kentucky Oaks winner Bag of Tunes (Herbager) and multiple graded stakes winner Swingtime (Buckpasser). The mare's first foal didn't win a stakes, but Song Sparrow, a daughter of English classic winner Tudor Minstrel, did finish second in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland.

At stud, Song Sparrow produced the good racehorse and sire Cormorant (His Majesty) and his full sister Queen of Song, who is the fourth dam of Mandaloun. A winner of 14 races from 58 starts, Queen of Song was talented and tough, with her victories including the G2 Shuvee Handicap at Belmont Park.

Early in the mare's stud career, Juddmonte Farms acquired Queen of Song at the 1989 Keeneland November sale for $700,000 in foal to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. The resulting foal was the fourth from the mare, who had produced Ladyago (Northern Dancer) as her second foal, and that filly had earned black type at 2 before her dam sold at Keeneland, then won a stakes at 3.

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Ladyago was the only stakes winner that Queen of Song produced, but she foaled four stakes-placed racers for Juddmonte, beginning with Wise Words, the Seattle Slew colt of 1990. Then came G2-placed Private Song (Private Account), Easy Song (Easy Goer), and Aspiring Diva (Distant View), who was her dam's last foal and finished third in the listed Prix Herod in France in 2000.

About the time that Aspiring Diva was retired to stud, her dam must have looked like a worthy attempt that hadn't quite hit the mark, but surely one reason is that Queen of Song produced only two fillies for Juddmonte through the decade-plus of her residence in its broodmare band.

How things change.

Resident in England at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor, Aspiring Diva produced a trio of stakes winners: listed winner Daring Diva, G1 winner Emulous, and G3 winner First Sitting, all by Juddmonte stallion Dansili. Daring Diva's first two foals were listed winner Caponata (Selkirk) and Brooch (Empire Maker), who is the dam of Mandaloun.

On the racecourse, Brooch won a G3 and a G2 in Ireland, whereas her half-sister had managed only a pair of placings at each of those levels. Brought back to Juddmonte Farm in Kentucky, Brooch began her career as a broodmare the right way, with a winner by Speightstown named Radetsky, and Mandaloun is the mare's second foal.

The mare has a yearling and a 2-year-old full brother to the Haskell winner, as well as a War Front colt of 2021.

Frank Mitchell is author of Racehorse Breeding Theories, as well as the book Great Breeders and Their Methods: The Hancocks. In addition to writing the column “Sires and Dams” in Daily Racing Form for nearly 15 years, he has contributed articles to Thoroughbred Daily News, Thoroughbred Times, Thoroughbred Record, International Thoroughbred, and other major publications. In addition, Frank is chief of biomechanics for DataTrack International and is a hands-on caretaker of his own broodmares and foals in Central Kentucky. Check out Frank's Bloodstock in the Bluegrass blog.

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Bloodlines: Examining Galileo’s Place Among The Greats

The loss of Europe's greatest stallion, Galileo, on July 10 brought forth the question of where the exceptional racehorse and stallion ranks in the pantheon of the best of the breed. Although unquestionably the best sire in Europe, Galileo's ranking among the greats will require more time to fully understand.

For a broader perspective on a sire, the internationally known bloodstock commentator Tony Morris wrote in his informative book, Stallions, that we needed to wait 25 years to see a sire's long-term influence on the breed. That is distinct from the ranking and perceived importance during a horse's lifetime, when the immediate success of a stallion or a particularly fancy winner may shine a light on the horse that dims quite a bit over time.

In 1920, for instance, would anyone have expected that the influence of multiple leading sire Phalaris would far exceed that of his great predecessor St. Simon? Or that of any subsequent stallion? No. It was unthinkable and unforeseeable, but nonetheless, that is the bloodstock of today. The heirs of Phalaris.

Among the greatest of these is Galileo.

What we do know today is that Galileo rewrote portions of the record books with the excellence and volume of his better offspring. He sired winners of all the English, French, and Irish classics, including five winners of the Derby at Epsom. A winner of the English Derby in 2001, Galileo sired the Derby winners New Approach (2008), Ruler of the World (2013), Australia (2014), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), and Serpentine (2020).

