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.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Caracaro: Under The Stars Further Solidifies A Proven Cross appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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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.

The post Bloodlines: Hong Kong Superstar Golden Sixty Bolsters A Global Pedigree appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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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.”

The post TB-Ed Initiative Launched by TBA appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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.

The post Tapit Doubles Down on Twin Spires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Tiz the Law
Constitution x Tizfiz, by Tiznow
Tiz the Law is the easiest horse in the field to gauge at the classic distance, given his dominating 5 ½-length romp at a mile and a quarter in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. Looking at his pedigree though, there are several factors proving he wasn't outrunning his bloodlines.

The colt is from the first crop of fast-rising sire Constitution, who won the G1 Florida Derby and Donn Handicap, both at a mile and an eighth. Constitution is a son of Tapit, who is one of North America's most proven sire of two-turn runners, including three Belmont Stakes winners.

The average distance of a race won by a Constitution runner (Average Winning Distance) is 6.92 furlongs, which is the bottom half among the sires of the Derby field, though Tiz the Law's previous Grade 1 triumph at a mile and a quarter dispels any concerns with this individual.

Beyond Tiz the Law, Constitution's best runners have tended to be milers, with Laura's Light taking the G2 San Clemente Stakes and Independence Hall taking the Jerome Stakes at the distance. However, Laura's Light also took the G3 Honeymoon Stakes at a 1 1/8 miles and Gouverneur Morris finished second in the G1 Arkansas Derby, both at 1 1/8 miles. Tiz the Law is Constitution's first graded stakes winner beyond a mile and an eighth, though that's not a major concern, given the early stage of the sire's career.

Tiz the Law is out of the Tiznow mare Tizfiz, who won the G2 San Gorgorino Handicap over the turf at 1 1/8 miles. The turf specialist also won non-graded stakes at distances between a 1 mile and 1 1/8 miles

Tizfiz is also the dam of Awestruck, a multiple stakes-placed daughter of Tapit who won from six furlongs to a mile on the dirt. She earned stakes-placings going as far as a 1 1/16 miles. Tizn'tshebeautiful, by Uncle Mo, was a maiden winner going 1 mile and 70 yards at Finger Lakes.

Authentic
Into Mischief x Flawless, by Mr. Greeley

Into Mischief was North America's leading general sire by earnings in 2019, and has established himself as one of the continent's top commercial sires.

He remains a force in 2020 with a slate of runners that includes multiple Grade 1 winner Gamine, who has won at the highest level at seven furlongs and a mile. He is also the sire of two-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents, as well as Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Covfeve, who was named last year's champion female sprinter and champion 3-year-old filly. The stallion's average progeny winning distance is 6.75 furlongs, which is near the bottom of this year's class of Derby sires.

Into Mischief's most notable Derby starter to date is Audible, who finished third in the 2018 renewal, coming in off a victory in the G1 Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

On his own accord, Into Mischief won the G1 CashCall Futurity going a mile and a sixteenth over a synthetic track. Never worse than second in six career starts, Into Mischief also won the listed Damascus Stakes at 7 furlongs over an all-weather surface.

Flawless, a daughter of Mr. Greeley, won on debut at 7 furlongs over the main track at Belmont Park, then finished second finished second at the same track going a mile to finish her racing career.

Authentic is by far the most successful runner out of Flawless, with the next closest by earnings being Expectations, a Speightstown gelding who won claiming races from seven furlongs to a mile. Gitgo, by Bodemeister, was a maiden claiming winner at 5 ½ furlongs before being exported to Panama, where he has complied a lifetime record of six wins from 44 starts.

Honor A. P.
Honor Code x Hollywood Story, by Wild Rush
Honor Code has strong credentials around two turns, winning the 1 1/8-mile G2 Remsen Stakes at age two, then earning champion older male honors at four with a campaign including a score in the G1 Whitney Stakes, also at 1 ½ miles. Honor Code's championship season also included wins at a mile in the G1 Metropolitan Handicap and G1 Gulfstream Park Handicap. He is a son of A.P. Indy, who is one of the modern breed's bedrocks for distance runners.

