Wise Dan
One of our greatest racehorses of years gone by played a key role in last Saturday evening’s Eclipse Awards held at the Sport Of Kings Theatre at Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
The Eclipse Awards is the American thoroughbred horseracing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The awards were introduced in 1971 to honour the champions of the sport.
The 5-year-old Wise Dan became the first gelding since John Henry in 1984 to win the Horse Of The Year Award. He was also the first horse in over 30 years to be crowned Horse of the Year, top older male and top male turf horse.
Wise Dan won five of six starts in 2012, winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile in course-record time and two other Grade I turf stakes. His sole defeat was by a head in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, where he gave weight to winner Ron the Greek.
Wise Dan is by Wiseman’s Ferry and is out Lisa Danielle, who was sired by 1984 South African Horse of the Year, Wolf Power.
Lisa Danielle provides her offspring with the same dam-sire as the multiple grade one-winning Milwaukee Brew. Interestingly, Lisa Danielle’s broodmare sire is the great Secretariat, who was not only tremendous as a racehorse, but also as a damsire.
Big Red is also the broodmare sire of such horses as the great A.P. Indy, Chief’s Crown, Gone West, and Storm Cat.
Lisa Danielle also has power in her dam line, as her fourth dam is the Reine De Course mare Vali, who not only produced the tremendous racehorse and sire Val De Loir, but also foaled the dam of the graded stakes-winning Savannah Dancer.
Lisa Danielle features two crosses of the excellent broodmare sire Princequillo in her pedigree.
Princequillo is not only the damsire of Secretariat, but also the champions Key to the Mint and Mill Reef. The son of Prince Rose was the leading North American broodmare sire an incredible eight times.
An 18 time winner from 1200m to 2000m, and a multiple champion racehorse, Wolf Power was the sire of 38 stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner Freedom Cry.
Wolf Power sired 384 winners, including seven graded stakes winners from 500 starters in 16 crops of racing age. Many of foals sported the grey or roan of their sire, a son of the Round Table stallion Flirting Around.
He set four course records and equalled another in four seasons of racing. In the 1983 Gr2 Germiston November Handicap, he became the first horse in South Africa to complete one mile in less than 1:34. Overall, he won 18 of 31 career starts.
Wolf Power’s sire, Flirting Around, was a champion sprinter in England.
Bred in South Africa by Birch Brothers, Wolf Power was out of the winning Casabianca mare Pandora and is a half- brother to 1979 South African Derby winner and sire Artistry (SAf).
He died at Gainesway Farm near Lexington at the age of 24 in 2002.
