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On Irish Derby Day, another race may have stolen the show: the Railway S.-G2, a showcase for some of the best two-year-olds, featuring Monarch of Egypt, a much-touted son of American Pharoah (purchased at Keeneland September for $750,000) owned by Peter Brant and the usual Coolmore suspects, trained by Aidan O’Brien, ridden by Ryan Moore, and the highly esteemed Fort Myers, a son of War Front, also Coolmore-owned, out of a Galileo mare, whose second dam is a full sister to the great Giant’s Causeway. But it was the other blockbuster breeder, Juddmonte Farms, whose First Defence colt, Siskin, easily won over the other two, and whose connections include being trained by G.M. Lyons, and ridden by Colin Keane.

First Defence, who stood his last season in North America in 2016, the year Siskin was conceived, makes a big, rugged colt with tons of bone. I had one from his first season at stud, and his coarse handsomeness made him a favorite at my farm. Siskin has the same look, a large, solid, plain bay colt, but his pedigree, pure Juddmonte breeding, makes him stand apart. He is a Who’s Who of Northern Dancer inbreeding, featuring El Gran Senor, Danzig, Lyphard, and the Minstrel, but as usual, and especially in Juddmonte breeding, mares rule the day.

First Defence is a grandson of Broodmare of the Year Toussaud, and his mom herself is no slouch: she’s the Seattle Slew daughter Honest Lady, grade one winner of nearly $900,000. But his pedigree also features Blue Hen Courtly Dee, through the dam of Green Desert (Foreign Courier, by Sir Ivor), Secrettame through Gone West, and Monroe, a daughter of another great Juddmonte Blue Hen, Best in Show, by Sir Ivor. Siskin is tail female Best in Show, one of, arguably, the two greatest mares in the Juddmonte tradition, the other being Toussaud. Hence, Siskin’s dams’ side is packed with as much greatness as his sire’s side, including the three doses of Somethingroyal, through her son Secretariat and her grandson Sir Ivor.

Though First Defence now stands overseas, Juddmonte’s continued success with him is a paean to their breeding program, which depends upon stellar mares in epic proportions. Let us not forget that Juddmonte is trying the Unbridled’s Song route yet again, with their beast of a race horse, Arrogate. No doubt his first book, now on the ground, was filled with some of Juddmonte’s best mares. First Defence, himself a son of Unbridled’s Song, may be abroad, but he is not forgotten, thanks to Siskin.

— Roberta Smoodin

Has anyone else noted the phenomenon of the Nijinsky II eye? I’ve been aware of it for years now, and was reminded of it when Simply Breathless got her close-up in the paddock at Santa Anita as she awaited her photo op in the winners’ circle after the Wilshire S.-G3, a stunning upset for a truly gorgeous mare. Simply Breathless was bred in Great Britain, and I was unfamiliar with her pedigree, though aware of the brilliant campaign her trainer, Neil Drysdale, had planned for her since her importation. Then I saw that eye.

Her left eye was completely white-rimmed around the iris, giving her a slightly mad, bad and dangerous to know appearance, though her body language was cool and calm. I instantly thought: Nijinsky. I’ve owned a Seattle Dancer mare and a Royal Academy mare who both had that Nijinsky eye, and started observing it at sales as well. Nijinsky doesn’t have to be as close up in the pedigree as he was in the two mares I’ve owned with his blood; from what I’ve noticed, Nijinsky’s influence anywhere in the first six generations can cause that remarkable, crazy-looking eye to appear.

Simply Breathless is a product, in her sireline, of Juddmonte breeding, as Bated Breath, her sire, is by Dansili, and features all of the goodies inherent in stellar Juddmonte planning, such as Danehill, Irish River, Blushing Groom, Mr. Prospector and Danzig again, not to mention the tail female Blue Hen Monroe. It should be noted that her dams’ side features another dose of Danzig, through his wonderful but almost hopefully infertile son Lure, and more Mr. P through Gulch.

But look a little closer. Dansili is out of Hasili, by Kahyasi, a son of Ile de Bourbon. Ile de Bourbon’s dad? None other than Nijinsky II. I wish I could consult with Mendel on the genetics of this, as for me it is only observation rather than science. But there it is. And I love the Nijinsky eye, and the insane look it gives to mares. I’ve not observed this in stallions with Nijinsky in their blood, so perhaps, like the big heart gene, it can only be passed on to female offspring. Anyone else noticed this?

— Roberta Smoodin

Monongahela’s longshot win in the Philip H. Iselin S.-G3 on 6/22/19 was a thrill for all pedigree nerds, as he may be the lone representative of a long-lost sireline, that of the great Round Table and his son Princequillo, who still influence the breed through his female offspring, through his son Apalachee and his grandson K One King. Monongahela is a five-year old son of K One King, trained by Jason Servis and ridden yesterday by Jose Lezcano, and the horse now has six wins from 24 starts, with total earnings of $381,043.

