Rachel Alexandra wins the 2009 Woodward Stakes
When Rachel’s Valentina (Bernardini) won Saturday’s Gr1 Spinaway Stakes, she ensured that her dam, Rachel Alexandra, joined an elite group of Gr1 winning champion racemares, who went on to produce Gr1 winners at stud. Remarkably, the Bernardini filly’s initial Grade One score came six years after her dam beat the boys to become the first filly ever to land the Woodward Stakes.
Enviable record
“Rachel” can hardly have made a better start at stud, with her first two foals (3yo Curlin colt, Jess’s Dream being the other) having won first time out. Unfortunately, Rachel’s breeding future is uncertain after she suffered a colon injury during her last foaling. Nonetheless, her legacy could well continue through the deeds of Jess’s Dream and Rachel’s Valentina.
Select band
Rachel Alexandra is not the only female Horse Of The Year to make her mark at stud. The mighty Moccasin (Nantallah), who was North America’s HOY in 1965, produced no fewer than seven stakes winners, including Gr1 Observer Gold Cup (now Racing Post Trophy) winner, Apalachee (subsequently a successful sire and broodmare sire) and Irish champion Belted Earl (Damascus). Moccasin is also the third dam of outstanding but ill-fated Australian sire Northern Meteor – sire of this weekend’s Group winners Speak Fondly and Metallic Crown, as well as the very successful North American sire Stormy Atlantic. A stakes winning son of Storm Cat, Stormy Atlantic’s 90 plus stakes winners include Canadian Horse Of The Year, Up With The Birds.
Other mares named Horse Of The Year to fare well at stud include Canadian superstar, Dance Smartly. The latter, a Danzig half sister to the top sires Smart Strike and Strike Smartly, achieved a rare double in becoming both Horse Of The Year (Canada 1991) and Broodmare Of The Year. The first Canadian bred to win a Breeders Cup race (Distaff of 1991), Dance Smartly’s foals included two winners of the prestigious Queen’s Plate – Scatter The Gold (Mr Prospector) and Dancethruthedawn (Mr Prospector). Another great Canadian champion, Glorious Song, Horse Of The Year in 1980, was, if anything, an even better broodmare, with her foals including the great international champion Singspiel (In The Wings), outstanding sire Rahy (also damsire of champion sire Giant’s Causeway), and Rakeen, sire of seven times champion SA sire Jet Master. Yet another Canadian Horse Of The Year to make her mark at stud was Fanfreluche (Northern Dancer), whose descendants include champion sires Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) and Flying Spur (Danehill), as well as European Champion Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill).
Legendary mare, Ouija Board, twice named Cartier Horse Of The Year, joined a rare group of champions to produce an Epsom Derby winner, when her son, Australia, (Galileo) won that Investec sponsored classic in 2014, while Detroit, Horse Of The Year in France in 1980, went on to produce Arc de Triomphe winner, Carnegie (Sadler’s Wells). Japanese champion Air Groove retired to stud to produce Gr1 QEII Cup winner, Rulership (King Kamehameha), and Gr1 heroine, Admire Groove (Sunday Silence) – the latter in turn dam of dual Japanese classic winner, Duramente (King Kamehameha).
Male line
Medaglia D’oro (photo: Darley)
The weekend past was also a good one for Rachel Alexandra’s sire, Medaglia D’Oro, and grandsire, El Prado. Medaglia D’Oro, whose sire El Prado is also responsible for former US Champion Sire Kitten’s Joy, featured as both the sire of a Gr1 winner (Songbird) and broodmare sire (Rachel’s Valentina), while El Prado is also the broodmare sire of Glen Falls Handicap heroine, White Rose (Tapit). No fewer than three sons of El Prado had black type winners this weekend – a remarkable result for a stallion who began his stud career covering less than stellar books of mares.
The now deceased grey El Prado (he died in 2009) has no fewer than 27 sire sons registered standing at stud in the Northern Hemisphere and he is also shaping up as an important broodmare sire, with his daughters producing the likes of Kentucky Oaks winner, Believe You Can (Proud Citizen), Breeders Cup winner Outstrip (Exceed And Excel), Canadian, Champion Essence Hit Man, (Speightstown) and Gr1 winners Laragh (Tapit), and Tom’s Tribute (Lion Heart). Arguably his greatest sire son, Medaglia D’Oro, is certainly shaping up to be an exceptional broodmare sire – with his very first winner, and subsequent Gr2 Forward Gal Stakes second, Renda, dam of the very fast Gr1 Alfred Vanderbilt winner Rock Fall (Speightstown). The sire of 14 Gr1 winners to date, Medaglia D’Oro has enjoyed a tremendous run of success in 2015, having been represented by 21 stakes winners this year and he is currently second to Tapit on the US general sires list.
Gr1 first for Trippi
Trippi
Drakenstein Stud Farm’s popular and successful sire Trippi was represented by his first Gr1 winner as a broodmare sire, when Liam’s Map landed the Gr1 Woodward Stakes by four and three quarter lengths on Saturday, 5 September 2015.
While Trippi is more than capable of siring top class males including Afrikaburn, Trip To Heaven and Zambezi River, he is an even better sire of fillies, which surely bodes well for Trippi’s future as a broodmare sire. His overseas female runners include such outstanding fillies as Jealous Appeal (herself dam of this season’s high class Irish 2YO, Queen Of Sicily), and Gr1 Spinaway Stakes winner, R Heat Lightning, while his local representatives include Equus champion Hammie’s Hooker and Inara, the latter looking more than a tad unlucky not to nab an Equus nomination herself in 2015.
Whitney runner up, Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song), who has now won five of just seven outings, is one of two stakes winners produced by multiple stakes winning Trippi daughter Miss Macy Sue, who was beaten just two lengths into third in the 2007 Breeders Cup F&M Sprint.
To date, Trippi is the broodmare sire of stakes winners by Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled), Medaglia D’Oro (El Prado), Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat) and Silver Train (Old Trieste), evidence which suggests he should fare well as a successful damsire with a host of male lines.
