Chauette

There is a mare named Chauette who last raced a Philadelphia Park on 7/27/09 in the 6th race. She was in a $10,000 claiming race but is worth much more as a breeding prospect. Her sire is Pleasant Tap a top sire who sired amongst others Tap Dance City earner of $9,958,479 including the Japan Cup etc.

What makes Chauette so valuable as a breeding prospect is her dam Quiet Fun. I would suggest going to the Thoroughbred Pedigree Query site and pull up the pedigree of Domino's 2nd dam Lizzie G. Http://www.pedigreequery.com/Lizzie G. You will find that Chauette has the same unusual inbreeding found in Lizzie G. Quiet Fun traces down her tail female line to the Princequillo's daughter Cequillo. A few more generations down the female line from Cequillo brings you to the matron Marguerite de Valois who is a full sister to Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad 3rd. When Quiet Fun's dam Fun Fun Fun was bred to Quiet American two more direct crosses of Cequillo were introduced. Quiet American traces to Cequillo through his tail female line as does his sire Fappiano.

If this were not enough Quiet fun is Inbred 3x3 to matriarch Grey Flight through the full brother and sister What a Pleasure and Bold Princess. The sire of Chauette brings in another cross of Grey Flight through her champion daughter Misty Morn who is a half sister to What a Pleasure and Bold Princess. Adding to this great concentration of this great female family is Native Dancer. He is found twice in Quiet Fun's pedigree. Native Dancer has as his third dam the matriarch La Chica who is the 2nd dam of Grey Flight.

The comparison to Lizzie G is that Lizzie G is sired War Dance a son of Reel whose dam is Fandango. Lizzie G's dam is the Lecompte mare. Her sire Lecompte is also a son of Reel providing a 2nd cross of Fandango. Then when you consider that Lizzie G's 5th dam is Fandango you have a triple cross of her direct female line. This is the same pattern as found in Quiet fun.

When you consider that Lizzie G is the dam of the mighty Domino you have reason to consider the possibilities found in Chauette. Domino only sired 20 foals, 19 of which lived, and from those 20 foals he dominated American breeding for 40 years.

Just claim Chauette and breed to a first class outcross stallion and you could get a runner of the highest class

Swaps Stakes G2

Five G2 races to be covered this week with one of particular interest, that being the

G2 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. This race won by the Candy Ride colt, Misremembered whose dam has a 31.4 racing index. The dam Beyond Perfection by Quack was the winner of the G2 Del Mar Debutante, Bay Meadows Oaks G3, and the Barretts Oaks and placed in the Oak Leaf Stakes. Her son Misremembered has a racing index of 15.85 about 50% of his dams index. One might speculate that this colt might go on and increase his index but I would say that is possible but unlikely. The field in the Swaps Stakes was a weak one, leading one to believe that this colt who earned $180,000 in the race is actually not as good as his 15.85 index would indicate. Go back to the Queen's Plate winner, Eye of the Leopard who has and index of 38.78 which was the result of his win in a $1,000,000 race restricted to Canadian Breds. He has earnings of $693,000 of which $528,600 came from the Queens Plate. In his next start the restricted Prince of Wales Stakes he was third to an Aptitude colt and a Milwaukee Brew filly. So although being by A P Indy out of a Smart Strike mare he would probably not measure up well against top flight American classic contenders. Keep in mind the index isn't everything; it's just a good guide line that over a period of time will show that the very high indexed runners come from mares in the .50 to 6.00 racing index, and that when mares have an index of 25 or higher they almost always breed down from their own indexex with a few exceptions. So let's watch Misremembered and see what happens to his index by the end of the year.



The following are this weeks major races: Featuring the winner with its index and the dam and her index



Virginia Derby
Battle of Hastings.............44.48 Subya............................3.20

Delaware Oaks
Careless Jewel..................17.93 Sweet and Careless.....Unr.