K One King was a winner at two and three, of a non-graded stakes at three, but his triumph was at four, in the Oaklawn H.-G1, over, among others, Cat Thief. Retired after a suspensory injury with earnings of just under $700,000, prestigious Gainesway Farm in Lexington brought him onto their formidable roster in 2000, no doubt because of his unique pedigree, as the Princequillo/Round Table line had already all but disappeared. His stud fee was $6500. He then began a tour of the Bluegrass, standing at Margaux Farm, Silver Springs Stud, and Millennium Farm, with his stud fee dropping to a low of $2500. Despite research, all one can assume is that he was retired after the 2018 season. His entire stud career resulted in only 284 foals and 211 starters, and a dismal 2% blacktype winners. A big, handsome, chestnut, he was, as noted, from a sireline known to have great, producing daughters rather than great male race horses, and at this time there are no representatives of that sireline at stud that I am aware of.

K One King’s sire was Apalachee, a son of Round Table, out of Moccasin, a daughter of the great Blue Hen Rough Shod II, a sterling pedigree. It also featured inbreeding to Nantallah, a son of Nasrullah, and Heliopolis, by Hyperion, a truly old school mix of blood. Monongahela’s dams’ side adds two doses of Turn-to which call out to the two doses of Nasrullah on his top side, as well as another dose of Nasrullah through Mr. Prospector’s dam, Gold Digger, plus adding that all-important Buckpasser through his broodmare sire, Touch Gold, with it’s strong dose of La Troienne.

Add inbreeding to Native Dancer, top and bottom, through Native Charger and Mr. Prospector, plus the strength of Deputy Minister, and this pedigree begins to take the shape of a potential stakes winner. But the true key to the pedigree is Monongahela’s third dam, Just Us Girls, by Stage Door Johnny. A great stamina influence, Stage Door Johnny was by Prince John, a son of Princequillo, providing the huge heart gene of that great broodmare sire on Monongahela’s dam’s side, and reaching out to match the Princequillo sireline. Finally, it must be noted that Nantallah’s dam, Shimmer, is inbred to Sir Gallahad II, adding more of his dam, Plucky Liege, to the Bull Dog, Sir G’s full brother, in the dams’ side of Monongahela.

This collection of truly old school pedigree nicks warms a pedigree nerd’s heart. That Princequillo and his son Round Table, who once dominated thoroughbred breeding, have become nearly extinct saddens one, but Monongahela’s victory in the Iselin demonstrates the staying power of those great, nearly extinct sirelines.

— Roberta Smoodin

I always liked Bayern as a race horse, as I’m a sucker for big, handsome guys, and he was one of the biggest—to the point that his trainer, Bob Baffert, went to measure Zenyatta, sure that his guy was every bit as huge as the supermare. He wasn’t, but he sure came close. And big handsome guys who win the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1, along with the Haskell-G1, at three, and earn over $4.4 million? How could you not be a fan?

First of all, there’s the weird pedigree. Bayern is a son of Oflee Wild, and the Wild Again line in general has pretty much disappeared from prominence, let alone that of his sons at stud. A small, fine-boned horse, it’s amazing that a giant of Bayern’s proportions is a grandson. But, as is always noted in this column, there’s a ringer in Bayern’s dams’ side—his third dam is one of the greatest three or four Blue Hens of the twentieth century, the amazing Courtly Dee, who still influences pedigrees today.

Bayern had his first winner, from his first crop of two-year-olds, on June 18 at Indiana Grand Race Course, the filly Bayerly Seen, who won by 12 ¼ lengths in the five furlong contest that had been taken off the turf because of inclement weather. Owned by Gen Star Thoroughbreds and Hidden Brook Farm, bred by Hartwell Farm, and trained by Brad Cox, this filly is one to watch given this brilliant start, even though it wasn’t at a major track. I’d wager that some big offers have been floated for her already.

Here comes the broken record that this column has become. There’s another Blue Hen in Bayerly Seen’s pedigree well worth noting: the great Toussaud. Bayerly Seen is out of a First Defence mare, Overseen. First Defence represents the best of Juddmonte’s fabulous breeding program, being by Unbridled’s Song, out of the stakeswinning daughter of Toussaud, Honest Lady, by Seattle Slew. Given the recent success of Close Hatches as a broodmare, a Juddmonte home-bred also by First Defence, this may represent an important trend. Is First Defence the next great broodmare sire on the horizon? I’d certainly be looking for one at the upcoming fall sales, and I’d be trying to get a season to Bayern for her. He stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Lexington for only $15,000, a bargain for a race horse of his caliber, undoubtedly because of his dubious sireline. But perhaps he is the long-awaited scion to grandpa, Wild Again, winner himself of the first Breeders’ Cup Classic. We can only hope, as there is vigor in that silenced sireline that the breed needs.

