Chestnut coats are not the most common color in the Thoroughbred. Bay, and then dark bay or brown, far outnumber the red-headed wunderkind of the breed, and yet for some reason, there are a considerable number of very high-class racers who are chestnuts. Man o' War, as well as Triple Crown winners Sir Barton, Omaha, Whirlaway, Assault, Secretariat, and Justify, to name that few, stand out as superb racers with a chestnut coat.
Racing at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 was swept with a flood of three chestnuts getting their first Grade 1 victories. The most famous of these was Charlatan (by Speightstown), who won a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on May 2, only to have that prestigious prize removed from his record following the discovery of lidocaine in his system after a routine post-race test.
In the G1 Malibu, Charlatan was making his return to racing after nearly eight months away due to ankle soreness, then the recovery from that, and such was the quality of his competition that the flaming son of Speightstown was not the favorite. That honor went to another impressive son of Speightstown, Nashville, who last flashed his speed with victory in an undercard race at the 2020 Breeders' Cup.
Nashville broke first and led for a half-mile in the seven-furlong race, being credited with a quarter in :21.81 and a half in :43.95. The surface or those efforts proved tiring enough, however, for Nashville to retire rather quietly to fourth at the finish. Charlatan, a length off Nashville at each of those calls in second, inherited the lead, had four lengths on his competition at the stretch call, and won by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:21.50.
Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, Charlatan is the second foal and second stakes winner out of the high-class stakes winner Authenticity (Quiet American), who won the G2 La Troienne, as well as the G3 Shuvee at Saratoga, but perhaps more importantly, Authenticity was second in the G1 Personal Ensign, Ogden Phipps, and Zenyatta, then was third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Shortly after her finish in the Breeders' Cup for owner Padua Stables, Authenticity was sold at the Fasig-Tipton November sale to Stonestreet for $1.2 million. Her first foal for her new owner was stakes winner Hanalei Moon (Malibu Moon); Charlatan was born in 2017, after his dam had slipped her 2016 pregnancy, but the colt sold as a yearling for $700,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale to SF Bloodstock and Starlight West. Charlatan races for those entities, plus Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Fred Hertrich, John Fielding, and Golconda Stables.
This family traces back to generations of mares bred and raced by Bwamazon Farm, and the colt's ninth dam is multiple stakes winner Betty Derr (Sir Gallahad III), who was a yearling when her half-brother Clyde Van Dusen (Man o' War) won the 1929 Kentucky Derby. This is one of the oldest American-bred lines, going back more than 250 years to Selima, a daughter of the Godolphin Arabian.
The other two chestnuts to become Grade 1 winners in the last week of 2020 were fillies: Fair Maiden (Street Boss) and Duopoly (Animal Kingdom). Fair Maiden comes from an exalted female family, as her third dam is Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Status (A.P. Indy), but Secret Status has been deeply disappointing as a producer, with only five winners from 15 foals. Of those, only Dunkirk (Unbridled's Song) earned black type with seconds in the G1 Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes. She has only one known producing daughter, the Giant's Causeway mare Code Book, who has five winners from 10 foals, including a minor stakes-placed racer. The first foal of Secret Status, Code Book produced a first foal named Shieldmaiden (Smart Strike), and she is the dam of Fair Maiden.
Fair Maiden is the third foal and second winner for Shieldmaiden; Fair Maiden is the fifth Grade 1 winner for her sire Street Boss. One of two important sons of leading sire Street Cry standing for Darley at Jonabell Farm, Street Boss showed more speed in his racing career than Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, who has eight Grade 1 winners. Interestingly, Street Boss has sired Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia and Arkansas Derby winner Danza, who then finished third in the Kentucky Derby.
The second North American Grade 1 winner for her sire, Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, Duopoly is out of Grade 3 winner Justaroundmidnight, an Irish-bred daughter of the fast, classy sire Danehill Dancer. Both Danehill Dancer and top sire Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), the sire of Duopoly's second dam, added quality speed to a line of mares successively sired by English Derby winner Shirley Heights (Mill Reef), English Derby winner Teenoso (Youth), and English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky (Northern Dancer). That's a very classic line of mares, and the addition of speed has certainly perked up its versatility.
Duopoly is the second Grade 1 winner of 2020 for Animal Kingdom, who is now at stud in Japan. Earlier this year, the 6-year-old Australian-bred Oleksandra won the G1 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park. The sire's third G1 winner, Angel of Truth, won the Australian Derby in 2019.
Duopoly and other daughters of the chestnut classic winner may prove a lasting legacy in the States for the internationally pedigreed Animal Kingdom, who was the son of a Brazilian-bred sire out of a German-bred mare, and no doubt, his stamina and classic quality will be appreciated in Japan's racing program.
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