Honor Code's runners post an average winning distance of 7.29 furlongs, which is a strong number for a sire with his first crop of 3-year-olds. He'll have two colts pointing toward this year's Kentucky Derby, with Honor A. P. having won the G1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles and Max Player winning the G3 Withers Stakes at the same distance. Max Player is also placed at the Derby distance, having run third in the G1 Travers Stakes in August.

Hollywood Story ran in nothing but graded stakes races after her debut effort. She won the G1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes as a juvenile at 1 1/16 miles, and she took the G1 Vanity Invitational Handicap over 1 1/8 miles later in her career. Her other two graded wins came at 1 1/16 miles.

A veteran broodmare with five runners sporting six-figure earnings, Hollywood Story is also the dam of Horrayforhollywood, by Storm Cat, who was a winner and stakes-placed at a mile. Hollywood Star, a son of Malibu Moon, finished a narrow second in the G3 Iroquois Stakes over 1 1/16 miles, while his full-sister Miss Hollywood is a stakes winner at 7 furlongs.

Removing Tiz the Law's victory in the Travers from consideration, no other horse in this field is better-qualified to excel at the classic distance in terms of pedigree than Honor A. P., both by high-level output and two-turn performance.

Ny Traffic
Cross Traffic x Mamie Reilly, by Graeme Hall

Cross Traffic was proficient at a route distance, highlighted by a win in the G1 Whitney Invitational Handicap at 1 1/8 miles. He also finished second in the G1 Metropolitan Handicap and G3 Westchester Stakes, both at 1 mile.

He was the leading freshman sire of 2018, spearheaded by Eclipse Award winner Jaywalk, who took the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles. His average progeny winning distance is 6.86 furlongs, putting him on the lower end of this year's Derby sires. However, Cross Traffic has been represented well at a mile and a quarter by Capocostello, who won Panama's G1 Clásico Año Nuevo at the distance.

Ny Traffic would be Cross Traffic's first Kentucky Derby starter.

Mamie Reilly raced twice, graduating on her second try in a 6 furlong maiden claiming race at Belmont Park. Ny Traffic is her first foal.

Ny Traffic's extended family is heavy on South American influence, led by third dam Quilma, who won the Chilean 1,000 Guineas before being imported to the U.S., where she became a Grade 2 winner.

The post Kentucky Derby Pedigree Corner: Tiz the Law, Authentic, Honor A. P., And Ny Traffic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Darley stallion had lately become so slack–only two graded stakes winners in each of the past two years–that this spring he suffered his third consecutive cut, to just $40,000, having commanded a six-figure fee as recently as 2017. At the same time, however, he was emerging as a priceless option for breeders who might retain a filly for their broodmare band.

In a curious trade-off, the more Bernardini’s own runners lost momentum, the more precocious he has proved as a broodmare sire. But let’s not forget that we are still talking about the sire of 10 domestic Grade I winners (plus three in Australasia and one each in Dubai and Italy); and one who remains younger, at 17, than all 10 active sires who can match or better that tally. And now it might just have taken his fancy to pull a Derby winner out of his hat.

Wind back a month or so, and the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. was only going to confirm his recent direction of travel. Connections had decided that the scintillating Maxfield (Street Sense), who is out of a Bernardini mare, would sit out the GI Belmont S. and instead return to the track where he had last fall produced the standout juvenile performance of the year.

A couple of days later, however, Maxfield suffered the second untimely injury of his career–and hindsight makes it hard to believe he would not have won the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but for the first–and would miss not only the Blue Grass but also the postponed GI Kentucky Derby itself.

In his absence, last Saturday’s race drew a field of 13 including the adventurous filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil). She ran a fine second, but the authoritative winner–by 3 1/2 lengths, with the chasing pack of colts beaten almost another five–was a flourishing son of Bernardini.

Art Collector has really got on a roll since switching to dirt, getting better with experience and clearly thriving in the hands of Thomas Drury, Jr. On his previous start he had thrashed Shared Sense at Churchill and, while Art Collector controlled a light pace that day, the Godolphin colt (himself, like Maxfield, by Street Sense out of a Bernardini mare) reinforced the form three days before the Blue Grass by winning the GIII Indiana Derby.

