Andrew Caulfield, May 7- (Ire) Of course the excitement about PEDIGREE INSIGHTS started last year, when Dawn Approach=s Coventry S. B Y A N D R E W C A U L F I E L D win was part of an unprecedented stakes treble for a first-crop sire at Royal Ascot, the other victories coming QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS S. (205TH RUNNING)-G1, via Tha=ir and the short-lived Newfangled. ,400,000, Newmarket, 5-4, 3yo, c/f, 1mT, 1:35.84, While these three proved that New Approach is gd/fm. perfectly capable of siring precocious juveniles, I 1--DAWN APPROACH (IRE), 126, c, 3, by New Approach (Ire) suspect that they may be exceptions to the rule. No 1st Dam: Hymn of the Dawn, by Phone Trick other stakes winners emerged from New Approach=s 2nd Dam: Colonial Debut, by Pleasant Colony subsequent 2-year-old runners in 2012, but he notched 3rd Dam: Kittihawk Miss, by up his fourth stakes winner when the stoutly bred O-; B/T-Jim Bolger; J-; took the Pretty Polly S. two days ago. ,226,840. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 2yo Colt-Eur, Eng & Ire, G1SW-Ire, 7-7-0-0, ,593,028. Werk As with many a winner of the 2,000 Guineas, the Nick Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. question now is whether Dawn Approach has the Click for the Racing Post result, the brisnet.com PPs or necessary stamina for the Derby. I might as well admit the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, now that I have my doubts, but I am delighted that courtesy Racing UK. Dawn Approach=s connections apparently intend to let Jim Bolger=s outstanding record as a trainer has him take his chance. shown time after time that he is not hidebound by Bolger has been an advocate of Equinome=s genetic convention. If a horse appears to be ready to run, he is testing system, designed to evaluate a racehorse=s happy to run it, even if other trainers would hesitate stamina potential. It seems, though, that he is still because of the animal=s bloodlines. prepared to go along with the old trial-and-error process This has been highlighted by the records of the five which has stood racing in good stead for hundreds of colts which have taken the G1 Dewhurst S. for Bolger years. over the last seven years, as none of them made his When Brough Scott interviewed Bolger for Racing debut later than July 16. was out as early as Post Sunday in March, Scott explained that the system Apr. 10, despite being inbred 3x3 to Sadler=s Wells, and categorizes a horse=s stamina capabilities, from a TT for Saturday=s admirable 2000 Guineas winner Dawn middle-distance to a CC for sheer speed. Approach started his career even earlier, on Mar. 25. AGalileo was a TT, but he had class,@ Bolger These early starts also allowed Bolger to give his colts explained. The ideal for a Classic horse is CT. New the wealth of experience which often proves so A valuable in the top events, with all five racing at least Approach was a CT, while Dawn Approach is a CC. I five times at two. trained his dam who had talent, although she got I guess that ungenerous observers might say that injured, but she was by a sprinter, so the Derby some of these colts paid the price for their early distance is unlikely. But as he settles so well, I would exploits, as neither () nor Parish Hall not rule it out entirely.@ (Teofilo) was able to race at three and Intense Focus It is essential to remember that stamina cannot be (Giant=s Causeway) ran only twice after his busy first accurately assessed without taking temperament into season. However, New Approach proved to be a model account. A hard-puller is never going to stay as far as and is now a highly exciting sire, with expected. Equally, a phlegmatic temperament and a the unbeaten Dawn Approach leading the way. willingness to settle can sometimes allow a horse to stay further than anyone might have predicted. DAWN APPROACH (IRE), c, 2010 One of the most extreme examples that I can recall was Lord Helpus, a horse trained by Barry Hills nearly Sadler’s Wells 40 years ago. This colt was by Green God, a high-class Galileo (Ire) Fairy Bridge performer who did all his winning over five or six New Approach Allegretta (GB) furlongs. Golden Cloud, the broodmare sire of Lord (Ire) (GB) Helpus, was another specialist sprinter and so were (Ire) Helen Nichols (GB) Golden Cloud=s sire Gold Bridge and Vilmorin, sire of Matcher Match II Lord Helpus= very speedy second dam, Poplin. Lord Lachine II Helpus seemed to be fulfilling his destiny when he Clever Trick Icecapade showed consistently useful form over sprint distances Phone Trick Kankakee Miss at two. However, an amenable temperament Hymn of the Over the Phone Finnegan encouraged Hills to move the colt up in distance at Dawn Prattle three, when Lord Helpus achieved a rating of 5-0-0-0, $518 Colonial Debut His Majesty 6Fls, 1GSW Pleasant Colony 111 in scoring twice over a mile. The 4-year-old Lord 8-0-1-2, $19,500 