— Roberta Smoodin

With the freshman sire race warming up, a new entrant has jumped to number seven in the top ten list: Winstar’s Daredevil, a precocious son of More Than Ready whose first foals were pictured in a memorable advertising campaign featuring them photoshopped into dramatic activities demonstrating their, well, daredevilry.

Daredevil’s high point of his racing career came when he won the Champagne S.-G1 at Belmont at two, his only graded stakes win, and his career ended with earnings of $424,600. His stud fee of $7500 seemed appropriate, and one couldn’t help but wonder if he would pass on his precocity to his progeny.

This week seems to have proved that he is doing so. He had his first winner on Wednesday, June 12, in the UK, the colt Better the Devil, and his first winner in the US, Shedaresthedevil, in a Churchill Downs maiden special weight on Thursday, June 13 in her first start, as well as having a two-year-old in training sell for $245,000 at OBS June on Wednesday. Quite the week.

Daredevil’s pedigree is strong in that it features inbreeding to Almahmoud through both Halo and Northern Dancer, through her daughters Natalma an Cosmah, and inbreeding as well to Mr. Prospector; it is especially worth noting Woodman in his pedigree, a son of Mr. P out of a Buckpasser mare. Both Shedaresthedevil and Better the Devil have similar pedigrees, demonstrating this early on what nicks well with Daredevil. Both feature A.P. Indy, with another dose of Buckpasser, and the tail female line that Seattle Slew and Mr. P share, a strong nick.

Also appearing in both close up is Storm Cat, as well as other doses of Northern Dancer, underscoring the strength of extra doses of Natalma. It’s also worth noting that with both A.P. Indy and Storm Cat, these young runners have inbreeding to Secretariat’s great blue hen dam, Somethingroyal.

Is it possible that Daredevil may be the heir apparent to his prolific and popular sire, More Than Ready? As one of the last examples of the Hail to Reason/Turn-to sire line, we can only hope that this young stud, Daredevil, will carry on that fast, precocious and tenacious All-American pedigree.

— Roberta Smoodin

Right now, it appears that 2020 will be a battle of the geriatric tyrannosaurs, old Trump versus old Biden. Yawn. Belmont S.-G1 day, however, was a triumph for the senior citizens of Adena Springs, with the Belmont being won by Sir Winston, a son of Awesome Again, and the Acorn S.-G1 being won by Guarana, a daughter of Ghostzapper (in only her second start), a granddaughter of Awesome Again. You can’t count these old boys out.

At one point, Awesome Again was the most prized stallion on the planet, at least in part because of the brilliance of his son, Ghostzapper. Ghostzapper was a bona fide freak, a thrillingly fast horse capable of running the last quarter of a race in a faster time than the first quarter, breaking the hearts and spirits of capable opponents. A foal of Awesome Again’s 2000 crop, Ghostzapper raced from two to five, earned over $3.4 million, and a list of his grade one wins alone can’t help but impress: the Vosburgh S., the Breeders’ Cup Classic S., the Woodward S., and the Metropolitan H. A small, well-made horse who now stands for $85,000, he is the product of classic Stronach breeding, adding In Reality and La Troienne to the classic bloodlines of Awesome Again. Ghostzapper’s dam, Baby Zip, featured In Reality and La Troienne in her pedigree, a Stronach motif, and was also the dam of the great City Zip.

Old dad, Awesome Again, a 1994 foal of the wonderful Deputy Minister (a horse whom, when you visited him, would just as soon bite you as be adored by you, and who had some of the funkiest front legs ever seen on a great sire), was no slouch on the track either, with his list of grade one wins much like his freakish son’s: the Travers S., the Breeders’ Cup Classic S., the Whitney S., for a total of over $4.3 million. Putting Deputy Minister together with the Blushing Groom mare Primal Force was simply smart, and, with a Mr. Prospector second dam, speed and endurance were added to Deputy Minister’s sires’ side, and a dynasty was created. It’s worth noting that Awesome Again’s half-brother, Macho Uno, was a son of Holy Bull, more building up of In Reality and La Troienne; Frank Stronach always favored the gritty American speed pedigree of the beloved Holy Bull.

In an era when promising and exciting first crop stallions like American Pharoah, and coming up behind him Justify and Arrogate, are the toast of the sales ring, it’s worth remembering the senior citizens who can still, on a big race day, produce the grade one winning offspring—Awesome Again and Ghostzapper, like Lebron James of the Lakers, are still capable of being game changers. Maybe Trump versus Biden won’t be snooze-inducing—Belmont Day certainly wasn’t.