Home-bred by Bruce Lunsford, Art Collector is the second foal of his GI Flower Bowl S. runner-up Distorted Legacy (Distorted Humor). (She was also beaten barely a length when just missing the podium in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2011.) She is a half-sister to Grade II winner and millionaire Vision And Verse (Storm Cat), who also went close at the elite level, denied both the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. only by Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo).

Lunsford bred both from a mare he had acquired as a transfusion of noble Greentree blood. Bunting (Private Account) cost $500,000 at Keeneland November as a 3-year-old back in 1994: and little wonder, as she was not only Grade I-placed but also a grand-daughter of the Greentree matriarch Bebopper.

Bebopper was a Tom Fool half-sister to the dam of Buckaroo, the pair out of an imported half-sister to an Epsom Oaks winner. Her 11 winners, headed by Stop The Music and Hatchet Man (consecutive GII Dwyer S. winners, among other distinctions), also included a four-time winner by Hoist The Flag named Flag Waver.

Flag Waver can also be found as fourth dam of multiple Grade I winner Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat)–so ensuring a family echo, Stopchargingmaria being out of a mare by Buckaroo’s son Montbrook–but concerns us here as the dam of Bunting. It’s not hard to see the thinking: by Private Account out of a Hoist The Flag mare, Bunting represented the same model that had produced Hall of Famer Personal Ensign.

Now, as it happens, it was Personal Ensign’s daughter My Flag (Easy Goer) who ran down a daughter of Quiet American named Cara Rafaela to win the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies of 1995. That was one of five occasions on which Cara Rafaela finished second at Grade I level, but she did get the elite score she deserved–narrowly, in her ninth juvenile start–in the Hollywood Starlet S.

Cara Rafaela belonged to what turned out to be remarkably resonant first crop by her sire. Quiet American’s track career had given him limited early traction at stud: after a fruitless start in Europe, the son of Fappiano had got his act together in California too late to make an oversubscribed field for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic–only to win the GI NYRA Mile H. (now the Cigar Mile) by five lengths in 1:32 4/5 the following weekend. Unfortunately he had to be retired after a single start at five, and dust gathered on his reputation while rival newcomers made their case to breeders over the rest of the year.

So it was quite something for just 32 named foals in his first crop to include three females as accomplished as champion Hidden Lake; Quiet Dance, later dam of one Horse of the Year in Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and second dam of another in Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}); and Cara Rafaela.

Though her produce record was otherwise insipid, Cara Rafaela’s 2003 foal by A.P. Indy was a stunner. Unraced at two, Bernardini progressed quickly enough to join the Classic fray in the GI Preakness S., where his five-length success was tragically overshadowed by the Barbaro (Dynaformer) disaster. He secured due attention (and the sophomore championship) with processional wins in the GII Jim Dandy S., GI Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, by an aggregate of 23 lengths, though was foiled by Invasor (Arg) (Candy Stripes) when bowing out at the Breeders’ Cup.

Bernardini, then, went to stud with a good deal more fanfare than his own sire, having earned $3 million in a career spanning less than a year. He was launched at $100,000, and for a couple of years managed to get up to $150,000 after his opening crops featured the likes of To Honor and Serve, Stay Thirsty and Alpha (the latter pair both emulating his Travers success). With his stock often stamped with his physical beauty, he also punched his weight at the sales. In 2014, his Keeneland September average was behind just Tapit and War Front; and he has always been a big hitter at juvenile auctions.

To be fair, then, any recent decline is from the highest of standards–which he is certainly meeting, meanwhile, as a broodmare sire.

Now we know this to be a sector dominated by veteran, pensioned or deceased stallions; and Bernardini’s daughters only opened his graded stakes account in 2016. (For the record, through Dark Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GIII Delaware Oaks). By 2018, however, he was adding to his Travers resume with Catholic Boy (More Than Ready). And last year, no fewer than five of his daughters assembled Grade I laurels via Serengeti Empress (Alternation), Wicked Whisper (Liam’s Map), Hunter O’Riley (Tiz Wonderful), Dunbar Road (Quality Road) and, as noted, Maxfield. Auspiciously, a couple of these qualify as the best performer by their respective sires.

