Blue Hen Mares
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Andrew Caulfield, May 16, 2006–Family Ties: Blue Hen Mares P EDIGREE INSIGHTS FAMILY TIES: BLUE HEN MARES In case you don't know exactly what a blue hen is-- BY ANDREW CAULFIELD and I'll forgive you if you don't, as even my great big English dictionary doesn't include the phrase--the Saturday, Churchill Downs Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac offers the LOUISVILLE BREEDERS' CUP H.-GII, $271,000, CDX, following useful definition: 5-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:42 4/5, ft. “Blue hen--used to describe a great broodmare, the 1--OONAGH MACCOOL (IRE), 117, f, 4, by Giant’s Causeway producer of a number of stakes winners and whose 1st Dam: Alidiva (Ire) (SW-GB), by Chief Singer daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters 2nd Dam: Alligatrix, by Alleged in turn produced important winners." 3rd Dam: Shore, by Round Table Obviously a blue hen is a pretty rare bird, but the O/B-Charles H Wacker III (IRE); T-Todd A Pletcher; month of May has already thrown up several excellent J-R Bejarano; $140,127. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-0, illustrations of this phenomenon. For a start, we have $307,180. *1/2 to Taipan (Ire) (Last Tycoon {Ire}), seen the Chief Singer mare Alidiva represented by her 2X Hwt Older Horse-Ity at 9.5-11f, Hwt Older fourth individual group/graded winner, with Oonagh Horse-Ger at 9.5-11f, MG1SW-Ger & Ity, GSW & Maccool adding the GII Louisville Breeders' Cup H. to G1SP-Fr, MGSP-GB, $1,185,265 & GSP-HK; her success in the GII Rampart H. in March. Billed by Ali-Royal (Ire) (Royal Academy), Hwt Older Horse-GB Todd Pletcher as "as good of a filly as we've had," the at 7-9.5f, G1SW-GB, $328,190; and Sleepytime (Ire) daughter of Giant's Causeway follows in the footsteps (Royal Academy), G1SW-GB, $240,036. of Taipan (a four-time Group 1 winner in Europe), Ali-Royal (winner of the G1 Sussex S. and a Group 1 Click for the brisnet.com chart or the free brisnet.com sire) and Sleepytime (winner of the 1997 G1 1000 catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Guineas). Then, last week, the G3 Dee S. was won by Made. the Peintre Celebre colt Art Deco, who became the second stakes winner to emerge from the first three foals produced by Alidiva's daughter Sometime. J Watch Out for “TDN Rising Stars” J Stars of tomorrow grabbing the spotlight today... All horses in TDN Headline News and TDN American edition are bred in North America, unless otherwise indicated www.coolmore.com This family traces back to another blue hen in This is also the family of Aliysa, the disqualified Oaks Bourtai, who produced such famous daughters as winner who ranks as the second dam of Alamshar, Banta, Delta, Levee and Bayou. It has been pretty much winner of the Irish Derby and King George in 2003. a story of excellence generation after generation, the Coincidentally, this family also supplied the Aga Khan one comparatively weak link being Alidiva's second with one of his winners of the French 2000 Guineas, as dam Shore. However, Shore's failure to Nucciolina--the fourth dam of Aussie Rules--was also produce a stakes winner is easy to the second dam of Nishapour, winner of the 1978 forgive in view of the fact that Delta, Classic. Alidiva's third dam, produced five Trace this female line further back and you come stakes winners and Alligatrix, the dam across such famous names as Mah Iran, Mah Mahal of Alidiva, bred three, including the and Mumtaz Mahal, one of the most notable blue hens top-class French colt Croco Rouge. of all time. The power of these bloodlines is highlighted by the fact that Alligatrix Golden Eggs... also produced two non-winning The value of such well-established families was also daughters, Galatrix and Itching, which Tie Black demonstrated in the French 1000 Guineas. Although have produced group winners. A.P.R.H everyone seems to recognise that the original winner of Sometime, the dam of Art Deco, was this race, Dansili's daughter Price Tag, was clearly the another non-winner--this sister to the Classic-winning best horse in the field, there was still plenty to admire Sleepytime never raced--but she is looking good value about the effort of Tie Black, the filly promoted to first. at the $300,000 she cost Bradley Thoroughbred Tie Black wasn't exactly cheap as a yearling, costing Brokerage at Keeneland last November. She was i330,000, but this daughter of Machiavellian must be carrying to an early cover by Fusaichi Pegasus, whereas extremely valuable now, as she comes from a lengthy Ellen, an unraced daughter of Sleepytime, made line of Classic winners and champions. $625,000, in foal to Giant's Causeway. Sometime received another boost recently when her Sunday, Longchamp, France two-year-old Galileo colt made 390,000gns at GAINSBOROUGH POULE D'ESSAI DES POULICHES-G1, Newmarket, so there look sure to be plenty more big i400,000, Longchamp, 5-14, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:36.60, gd/sf. winners from this family. 