Bloodlines Presented By Caracaro: Under The Stars Further Solidifies A Proven Cross

Some things are too obvious to require heavy interpretation. The winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes, Under the Stars, illustrates one of these. Three of the four stakes horses out of the Storm Cat mare Untouched Talent are by Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker (by Unbridled), Empire Maker's best stallion son, Pioneerof the Nile, and his son, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Untouched Talent's three stakes horses just mentioned are Grade 1 winner Bodemeister (Empire Maker), who won the Arkansas Derby, then finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness; Under the Stars (Pioneerof the Nile), winner of the G2 Santa Ynez on Jan. 8; and Himiko, a $1-million weanling by American Pharoah, who ran third in the Iowa Distaff last year as a 4-year-old.

From the evidence of three quality black-type performers by sires from Mr. Prospector's Fappiano line out of 11 foals, Untouched Talent matches well with the aptitude and physical quality of this line, perhaps with Mr. Prospector sires overall. The mare's fourth stakes horse is Fascinating, a daughter of Mr. Prospector's very successful son Smart Strike, who ran second in the G1 Del Mar Debutante and third in the G1 Chandelier.

In addition to the quality that Untouched Talent is sharing with her offspring, the mare had plenty of talent herself. She won two of her four starts, including the G3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar, where she also placed second in the G1 Del Mar Debutante. Shipped across the country to Keeneland, Untouched Talent was second in the Alcibiades.

Untouched Talent is one of two stakes winners and several racers of ability from the A.P. Indy mare Parade Queen, winner of a pair of stakes at the Grade 3 level. She produced Grade 3 winner Untouched Talent; listed stakes winner King Gulch (Gulch); Top Billing (Curlin), third in the G2 Fountain of Youth; Kydd Gloves (Dubai Millennium), winner in two of three starts and dam of Grade 1 winner She's a Julie (Elusive Quality); and Obay (Kingmambo), who was a champion in Saudi Arabia.

Parade Queen was the only stakes winner from her dam, Spanish Parade, a stakes winner by English Derby winner Roberto. But Spanish Parade also foaled a full sister to Parade Queen, the A.P. Indy mare Post Parade, who produced four stakes winners, two here in the States and another pair in Japan.

From this material alone, this is clearly a very solid pedigree: wall to wall with quality sires, producers, and performers.

Generation after generation of the tabulated pedigree indicates that the genetic ancestry of excellence is proving out on the racecourse in athleticism and competitive ability. Ricked up like this in a five-cross or six-cross pedigree, we can see the volume of production and performance that results in true depth of family for a Thoroughbred.

Depth of family is the concept that superior racers are developed through repeated layerings of high-class sires onto dam lines of similar athleticism. The overarching principle is that if each generation has shown its ability to race effectively or produce stock that does, a breeder doesn't have to fill holes or compensate for weaknesses.

Under the Stars, for example, is by a sire of proven classic importance, and the succeeding sires include winners of the Belmont Stakes and English Derby, the American and the English Triple Crowns.

English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky is the sire of the Nijit, fourth dam of Under the Stars. On the racetrack, Nijit placed second in a couple of minor stakes and was third in the G2 Cotillion. Her full brother Beaudelaire did somewhat better, winning four of seven starts, including the G2 Prix Maurice de Gheest.

They are out of a mare named Bitty Girl, who showed herself one of the best juvenile fillies of 1973 in England, when she won the Queen Mary, Lowther, and Molecomb Stakes. Her successes helped to make her sire Habitat (Sir Gaylord) the leading freshman sire of 1973 in England, as well as the leading sire of juveniles overall. Habitat's son Habat was the highweighted colt of the crop; Bitty Girl was co-highweight among the fillies.

Sent to America and retired to stud, Bitty Girl was covered by Nijinsky and set this sequence of excellence in motion.

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Bloodlines: Hong Kong Superstar Golden Sixty Bolsters A Global Pedigree

The best racer in Hong Kong is the Australian-bred Golden Sixty, who won the Group 2 Jockey Club Mile, his 15th race in a row, on Nov. 21 at Sha Tin. A multiple Group 1 winner, Golden Sixty, by the measure of consecutive races won, stands even with Bayardo, Buckpasser, Carbine, and Pretty Polly. He is one victory away from the 16-race plateau of such champions as Ribot, Citation, and Cigar.

If he reaches 17 victories in a row, then Golden Sixty would match the winning streak of fellow Aussie racer Silent Witness, a legend in Hong Kong racing.