A Gleam Handicap
Evita Argentina................13.09 Jealous Wildcat............ .93

Swaps Stakes
Misremembered..............15.85 Beyond Perfection.......31.40

Delaware Handicap
Swift Temper...................16.06 Glascow's Gold...............1.56

Hollywood Gold Cup

Probably the most interesting development this week is the victory of Rail Trip in the Hollywood Gold Cup G1. Rail Trip is out of the Carson City mare Sweet Trip. During the last year daughters of Carson City have produced four high indexed runners with an average racing index of 18.79. The four Carson city mares that produced these superior runners had an average racing index of 2.66 or about 6 times lower than their foals. This is typical of what you might find in tthe dams of superior runners.

Of course all of these numbers by themselves don't give you the information to understand how much racing class is preferable in a potential broodmare. Consider this; Silver Dew the dam of Carry Back Stakes winner Not for Silver has a racing index of 3.22. She earned this index from 22 Starts, 3 wins and earnings of $158,962

Compare this to Zenyatta's dam Vertigineux who earned a 3.96 racing index with 7 Starts 2 wins and earnings of $60,480, or Gio Ponte's dam Chipeta Springs with a 3.78 index earned over 21 starts 2 wins and $93,518. She is stakes placed with a 3rd place finish in the Azalea Stakes.

Finally, we have Tap Your Feet, the dam of Diamondrella. Tap Your Feet earned a racing index of 4.72 and was a stakes winner of the minor Illinois Princess Handicap

What is important is that you have Allowance winners, Stakes placed winners and minor stakes winners in a racing index range from 3.22-4.72. This is the range in which you will find a very large percentage of the dams of High index runners.

Now for this weeks results. I'll list the race, the winner with it's index, then the dam and her index.

American Derby G2
Reb........................14.96..........Sweet Baby.........................1.95

Man O' War G1
Gio Ponte.............41.62...........Chipeta Springs.................3.78

Princess Rooney G1
Game Face..........17.36............Galleon of Gold..................unr

Carry Back G2
Not For Silver.....10.06...........Silverdew...........................3.22

Smile Sprint H. G2
Eaton's Gift.........13.45............Kit's Girl.............................1.04

Hollywood Gold Cup G1
Rail Trip..............32.96............Sweet Trip........................2.69

Royal Heroine Mile G2
Tuscan Evening..18.51...........The Faraway Tree...........4.50

Speedy Sophomore's defeat Elders

Nine G1 and G2 Races covered this week and only one winner is out of a mare with a high racing index. However, that horse, Mr. Sidney may be the goods as a sire prospect. The most interesting development is the emergence of two very talented three-year-olds who defeated their Elders in the Triple Bend Handicap G1 and the Tom Fool Handicap G2. It's a little early in the year for three-year-olds to be defeating their elders even given the weight differentials. We'll discuss them later. I'm still having trouble getting the columns to come out properly so from now on I will list the race then under it give the winner and the winners index followed by the winners ham and her index.

American Oaks G1
Gozzip Girl...................32.15...........Temperence Girl...........unraced

United Nations Handicap G1
Presious Passion.........19.07...........Princesa's Passion.........unraced

Prioress Stakes G1
Cat Moves....................25.45..........Dance Move...................unraced

Triple Bend Handicap G1
Zensational..................15.15............Joke................................ 3.88

Suburban Handicap G2
Dry Martini..................17.89...........Jon's Kimberly.............. .04

Dwyer Stakes G2
Kensei...........................11.34............Private Feeling................. .97

Firecracker Handicap G2
Mr. Sidney....................17.26...........Tomisue's Delight............31.12

American Handicap G2
Monterey Jazz..............12.98...........Reefside............................. .02

Tom Fool Handicap G2
Munnings......................17.44............Le Comete..................Unraced

As mentioned earlier only one of these high indexed runners was produced by a high index racemare that being Mr. Sidney whose dam is the very good racemare Tomisue's Delight. She won the G1 Personal Ensign and Ruffian Handicaps and ran 2nd in the Coaching Club American Oaks, Kentucky Oaks and Beldame Stakes all G1 events. As you can see Mr. Sidney has an index about 50% of his dams. Since regression has already taked place in the family and since Mr. Sidney is inbred to Secretariat 3x4 and is from the La Troienne Family he might prove to be a very interesting stallion prospect.