I’m not sure that anyone knows quite what makes a great broodmare sire. Is there some kind of physiological inheritance, conceivably one as practical as helping the nursing foal to thrive? Or should we sooner seek, paradoxically, some typically ‘masculine’ traits of physical or mental toughness?

Whatever the reason, I am convinced that compounded, proven distaff influences represent a far better foundation for a pedigree than the supposed alchemies flimsily peddled between given sire-lines. As I’m always saying, all pedigrees are a mesh of genetic strands and the only reason I can see for picking out just two, as somehow over-riding the rest, is the credulous hunger for a “formula.” You are surely better off seeking quality across a pedigree, so that it barely matters which strand comes through. And there’s no better way of doing that than through the copper-bottomed distaff “brands.”

For one thing, you often find that good broodmare sires are out of mares by good broodmares sires. The sires of Urban Sea and Toussaud, for instance, are both out of Buckpasser mares.

And while entire sire-lines are always being credited with a character that seldom bears coherent explanation, broodmare power is one strength that does seem to repeat between generations.

So you get clusters like Princequillo; his daughter Somethingroyal; her sons Secretariat and Sir Gaylord; and the latter’s sons Sir Ivor, Habitat and Drone. Or the Deputy Minister dynasty: sons to extend his distaff influence include Dehere, Touch Gold and Awesome Again, whose son Ghostzapper has a growing reputation in this sphere.

Of course, many top broodmare sires are top sires, period, like Storm Cat. But it is striking how often this dimension of their legacy comes into a different type of focus, as when American Pharoah emerged from a Yankee Gentleman mare.

Bernardini’s flying start as a broodmare sire is a classic example of entwined influences. His sire A.P. Indy, whose recent obituaries celebrated his own record as a broodmare sire, is out of a storied mare, Weekend Surprise, who combined the ultimate distaff brands of the era: she was by Secretariat out of a Buckpasser mare whose own dam was by Secretariat’s half-brother Sir Gaylord.

As for Quiet American, he was famously not only by a son of a Dr Fager mare out of a Dr Fager mare; both these mares were also grand-daughters of Princequillo’s daughter Cequillo. For what it may be worth, moreover, Cara Rafaela traces to the matriarch Fast Line through one of her daughters by Princequillo’s son Prince John. (The other, incidentally, was dam of Northern Trick).

Lest we forget, of course, we are celebrating a revival in Bernardini’s primary role as a sire of runners. But if Art Collector earns a place at stud, you couldn’t be surprised if he, too, were to prove an effective broodmare sire.

We’ve seen that his first three dams are by a resonant trio: Distorted Humor, Private Account, Hoist The Flag. Private Account was out of a Buckpasser mare, like Weekend Surprise in the top half of Art Collector’s pedigree; while Hoist The Flag is by the excellent broodmare sire Tom Rolfe, just like the dam of Distorted Humor’s sire Forty Niner.

Overall this is a genetic “stairwell,” top to bottom, that barely misses a step in terms of Classic caliber. And a Derby colt is no less than his connections deserve. Colleague Bill Finley last week highlighted how patiently trainer Drury has paid his dues; while Art Collector’s owner-breeder has now exorcised a sad experience in the 2006 Blue Grass, when First Samurai (Giant’s Causeway)–a dual Grade I winner he owned in partnership–ended his career with a gate injury.

Perhaps the $100,000 required in 2016 to cover Distorted Legacy had begun to feel like a questionable investment, with Bernardini’s fee plunging in the meantime. But it’s looking good business now. Form is temporary, they say, and class permanent. In a business as uneven as this, any stallion can endure a bumpy spell.

Last Saturday also reiterated Bernardini’s ascendant stature as broodmare sire, through the latest success of Dunbar Road (GII Delaware H.). But in measuring him only against all those ageing or dead stallions, we run the risk of prematurely treating him as an old master. For anyone who pins their faith in beauty, class and genes, then, how wonderful to see Art Collector restore his sire to the avant garde.

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