The 2020 Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Golden Sixty also was named the top miler and middle distance performer in Hong Kong last year, when he won all eight starts, including the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile. In 2021, the bay gelding has won his four starts, including the G1 Champions Mile, Stewards' Cup, and Hong Kong Gold Cup.

Unbeaten since July 2019, Golden Sixty has now won 18 of 19 lifetime starts, earning HK$80.6 million, about $9.8 million.

Bred in Australia by Asco International Pty Ltd, Golden Sixty is by Darley's international leading sire Medaglia d'Oro, who stands in Kentucky at the worldwide operation's Jonabell Farm.

One of 26 G1 winners by Medaglia d'Oro around the globe, Golden Sixty comes from a highly distinguished family, and one that has some intriguingly old connections close up. His third dam is Konafa (Damascus), a foal of 1973 who finished second to Flying Water (Habitat) in the 1976 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Bloodstock legend E.P. Taylor bred much of this family at his Windfields Farms in Canada or Maryland and had purchased Konafa's second dam, Queen's Statute (Le Lavandou), out of the yearling sales at Newmarket. Unraced, Queen's Statute bred a half-dozen stakes winners for Windfields, including Canadian champion Dance Act (Northern Dancer), as well as his maiden-winning full sister Royal Statute.

Royal Statute followed suit as a producer with three stakes winners, including G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Awaasif (Snow Knight), Akureyri (Buckpasser; G3 Fountain of Youth, second in G1 Florida Derby, first in G1 Remsen but disqualified to third), and Royal Lorna (Val de l'Orne; G3 Premio Bagutta).

Winner of a maiden, Royal Statute was bred to Horse of the Year Damascus (Sword Dancer) when she was a three-year-old and produced Konafa as her first foal. Taylor, through his Windfields Farm consignment, sold Konafa for $57,000 at the 1974 Saratoga select yearling auction.

And Konafa and her close relatives found a home in the select yearling sales that lasted for decades. After retirement, Konafa was sold in foal to leading sire Mr. Prospector for $625,000 at the 1980 Keeneland November breeding stock sale to BBA (England), acting for Stavros Niarchos.

The foal that Konafa was carrying turned out to be Proskona, who became the highweight 3-year-old filly in Italy, with a victory in the G2 Premio Umbria, among others. Konafa subsequently foaled Keos (Riverman; highweight older horse in Germany), the listed stakes winner Carnet Solaire (Sharpen Up), and Korveya, also by Riverman, a winner of the G3 Prix Chloe, and the dam of three classic winners.

These were Hector Protector (Woodman; highweight 2-year-old in France, won the French Guineas, Poule d'Essai des Poulains, and nine of 10 starts), Shanghai (Procida; French Guineas), and Bosra Sham (Woodman), who was highweight 3-year-old filly and highweight older filly. She won seven of 10 starts, including the Fillies Mile at two, then the 1996 English 1,000 Guineas and Champion Stakes. Although Bosra Sham's career was troubled with foot problems, trainer Henry Cecil called her the best horse he had ever trained, and he had already trained multiple classic winners. (Frankel came much later.)

Korveya's classic produce represented a high point in the success and reputation of this family. The mare's other daughters included Gioconda (Nijinsky), who produced Ciro (Woodman). A top juvenile when he won the G1 Grand Criterium at Longchamp, Ciro progressed sufficiently to win the G1 Prix Lupin and Secretariat Stakes at 3. Another daughter of Korveya, Tapatina (Seeking the Gold), became the dam of Internallyflawless (Giant's Causeway), winner of the G1 Del Mar Oaks.

Although Korveya was the star producer from her dam, another of Konafa's daughters, Leo's Lucky Lady (Seattle Slew) ran second in a minor stakes at the Meadowlands and produced seven winners, including G2 winner Gaudeamus (Distorted Humor), who is the dam of Golden Sixty.

Winner of the G2 Debutante Stakes at two in Ireland for Jim Bolger, Gaudeamus was sold privately as a broodmare for the Southern Hemisphere, where Golden Sixty is her third black-type performer and first major winner.

Her son Golden Sixty is carrying the torch for family with his domination of racing in Hong Kong, but in addition, this year's Breeders' Cup juvenile turf winners both descend from Royal Statute. Modern Games descends from Konafa through Proskona, and Pizza Bianca comes from Royal Statute's daughter Victoress (a $1.1 million Keeneland July yearling by Conquistador Cielo) through the Irish-bred Gwynn (Darshaan) and White Hot (Galileo), who is the dam of Pizza Bianca.