The two sophomore sensations Munnings and Zensational after making short work of their elders are reportedly headed for the G1 Kings Bishop at Saratoga. That should prove to be a race that we all want to see. There is little question that Zensational is the faster horse but he is green and erratic which may prove to be his undoing against the more professional Munnings.

Mother Goose Stakes G1

This week saw the two best mares in North America continuing their dominance. Rachel Alexandra demolished two outclassed runners in the Mother Goose G1 while on the west coast Zenyatta gave away weight and toyed with another outclassed field. It's interesting to note that both of these great mares are out of slow mares. Rachel Alexandra's dam, Lotta Kim by Roar has a 1.88 racing index compared to Rachel's 48.80. Actually Rachel Alexandra's index is much higher, it just hasn't been updated. It was 48.80 when she won the Kentucky Oaks and doesn't take into consideration her Preakness and Mother Goose victories. Zenyatta with an index of 82.30 is out of Vertigineux by Kris S. whose index is 3.96. Both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are true champions and their dams are typical of what you can expect to see from mares that produce champions. They were sound enough to race and win, but they were no great shakes as racemares. On the other hand this week we also see the dam of the winner of the Cornhusker Handicap G2 is champion Mom's Command winner of the Triple Tiara with a racing index of 53.47. Her son Jonesboro who won the Cornhusker has a racing index 10.95 even though he has won $1,383,500. Mom's Command bred down 80% from her own racing index and although Jonesboro has won over $1,000,000 he is not even close to being a horse of championship caliber having won that amount during 6 racing seasons. Another salient point. Jonesboro was one of Mom's Commands last foals, produced when she was almost 20. Great racemares will often produce their best foals later in life after their bodies have recuperated from the stress of a hard racing career. We aren't going to gain great insight in a few weeks but over a longer period of time a pattern will begin to emerge.

Race...............................winner................index...........................dam.......................index
Vanity H. Zenyatta 82.30 Vertigineux 3.96
Mother Goose S. Rachel Alexandra 48.80 Lotta Kim 1.88
King Edward C. Rahy's Attorney 20.79 Rahy's Hope .65
First Flight H Porte Boneur 12.18 Sous Entendu 2.00
Beverly Hills H Black Mamba 20.81 Sneetch 10.00
Cornhusker H Jonesboro 10.95 Mom's Command 53.47
Colonial Turf C. Battle of Hastings 26.45 Subya 6.00

Another interesting point to consider is that Black Mamba's dam and Battle of Hasting's dam were grass runners which are much more likely to produce high indexed runners then their contemporaries which raced on dirt.

Stephen Foster G1

Please excuse the first post on this blog as I had trouble showing the list of champions and their dams. The computer compressed the list taking away the space between the columns. We'll see if we can fix that problem in this week's addition.

We are going to profile all of the grade 1 and grade 2 stakes winners each week showing the winners racing index as well as the racing index of their dams. I might make a few comments on the female family if I see something that may be of interest. Here is the list of last weeks major graded stakes winners.

Race..............................................Winner...................index.......................dam.......................index

Stephen Foster H.........Macho Again.........29.03.................Go Donna go..............2.23
Californian Stakes.........Informed.................7.43..................Cajun Two Step........1.99
Ogden Phipps H............Seattle Smooth.....25.78.................Our Seattle Star.........unr
Jefferson Cup H............Florentino...............6.24..................Must Be Loved..............0
Fleur De Lis...................Miss Isella..............13.56.................La Cucina....................unr
Queens Plate.................Eye ofthe Leopard.35.88................Eye of the Sphynx..44.33

All of these major winners are out of relatively slow mares with the exception of Eye of the Leopard. Since this is a rarity It would be wise to look at his dam to try to figue out why this would occur. First, Eye of the Sphynx started only 7 times which is very positive for a potential broodmare. Short racing careers can be very positive for both sires and dams. Second, both Eye of the Leopard's sire, A P Indy, and the sire of his dam, Smart Strike are leading sires. The sire of the his granddam is Vice Regeant, also a very influential sire. I would suspect that given the weak field that Eye of the Leopard faced in the Queen's Plate that his racing index will come down and may end up below that of his dam. We'll have to wait and see. Keep in mind that the Queen's Plate is a race restricted to Canadian Breds and has a $1,000,000 purse