Sun Colony Helpus then showed even further progress, when he 8Fls, 1GSP Alydar Kittihawk Miss achieved his finest victory in the G3 Princess of Wales=s 10Fls, 1SP Kittiwake S. over a mile and a half. Of course the stamina had to come from somewhere, The Newstead Farm Dispersal in 1985 provided the most obvious sources being Green God=s grandsires abundant evidence as to Ole Liz=s talents. Her daughter Nasrullah and Guersant, both of whom just about Kittiwake--now the fourth dam of Dawn Approach-- stayed a mile and a half. realized $3.8 million at the age of 17. Clearly this latent stamina eventually proved more Kittiwake=s daughters Larida and Miss Oceana sold potent than the fast blood in Lord Helpus= pedigree. So for $4 million and $7 million, respectively. Dawn will the presence of one very fast horse in Dawn Approach=s third dam, Kittihawk Miss, was a sister to Approach=s pedigree--his broodmare sire Phone Trick-- Miss Oceana, whose record stood at an impressive 11 prove more influential than the fact that his next three wins and six seconds from 19 starts. Good enough to dams are daughters of Pleasant Colony, Alydar and win five of her six juvenile starts, Miss Oceana Sea-Bird II? progressed to boost her total of Grade I wins to five, In case you=ve forgotten, Pleasant Colony won the including one over a mile and an eighth. She also Kentucky Derby and Preakness before siring several finished third in the CCA Oaks over a mile and a half. high-class performers over a mile and a half, including Kittiwake was 21 when she foaled the last of her Colonial Affair (GI Belmont S.), Denon (GI Turf Classic) four stakes winners, the Group 1-winning Nureyev colt and St Jovite (winner of the G1 and King Kitwood, who stayed a mile and a quarter in France. George for Jim Bolger). Alydar was a fine second in Kittiwake is also the second dam of Magic of Life, each of Affirmed=s Triple Crown wins, running him to a winner of the G1 Coronation S. head in the Belmont S. And the majestic Sea-Bird still Ole Liz is also the third dam of Film Maker, a high- has strong claims to being the finest mile-and-a-half class turf filly who scored at up to a mile and a half. horse in living memory. Dawn Approach isn=t the only proof that this female line To get back to Phone Trick, fast horses inevitably is still flourishing; other recent Grade I winners being predominate among the good winners produced by his Aruna (a Mr. Greeley filly descending from Kittiwake daughters, good examples being Zensational, Old who scored at up to 1 3/8 miles) and Love Theway Topper and Universal Form. Fortunately for Dawn Youare (2012 Vanity H.). Approach=s admirers, there are exceptions to the rule, Beaconaire, another of Ole Liz=s daughters, produced the finest being Unbridled=s daughter Exogenous. With the high-class filly Sabin, who collected Grade I wins in a GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders= Cup Classic the Yellow Ribbon S. and Gamely H. Bourbon Mist=s winner as her sire, Exogenous stayed well enough to daughter Fire Water bred the champion filly Life=s triumph in a pair of Grade Is over a mile and an eighth Magic, whose wins included the GI Breeders= Cup and she was also runner-up in Grade Is over a mile and Distaff, and Bourbon Mist is also the third dam of two a quarter and a mile and a half (appearing not to stay very different types in Europe, namely Nuclear Debate, the latter distance). Then there=s Eye of the Tiger, a a top sprinter, and the stamina-packed Amilynx, twice a Grade II winner over 1 3/16 miles, and Connected, a winner of the G1 Prix Royal-Oak. Grade III scorer over 1 1/8 miles. Therefore, there is good reason for thinking that Dawn Approach will not be troubled by a mile and a quarter, but only the racecourse test will tell us whether he can also excel over the Derby distance. It is worth pointing out that the late great Vincent O=Brien was of the opinion that a mile and a quarter was the optimum distance for some of his English and Irish Derby winners. Sheer class can help eke out a colt=s stamina, and Dawn Approach certainly has that, so I think the idea of putting him to the test in the Derby is the right one, no matter what the result. Dawn Approach=s dam Hymn of the Dawn cost no more than $18,000 as a weanling. She failed to win in five attempts and her dam Colonial Debut also retired winless after eight starts. Even his third dam Kittihawk Miss won only once in seven starts. Don=t get the wrong idea, though. The 2,000 Guineas hero comes from a female line which has achieved a great deal. Colonial Debut=s best effort was her Tale of the Cat colt Galantas, a smart miler who earned the equivalent of over $300,000. Dawn Approach=s fifth dam is Ole Liz, a winner of six of her 12 juvenile starts back in 1965. As a daughter of and Islay Mist, Ole Liz was a sister to Bourbon Mist, and both these sisters proved very influential producers.