This Side Up: The Elusive Lesson of ‘Can’t Miss’ Sires

He has trademarked the move, his name reliably invoked whenever a horse picks off his rivals with the kind of flair that luminously separates him from the herd. Yet just about the only time I ever saw one glide through an elite field with quite the same extraterrestrial contempt as Arazi (Blushing Groom {Fr}) in the 1991 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile was the following May, at the same track, when that nimbus-among-the-shadows exhibition was reprised along the backstretch by a horse called… Arazi.

His discovery of mortal limitations, both in his second season and then at stud, has become so integral to the Arazi narrative that we tend to forget how he maintained the exquisite illusion until suddenly exchanging the wings of an angel for feet of clay at the top of the stretch in the GI Kentucky Derby. (Or, strictly, knees of clay.)

The whole story, with all the symmetrical and didactic properties of parable, came back to me this week on learning of the death of Congaree–a charismatic creature in his own right, who shouldered nearly alone the burden of his sire’s honor. For even Arazi’s decline on the track could not prepare us for the anti-climax of a stud career that took him ever more forlornly from Newmarket to Kentucky, Japan and even Switzerland.

Congaree, in turn, proved a disappointing stallion. Between Kentucky, New York and Texas, he mustered just 13 stakes winners. That was still two more than dad. Hardly the dividends anticipated from horses packaging so many attributes that any right-thinking breeder would seek to replicate. Congaree, remember, was in training for five seasons; he contested 22 consecutive graded stakes, winning five Grade Is besides placing in two Classics; and his 1:33.11 in the first of consecutive wins in the GI Cigar Mile (a unique distinction) was the fastest dirt mile of 2002.

Congaree at Del Mar in 2003 | Horsephotos

It so happens that his loss coincided with my resumption of an annual ritual: a comprehensive survey of the Kentucky stallion market, which we began yesterday and today with newcomers for 2021.

While their track achievements will clearly govern both quality and quantity in their opening books, in principle these horses have all been brought back to a new starting gate. The world is at their feet, each and every one launched with impassioned conviction by farms across the Bluegrass. And while the promotional material sometimes succeeds in stirring only a wholesome scepticism, you always retain in the back of your mind the way Into Mischief or Tapit looked when they first arrived at stud.

Assessing new stallions, some people are credulous enough to buy into ostensibly sophisticated predictive tools. But most horsemen know these shortcuts for what they are. All you can do, at the outset, is weigh the evidence with due vigilance on behalf of the breed. That might not always get you aboard the elevator on the ground floor. But it’s better to wait for more tangible evidence, from early stock and runners, than to corral huge books of mares for a new stallion that happens to claim a superficial resemblance to some commercial template.

My instinct, for instance, is that the entire European gene pool will ultimately forfeit its present strength–easily measurable, on turf at any rate, by the recent success of imports to America, whether from the yearling sales or the racetrack–by the opportunist recycling of garbage that catches a plausible glister from a passing sunbeam, and is duly presented as sharing the same, immanent glow of some authentically potent predecessor.

North America’s current top sire, Into Mischief | David Coyle

In Britain and Ireland, especially, the most marginal accomplishment in juvenile sprints has become an unthinking formula for the siphoning of mares, literally in their thousands, away from alternatives with at least some eligibility to produce a Classic racehorse. The result is a virtual Classic monopoly for the same blood, often concentrated in the same hands; and a ticking time bomb that will eventually pulverise the European breed to the point that its sharpest horsemen will belatedly recognize a cue for speed-carrying American blood, much as happened with the Northern Dancer dynasty.

On both sides of the ocean, unexpected success for a stallion can launch phony imitations by the dozen. Personally, however naively, I prefer to adhere to the time-honored precepts of pedigree, physique and performance. But even the few stallions that unhesitatingly tick all three boxes bring no guarantees.

Arazi lacked size, of course, but that didn’t stop his sire Blushing Groom (Fr) nor his damsire Northern Dancer. There was also a conformation issue, judging from that notorious knee surgery the winter after the Breeders’ Cup. Yet it still seemed as though appropriate matings could not fail to draw out the seams of gold in his pedigree.

In counterweight to his damsire, Arazi’s top line took the other (Nasrullah) highway to Nearco. There were other striking echoes within his family tree: Native Dancer figured both through Northern Dancer’s mother Natalma and Arazi’s third dam, who was by Raise a Native; while there was a variegating top-and-bottom footprint for Wild Risk (Fr), as damsire of Blushing Groom and grandsire of Arazi’s second dam, who was by Le Fabuleux (Fr).