The Rachel Alexandra Dilemma

If any one person has had a positive influence on racing since we began the new century it is Jess Jackson. I would go so far as to say that he is the number one racing fan in the United States. I say this because Mr. Jackson wants to see which horse is the true champion and he puts his money where his mouth is. Not many horseman would have run Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes and it is only through the efforts of Jess Jackson that we were able to witness this historic event. This comes on the heels of his courageous move of keeping Curlin in training as a four-year-old to prove he is a great champion. Curlin went on to become the leading money winning thoroughbred and greatly added to his stature, and helped the sport immeasureably. All sports need their hero's and Jess Jackson creates them by giving his horses a chance to prove their greatness.

With that being said, let me throw in a bit of controversy. Prior to the running of the Preakness Mr. Jackson said he would like to breed Rachel Alexandra to Curlin in the hope of getting a super horse, a horse better then either parent. Unfortunately, that would be the equivalent of trying to breed a tomato as big as a house. Horses like Curlin and Rachel Alexandra are the genetic limits of the breed. The fact is there aren't any better horses than they are. When bred to each other they will almost certainly breed down from their own racing indexes.

My research shows that only 3% of the champion horses in North America were produced by mares who were themselves champions. Of the 287 champions in this time period only 10 were produced by mares who were champions on the racecourse.

Figure 1

Champion Dam Racing Index Champion Offspring Racing Index

Two Lea 1045 Tim Tam 1458

Affectionately 676 Personality 753

Princess Turia 592 Forward Pass 936

Nellie Flag 484 Mar-Kell 241

Jacola 483 Phalanx 449

Flower Bowl 402 Bowl of flowers 1514

Big Hurry 379 Bridal Flower 357

Myrtlewood 378 Durazna 416

Misty Morn 331 Bold Lad 1133

Now What 310 Next Move 724

Mares with indexes 400 or higher bred only 3% of the champions during the 42 year time period. It is around the index of 400 that the "law of diminishing returns" sets in. From that point on, as the racing index of the mare increases, her ability to produce horses of championship caliber decreases (except on grass). Remember, I said horses of championship caliber, not stakes winners. Mares with racing indexes of 400 or higher often breed stakes winners, but these stakes winners almost always have racing indexes markedly below that of their dams. When you approach this question of "class in the dam" without a racing index you may be misled by the fact that stakes winning mares produce a larger number of stakes winners than their own percentage of the breed. This can lead you to believe that the more racing class the better

Another trend that can be monitored by indexing is what happens when very high indexed mares breed up. Nine of the ten mares in Figure 1 bred runners with indexes equal to or greater than their own. One, Nellie Flag produced Mar-Kell whose racing index was 1/2 of her own. Remember, Nellie Flag was the last filly to win the Preakness Stakes before Rachel Alexandra. The nine runners with racing indexes equal to or greater than their own were all disappointing stallions or producers except one, Next Move.

Tim Tam bred only one good horse, Tosmah. Forward Pass and Personality were dismal failures. Phalanx sired two good horses, Career Boy and Fisherman. Bold lad's best runner was Sirlad who ran a strong 2nd to Affirmed in the Hollywood Gold Cup but otherwise didn't sire much dispite great opportunity. Bridal Flower's best runner Beylerbey earned a 28 racing index. Durazna's best was Querida with an 82 index. Only Next Move bred really good horse when to the cover of Native Dancer she got Good Move index 627. The great Bowl of Flowers with an extremely high index of 1514 had a best runner named Spruce Bouquet with an index of 129 which is only 11% of her own index.

On the other hand Mar-Kell who had a racing index 50% of her dam's produced Mark-Ye-Well with a racing index of 742.......Three times her own.

Another interesting point is that Bowl of Flowers, although she bred down from her own very high racing index of 1514, produced two sons, who although poor racehorses, were very good stallions. The are Whisky Road and Big Burn. The former, a son of Nijinsky II stood in Australia where he sired Strawberry Road the winner of their most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup.

