I was a writer of fiction first, novels and short stories, and for a long time, this line of work supported my Thoroughbred habit, until that habit became a full-time job, more interesting to me than writing fiction. I do, however, like to make things up—characters, worlds, fantasies, metaphors. I have a vivid imagination. So it occurred to me—why not create the perfect, imaginary Kentucky Derby contender?
I can see him now—16 hands tall or a little more, broad of chest and hindquarters, scopey (long enough for both Ortiz brothers to sit on him) with a noble, intense, intelligent head, eyes that cut through you, nostrils as big as dinner plates. Undoubtedly bay, because as someone once jokingly told me, “what other colors do thoroughbreds come in?” For chic, I’d add a blaze face and a couple of high socks.
That’s the easy part. As a pedigree wonk, what building blocks would I use to make a horse that could win the Derby? Picture pedigree as a Lego building in the works. What fits together? What blocks complement the other blocks? What creates the perfect building?
If I could afford any sire I wanted, and why not, if this is imaginary I can also imagine a big bank account, the one sire I’d consider would be Tapit. If my imagination gave me a budget to work with, I’d consider a son of Tapit—Belmont S.-G1 winning Tonalist. Tapit is the no-brainer here, if my imaginary bankroll includes winning the lottery. His pedigree offers everything that money can buy except stamina, which I’ll get from my dams’ side. By Pulpit, he offers A.P. Indy and Mr. Prospector, both tail female Frizette through Myrtlewood, a powerful doubling of that great female line. Tapit’s dam, Tap Your Heels, offers Unbridled as her sire (Dr. Fager, In Reality, Buckpasser, plus another way back to Mr. Prospector through his entirely distinctive Fappiano branch), and the Nijinsky II mare Ruby Slippers as her dam. I was lucky enough to see Ruby Slippers when she went through a Keeneland mixed sale years ago, and, aside from being a genetic marvel with her dams’ side offering La Troienne and In Reality, she was the prettiest little gray mare you could ever hope to see. She had a doll’s head, and big soft eyes—she could have been a child’s stuffed toy.
What Tonalist has to offer, for the budget-minded imaginer, is stamina, in the form of Pleasant Colony (by His Majesty, by Ribot). This was what allowed an endurance-challenged son of Tapit to get the Belmont’s mile and a half. Tonalist doesn’t look like any other Tapit—he harkens back instead to Pleasant Colony, with his very masculine head, stout bone and high withers, not to mention his chocolate coat. An Evans-bred, Mr. Evans didn’t sell this big, strong colt because of an accident that left both his front legs scarred, though no real damage was done. Thanks to fate, Robert Evans won a Triple Crown race with his homebred. Add another dose of Buckpasser and My Baby on his dams’ side, and you’ve got a young sire who should be able to produce offspring that can get any distance. Kentucky Derby, here they come.
If I get my season to Tapit, what would my imaginary mare’s pedigree consist of? She would be by Forestry, like Nyquist’s dam. It’s clear that Tapit loves Pleasant Colony (as in the pedigree of Tonalist above), and Forestry provides this, as well as the Storm Cat to complement the Nijinsky II in Tapit’s pedigree. We also get a doubled dose of Dr. Fager. But the best thing about Forestry is that his fourth dam, Sequence, is also the dam of Gold Digger, Mr. Prospector’s dam. This means that we get another tail female family that goes back first to the great Myrtlewood, and through her to Frizette. This worked for the aforementioned Nyquist, whose second dam is by Seeking the Gold. In my mare, though, we get three ways back to Frizette. In fact, Nyquist’s dam, Seeking Gabrielle, might fill the bill entirely for my ideal imaginary mare, who also provides another way back to stamina influence Ribot through his great son Arts and Letters. Remember, she foaled Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist with Uncle Mo, adding stamina and endurance to his speedy pedigree. Imagine what she could do with Tapit.
If my imaginary bankroll can only afford Tonalist, my imaginary mare from my imaginary broodmare band changes. Two more doses of Ribot, one through a doubling of Pleasant Colony and the other through Arts and Letters, may make a horse who can win at two miles, an unnecessary indulgence. I’m looking for more speed for Tonalist, so I might settle on a Graeme Hall mare, like the dam of Curalina, Whatdreamsaremadeof.
Dehere is an increasingly powerful source of genetic material, turning up in pedigrees of stakes horses frequently, and seemingly his own branch of Deputy Minister’s family, as he has been inbred to other sources of Deputy Minister with great success. To me, his Secretariat dam, Sister Dot, with her Damascus dams’ side, is the difference maker. Graeme Hall’s dam, Win Crafty Lady, brings In Reality and La Troienne to the mix, offering a doubling of The Axe II through Al Hattab to complement that found in Tonalist. Add more Damascus, La Troienne, and Northern Dancer through Eastern Echo, and you’ve created a son of Tonalist who can get any distance. Kentucky Derby, here we come.
Another good choice for Tonalist would be the awesome producer, Miss Macy Sue, the dam of both Liam’s Map and Not this Time. I love her because she is double-bred, and tail female, Ta Wee, the full sister of the great Dr. Fager, and great in her own way as both a race mare and a producer. There is speed everywhere in this pedigree which, one would hope, would be enhanced by the Ribot in Tonalist.
If I desire a totally imaginary mare for my Kentucky Derby horse, that changes everything. A whole new genetic stew would result. I have a terrific soft spot for Irish River in a mare’s pedigree—that dose of Klairon, which so complements My Babu and Turn-to in Tapit, and is so hard to find in contemporary pedigrees, is matched with Princequillo, Nasrullah, Sir Gallahad III and his half-brother Admiral Drake. And then there’s the physical—Irish River had more bone than just about any horse I’ve ever seen, those short stout cannon bones seared in my memory. Stoutness and stamina would be the result of the imaginary Irish River mare in my colt’s pedigree. And I can’t help longing for a bit of Giant’s Causeway thrown in, for both the Storm Cat and the Rahy, wonderfully complementing the Nijinsky.
Then there are the “too much is not enough” elements in pedigree that I prize. Never too much La Troienne. Never too much Somethingroyal. Never too much Plucky Liege. And give me more Buckpasser, always. These Lego blocks should be fundamental and frequent in building this perfect pedigree.
With the Kentucky Derby just around the corner, I need my imaginary colt to have turned three and accrued a hundred points. I have my imaginary hat ready, and plan to be at Churchill on the first Saturday in May, with my Derby horse ready to go, a fire breathing dragon going a mile and a quarter in just under two minutes. Can’t wait.
— Roberta Smoodin
Thanks to Thoroughbred People contributor and bloodstock consultant Roberta Smoodin for this article. Roberta offers pedigree analysis for sales and breeding recommendation services for your broodmares – please contact Roberta at [email protected] for more information.