The Mr. Prospector S.-G3 at Gulfstream on December 21 turned into a relentless speed duel between favored Imperial Hint and X Y Jet, with the half clocked in 43.4 seconds. So it came as no surprise that both faded toward the finish line, leaving an opening for Diamond Oops to win. An appropriate win, as Diamond Oops’ pedigree is chock-full of Mr. Prospector: through Smart Strike, Gone West, Fappiano and Forty Niner, making Diamond Oops 3 x 5 x 6 x 5 Mr. P, with some Exclusive Native and Native Charger thrown in for good measure to further underscore the importance of Raise a Native.

Diamond Oops is by Smart Strike’s son Looking at Lucky, and out of Patriotic Viva, by Why Why Why, a son of Mr. Greeley (and grandson of Gone West) who had an undistinguished career at stud. Why Why Why, however, substantiated, early on, the effectiveness of inbreeding Mr. Prospector with his own son, Fappiano (through Quiet American in this instance), and it is generally thought now that Fappiano has created his own sire line. The Mr. P/Fappiano cross continues to thrive. Through Fappiano and In Reality, Diamond Oops’ dams’ side provides the riches of inbreeding to the In Reality/Dr. Fager/Ta Wee family, known to produce speed and determination on dirt.

What must now be considered is the possibility that Smart Strike himself has struck out and developed his own sire line, making such inbreeding to Mr. P fruitful. The splendid success of Curlin certainly suggests this possibility, as does Diamond Oops’ sire Lookin at Lucky. Smart Strike was out of the Smarten mare Classy ‘n Smart, cementing the cross of Mr. P on the Turn-to line. Mr. Greeley, the third dam sire of Diamond Oops, represents a closely related and successful cross: Mr. P on the Bold Ruler/Nasrullah line, as his broodmare sire was Reviewer, by Bold Ruler. This is, of course, an echo of his father’s cross as well, as Gone West is by Mr. P and out of the Secretariat (Bold Ruler) mare Secrettame (for good measure, Diamond Oops’ fourth dam is a Secretariat mare as well). We can expect to see the many sons of Curlin now going to stud bred to mares featuring Mr. Prospector bloodlines, and if these are successful, the argument that Smart Strike, like Fappiano, has created his own sire line must be made.

There’s one other fascinating aspect of Diamond Oops’ pedigree. Remember the little horse Came Home? Born in 1999, by Gone West out of a Clever Trick mare, he was the precocious winner of the Hollywood Juvenile Championship S.-G3 and the Hopeful S.-G1, and went on, at three, to win the Pacific Classic-G1 and the Santa Anita Derby-G1, for earnings of $1,835,940, and went to stud at Lane’s End in the Bluegrass before being sold to Japan in 2008. The small, duck-toed fellow got his name because, though his connections tried to sell him three times, at Keeneland November as a weanling, Keeneland September as a yearling, and Barretts March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, he never reached his (hefty) reserves, so he literally came home from every sale.

In the fourth position of Diamond Oops’ pedigree, on the sire’s side, we find Clever Trick, and in the dam’s side, we find Gone West. Embedded in this pedigree is the cross that made this tough juvenile and three-year-old who many favored for the Kentucky Derby-G1, in which he finished sixth, with War Emblem winning the roses that year. As a fan of Came Home, finding such buried treasure in a pedigree is a pleasant surprise, and proof that some crosses simply work—Diamond Oops may not be another Came Home, but he is a gritty gelding who vanquished top foes in the Mr. Prospector S.-G3.

-- Roberta Smoodin