There were a number of notable performances seen during this year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting at Del Mar over the weekend, writes Sarah Whitelaw.
Florent Geroux, heads down the stretch on the way to winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Gun Runner (Photo by Alex Evers/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup/
The increasingly successful sire, Candy Ride, was represented by his first Breeders Cup winner, when son, Gun Runner, confirmed himself as US’ Horse Of The Year for 2017, when taking out the $6 000 000 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gun Runner was an apt winner of the Classic, for his paternal half-brother, and champion, Shared Belief, was a most unlucky loser of the same race back in 2014.
Unbeaten in six outings and a half-brother to local broodmare and Gr3 Jubilee Handicap winner, Candy Singer (Singspiel), Candy Ride has currently more than 60 stakes winners to his name – 12 of which are Gr1 winners.
Gun Runner celebrations (Photo by Kazushi Ishida/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup/
Gun Runner, now a five time Gr1 winner, is one of three 2017 Gr1 winners for Candy Ride, whose daughter, Separationofpowers, ran fourth in the BC Juvenile Fillies.
SA Legend
The late South African Triple Crown winner, Horse Chestnut, has enjoyed notable broodmare success in 2017, as damsire of US Gr1 winners, Johnny Bear (Northern Dancer Stakes) and Zipessa (First Lady Stakes), as well as Canadian classic winner, Channel Maker (Breeders Stakes).
Horse Chestnut (Fort Wood – London Wall)
The son of Fort Wood can also be found in the pedigree of 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner (and leading Eclipse Award contender), Caledonia Road (Quality Road). The unraced daughter of Horse Chestnut, Twilight Service, is the dam of Come A Callin, a winning daughter of Dixie Union, who produced Caledonia Road. Interestingly, the increasingly important broodmare sire, Dixie Union, (damsire of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winning sire, New Year’s Day) is from the same female line as Fort Wood, sire of Horse Chestnut.
Mares Double
Outstanding broodmares, Win Approval and Leslie’s Lady, joined the likes of Primal Force (dam of Awesome Again and Macho Uno), Sweet Life (dam of Life Is Sweet and Sweet Catomine) and Hasili (dam of Banks Hill and Intercontinental) as mares who have thrown at least two Breeders Cup winners.
Miesque’s Approval (Miesque’s Son – Win Approval)
Win Approval, whose four millionaire offspring include champion, Breeders’ Cup Mile winner and KZN sire, Miesque’s Approval, was responsible for her second BC Mile winner when her son, World Approval (Northern Afleet), downed five Gr1 winners, including European star, Ribchester, to land Saturday’s Breeders Cup Mile. With three Gr1 wins this year to his credit, World Approval could well become the second son of Win Approval to be named Eclipse Champion Turf Male.
As remarkable as Win Approval has been, Leslie’s Lady – whose sire, Tricky Creek, is a half-brother to former SA sire, Parade Leader – is a mare whose influence continues to grow and grow. Her son, Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy), became Leslie’s Lady’s third individual Gr1 winner, and second Breeders’ Cup winner, when he won Friday’s Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. His paternal half-sister, Beholder (Henny Hughes), won 11 Gr1 races, including three individual Breeders’ Cup races. Leslie’s Lady is also dam of Gr1 winning 2yo and prominent sire, Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday), whose son, Goldencents, won the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2013 and 2014. The most active stallion in North America during 2017, Into Mischief (Champion 2YO Sire in 2016) covered no fewer than 235 mares in 2017 and his influence seems sure to spread further.
As a son of the outstanding but now deceased stallion, Scat Daddy, one can but wonder what Mendelssohn, a $3 million yearling buy, is worth as a future sire.
A Smart Strike
Dual champion, Smart Strike, whose relatives include Sail From Seattle , the sire of Saturday’s Gr3 Starling Stakes winner, Via Seattle and local triple Gr1 winning sire, Jackson, is a stallion who has made a huge impact on the Breeders’ Cup. The son of Mr Prospector was represented by his fifth individual BC winner when son, Battle Of Midway, won the 2017 Gr1 Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and he is also broodmare sire of 2017 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf runner up, Best Performance (Broken Vow). Incidentally, Smart Strike is also damsire of Breeders’ Cup winning filly Shared Account.
Sail From Seattle
The Smart Strike impact on the Breeders’ Cup was felt further in the running of the Gr1 Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The first two home in that contest, Good Magic and Solomini, are both sons of Smart Strike’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winning son, and outstanding sire, Curlin. The latter accounted for one of the best fields in history when storming home to a four and a half length win in the 2007 Classic.
Dubawi’s First
The Breeders Cup meeting provided plenty of firsts, with one notable example being Wuheida’s win over dual Gr1 winner Rhododendron, a sister to Bush Hill sire, Flying The Flag, in the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup’ Filly& Mare Turf.
Dubawi (Dubai Millennium – Zomaradah)
In the process, Wuheida gave her outstanding sire, Dubawi, his very first Breeders’ Cup winner. A triple G1 winner, whose relatives include the Breeders’ Cup winning top class sire, In The Wings (sire of Singspiel), Dubawi has been represented by an impressive eight individual Gr1 winners during 2017.
Bred on the same Dubawi/Singspiel cross as Gr1 Prix Vermeille winner, Left Hand, and Gr3 Musidora Stakes winner, So Mi Dar, Wuheida is certainly bred to be top-class. She is out of Gr1 Fillies Mile/Yellow Ribbon Stakes winner, Hibaayib, and her fourth dam, Oh So Hot, is a half-sister to Fillies Triple Crown winner, Oh So Sharp (Kris).
Wuheida is descended directly from the ‘flying filly’, Mumtaz Mahal, as are such legends as Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Shergar, Octagonal, Golden Horn, Abernant, and Zarkava. The latter is dam of Dubawi’s 2017 Gr1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner and new sire for 2018, Zarak.