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TB-Ed Initiative Launched by TBA

TB-Ed, a UK Thoroughbred Breeders' Association education and training initiative, was launched by the TBA on Wednesday.

The initiative, which offers a range of courses and resources that provide essential knowledge and guidance to new and existing industry participants, has also received financial support from the Racing Foundation, who co-funded the platform development and build with the TBA. Weatherbys is also a headline partner of the TB-Ed platform. Currently, the courses offered by TB-Ed include Understanding Pedigrees delivered by journalist and broadcaster Lydia Hislop, while there is also Nutrition of the Broodmare delivered by Catherine Rudenko, an independent nutritionist and consultant. New courses and content will be added periodically.

General website users can browse the pay-as-you-go catalogue and view a sample webinar for free, while you can also sign up to TB-Ed for free to receive access to a limited selection of free resources. Courses start at £50 and extra resources are priced accordingly. Alternatively, you can join as a TBA Associate for £60 per year which grants free access to all resources and discounts on courses. Finally, existing and new TBA members receive free access to all resources and discounted courses as part of their membership package. For more information, or to sigh up to TB-Ed, visit www.tb-ed.co.uk.

Caroline Turnbull, Education and Welfare Manager at the TBA, said, “TB-Ed will enable the TBA to provide up-to-date, relevant and expert knowledge to breeders who are committed to providing the highest standards of care for their horses. The launch follows extensive user research and testing, which has helped us to shape the structure and content for breeders' ongoing professional development. TB-Ed will also enable us to improve the accessibility and reach of training in the thoroughbred breeding industry, and will also be of interest to the wider equine community.”

Rob Hezel, Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation, said: “At the Racing Foundation our mission is to be a catalyst for improvement within the horse racing and Thoroughbred breeding industry. We are delighted to fund the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) online learning platform to facilitate continuous professional development for everyone in the breeding industry.

“By developing understanding of thoroughbred pedigrees and broodmare nutrition, the courses will benefit both people and horses, which are two of our key funding areas.

“In the course Understanding Pedigrees, the TBA has taken what has traditionally been a complex area reserved for industry experts and made it accessible to all. Equally, Nutrition of the Broodmare will inform even the most knowledgeable in the business.

“We'd like to congratulate the TBA on the launch of its online learning platform and we look forward to seeing it contribute to improving the Thoroughbred breeding industry.”

“Weatherbys enjoys a close relationship with the TBA and we are delighted to support TB-Ed which will act as a great tool to educate and inform new and existing members of the Thoroughbred breeding community,” said Russell Ferris, Chief Executive at Weatherbys.

“Increasing access to training opportunities will ensure that the breeding industry can maintain the very highest standards in health, welfare and stud management. Breeders need easy access to the latest guidance on areas such as Weatherbys ePassports, the introduction of Equine Premises Numbers and other new initiatives and TB-Ed is the obvious location for that guidance.

“We look forward to working with the TBA over the coming months to build on the initial course material and include content in areas such as Thoroughbred genetics.”

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Tapit Doubles Down on Twin Spires

He doesn't need the publicity: as he approaches the evening of his career, his fee is $185,000 and, with his book as wisely controlled as ever, demand should always exceed supply. Nonetheless, there's something highly gratifying about the prospect of Tapit redressing one of the few gaps in a resume that otherwise qualifies him as unmistakably the most accomplished stallion in the land.

The horse himself, of course, would remain totally unwitting–just as he was, when his 20th birthday last Saturday was so aptly marked by two sons emphatically confirming their status as rivals for leadership of the Classic crop. Should either Greatest Honour or Essential Quality proceed to crown their sire's career with his first success in the GI Kentucky Derby, the world will appear no different to Tapit as the second sunrise of May reaches those palatial rafters in the Gainesway stallion barn. But a sense of completion, on his behalf, would be greatly deserved by the people behind him.

Principal among these is Antony Beck, owner of Gainesway, who took an inspired gamble on the pedigree underpinning Tapit's extrovert performance in the GIII Laurel Futurity at two, despite a sophomore campaign that proved fragmented and unconvincing.

Beck understood that since you can never predict which genetic strands will come through in a horse, your best shot is always a breadth of quality sufficient for it not to matter too much. Tapit's family had already produced a series of stallions: dam Tap Your Heels (Unbridled) was a sibling to Rubiano (Fappiano); second dam Ruby Slippers (Nijinsky II), a half-sister to Glitterman; and third dam Moon Glitter (In Reality), a full-sister to Relaunch. Glitterman was by a stallion as forgettable as Dewan, so clearly something was functioning pretty potently along this bottom line.