Wild Risk apart, Arazi’s phenomenal talent could not have had a more obvious genetic bedrock: not least through his second dam, whose kinship to many classy performers and producers was crowned by her sibling Ajdal (Northern Dancer), another highly flamboyant European champion.

Northern Dancer | Tony Leonard

Ajdal, the most expensive yearling buyback in history before his private acquisition by Sheikh Mohammed, certainly went to stud lavishly equipped with the three P’s. (Performance was briefly an issue, until he famously dropped from 12 furlongs at Epsom to six in the G1 July Cup)! Sadly, he shattered a leg after a single season at stud, which in those days still translated into just 35 foals. Remarkably, three daughters would go on to produce Group 1 winners.

Congaree, for his part, did have a curious pedigree, loading Northern Dancer 3×3 through his forgotten damsire Mari’s Book. But anyone who claims that Arazi’s failure was predictable to anyone with the right software is peddling snake oil.

I prefer to view him as another of those lessons in humility so routinely handed out by the Thoroughbred. Ultimately, after all, we’re talking about flesh and blood. Happily, in fact, we are still doing so–even as the venerable creature approaches his 32nd birthday. In retirement Arazi has enjoyed exemplary care at Stockwell Farm in Australia, still adored for a performance far more dramatic than anything authored even by Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), say, with his brutal, pour-it-on style; but essentially given the same respect and attention as we owe to any of these animals that so absorb our dreams, our toil, our craft–animals of uniform nobility, wherever they might rank in performance.

The three P’s need to work out often enough to keep our business viable; to keep the rich guy sticking up his hand for seven-figure yearlings at Keeneland or Saratoga. But actually it’s their scrambling that makes the whole game function. So long as outcomes sometimes remain unaccountable, whether in success or failure, then we’ve all got half a chance.

 

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Congaree Euthanized at Valor Farm

Edited Press Release, Vicky Van Camp, author

Congaree (Arazi–Mari’s Sheba, by Arazi), a Grade I winner at seven, eight, nine and 10 furlongs, was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age Nov. 22, according to a release from Valor Farm in Texas. He was 22 years old.

Congaree was owned and bred by the late Robert McNair and his wife Janice’s Stonerside Farm and barely survived his foaling, weighing in at a sizeable 152 pounds, suffering several broken ribs in the ordeal.

Eventually put into training with Bob Baffert, Congaree won the 2001 GII Wood Memorial S. and was third in the GI Kentucky Derby after setting a blistering pace. His one-mile split remains the second-fastest in the history of the race. Third to his stablemate Point Given (Thunder Gulch) in the GI Preakness S., Congaree would go on to win the GI Swaps S. later that season. The chestnut added a second Grade I in the 2002 GI Cigar Mile H., and after missing by a head in the 2003 GI Santa Anita H., cut back to seven furlongs to annex the GI Carter H. He defeated Harlan’s Holiday by three lengths in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup over a mile and a quarter and became the only two-time winner of the Cigar Mile later that year, scoring by 5 1/4 lengths. He was one of just a handful of horses retained by the McNairs after they sold the majority of their Thoroughbred holdings and farm to Sheikh Mohammed in 2008.

Initially retired to Adena Springs, Congaree was later transferred to New York and ultimately Texas. He is the sire of 13 stakes winners to date, six at the graded level, includine Grade I winners Jeranimo, Don’t Tell Sophia and Killer Graces.

“Congaree was such a special horse,” said Janice McNair. “I am so grateful for all the many happy memories Congaree gave us. He was so unique, and had the most loving personality. He was a delight to be around, and it was always such a thrill to watch him run. Congaree was truly the horse of a lifetime for us.”

Added John Adger, longtime advisor to the McNairs: “Congaree was the epitome of what we hoped to accomplish with the Stonerside breeding program. It was fitting he

was our first Grade I homebred, as his dam and granddam were part of the purchase of the Elmendorf broodmare band of Jack Kent Cooke in 1997–an acquisition we considered the cornerstone of the breeding program. Congaree, in fact, earned back nearly the entire cost of that investment with his race

earnings. He always gave 100% in every race. He was an Eclipse Award finalist three times–Horse of the Year, Champion Sprinter, and Champion Older Horse.”

Congaree has been laid to rest in the cemetery at Valor Farm, shared by many of the great horses owned and raced by the Scharbauer family. Doug Scharbauer purchased Valor Farm from the estate of his late father Clarence in 2016.

WATCH: Congaree wins his second consecutive Cigar Mile in 2003

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‘Truly The Horse Of A Lifetime’: Grade 1 Winner Congaree Dies At Age 22

Multiple Grade 1 winner Congaree was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age on Sunday, Nov. 22, at Valor Farm near Pilot Point, Texas, where he had been standing prior to being pensioned earlier this year.

