Mien, the dam of 2008 Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Big Brown , will be bred to Henrythenavigator in 2009. An English and Irish classic winner, Henrythenavigator (by Kingmambo) finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I). He will be standing his inaugural breeding season at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky., for a fee of $65,000.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful physical fit,” said Dr. Gary Knapp, the breeder of Big Brown and the owner of Mien. “It (the resulting foal) ends up with inbreeding 4 (X5) X 3 to Northern Dancer, and that pattern has been highly successful with Kingmambo (the sire of Henrythenavigator). Then, when you look for female families, when you breed Mien to Henrythenavigator, you end up with inbreeding to Special and you end up with inbreeding to Rough Shod II. I just thought, ‘Wow! Those are nice mares.’ That’s the thought process I went through.”
Mien is a winning 9-year-old daughter of Nureyev.
The yearling half-sister to Big Brown (by Touch Gold) is being prepared for racing in Florida. She will be trained by Christophe Clement. Knapp bought back the filly for $200,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.