No other stallion has sired so many, and that gift for classic expression among his many foals is likely to be the most telling of the many fine gifts that Galileo has left us.

To win a classic, especially the Derby, requires a horse to possess stamina, strength, courage, honesty, and the desire to win, along with a lilt of speed to meet the rising ground to the finish at Epsom. Galileo possessed all those and freely shared the same with his legions of sons and daughters.

Like his great sire Sadler's Wells and world-renowned grandsire Northern Dancer before him, Galileo had a quality, not just in his physique, which was very fine, but in his manner and self-possession, that set him apart. Perhaps it is asking a bit much for a horse to have self-awareness, but with Galileo and some other elite Thoroughbreds, there is something in their character and in their interaction with others, both human and equine, that is akin to such a perception.

Certainly, when I visited Banstead Manor outside Newmarket to see the unbeaten champion Frankel, the big bay son of Galileo showed an awareness and command of his situation that was inspiring. A leading freshman sire and now the sire of two Derby winners this year in Adayar (English) and Hurricane Lane (Irish), Frankel is a key component of the future legacy of Galileo, and a significant part of the enduring legacy is that Frankel possessed so much of the ephemeral but ever-important quality: speed.

Without speed, a Thoroughbred is at the mercy of any racer who does possess it, and Adayar particularly showed that trait in leaving his opponents toiling at Epsom.

In addition to Frankel's growing role in the Galileo legacy, 19 other sons of the great stallion have sired G1 winners around the world, largely in Europe, and mostly on turf. Will they spread round the world to dominate the breed and raise the influence of Galileo to an even greater level?

Time will tell.

For the immediate future, Galileo will have his final crop of foals born next year in 2022, and his final crop of classic performers will come in 2025. These and others will continue to swell Galileo's number of stakes winners past 338 over the next few years.

And for those of us who watch and wonder, what if (unlikely as it is), what if the best is yet to come?

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Bloodlines: Arazi Leaves Behind A Globetrotting Legacy

In general, American dirt racing is dominated by horses with a high turn of early speed. Relatively few winners come from far back, especially in the most prestigious races. As a result, those who do make a greater impression. Few would forget Secretariat's run from last in the first quarter of the 1973 Kentucky Derby to winning in record time.

Likewise, those of us who were there at the Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs in 1991 won't forget the Grade 1 Juvenile victory by Arazi (by Blushing Groom). The first trans-Atlantic juvenile champion, Arazi had come into the race with a grand reputation.

Second on his debut at Chantilly on May 30, Arazi had won all six of his subsequent starts, all stakes, including the G1 Prix Morny, Prix de la Salamandre, and Grand Criterium. The acknowledged juvenile champion of Europe, Arazi was untested and untried on dirt, but he was the favorite for the race at slightly more than 2-to-1 over the quick California colt Bertrando (Skywalker).

The latter sped the first two quarters in :23 and change for a half in :46.63, and he ran a remarkably brave race to finish second, beaten five lengths. All the other horses who had attended the early pace were more than 10 lengths behind Arazi, and the colts who were 12th (Snappy Landing) 13th (Arazi), and 14th (Offbeat) at the first quarter-mile finished 1st (Arazi), 3rd (Snappy Landing), and 4th (Offbeat).

Even allowing that the pace took a serious toll, the move that Arazi made had to be seen to be believed, and one of the joys of the internet is that the race is available for all to see. The dashing chestnut in the red, white, and blue silks of co-owner Allen Paulson captured the imagination of the racing public, including thousands who watched racing only occasionally, and for the next several months, anything that Arazi did was news.

The first bit of news about the lovely colt wasn't good, however. He came out of the race with a chip in a knee. That was operated on, and the winner of seven races from eight starts wintered uneventfully with trainer Francois Boutin in France and made his 1992 debut a winning one in the Prix Omnium.