Tapit's own sire Pulpit, moreover, was by the son of one broodmare of historic stature (Weekend Surprise) out of the daughter of another (Narrate); while his damsire Unbridled, for his part, doubles up the great Aspidistra (who delivered not only his third dam, but also Fappiano's damsire Dr. Fager). And Unbridled himself had a distinguished brother in Cahill Road. There was, in other words, repeat production everywhere you looked.

Unbridled had made a big impression on the young Beck, having the temerity to beat his father-in-law's champion sprinter Housebuster at seven furlongs after winning the marquee races over 10 (Derby/Breeders' Cup Classic) the previous year. And while soundness was never really part of the Unbridled brand, Tapit's next two dams were by sturdy influences in Nijinsky (also sire of Pulpit's third dam) and In Reality (who recurs as sire of Unbridled's second dam).

Sure enough, while Tapit often gets horses of high mettle, they tend to be credited with a compensatory robustness, founded in fluidity of action plus exceptional cardiovascular capacity. Together, these physical attributes sustain a conspicuous will to win in many a Tapit. No doubt other sires impart a lot of “try” to their stock, but few will support it with matching levels of “can.”

Mr. Prospector | Dell Hancock

The first thing many people will see in the emergence of Greatest Honour and Essential Quality is an extra knot of Mr. Prospector. Already pegged down top-and-bottom behind Tapit, as damsire of Pulpit and grandsire of Unbridled, Mr. Prospector puts a grandson behind the dams of both these colts: Essential Quality is out of an Elusive Quality mare, and Greatest Honour out of a daughter of Street Cry (Ire).

Essential Quality actually brings Mr. Prospector back in yet again, his third dam being by Fappiano (who duly doubles up his role as grandsire of Tap Your Heels). In fact, the champion juvenile has pretty eye-watering levels of inbreeding overall, with triple doses of Northern Dancer and Secretariat and, most notably, In Reality. We've already noted how Tap Your Heels is inbred to In Reality, and here he is again as sire of Essential Quality's fourth dam, GI Delaware H. winner Basie.

Greatest Honour has a far less tangled page, and one that will delight the purist with second and fourth dams both Broodmares of the Year, and a Kentucky Oaks winner in between. Presumably Mr. Adam's desk has long disappeared under offers for breeding rights in his flamboyant homebred. Because it sure helps if you can just look at a pedigree and say with a shrug: “Well, what else do you suppose a horse bred like this could be?”

Greatest Honour | Coglianese

For the seeding of this family has been consistent with its quality. And that, as we like to say, means that there isn't a single creaking floorboard on the stage. In terms of that breadth of genetic cover, you couldn't ask for two better representatives of the Mr. P. and Northern Dancer lines to shore up the excellence of the family. Damsire Street Cry brings a ton of European turf quality: his sister produced a great sire in Shamardal; their dam is an Irish Oaks-winning daughter of an Epsom Derby winner; and sire Machiavellian is out of the foundation Niarchos mare Coup de Folie (Halo).

Coup de Folie was inbred 3×3 to that ultimate linchpin, Almahmoud, but not through her breed-shaping grandson Northern Dancer: instead it falls to Greatest Honour's second dam, the famous Better Than Honour, to bring into play that specialist broodmare influence of the Northern Dancer line, Deputy Minister.

Better Than Honour, of course, produced consecutive winners of the Belmont S.–which Classic already bears a heavy imprint of Tapit, including now as a sire of sires following the success of Tiz the Law (Constitution). Tapit's three Belmont winners, in turn, strengthen the record of his grandsire A.P. Indy, who won the race himself and also sired one of Better Than Honour's winners, Rags to Riches.

There can only be one Kentucky Derby winner every year. Never mind that Tapit, despite combining two formidable Classic brands in A.P. Indy and Fappiano, has so far drawn a blank. His proven record with maturing sophomores round that punishing Belmont oval makes him an irreproachable complement to the families of both Greatest Honour and Essential Quality.

To their families, mark you; not merely to their dams' sire line. You can be sure that plenty of experts are busy discovering some priceless alchemy between Tapit and Mr. P., especially after a Distorted Humor mare gave us Constitution. But we'll leave such people to their simple lives; and happy lives, too, with the nice fees they get from their clients. The rest of us must persevere through the genetic treacle with no better a compass (assuming due attention is always given first to physical matching) than the overall balance and depth of quality in a pedigree.

