Andrew Caulfield, February 5, 2008–Spring at Last P EDIGREE INSIGHTS BY ANDREW CAULFIELD DONN H.-GI, $500,000, GPX, 2-2, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48 1/5, ft. 1--sSPRING AT LAST, 119, h, 5, by Silver Deputy 1st Dam: Winter's Gone, by Dynaformer 2nd Dam: Stark Winter, by Graustark 3rd Dam: Winter Wren, by *Princequillo ($675,000 HRA >06 KEENOV). O-J Paul Reddam & WinStar Farm LLC; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Doug F O'Neill; J-Eibar Coa; $300,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-UAE, 12-5-2-2, $1,137,650. *1/2 to Sharp Lisa (Dixieland Band), GISW, $658,100; and 3/4 to Sharp Susan (Touch Gold), MGSW & GISP, $285,843. Click for the brisnet.com chart or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. When it comes to Producer of the Week, nothing in the Thoroughbred world came close to matching Mrs. Olivia Manning's feat. Her son Eli followed in the footsteps of older brother Peyton by collecting the MVP award at the Super Bowl, and in the process Mrs. Manning became the first woman to have sons triumph in consecutive editions of the Super Bowl. As an Englishman, I have no idea what the odds are against lightning striking twice in the NFL showpiece. However, I do know that broodmares occasionally defy seemingly enormous odds, good examples being Windmill Girl, whose sons Blakeney and Morston landed the Epsom Derby, and Better Than Honour, who produced consecutive Belmont S. winners in Jazil and Rags to Riches. WinStar Farm's mare Winter's Gone doesn't yet merit mentioning in the same breath as such as Windmill Girl and Better Than Honour, but she is developing into an outstanding producer and was represented by her second Grade I winner-- and third Grade I performer--when Spring at Last took the GI Donn H. three days ago. You would never have expected Winter's Gone to scale such heights, judged solely on her racing career. The daughter of Dynaformer raced a total of six times at two and three for her breeder, Maycroft Farm, and was tried on dirt and turf, over a variety of distances. Nothing helped, though, and she failed to fulfil the potential of her excellent bloodlines, never finishing better than fourth. Her career earnings amounted to $2,610. I don't know whether she was injured when she finished only 11th of 12 at Fair Grounds in the March of her sophomore season, but--whatever the reason--her owners decided not to persevere with her racing career. Instead she was mated to Coronado's Quest before being sent to Keeneland the following January. Some idea of the strength of her bloodlines can be gauged from the fact that the WinStar Farm partners were prepared to pay $410,000 for her. www.coolmore.com Winter's Gone has since confirmed that, in some Winter's Gone's failure on the racecourse was in instances, pedigree can be far more important than sharp contrast to the success enjoyed by several of her performance in a potential broodmare. Her third foal, half-brothers and -sisters, which include the top-class the Dixieland Band mare Sharp Lisa, became a Grade I turf horse Bien Bien and the dual Grade III winner Dr. winner in the 2005 Las Virgenes S. and her fourth foal, Schwartzman. Bien Bien possessed plenty of stamina, a colt by Silver Deputy, is none other than Spring at as he showed with his victories in the San Juan Last. Her fifth is the Touch Gold filly Sharp Susan, who Capistrano H. and San Luis Rey S. This provides some was beaten only : lengths in the GI Garden City S., not encouragement for thinking that Spring at Last, now a long after taking last year's GII Lake Placid S. So mature five-year-old, will stay well enough to make his Winter's Gone has produced three consecutive graded presence felt in the G1 Dubai World Cup over 13 miles. winners to three different stallions (two of them sons He has already shown, with his Group 2 win in the of Deputy Minister), which is a tremendous Godolphin Mile, that the travel and achievement (even if it doesn't match Mrs Manning's!). the Nad Al Sheba dirt course hold no fears for him. SPRING AT LAST, h, 2003 As Spring at Last's first three Northern Dancer dams are daughters of Dynaformer, Vice Regent Victoria Regina Graustark and Princequillo, there is Deputy Minister Bunty's Flight reason to think that Winter's Gone Mint Copy Shakney would have stayed at least 13 Silver Deputy Raise a Native miles, given the chance. This is Mr. Prospector Gold Digger good news, as a degree of stamina Silver Valley Road At Sea in the mare is probably necessary Seven Valleys Proud Pied Spring at Last for Silver Deputy to get horses Hail to Reason which stay 13 miles. Roberto Coglianese Bramalea Silver Deputy's outstanding Dynaformer His Majesty daughter Silverbulletday, who landed the GI Alabama S. Winter's Gone Andover Way 6-0-0-0, $2,610 On the Trail over 13 miles, is out of a grand-daughter of Ribot. The 6Fls, 2GISW, *Ribot very talented Badge of Silver, like Spring at Last, is out Stark Winter Graustark 1GSW 18-5-2-3, $61,180 Flower Bowl of a grand-daughter of Roberto and he thrived over 1 14Fls, 2GSW Winter Wren *Princequillo 1/8 miles. Silver Deputy also sired Archers Bay, winner 1SW 12Fls, 2SW Flight Bird of two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, from a mare by the stamina-packed Val de l'Orne, so he can get the Unfortunately she was barren in 2005 and slipped in occasional 10-furlong horse. Maybe Spring at Last will 2006, but she got back into the swing of things a year prove to be another. ago, when she foaled a colt by Storm Cat. It took a sale-topping $3.4 million for the BBA Ireland to acquire Sharp Lisa (a $50,000 yearling) at Fasig-Tipton in 2006, so the Castleton Group must now be more than happy to have paid $410,000 in 2005 for the dual winner Winter's Quest, Winter's Gone's eldest daughter. Winter's Gone's appeal as a potential broodmare must have stemmed partly from her unusual pedigree, which features the top-class brothers His Majesty and Graustark. This means she is inbred 4x3 to their parents, the brilliant Ribot and the high-class racemare Flower Bowl. This inbreeding could be particularly relevant to her emergence as Dynaformer's most successful broodmare daughter, in view of the success that Roberto and his sons experienced with mares with Graustark or His Majesty blood. Incidentally, Graustark and His Majesty also appear together in several of Danehill's good winners, including the champion sprinter Mozart. There is even an Australian Group 1 winner by Danehill called Keeper, who is inbred 3x3 to His Majesty. Interestingly, Keeper is beginning to shine as a stallion in New Zealand and his 2007 representatives included the Group 1 winners Insouciant (New Zealand 1000 Guineas) and Keepa Cruisin..