If Arazi fever had been simmering over the winter, it went to a heady boil immediately. With only a single start since the 1991 Juvenile, Arazi was made the odds-on favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.

In the race, Snappy Landing led the field down the stretch the first time, with an opening quarter in :24; at that point, the Irish-bred Dr. Devious (Ahonoora) and Arazi were 15th and 17th in a field of 18. Going into the far turn, Arazi was moving rapidly outside, his diminutive form visible between horses as he picked off one after another. The chart credits the colt with reaching second, but as the field passed into the stretch, the writing was on the wall. This would not be a coronation. Instead, it was a realization that a miler with an exceptional turn of foot was at a great disadvantage in the American classics.

From the quarter pole home, the big classic colts, Lil E. Tee (At the Threshold) and Casual Lies (Lear Fan) took control of the race, and Arazi faded just a bit to finish eighth, a head behind Dr. Devious. A month later, Dr. Devious finished really well up the rising ground at Epsom Downs to claim the Derby after his good prep in Kentucky.

Arazi likewise went back across the Atlantic, where he was unplaced in the G1 St. James's Palace Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot, then was third in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange at Longchamp on Sept. 20. The colt returned to win the G2 Prix du Rond-Point and crossed the Atlantic again to compete for the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Gulfstream.

Sent off as the favorite against some of the top milers in the world, Arazi was inexplicably close up early as Lure (Danzig) set fire to the track, made every pole a winning one, and took the Mile by three lengths in 1:32.90, a new track record. Arazi must have been wondering what they were smoking after three-quarters in 1:09.09, and he backed up to 11th, the worst finish of his career.

That was the end of Arazi's racing, but his long breeding career began in 1993. Sold to Allen Paulson as a foal at the 1989 Keeneland November sale, Arazi had a world-class pedigree to go with his distinguished racing class. As a top-class juvenile who hadn't quite trained on at three, Arazi nonetheless had shown good form, and he was an attractive stallion prospect.

Sheikh Mohammed had purchased a half-interest in the chestnut colt for $9 million prior to the 1991 Grand Criterium and sent the colt to stud in England at his Dalham Hall in 1993. Arazi was a son of the top 2-year-old Blushing Groom, who stood at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. Bernie Sams recalled the chestnut champion and leading sire, saying, “Blushing Groom had the best temperament you could find in a stallion. You could work with him, and he'd never get aggressive. His favorite treat was watermelon rind.”

Arazi apparently got much of the generous disposition of his sire and was characterized as a gentleman during his term at stud in Kentucky at Three Chimneys Farm. While there he sired his very best racer, the big chestnut Congaree, who was third in the 2001 Kentucky Derby behind Monarchos. In addition, Congaree won Grade 1 races at seven, eight, nine, and 10 furlongs, showing the versatility and durability that is possible with the Thoroughbred.

Out of a daughter of Northern Dancer, Arazi was pedigreed to be an outstanding sire, but the chestnut champion did not consistently sire racers with his own type and talent. His best in Europe was probably America, a filly who won the G2 Prix de Malleret and G3 Prix Vanteaux. At stud, she is best known for producing Americain (Dynaformer), who won the 2010 Melbourne Cup and entered stud at Calumet Farm in Kentucky.

In 1997, Arazi was sold to stand at the Breeders Stallion Station in Japan. From there, the stallion was sent to stand in Australia at Independent Stallion Station in 2003 in Victoria, spent a single covering season in Switzerland, then returned to the Land of the Koala to spend the rest of his life.

At the time of his death on July 1, age 32, Arazi was a pensioner at Stockwell Stud.

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Bloodlines: Frankel Continues Living Up To The Hype At Stud

When the great racehorse Frankel (by Galileo) retired to stud in 2013 at Banstead Manor outside Newmarket, England, one of the subjects of continuing conversation (and no little controversy) was whether the brilliant bay ever could match his racecourse performances with comparable accomplishments at stud.

