When Parx has its biggest race day, with two million-dollar grade one races on the card, the Cotillion S. and the Pennsylvania Derby, the biggest guns come out. No surprise, then, that the jockey known by the nickname Big Money won both, on September 22, 2018, within the space of a single hour. Smith is certainly one of the greats of all time, and his brilliant ride on Midnight Bisou, which resulted in the disqualification of the previously unbeaten Monomoy Girl, and his confident, chilly hand ride on McKinzie, proved you can have no one better at the controls. Smith is simply the Master. Whether he’s riding for Baffert or Asmussen, betting on Big Money Mike is the ultimate no brainer in racing.

Midnight Bisou had proved her mettle already, but all the money was on Monomoy Girl. This was a furious race down the stretch, as the two fillies battled with all their grit and determination on show. Midnight Bisou, however, was impeded, herded, sent inside and then wide, and only Smith could have kept her within a head of Monomoy Girl. Though the DQ may be contentious, Midnight Bisou came out on top, making the exacta a trifle more lucrative for those who boxed the top contenders.

Midnight Lute, the sire of Midnight Bisou, has had success in his six years’ crops racing, but an examination of his biggest winners indicates interesting elements. He is out of the unraced Dehere mare Candytuft, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Dehere is both a broodmare sire to be reckoned with, with his Secretariat dam, and that anomaly among the offspring of Deputy Minister who is forging his own, unique path as a broodmare sire. Like the combination of Mr. Prospector and Fappiano, which is a kind of magic charm these days, combining daughters or granddaughters of Dehere with other strains of Deputy Minister works. This is demonstrated over and over in Midnight Lute’s most successful progeny, including Midnight Miley, Shakin It Up, Governor Charlie, Irish Presence, Ahead by a Century, and Roundupthelute, not to mention that Midnight Aria is out of a Vice Regent mare, himself the sire of Deputy Minister. Graded stakes winners that are 3 X 4 and 4 X 4 Deputy Minister abound in Midnight Lute’s list of top winners. This isn’t coincidence—this is the strength of Dehere. The other repeating motif one sees is a doubling of Secretariat, Dehere’s broodmare sire, and probably the source of his power as his own strain in Deputy Minister’s offspring.

Which brings us to Midnight Bisou’s pedigree, (which was F Graded by a nicking service, incidentally). Her dam is the Repent mare Diva Delite, and though Repent hasn’t proven spectacular as a sire (and I say this with regret, as I boarded, for years, one of his top mares, the exquisite graded stakes winner Sweet Repent, whom I adored), he does bring the wealth of Northern Dancer and female blood offered by Sovereign Dancer, Repent’s sire. It is, however, her second dam, Tour Hostess, who provides the key to the pedigree of Midnight Bisou. She was by Tour d’Or, a son of Medaille d’Or, by Secretariat, and out of the great blue hen mare Fanfreluche (and the perhaps apocryphal tale of Fanfreluche and this royally bred colt, boarded at a well-known vet clinic in the Bluegrass, getting loose thanks to an errant barn worker, and running wild through the farm until captured). By Northern Dancer, Fanfreluche brings riches in the form of inbreeding to the great brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad III, but also one more unique element: a dose of Bunty Lawless, the grandfather of Deputy Minister’s dam, and a name seldom seen in contemporary pedigrees. From Midnight Bisou’s pedigree, we can infer that, once again, the strength of so many pedigrees comes from their dams’ sides, and that Bunty Lawless is the reason why inbreeding to Deputy Minister through Dehere and other sons and grandsons of Deputy Minister is becoming such a powerful influence, especially when supplemented by extra doses of Secretariat, and especially for Midnight Lute.

There are, however, other riches to be mined in Midnight Bisou’s pedigree. A wealth of Princequillo blood on her dams’ side, through his best son, Round Table, and a little-known son, Debbysman, reaches out to the two doses of Secretariat’s dam, perhaps the greatest Princequillo mare ever, Somethingroyal. As well, two doses of Turn-to, through his relatively unknown son Turn to Mars, and through his daughter, Cargreen, provides the powerful zigzag, through male and female relatives, and then there is the appearance of another great blue hen mare, Rough Shod II, through her daughter Moccasin, in Baldski. Add three more doses of Bull Dog, and Baldski’s sire Nijinsky II, the appearance of whom always seems to supercharge other doses of Northern Dancer, and we’ve discovered a pedigree to be reckoned with—it just needs to be traced farther back than most online nicking programs are willing to do.

Pennsylvania Derby-G1 winner McKinzie also demonstrates some of his young sire’s, Street Sense’s, favorite crosses. An examination of his best winners yields a love of inbreeding to Mr. Prospector, in such big winners as Winning Toast, Callback, Street Fancy, Tower of Texas, Ocho Ocho Ocho, Thatcher Street, Cosmic Storm, and others. Much like Dehere and Fappiano seem to have created their own unique sire lines, making inbreeding to their sires a force to be reckoned with, so too has Machiavellian, an own son of Mr. Prospector, out of the great Coup de Folie, whose entire family seems almost magical in its ability to produce great race horses and mares, with her strength being that she is by Halo (bringing the extra dose of Almahmoud, the greatest Mahmoud mare, also the dam of Natalma, Northern Dancer’s dam), out of a Hoist the Flag mare (bringing the stamina influence of Ribot to the mix). Since Street Sense himself is out of a Dixieland Band mare, we can recognize the importance of inbreeding to Almahmoud in his racing and stud success. Street Sense also has Ribot, through His Majesty, in his dams’ side, as his second dam is by that important son, so Street Sense’s ability to get the classic distance and win the Kentucky Derby-G1 can come as no surprise, nor can the success of his offspring. McKinzie’s dam, Runway Model, is by Petionville, a son of Mr. P’s son Seeking the Gold, so he continues this magical cross.

Two more elements combine in McKinzie that we see in many of Street Sense’s best offspring. First, a dose of Seattle Slew. McKinzie’s second dam is Ticket to Houston, a daughter of Slew’s son, Houston. Sons of Seattle Slew litter the pedigrees of more of Street Sense’s best, from Aubby K. to Callback to Avery Island to Cigar Street, out of a daughter of Slew himself. More than this, though, McKinzie’s dams’ side brings multiple doses of one of the greatest mares of all time, La Troienne. Two doses of Buckpasser, the most formidable source of La Troienne in contemporary pedigrees, exist in Petionville, McKinzie’s broodmare sire, plus another dose through La Troienne’s son, Bimelech. Add to that Houston’s La Troienne rich pedigree, including Belle of Troy through his broodmare sire, Quadrangle, and Seattle Slew’s multiple doses of La Troienne through Glamour and Busher (with Glamour’s dam and Busher’s sire being full siblings), and ancient thoroughbred history once more pulls a pedigree together through the greatness of a single mare. Or, perhaps two mares, because it must be noted that both Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew hail from a single female line, that of the great Myrtlewood, making the cross of these two one of the most basic, outstanding nicks available.

Sometimes ancient history and contemporary superstardom intersect. In these two cases, in the person of one rider, Big Money Mike Smith. Certainly, he gets the best mounts in the business, because of his magical expertise. But he never fails to give a masterful ride to these special horses, bringing both his great hands and his unmatched race riding intelligence to every contest. Give Big Money Mike the horse, with the pedigree and talent, and chances are he will get the job done.

-- Roberta Smoodin