Classic Pedigree Profile: Invasor

Over forty years ago, *Colonia was imported to the United States from Uruguay. Although she was a stakes winner in her native land, her arrival probably occasioned little notice. Two generations later, however, she proved her genetic worth through her stakes-winning daughter Sun Colony, whose champion son Pleasant Colony swept the 1981 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) before becoming a top sire.

Time will tell whether another Uruguayan invader, aptly named Invasor, will have a similar long-term impact. There is no question about the impact he has made on the American handicap division in 2006, however. Provided he comes out of his pending Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) showdown with Bernardini sound, the Uruguayan Triple Crown winner will almost certainly be among the favorites for the Breeders' Cup Classic–Powered by Dodge (gr. I).

Like Colonia, Invasor has a pedigree that combines the male line of *Nasrullah with old South American bloodlines. In his case, the *Nasrullah line comes via Candy Stripes, a son of Blushing Groom and the Lyphard mare Bubble Company.

Second in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (Fr-I) at three, Candy Stripes was exported to Argentina at age six and has done very well there. To date, he has sired at least fifty-nine stakes winners and eight champions, among them 2000/01 Argentine Horse of the Year Tapatio, 2005/06 South African co-Horse of the Year Ilha Da Vitoria, and 2005 US champion turf male Leroidesanimaux.

The dam of Invasor, Quendom, never raced but is a full sister to Reina Victoriosa (Clasico Eliseo Ramirez, Arg-I, and dam of the North American listed stakes winners Ready Ruler and More Than Regal) and Qualified (Clasico General Belgrano, Arg-II). She was sired by Interprete, a champion 2-year-old and miler and the leading Argentine freshman sire of 1997.

Interprete is a son of 1977 Gran Premio Jockey Club (Arg-I) winner Farnesio, who, in turn, was sired by Good Manners. A stakes-winning son of 1955 Horse of the Year Nashua, Good Manners led the Argentine general sire list in 1979 and established a uniquely South American branch of the *Nasrullah male line by begetting two-time leading Argentine broodmare sire Ahmad, sire of two-time US champion older female Paseana, and Mocito Guapo, an Argentine group II winner who ranked among the leading sires in Chile from 1982 until his death in 1993. Ahmad was ably succeeded by his Classic-winning son Potrillazo (who died in 2000), while Mocito Guapo has several sons at stud in Chile and is the sire of the California-based sires Memo and Malek.

Queen of Victory, the second dam of Invasor, is by another important Argentine sire in Cipayo. A champion racehorse and the leading Argentine sire of 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1987, Cipayo was also a four-time leading broodmare sire and is the paternal grandsire of the speedy grade II winner Seattle Fitz (Arg), now at stud in Kentucky. The male line traces back to *Blenheim II, familiar to Northern Hemisphere breeders as the sire of the influential stallion *Mahmoud and of Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown winner.

Queen of Victory was produced from Twitch Crown, a daughter of the American-bred Hoist the Flag stallion Crown Thy Good and the Atlas mare Twins, and so was closely related to Twine (Cipayo–Twins), winner of the Gran Premio La Mision (Arg-I), and to The Twins (a full sister to Twine), dam of multiple Argentine group I winner and champion Di Escorpion. Another daughter of Twins, the Vervain mare Disy, is the dam of South African Horse of the Year Ilustrador, 1988 Gran Premio Nacional (Argentine Derby, Arg-I) winner Indalecio, and two-time Gran Premio Criadores (Arg-I) winner Ishkra, all by Cipayo. The female family traces back to the great English race mare Pretty Polly and has been in Argentina since the importation of Twins' dam Umbella (by Umberto), a sixth-generation descendant of Pretty Polly.

Invasor's pedigree may be unfamiliar by Northern Hemisphere standards, but the quality is there. If he can live up to that quality on Breeders' Cup day, Invasor will be a dangerous invader indeed.