The consensus was that there was little likelihood the great son of Galileo – a champion and unbeaten in each of his three seasons of training – would pull together all the qualities to make a sire equal to that great record. Then especially when the first foals and yearlings came on the public sales market for the broad spectrum of professionals who look at and assess the young stock of new sires, the rumblings were grave indeed.

The word among the cognoscenti was that the Frankels were all over the place; in size, color, and type, they were quite varied, and few seemed to resemble their famous father.

Then, in the Frankel fashion, he and his herd of offspring went to work disproving the wise guys and nay sayers. He became leading freshman sire in Europe, the sire of classic prospects, classic performers, and winners at elite levels around the globe. Those foals may not have looked like Frankel, but more than a few had considerable talent and a willingness to show it.

Certainly, the events of the past 30 days have brought a luster to the sire and his reputation that is hard to rival. At the beginning of June, Frankel's son Adayar won the Derby at Epsom, and on June 26 at the Curragh, the stallion's son Hurricane Lane would not be denied through the long straight to win the Irish Derby over Lone Eagle (Galileo).

With five crops age three and older, Frankel has provided us with a reasonably firm answer to the question about his quality as a stallion. The affirmative is found in the facts that the young stallion was the fastest to gain 40 group winners, although this distinction does not extend back beyond the 1970s, when the pattern race scheme was introduced.

To date, Frankel also has sired the winners of each of the English classics: Adayar has won the Derby; Anapurna the Oaks; Logician the St. Leger. Conspicuous by their absence are winners of the Guineas.

That in itself gives the careful observer much to think about because Frankel won the 2,000 Guineas, then was judged too rash a young rascal to attempt the Derby over the demanding and peculiar course at Epsom by no less a judge than trainer Henry Cecil.

He was probably correct. Frankel was a very powerful and potentially willful racer who wanted to tear away from his opponents, especially in his first season and a half. A combination of the horse's volatile talent and Cecil's judicious training and management kept him unbeaten in all his races.

But was there stamina in the grand bay that was never tapped?

Quite possibly there was, and quite possibly Cecil was correct in believing that wasn't the direction to head in terms of managing the horse's overall career. Cecil did train four winners of the Derby and eight winners of the Oaks; so he was passing acquainted with the demands of the course and the preparation required for its premier races.

But now that Frankel's a stallion, there's no question, not a sliver of lingering doubt, that Frankel imparts stamina. Overall, he seems to impart more stamina than speed, and there's a fair measure of speed in many of his offspring.

Hurricane Lane won the Irish Derby over the weekend by staying the distance more emphatically, more powerfully, at the finish than Lone Eagle, whose stamina had allowed jockey Frankie Dettori to set the pace and slip the field in an apparently winning move early in the straight.

Unbeaten in three starts prior to his start at Epsom, Hurricane Lane had been the second favorite for the Derby in England, then seemed to labor up the rising ground to the finish behind his less-fancied stablemate Adayar, eventually beaten 7 3/4 lengths. (Hurricane Lane, however, had lost both front shoes in the race, according to a veterinary statement after the classic.)

At the Curragh, Hurricane Lane faced a similar task of reeling in an opponent who was well ahead, but this time, he proved up to the task. And when it comes to stamina, that will not be a worry for the grandson of Galileo and German Derby winner Shirocco (Monsun), who also won the G1 Coronation Cup and Breeders' Cup Turf over his preferred distance of 12 furlongs.

An insightful race for evaluating the speed and stamina of Frankel's offspring came the same day as the Irish Derby. The Fred Archer Stakes at Newmarket featured a one-two finish for Frankel's sons as Outbox outran the year-younger Logician, winner of the St. Leger two years ago.

Looking in rather plush condition, despite already having a race this year, Logician stayed on well in this 12-furlong event but was caught out for speed by Outbox. Logician was getting closer with every stride, but if the gray son of Frankel is placed to win at the G1 level again, he almost certainly needs to race at a longer distance, not a shorter one.

So, in mating to Frankel, it would appear, breeders sending him mares with some speed may reap the rewards with offspring suited for the prestigious mile events and races up to 10 furlongs.

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