Friday, November 23, 2018, proved once again that certain female families maintain their powerful DNA over generations, no matter what. The Grade One Comely S. was won by a daughter of Blame, who stands at Claiborne and has been coming on strong this year. Her name is Blamed, and she led gate to wire, as the favorite. Blame has a pedigree loaded with great dams, including Courtly Dee (by Never Bend), Con Game (by Buckpasser) and Special (by Forli), but as if that wasn’t enough, her dams’ side brings more female strength to the equation that created Blamed. Her dam, Salsa Star, is by Giant’s Causeway (adding, of course, Terlingua, one of the greatest Secretariat mares, and Mariah’s Storm, arguably the greatest Rahy mare), while her second dam, Miss Salsa, is by Unbridled (more Buckpasser). Then the coup de grace—her third dam is Oscillate, by Seattle Slew, who is tail female La Troienne—exactly the same Blue Hen whose power has been built up by all the Buckpasser. What a pedigree!

Then there’s Princess Warrior, long shot winner of the Mrs. Revere S.-G2 at Churchill, by the inexpensive Darley stallion Midshipman, by Unbridled’s Song—no escaping that Unbridled blood these days, it would seem. It must be noted that Midshipman was bred by Robert McNair, of Stonerside fame, who passed away on Friday, the same day Princess Warrior won the Mrs. Revere. Darley acquired all of Stonerside’s equine stock when Mr. McNair decided to devote himself full time to his fledgling football team in Houston, and this millionaire, Champion, young sire was one of the results of that transaction. Princess Warrior is bred upon that rock solid Unbridled’s Song/Storm Cat cross, being out of a Consolidator mare, but more interesting is her second dam, Gana, by Smile, who is a daughter of the Le Fabuleux mare Gana Facil. Sound familiar? Gana Facil was the dam of Unbridled! So Princess Warrior has a unique, bold pedigree that is 4 x 3 Gana Facil. The result of this courageous inbreeding may have been a filly who could run all day on turf, or it might have been Princess Warrior. Between Gana Facil and Gana herself, and of course Midshipman, we have multiple doses of the family of In Reality, that terrific, speedy, hard-knocking American in-breeding of which there is no such thing as “too much.” Add in some more Buckpasser and Princequillo in Midshipman’s dams’ side, and Princess Warrior’s pedigree reveals itself to be a thing of beauty, just as Blamed’s is. Blue Hens never die.

-- Roberta Smoodin