— Roberta Smoodin

Much has been made of the domination of the Galileo line in both the entries in the Epsom Derby-G1 and the winning order, and it is indeed impressive, and of trainer Aidan O’Brien and owners/breeders that are the usual Coolmore suspects lock on the race. No mention, though, has been made of the influence of North American breeding in the pedigree of Anthony Van Dyck, the brilliant winner. Though his sire is the great Galileo, and his broodmare sire is the Australian stallion Exceed and Excel, the rest of this pedigree brings together both important North American sires and Blue Hen North American mares in a star-studded cast designed to create a derby winner.

The first element to be noted is in-breeding to Northern Dancer, through his most prolific sons. Galileo’s sire was Sadler’s Wells, a son of Northern Dancer, out of the spectacularly well-bred mare Fairy Bridge, by Bold Reason, out of the Forli mare Special, herself one of the foremost representatives of her tail female line, starting with Roughshod II. Then there’s Exceed and Excel’s sire, Danehill, a son of Northern Dancer’s wonderful sire Danzig. Exceed and Excel, however, is out of the Lomond mare Patrona, and Lomond is another son of Northern Dancer. Ready for the next spectacular North American influence? Lomond’s dam is none other than My Charmer, the dam of Triple Crown Winner Seattle Slew.

It doesn’t end there. Anthony Van Dyck’s third dam was one of Storm Cat’s first big stakes-winners, and created Storm Cat’s first stone cold nick, on Alydar mares: she is November Snow, out of Princess Alydar, and of course her grandsire is Northern Dancer’s son, Storm Bird. Close up in this pedigree, then, we have three doses of Natalma, Northern Dancer’s dam and one of the true Blue Hens of American breeding. But wait: Danehill’s dam, Razyana, a product of the magnificent Juddmonte breeding program, was by His Majesty, and out of the Buckpasser mare Spring Adieu, whose own dam was none other than Natalma, yet again. To me, this is one of the keys to this pedigree’s success. A dose of Natalma through a tail-female line certainly had something to do with Danehill’s heart as a racehorse, and may have been enough to twist the genetics back toward Natalma’s own gifts as a broodmare.

So Seattle Slew has already made a cameo appearance in this pedigree, via his dam, and we can’t help but connect My Charmer with the Bold Reason in Sadler’s Wells—after all, a big part of Slew’s pedigree features Hail to Reason, Bold Reason’s sire, and of course this reaches out to the dose of My Charmer in the dams’ side. But there’s another Triple Crown Winner in the mix: two doses of Secretariat live in Anthony Van Dyck’s dams’ side, through two of his most fabled daughters: the sire of Anthony Van Dyck’s second dam, Arctic Drift, was none other than Gone West, out of the Secretariat mare Secrettame, while the sire of his third dam, November Snow, was Storm Cat, out of the Secretariat mare Terlingua.

Inbreeding to Somethingroyal, Secretariat’s dam, is a staple of North American breeding; there can never too much Somethingroyal. So we’ve noted Anthony Van Dyck’s strong relationship with two American Triple Crown Winners, Seattle Slew and Secretariat, who clearly had something to do with his ability to get the classic distance.

There is still more, as the inbreeding, top and bottom, to Mr. Prospector, purveyor of American speed and grit, must be noted, through Miswaki, the broodmare sire of Urban Sea, Galileo’s dam, and the previously mentioned Gone West, two of Mr. P’s most productive sons in terms of siring great broodmares. It is through Miswaki that Buckpasser, the embodiment of American toughness and brilliance, makes his second appearance, on the zig-zag, through Miswaki’s dam, Hopespringseternal.

This reaches out to that dose of Buckpasser in Razyana’s pedigree, and also hooks up with the other doses of the Blue Hen La Troienne in My Charmer and through Bold Reason’s dam, Lalun, whose pedigree features La Troienne’s son, Bimelich. More of the zig-zag, matching close genetic relatives through both male and female lines, is evident. It must also be noted that Urban Sea, Galileo’s dam, features inbreeding to classic American sources of pedigree power, Princequillo and Nasrulah.

Another of the classic crosses in American breeding is combining Hail to Reason/Turn-to with Ambiorix, who appears in the dams’ side through his son, Amber Morn, the broodmare sire of Princess Alydar. Add to that the fact that Lalun’s sire, Djeddah, is also a close genetic relative of Turn-to and Ambiorix, and you have a combination that makes stakes winners at an alarming rate. It would also be remiss not to mention the spectacular build-up of Bull Dog and his full brother, Sir Gallahad III, in the outer reaches of this pedigree, as this has been noted, again and again, as a foundation for success.

So as we hail the latest winner of the Epsom Derby-G1, the glorious Anthony Van Dyck, we are also hailing North American Triple Crown Winners and breeding in general, which have come together with European success stories like Danehill and Galileo to make a fabulous horse.

— Roberta Smoodin