It appears that when high indexed mares breed up from their own indexes the resulting champions will be poor risks at stud. conversely, when champion mares breed down some of their foals make excellent breeding prospects.

No less an authority then Federico Tesio believed that hard racing drained a certain vitality that required a generation of rest to be restored. Tesio who harbored some very esoteric ideas, nevertheless bred two undefeated and unextrended colts in Nearco and Ribot with profound and lasting influence on the breed.

If you have any doubts about what type of racemares produce the highest quality racehorses here is a list of all of the Triple Crown winners except Sir Barton (unable to find his dams index) along with the other great racehorses of recent times.

Champion racing index dam racing index

1. Man O" War 1100 Mahubah 15
2. Omaha 700 Flambino 99
3. War Admiral 1190 Brushup 15
4. Gallant Fox 1650 Marguerite 0
5. Assault 875 Igual unr
6. Whirlaway 886 Dustwhirl unr
7. Count Fleet 1096 Quickly 58
8. Citation 1655 Hydroplane II unr
9. Secretariat 1909 Somethingroyal 0
10. Seattle Slew 1877 My Charmer 45
11. Affirmed 2416 Won't Tell You 56
12. Native Dancer 1608 Geisha 24
13. Nashua 1956 Segula 59
14. Spectacular Bid 1844 Spectacular 66
15. John Henry 1581 Once Double 8
16. Dr. Fager 1785 Aspidistra 24
17. Forego 1135 Lady Golconda 99
18. Round Table 1292 Knights Daughter 79
19. Swaps 1566 Iron Reward 3
20. Buckpasser 1869 Busanda 247
21. Tom fool 953 Gaga 51
22. Kelso 1822 Maid of flight 81
23. Seabiscuit 499 Swing On unr

None of the dams of these superlative racehorses was a champion. A rule of thumb would be that champion racehorses, with a few exceptions, have racing indexes of 400 or higher. Only one of these dams of champions had a racing index over 100 that being Busanda the dam of Buckpasser. Busanda achieved her high index by winning the 1951 renewal of the Suburban Handicap while carring only 102 pounds.

The Dilemma facing Jess Jackson is how to breed Rachel Alexandra to achieve the best results. In all likelihood it will be her daughters and granddaughters that will be the great producers not Rachel Alexandra herself. The answer may be found in the production record of Myrtlewood. She was a champion with a 378 racing index (low index probably because she raced during the depression when stakes horses ran in allowance races with low purses). Myrtlewood produced Durazna whose racing index was 416 just about the same as her dam. Regression did not set in because Durazna was by Bull Lea the leading sire in North America one of the few stallions I've seen that could overcome regression. In figure 1 four of the horses mentioned were by Bull Lea. They are Two Lea, Durazna, Next Move and Mark-Ye Well. Yet inspite of his ability to breed fast mares up, all of Bull Lea's sons failed at stud including Citation and Coaltown. So, although Durazna had a racing index equal to her dams, and although she was by the exceptional broodmare sire Bull Lea, her best runner had an index of 98.

Here is one last caveat concerning "Class in the Dam" . Mares that are champions on Turf are much more likely to produce champions then their counterparts that race on dirt. Why? It could be that grass is a much more natural surface and doesn't drain the horse of vitality to run over it. The trainer of the 2nd horse I bred was Miguel Clement who had trained two winners of the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby). He told me that we Americans breed 20 Sea-Birds every year, but only one survives our training methods. That may be the reason.

An example of a top grass mare that is an exceptional producer is Urban Sea. She is herself the winner of the Prix de l'arc de Triomphe yet she is the dam of this year's Epsom Derby winner Sea the Stars, another Epsom Derby winner in Galileo, the Italian Derby winner Black Sam Bellamy, and the brilliant grade one winner in North America, My Typhoon.

Every week on this blog I will analyze the grade one and grade two winners from the previous week with special attention to the correlation between the winners racing index and their dams. Your comments will make for a lively discussion