Owned by Janice McNair, who, with her late husband Bob, bred and raced Congaree in the name of their Stonerside Stable, Congaree was one of a handful of horses the McNairs retained after selling their farm, training center, and bloodstock to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in October of 2008 in order to devote more time to their NFL franchise, the Houston Texans.

“Congaree was such a special horse,” said Janice McNair. “I am so grateful for all the many happy memories Congaree gave us. He was so unique, and had the most loving personality. He was a delight to be around, and it was always such a thrill to watch him run. Congaree was truly the horse of a lifetime for us.”

Trained by Bob Baffert, the chestnut son of Arazi out of Mari's Sheba raced 25 times, from age two to age six, including an amazing streak of 22 consecutive starts in graded stakes, beginning with a win in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in 2001 in his stakes debut. Overall, Congaree won five Grade 1 stakes, from seven to 10 furlongs, and five other graded stakes, while placing in another six, including the 2001 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. His time for the one-mile split in the Derby remains the co-second fastest mile in the classic's history. Congaree also ran the fastest dirt mile in North America in 2002, winning the G1 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct in 1:33.11. He came back to win that race again in 2003 and remains the only two-time winner of the Cigar Mile. Congaree was undefeated at Aqueduct, winning three Grade 1s and a Grade 2. Overall, he competed at ten tracks in five states coast to coast.

“He was just a special horse,” said Baffert. “We had gotten to know the McNairs after training Chilukki for them, but it was through Congaree that we really got to know the whole family, and we made some great memories. Congaree was a really fast horse, and could carry his speed. His Kentucky Derby performance was one of the best, he set a blistering pace for the mile and hung in gamely. Another race that stands out in my memory was his Hollywood Gold Cup win in 2003. He just destroyed the competition. We raced all over the country with him, and it was just so much fun to show up with a horse like Congaree.

“First time I saw him, he really caught my eye,” Baffert continued. “I was looking at all these well-bred yearlings at Stonerside and saw him in a paddock nearby, and I said 'Wow, can I take that chestnut? I'll trade you back one of these Danzigs for him.' He didn't have the most perfect conformation, but he made up for it with heart. He was a real noble horse, sweet, kind, just a great personality.”

Congaree barely survived a difficult birth, presenting at 152 pounds – well above average size, especially for a first foal. Sickly and confined to stall rest due to several broken ribs, he quickly became a staff favorite with his friendly personality. Janice McNair remembers feeding him peppermints on the many visits to Kentucky the couple made from their Houston home.

“Congaree loved his peppermints and knew what the rattle of a candy wrapper meant at an early age. He especially seemed to bond with my husband Bob. The two had a special connection, and I know Bob got tremendous joy watching him run. He was such a character, just a very special horse.”

Retired to stud at Adena Springs in Kentucky, he was later moved to New York and eventually to Texas. In total, Congaree has sired 13 stakes winners from 317 starters, including six graded or group winners, with Irish highweighted filly Maoineach and Grade 1 winners Jeranimo ($1,525,364), Don't Tell Sophia ($1,382,479), and Killer Graces among his leading runners. As a broodmare sire, his daughters include the dams of Grade 2 winner and classics-placed Homerique and 2020 Group 3 winner New Treasure (IRE).

“Congaree was the epitome of what we hoped to accomplish with the Stonerside breeding program,” said John Adger, longtime racing and bloodstock manager for the McNairs. “It was fitting he was our first Grade 1 homebred, as his dam and granddam were part of the purchase of the Elmendorf broodmare band of Jack Kent Cooke in 1997 – an acquisition we considered the cornerstone of the breeding program. Congaree, in fact, earned back nearly the entire cost of that investment with his race earnings. He always gave 100 percent in every race. He was an Eclipse Award finalist three times – Horse of the Year, champion sprinter, and champion older horse.”

“Congaree had so much class,” said Ken Carson, general manager of Valor Farm. “He was a pleasure to be around, an easy-going horse who certainly loved his mints.”

“I am very grateful to all the people who played a part in his life – all our Stonerside staff, Bob Baffert and his team, our friends and family who traveled the country with us to watch him race, and to his many loyal fans who reached out to us over the years,” said Janice McNair. “He's been at two great farms here in Texas – first Will Farish's Lane's End Texas under the excellent care of Danny Shifflett, then after Lane's End closed, we were fortunate to be able to move him to Douglas Scharbauer's Valor Farm. We are especially grateful to Farm Manager Donny Denton and the entire crew at Valor for the wonderful care they have given Congaree. We are honored that he has been buried in the cemetery at Valor alongside so many of the great horses owned by the Scharbauer family.”

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