Andrew Caulfield, February 17, 2009–Chocolate Candy P EDIGREE INSIGHTS The performance which earned Candy Ride such respect came in the 2003 GI Pacific Classic, when Julie BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Krone guided him to a decisive victory over Medaglia d=Oro, Fleetstreet Dancer (later to win the Japan Cup Saturday, Golden Gate Fields Dirt) and Milwaukee Brew. Perhaps Candy Ride=s most EL CAMINO REAL DERBY-GIII, $200,000, GGX, 2-14, striking attribute was his ease of movement, with an 3yo, 1 1/8m (AWT), 1:50 2/5, ft. action once described as poetry in motion, and it was 1--@CHOCOLATE CANDY, 121, c, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg) hard to believe that he had sliced more than 3/10 off 1st Dam: Crownette (SW, $184,488), by the Del Mar record in taking the Pacific Classic. Fast 2nd Dam: In Memory, by times were nothing new for Candy Ride, though. In 3rd Dam: Won't Tell You, by Crafty Admiral winning a pair of Group 1 races over 1600 metres on O-Sid & Jenny Craig Trust; B-Sid & Jenny Craig (KY); turf in his native Argentina, he had clocked 1:31.01 T-Jerry Hollendorfer; J-Russell A Baze; $120,000. and 1:32.16, with the 1:31 representing a world Lifetime Record: GISP, 8-4-1-1, $382,500. *1/2 to record. Crowning Storm (), MGSP. **Third GSW According to The Blood-Horse, the Pacific Classic for sophomore sire (by Ride the Rails). Werk Nick saw Athe birth of a racing star.@ Unfortunately, we were Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree never to see Candy Ride in action again. Contesting the brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree or the video replay. GI Breeders= Cup Classic involved his owners having to There are no prizes for guessing which male line pay an $800,000 supplementary fee and, by early supplied the majority of the 23 horses included in last October, it was clear that Candy Ride was finished for week=s Future Wager Pool. With a total the year. of 14 representatives, the ubiquitous Mr. Prospector AThere have been rumours circulating that Candy Ride line was much too strong for the A.P. Indy and Storm has a physical problem, which precipitated the decision Cat clans, which combined to provide seven contenders. to retire him for the year, but trainer Ron McAnally Mr. Prospector, of course, was one of those rare insists the horse is fine and simply had his shoes stallions who supplied winners of each of the Triple removed,@ was how The Blood-Horse summed up the Crown events, and his male-line descendants have so situation. far won more than 30 editions of the Kentucky Derby, By February 2004 there were reports of Candy Ride Preakness or the Belmont, with the branch turning in some super works and McAnally suggested leading the way with seven winners of eight races. This that Candy Ride=s return was imminent after the five- is reflected in the Future Wager Pool 1, which has no year-old had worked five-eighths on April 1. Candy Ride fewer than eight Classic hopefuls from the Fappiano still hadn=t reappeared by the summer, and an ankle branch. Needless to say, the majority of these descend ligament injury was cited when the announcement from Fappiano=s son Unbridled, who matched Mr. came in September that the Argentine star had been Prospector=s feat of siring winners of all three legs of retired. the Triple Crown, thanks to Grindstone, Red Bullet and Nearly 18 months had elapsed since the Pacific Empire Maker. Classic by the time Candy Ride covered his first mares No one can be surprised to see the likes of Empire in 2005, by which time his dazzling must have Maker and Unbridled=s Song justifying their substantial lost some of its grip on breeders= memories. fees by siring Derby contenders of the quality of It can=t have helped, either, that his sire Ride the Rails Pioneerof The Nile, Old Fashioned and Midshipman. But had been sent to Argentina without a graded stakes how many breeders would have predicted back in 2005 victory to his name. This son of had that the first-season sire Candy Ride would also been well above average, though. He had won three develop into a major flag-bearer for the Fappiano line, races, including a stakes race, during a busy and with two sons in the 23-horse pool? consistent juvenile campaign which earned him 111 on After all, Candy Ride started out at only $10,000 at the Experimental Free Handicap. Ride the Rails Hill >n= Dale in 2005 and, in assessing his prospects, it progressed to finish a good third to and Go for was a case of some good news and some not so good. Gin in the GII Fountain of Youth S., before finding only The good news was that Candy Ride had been a highly too good in the GI . talented racehorse--talented enough to have been one Even so, American breeders would have wanted more of three horses whose rating of 127 made them the impressive qualifications in a potential stallion--even one highest-rated American-trained older horses on the inbred 4x3 to the influential broodmare Alablue, whose 2003 International Classifications (the other two being descendants include Cryptoclearance, and Johar and Mineshaft). Being considered the equal of Harlan s Holiday. Mineshaft among the dirt performers was some = compliment, as Mineshaft not only took the Eclipse Despite those potential reservations, the Hill >n= Dale Award for handicap male, but also the Horse of the team has done a good job of maintaining breeders= Year title. interest in Candy Ride, and the stallion has now justified the support in no uncertain terms. All European post times in the TDN are local time Caulfield cont. From a first crop of 112 named foals, Candy Ride has already been represented by three graded winners in Evita Argentina, Capt. Candyman Can and Chocolate Candy, the last-named winner of the GIII El Camino Real Derby three days ago. Chocolate Candy and Capt. Candyman Can respectively received 116 and 114 on the Experimental Free H., while Candy Ride=s Grade I-placed daughter Wynning Ride received 115, two pounds more than Evita Argentina, who defeated males yesterday in the GII San Vicente S. In addition to these four graded stakes performers, Candy Ride=s first crop also includes the turf stakes winner Jack Spratt, the good Canadian gelding El Brujo and the stakes-placed Miles and Miles. Other good news about Candy Ride is that his pedigree rules out very few mares in the American population. Mr. Prospector is back in the fifth generation of his foals and Northern Dancer is even further back, so his options are endless. The fact that Evita Argentina and Capt. Candyman Can are both out of granddaughters of Storm Cat can only add to his appeal. The same applies to the fact that his progeny are winning on dirt, all-weather and turf, showing the type of versatility which allowed Candy Ride to become a Group 1 winner on turf in Argentina and on dirt in the U.S. Candy Ride was brought to the States to race in the colors of Sidney and Jenny Craig. At the time of his retirement it was said that the Craigs would support him with their best mares and it is good to report that Chocolate Candy was bred by the couple and races for their Trust. Chocolate Candy=s second dam, In Memory, shared the same dam as the mighty , with her relationship to this Triple Crown winner being strengthened by her also being by a son of . Other good winners in recent years from this family include Drilling For Oil and the French Classic winner Confidential Lady, so Chocolate Candy could easily prove just as effective on turf as he is on synthetic.

CHOCOLATE CANDY, c, 2006 Fappiano Cryptoclearance Naval Orange Ride the Rails * Herbalesian Candy Ridge (Arg) (Fr) Bubble Company (Fr) Candy Girl (Arg) Farnesio (Arg) City Girl (Arg) Cithara (Arg) Reason to Earn Seattle Slew Crownette Poker My Charmer SW, 19-4-3-3-, Fair Charmer $184,488 Raise a Native 9Fls, 1GSW, Alydar In Memory Sweet Tooth 1GSP Unplaced 12Fls, 1SW Won’t Tell You Crafty Admiral 14Fls, 1Ch, 4SW Scarlet Ribbon