1–@sTIE BLACK (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Machiavellian 1st Dam: Tender Is Thenight (Ire), by Barathea (Ire) ‘Rule’ the Roost... 2nd Dam: Mill Princess (Ire), by Mill Reef The same applies to the Nucciolina family responsible 3rd Dam: Irish Lass (Ire), by Sayajirao (GB) for Aussie Rules, the colt who completed an impressive (i330,000 yrl ‘04 DEAAUG). O-Javier Gispert; Anglo-French 2000 Guineas double for Danehill (who B-Stone Ridge Farm; T-Francois Rohaut; J-Jean- completed the same double in 2002). Bernard Eyquem; i228,560. Lifetime Record: Aussie Rules is the latest in a very long line of group 6 starts, 4 wins, 2 places, i284,960. winners from this family, another being his high-class Click for the racingpost.co.uk chart or the free dam Last Second, winner of a pair of Group 2 contests brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. which now carry Grade 1 status. A daughter of Alzao Tie Black's third dam Irish Lass II was a sister to and Alruccaba, Last Second is a close relative to the Lynchris, a filly talented enough to win the Irish Oaks Group 1-winning fillies Alborada and Albanova, who and Irish St Leger in 1960, after finishing an unlucky were sired by Alzao from Alruccaba's daughter fourth in the Irish 1000 Guineas. Unfortunately, Alouette. Another of Alruccaba's daughters, Jude, Lynchris produced only three foals, but her younger found fame as the dam of the Group 1-winning sisters sister made a more-than-adequate substitute, Irish Lass' Yesterday and Quarter Moon. finest achievements being her son Irish Ball, winner of Sunday, Longchamp, France the Irish Derby in 1971, and her daughters Irish Bird GAINSBOROUGH POULE D'ESSAI DES POULAINS-G1, and Mill Princess. i400,000, Longchamp, 5-14, 3yo, c, 1mT, 1:37.00, gd/sf. Irish Bird became one of the few mares which have produced three Classic winners, thanks to the French 1--sAUSSIE RULES, 128, c, 3, by Danehill 1st Dam: Last Second (Ire) (MGSW & G1SP-Eng, Derby success of her son Bikala, the French and Irish GSW-Ire, $236,038), by Alzao Derby victories of another son, Assert, and the Irish St 2nd Dam: Alruccaba (Ire), by Crystal Palace (Fr) Leger win of her daughter Eurobird. 3rd Dam: Allara (GB), by Zeddaan (GB) One might have expected Irish Bird's younger O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Faisal Salman; half-sister Mill Princess to struggle to emerge from such B-Belgrave Bloodstock Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Kieren a huge shadow, but she has enjoyed more than her fair Fallon; i228,560. Lifetime Record: 6 starts, 3 wins, share of time in the sun. Her five stakes winners were 3 places, i315,259. *1/2 to Approach (GB) undoubtedly led by Last Tycoon, a champion sprinter (Darshaan {GB}), SW & GSP-Eng, GSP-US, $187,890. who stretched his stamina to take the Breeders' Cup Click for the racingpost.co.uk chart or the free Mile. brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Caulfield cont. As many as five of Mill Princess' daughters have gone on to produce at least one group winner, the remarkable feature being that two of them have now produced winners of the French 1000 Guineas. It was her Kings Lake filly Save Me the Waltz who produced Valentine Waltz, winner of the 1999, and now her Barathea filly Tender Is Thenight--a minor winner in France--has produced Tie Black as her third foal. As with the other examples, the excellence shown by the last few generations is nothing new, as Irish Lass' third dam was the famous Schiaparelli. The moral of the story seems to be that seemingly unexceptional members of exceptional families are discarded at their breeders' peril. But the good news for everyone else is that even the top breeders can't possibly hang on to every filly from a prolific family..