It should go without saying that both these colts have a terribly rich seedbed for fertilisation.

Essential Quality's granddam is Contrive (Storm Cat) who, though unraced, cost Sheikh Mohammed $3 million as a 7-year-old in 2005–just 12 months after changing hands for $140,000. The difference, in the meantime, was made by her first foal Folklore (Tiznow), who had just sealed the divisional championship previously in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Essential Quality | Coady

Admittedly, the Sheikh's investment has taken time to pay dividends, Contrive mustering only a couple of foals equal to a Grade III placing. One of them is Delightful Quality, who started out with three duds: two unraced foals by Bernardini and Tiznow, and a castrated son of Tapit who finished 10th of 11 on his only start. Fortunately, the Sheikh's team had doubled down on his sire and sent Delightful Quality back to Gainesway in 2017 for the covering that produced Essential Quality.

Let's not forget that Contrive had cost $825,000 as a yearling. She was out of a dual graded stakes winner; second dam Basie, as already noted, was a Grade I winner; and the line extends back to La Troienne via War Admiral's daughter Striking, the 1965 Broodmare of the Year and a sister to Hall of Famer Busher. Mineshaft, Private Account and Woodman all share ancestry through Striking; while Smarty Jones does so via Basie's dam. Presumably it was the recent example of Smarty Jones, who had a slop-splattered Tapit back in midfield in his Derby, that governed the choice of Elusive Quality for Contrive when she came up with Delightful Quality.

One way or another, anyhow, this family is right now back in business. Even without Essential Quality, the outstanding Japanese sophomore of 2020, Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), is out of Folklore's daughter Rhodochrosite (by Unbridled's Song); while the hardy millionaire Come Dancing (Malibu Moon) is a granddaughter of Contrive's half-sister by Kris S.

Striking and Busher, incidentally, respectively delivered one apiece of the four grandparents of My Charmer, the dam of Tapit's great-grandsire Seattle Slew. And their brother Mr. Busher happens to be the sire of Stolen Hour, fifth dam of Greatest Honour.

Stolen Hour's daughter Best in Show claims our attention here through her Kentucky Oaks-winning daughter by Blushing Groom (Fr), Blush With Pride, who in turn produced Better Than Honour. But this whole argument about breadth of genetic coverage applies pretty loudly to this dynasty.

Other daughters of Best in Show include Sex Appeal, who links the pedigrees of many good horses (latterly Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and is a particular nexus of fine or better broodmare sires: she's by one herself, in Buckpasser, and duly produced two others in El Gran Senor and Try My Best. Other daughters of Best in Show (these all by Sir Ivor) include Minnie Hauk, who gave the Niarchos family its foundation mare Aviance; plus the third dams of the important Australian stallion Redoute's Choice (Aus) and, more recently, Siskin (First Defence), a Classic winner in Ireland last year.

Tapit | Gainesway

Depth and breadth, and copper-bottomed broodmare influences. That's how these lines keep thriving. No family tree stands or falls on a single branch. But sure, if you think Greatest Honour and Essential Quality are all about Tapit nicking with Mr. Prospector-line mares, you work away.

Siskin, incidentally, is closely related to champion Close Hatches (First Defence), whose son Tacitus continues to exasperate in his failure to add to his sire's haul of Grade I winners. For now, then, Tapit must settle for 27, four more than nearest active competitor War Front. Tapit's 87 graded stakes winners, meanwhile, put him a street clear of Distorted Humor on 65. As a ratio of named foals, his black-type winners/performers are touching 10 and 20%, respectively; and he's basically producing a Grade I winner/six graded stakes performers from every 50. In terms of earnings per named foal, only Speightstown breaks six figures at $103,427; Tapit is rolling along at $115,491.

So, no, he doesn't need the publicity–even if he's no longer on a tariff quite as giddy as $300,000. But while it's always nice to celebrate stallions that only rarely make the headlines, nor should Tapit be taken for granted. He is a colossus of the modern breed and, the way these two boys are shaping, this looks like the year when he'll be reaching the very top of the heap.

For with lifetime earnings now $165.5 million, Tapit is fast closing down the late Giant's Causeway, who's naturally running low on ammunition on $171.2 million. Throw in any prize money meanwhile banked by other stock, not to mention a couple of valuable rehearsals en route, and it's perfectly possible that one of these star sophomores will take their sire to the pinnacle in the Derby itself. And if that's what destiny has in mind for Tapit, then perhaps Greatest Honour will turn out to have been named with particular prescience.

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