Andrew Caulfield, November 16, 2004–River Belle (GB) P EDIGREE INSIGHTS River Belle’s win at Churchill Downs is her second important success, following her win in the G3 Princess BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Margaret S. at Ascot last year. As that Ascot triumph made her the seventh group winner to emerge from MRS. REVERE S.-GII, $171,150, CDX, 11-13, 3yo, f, Lahib’s first eight crops, Lahib can’t be classified as a 1 1/16mT, 1:44 2/5, gd. failure as a flat sire. But not being a failure isn’t the 1--RIVER BELLE (GB), 120, f, 3, by Lahib same thing as being a success, and this could also be 1st Dam: Dixie Favor, by Dixieland Band said of Rousillon, although he sired that remarkable 2nd Dam: Femme Favor, by *Forli stayer Vintage Crop and Fastness. 3rd Dam: Lady Parida, by Round Table The one stallion son of Riverman who could be (14,000gns yrl ‘02 DONSEP). O-Team Valor Stables, described as an unqualified success is Irish River, with a Heiligbrodt Racing Stable & Green Lantern Stables, tally of nearly 90 stakes winners including Hatoof, LLC; B-Mrs S Camacho (GB); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-K Paradise Creek and Brief Truce. But you will search in Fallon; $106,113. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng & vain for a stallion son of Irish River in the 2004 edition GISP-US, 8-4-0-2, $268,695. *1/2 to Kiralik (GB) of the Blood-Horse Stallion Register. And the only son (Efisio {GB}), SW & GSP-Ity, $108,005. you’ll find in Weatherbys Stallion Book, which covers Click for the brisnet.com chart or the free brisnet.com Europe, is Exit To Nowhere, who has made the same catalogue-style pedigree. transition as Lahib. The winner of the Prix Jacques le How can a stallion sire the magnificent total of 128 Marois has been switched from a career siring flat stakes winners--with roughly half of them scoring at performers in France to covering large numbers of jump group or graded level--yet still fail to establish a mares at Scarvagh House Stud in Northern Ireland. flourishing male line? This question came to mind after In the long term, it doesn’t matter how many stallion the GII Mrs Revere S. had fallen to River Belle, an sons fail, so long as one of them proves capable of ex-English filly by Riverman’s son Lahib. extending the line. Lahib won the Queen Elizabeth II S., a highly It’s worth mentioning that Riverman (who was by prestigious mile contest that also fell to Bahri, another Never Bend out of a Prince John mare) was bred along member of Riverman’s impressive collection of Group 1 similar lines to the great Mill Reef (by Never Bend out of winners. This collection also features the top-class a mare by Prince John’s sire Princequillo). Many of Mill milers Irish River and Rousillon, with Dowsing, Hailsham, Reef’s stallion sons disappointed, the main exception Latin American, Loup Sauvage, Pillaster, Policeman, being Shirley Heights, whose male line appears to River Flyer, River Special, Rivlia and Virginia Rapids also depend on Darshaan’s sons. figuring among Riverman’s Group 1-winning sons. It is possible, though, that Mill Reef’s line will survive Lahib is still covering plenty of mares in Northern because of his son Doyoun, who died in Turkey. Ireland, but they are mainly by jumping sires rather than Doyoun’s worth hadn’t been fully established at the the quality flat mares he received when he embarked on time of his sale, but he salvaged his reputation through his stallion career at Derrinstown Stud in 1993. the exploits of Daylami and Kalanisi--both now resident Like plenty of other Riverman stallions before him, at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud, which is something of Lahib failed to convince flat breeders of his merits. Even a bastion of Never Bend blood. the unexpected victory of his Italian daughter Super The key to the survival of the Riverman male line in Tassa in the 2001 Yorkshire Oaks wasn’t enough to the Northern Hemisphere could well be Bahri, who keep Lahib at Derrinstown. Super Tassa’s win made her established himself as Europe’s champion three-year-old the second Group 1 winner for her sire, following miler of 1995. Mus-If, winner of the 1998 National S. Cont. www.coolmore.com Although his connections made a mistake in standing him in Kentucky, where he attracted an average of only 37 mares over a seven-year period, Bahri’s time in America yielded that outstanding performer Sakhee, who so nearly added the Breeders’ Cup Classic to his success in the 2001 Arc. Sakhee started his stallion career in England in 2003, so his first foals will soon be appearing at the sales. Bahri too is now at his owner’s Irish Stud--Lahib’s former home, Derrinstown--and he attracted around 70 mares in his first year in Ireland. It is interesting to speculate on why Riverman has struggled to establish a thriving male line. Perhaps the significant factor is that his dam was by Prince John, who topped the broodmare sires’ table no fewer than three times (in 1979, 1980 and 1986). Of course, Prince John’s sire Princequillo was champion sire of broodmares as many as eight times, compared to only two titles as champion sire, and Prince John’s son Speak John was also a champion sire of broodmares. These three generations of this male line could all be described as being most effective as sires of broodmares. Bearing in mind that Riverman was responsible for such outstanding racemares as the Arc winners Detroit and Gold River and that extraordinary performer Triptych, it isn’t surprising that his main value to the breed is proving to be as a sire of broodmares. Among the many Group 1 winners produced by his daughters are winners of the Arc (Carnegie), Derby (Erhaab), French Derby (Anabaa Blue) and Breeders’ Cup Mile (Spinning World and Six Perfections), while his daughters also enjoyed Classic success through Hector Protector, Shanghai, Bosra Sham, Silvermine, Baiser Vole and Helen Street. The latest star out of a Riverman mare is Makybe Diva, who recently collected her second Melbourne Cup. To get back to River Belle, she has two lines of Princequillo in the fifth generation, the second line coming through her third dam, the Round Table mare Lady Parida. River Belle’s dam Dixie Favor is by Dixieland Band, who is also the broodmare sire of such standouts as Monarchos, Society Selection, Southern Image, Exotic Wood and Dream Supreme. Dixie Favor--a first foal-- was a cheap yearling, but that didn’t stop her winning three times at up to a mile during a busy career in Ireland. Dixie Favor has kept up the good work as a broodmare. River Belle is her second stakes winner, following the Efisio filly Kiralik, who was third in the Italian 1000 Guineas..