Marathon Lady

TVG Coaching Club American Oaks Recap

Five days into the New Year, Ed Stanco’s 3-year-old homebred filly Princess of Sylmar crushed the field in Aqueduct’s Busanda Stakes, earning her first black-type. In the six months since, she has hardly put a hoof wrong, adding the Busher Stakes and the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). Her most recent triumph, a six-length tour de force in the TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) at Saratoga, puts her in the catbird seat for year-end divisional honors.

With her Busanda win, the striking chestnut filly became the first stakes winner from the first crop of her sire Majestic Warrior, who won the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga as a 2-year-old. Bred by George Steinbrenner’s Kinsman Farm, Majestic Warrior is a son of A.P. Indy out of Steinbrenner’s multiple grade I-winning Seeking the Gold mare Dream Supreme, who won both the Test Stakes and the Ballerina Handicap at the historic track.

In winning the Ballerina, Dream Supreme emulated her dam, Spinning Round (by Dixieland Band), also a Steinbrenner homebred as is Majestic Warrior’s third dam, the winning Secretariat mare Take Heart.

Princess of Sylmar is also the first foal out of her dam Storm Dixie, who was purchased for Stanco as a 2-year-old for $67,000 by his bloodstock adviser Joseph Brocklebank at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale. Stakes-placed Storm Dixie was bred in New York by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who had sent their stakes-winning Dixieland Band mare Golden Wave Band to their house stallion Catienus.

A son of Storm Cat, Catienus won the Charles Staats Memorial Stakes and placed in four graded stakes, including Saratoga’s Whitney Handicap (gr. I). He is earning a bit of attention as a broodmare sire as Princess of Sylmar is one of three stakes winners for him this year and his second grade I winner (along with the Ramseys’ Stephanie’s Kitten). Of Catienus’ five stakes winners as a broodmare sire, two are by A.P. Indy-line stallions: Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior) and Nora’s Cat (Congrats). Although it is a small sampling (seven foals), the cross of Catienus mares with sons of A.P. Indy has a black-type strike rate of 28.6%.

Princess of Sylmar is inbred 4x3 to Dixieland Band and is the only graded winner from four out of 59 starters (6.7%) who have this cross within the first four generations. Princess of Sylmar is also heavily linebred to Meadow Stud foundation mare Somethingroyal. Through seven generations of Princess Sylmar’s pedigree, Somethingroyal appears five times through Secretariat and his half brother Sir Gaylord.

Majestic Warrior has sired six added-money winners, all this year. Eight-year-old Majestic Warrior stands at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. His 2013 fee was $12,500.—T.H.

Mother Goose S. Recap

Second choice in the race is not always second choice at the wire and such was plainly the case for Juddmonte Farms’ Close Hatches as she emerged victorious in the June 22 Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I). In her third attempt she finally captured her elusive first grade I after her distant second-place finish in the May 27 Acorn Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont and a seventh place in the May 3 Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs.

There could not have been much doubt that the promise of her performances earlier this year would be fulfilled. She captured her debut, a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park, by seven lengths to launch a three-race win streak. She stretched out to capture a 11/16-mile allowance race at Gulfstream, and took the nine-furlong Gazelle Stakes (gr. II) April 6 at Aqueduct, over eventual Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar. Her return to form in the Mother Goose makes her losses seem a distant memory.

The 3-year-old filly was bred in Kentucky by Millsec, out of the Storm Cat mare Rising Tornado. A winner at 3 in France, Rising Tornado has only one foal to race so far: Close Hatches. Along with a 2-year-old by Candy Ride named Seismology, she has also produced a yearling by Congrats, and this year foaled a full brother to Close Hatches.

Though a young broodmare, Rising Tornado comes from a strong family of winners and producers, not to mention being sired by Storm Cat, leading broodmare sire for 2012 and currently ranked third for 2013.

Rising Tornado’s dam, stakes-placed Silver Star, bred five winners and is out of the Sir Ivor mare, Monroe. Monroe produced a remarkable four stakes winners including Silver Star’s full brother, Xaar, a European champion and a multiple highweight in England and Ireland at 2 and 3 and a multiple graded stakes winner in England and France.

Close Hatches is one of two stakes winners this year and the top performer for stallion First Defence, a grade I–winning Juddmonte Farms homebred. A son of Unbridled’s Song out of grade I winner Honest Lady (by Seattle Slew), a half sister to Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Empire Maker, First Defence stands at Juddmonte Farms near Lexington for a fee of $7,500. —M.P.