Classic Spotlight: Going Wild

A balance between speed and stamina is the key to the pedigree of Going Wild, winner of the Jan 17 San Miguel Stakes. With early fractions of :21.61 and :44.32 for the San Miguel, he has already demonstrated speed, and his pedigree suggests the endurance to carry that speed over a distance.

The sire of Going Wild, Golden Missile, had his biggest win in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special (gr. I) and never won at less than a mile; however, he had speed and usually ran close to the pace. Much of his speed can be attributed to Santa Catalina, a dual grade III-winning sprinter and a daughter of Cure the Blues, who was a leading juvenile of 1980.

Golden Missile's stamina came from his sire, Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner A.P. Indy. As grandsire of Going Wild, A.P. Indy meets another stamina source in Going Wild's broodmare sire Strawberry Road, whose daughter Strawberry Reason produced 2002 champion juvenile Vindication, by A.P. Indy's sire, Seattle Slew.

Pola, the dam of Going Wild, won at six furlongs but was bred to go longer. Her dam, Nureyev's Best, (by Nureyev), is a stakes-winning half-sister to Really Blue, dam of 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness (gr. I) winner Real Quiet. The next dam, Meadow Blue (Raise a Native--Gay Hostess), is a full sister to 1969 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Majestic Prince and a half-sister to Betty Loraine (by Prince John), dam of 1974 champion and Prix du Jockey-Club (Fr-I) winner Caracolero and granddam of 1984 Epsom Derby (Eng-I) winner Secreto.

An interesting feature of Going Wild's pedigree is the close relatives Forceten (second damsire of Golden Missile) and Special (dam of Nureyev) in the fourth generation: both are by Forli out of mares by sons of Nasrullah. Another interesting point is that the mating that produced Going Wild is an outcross to the predominant inbreeding in both sire and dam: Pola is free of Bold Ruler, who appears 5x4x5x5 in Golden Missile's pedigree, while Golden Missile is free of Northern Dancer, who is found 4x3 in Pola's pedigree.

For an extensive look at Avalyn Hunter's pedigree analysis, be sure to read her best-selling book, American Classic Pedigrees.