SID FERNANDO Unusually good stallion in California

Unusual Heat, 21, has been the leading Grade 1 winners and other high-class runners to his credit. sire in California the past three years (and His most recent is five-year-old , who set a track 1 probably will make it record for 1 ⁄4 miles on the Polytrack syn- four at the end of 2011) and commands a thetic surface at Del Mar on August 28 in $20,000 stud fee at Harris Farms—the the TVG (G1). At highest in the state. But his pedigree, race the moment, Acclamation actually is a con- record, and character as a stallion all are tender for Horse of the Year honors with unusual for a successful sire these days. three 2011 Grade 1 wins, which include 1 For one, he’s a son of , whose the 1 ⁄4-mile Charles Whittingham Memo- 1 lone top son at stud in the U.S. was 1987 rial Handicap (G1) and the 1 ⁄8-mile Eddie Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) winner and U.S. Read Stakes (G1). champion turf male (Ire). By Essentially, has gotten and a three-quarter better with age because his offspring race 1 brother to Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev was well as older horses, they stay 1 ⁄4 miles, ACCLAMATION a fabulous stallion at Walmac Interna- Benoit & Associates photo they relish turf—rare sire characteristics tional (after one season at stud in France these days—and because they have re- at Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard), but he primarily was no- ceived a boost by the switch in California to all-weather surfaces, table for his turf horses, which included top miler Miesque which they handle with aplomb. and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) winner Peintre His other Grade 1 winners are The Usual Q. T., who won 1 Celebre. the 2009 Hollywood Derby (G1) on turf at 1 ⁄4 miles at three Unusual Heat was bred by Walmac owner John T.L. Jones and the 2010 Eddie Read on turf at four; Golden Doc A, who Jr. from the Danish-bred mare Rossard (Den), whose pedi- won the 2008 Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) at a mile on the all- gree reads like Greek: by Glacial out of Peas-Blossom, by Mid- weather surface at Santa Anita at three; and Golden Doc A’s summer Night. Rossard won the Swedish and Danish full brother Unusual Suspect, who won the 2010 Hollywood 1 Derbys—dubious distinctions—but she proved her class in Turf Cup Stakes (G1) at 1 ⁄2 miles at age six. 1 the U.S. with a victory in the 1 ⁄4-mile Flower Bowl Handicap Unusual Suspect may give his sire some unusual inter- (G1) in 1984. national exposure, too. Currently in Australia, Unusual Sus- Unusual Heat was Rossard’s only stakes winner. Nowhere pect is expected to contest the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes near as accomplished as Theatrical on the track, he did, how- (Aus-G1) at 1,600 meters (7.95 furlongs) at Moonee Valley ever, improve like him with age. He won six of 16 starts from on Saturday as a prep race for the Emirates Melbourne Cup two to six, including three stakes races in Ireland, where he (Aus-G1) on November 1 at Flemington at 3,200 meters also was Group 3-placed. He campaigned in the U.S. as a six- (15.91 furlongs). 1 year-old and won two turf races at 1 ⁄16 miles, while in Europe 1 he had won from six furlongs to 1 ⁄8 miles. Sid Fernando is president of Werk Consultants Inc. With this turf background and without a graded stakes win (eNicks.com) and eMatings.com. He is the former bloodstock editor of on his résumé, Unusual Heat nevertheless steadily has risen Daily Racing Form. He blogs about racing and breeding at through the sire ranks in California—and nationally, with four www.sidfernando.wordpress.com and is on Twitter as @sidfernando.

Chime In! We want your opinion. Click here to leave your comments about this feature. THOROUGHBRED TIMES TODAY BREEDER OF THE WEEK® Nancy Dillman

There certainly are larger Thoroughbred breeding oper- Saratoga sale of selected yearlings. He was purchased by John ations than the three or four broodmares Nancy Dillman Ferguson, buyer for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. works with but few can boast having a filly as talented as Dillman’s foals spend time at Mill Ridge, where they typically Havre de Grace, who defeated males in the Woodward Stakes are born, and her Stonegate Farm in Anchorage, Kentucky, where (G1) on September 3 to make a strong move into the Horse they are raised and broken before being returned to Mill Ridge of the Year picture. for sales preparation. Havre de Grace’s Woodward victory pushed Dillman to the top of the list of leading North American breeders by North American leading breeder by earnings earnings for the week ended September 4. (August 29 through September 4) While Havre de Grace, a four-year-old Saint Liam filly, con- tinues to excel on the track, her dam, the Carson City mare Breeder Strs Wnrs Earnings Leading Earner Nancy S. Dillman 2 1 $450,492 Havre de Grace ($450,000) Easter Bunnette, continues to turn heads with her foals. Her Ken & Sarah Ramsey 39 5 260,954 Banned ($150,000) unnamed Bernardini colt, consigned by Mill Ridge Sales, Adena Springs 72 9 247,205 Judy the Beauty ($50,000) agent, sold for $1.2-million at last month’s Fasig-Tipton Darley 18 3 230,811 Grace Hall ($150,000) www.thoroughbredtimes.com Thoroughbred Times TODAY September 7, 2011 4