Andrew Caulfield, April 29, 2008–Harlem Rocker P EDIGREE INSIGHTS One very definite pro for considering Macho Uno worthy of a place in Kentucky was his record as a BY ANDREW CAULFIELD two-year-old. He=d started out at Saratoga, following up his debut win with a highly encouraging third in the WITHERS S.-GIII, $142,500, AQU, 4-26, 3yo, 1m, GI Hopeful S., in which he finished only a neck behind 1:34 2/5, ft. the dead-heaters City Zip and Yonaguska--both enjoying 1--#@HARLEM ROCKER, 116, c, 3, by Macho Uno the benefit of much more experience. Macho Uno 1st Dam: Freedom Come (MSP, $218,401), confirmed the promise of this fine effort when he by Lit de Justice trounced the opposition in the GI Grey Breeders= Cup 2nd Dam: Zee Lady, by Unreal Zeal S., and the next stop for the progressive son of Holy 3rd Dam: Try to Be a Lady, by Sham Bull was the Breeders= Cup Juvenile. He won that too, O-Stronach Stables; B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Todd A hanging on by a nose from the strong-finishing Point Pletcher; J-Eibar Coa; $90,000. Lifetime Record: Given, with Street Cry a respectable third. The result 3-3-0-0, $139,500. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the was reflected in the Experimental Free Handicap, which eNicks report and 5-cross pedigree. *2nd GSW for placed Macho Uno top by a pound from Point Given, sophomore sire (by Holy Bull). and the Eclipse Award was also his. Click for the brisnet.com chart or the brisnet.com PPs. It would be wrong to suggest that Macho Uno didn=t Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. train on, but he certainly didn=t build significantly on his juvenile achievements, perhaps because he proved As I=ve pointed out before in these notes, it is very somewhat injury-prone. The 2001 Triple Crown was important that a stallion should be in the right place at done and dusted before Macho Uno was next able to the right time. And this was surely very much on the race, in a Saratoga allowance (which he lost narrowly). minds of the Adena Springs team when, in the fall of He managed to defeat Unbridled Elaine in the GIII 2003, they added up the pros and cons as to whether Pennsylvania Derby next time out and was far from Macho Uno would be best served by basing him at their disgraced on Breeders= Cup Day, when he filled fourth branch in Kentucky or Florida. place behind Tiznow, Sakhee and Albert the Great. Caulfield cont. www.coolmore.com Pedigree Insights cont. So would it be best for Macho Uno to stand in Although these efforts were good enough to earn Kentucky, or to Adena Springs South? In the end the Macho Uno an International Classification rating of 120, Adena Springs team opted for Florida, where Macho this placed him 10 pounds below Uno=s grandsire Great Above, great-grandsire Minnesota his old rival Point Given. It was a Mac and great-great-grandsire Rough=n Tumble had similar story at four, when a been based. With his sire line carrying the Tartan Farms victory in the GII Massachusetts hallmark, Florida breeders could be expected to H. and a fifth in the Breeders= welcome Macho Uno with open arms, and they sent Cup Classic weren=t enough to him 112 mares in his first year. stop his rating falling to 116, The last 12 months have proven that Macho Uno some eight pounds below Street was indeed the right horse in the right place. From 67 named foals in his first crop, he has already sired four Macho Uno Cry. Although a slight filling behind stakes winners, his total being boosted by the weekend www.adenaspringsfarm.com a knee was found after Macho double by the unbeaten Harlem Rocker in the GIII Withers S. and Macho Again in the Derby Trial S. Uno=s third Breeders= Cup Macho Uno=s previous stakes scorers were Wicked venture, it wasn=t considered serious enough to prevent Style (GI Lane=s End Breeders= Futurity and GIII his staying in training at five, the intention being to Arlington- Washington Futurity) and Swifty Victress. send him to Bobby Frankel. Unfortunately, he never Another son, Cool Gator, did enough in Canadian made it to the races. graded stakes towards the end of last year (including With memories tending to be so short, a blank year when a head second in the Grey Breeders= Cup S.) to be prior to retirement represents a serious setback for one of the leading fancies for the Queen=s Plate, which, virtually any potential stallion. Even those--like Macho theoretically, could also be on the agenda for the Uno--which performed at the highest level tend to lose Canadian-bred Harlem Rocker. It=s worth remembering out to the horses which were carrying all before them that Awesome Again=s first big success came when he in the months before their retirement, so this could be carried the Stronach colors to victory in the 1997 considered another con against his standing in Queen=s Plate. Kentucky. Thanks principally to Wicked Style=s Grade I success, And then there was Macho Uno=s pedigree to take the decision was made to transfer Macho Uno to head into account. I guess no stallion which has sired six office in Kentucky, leaving four crops in Florida. His fee Grade I winners, including winners of a Kentucky Derby was raised, but only to $20,000--a fraction of the and a Breeders= Cup Juvenile, as Holy Bull has done, $150,000 now being charged for Awesome Again. can be described as a failure. However, he had only Macho Uno=s early results show how successful the two Grade I winners from six crops of racing age by the Adena Springs operation can be at Amaking@ a stallion, end of 2003, so this amounted to another con to set with help from its sizeable broodmare team. Wicked against the distinct pro of Macho Uno=s being a Style was bred by Adena Springs (which sold his dam half-brother to Awesome Again. Not only had Deviletta for $41,000 several months after his birth), Awesome Again been an outstanding performer and a while Swifty Victress=s dam Caught Fire was carrying winner of the Breeders= Cup Classic, but he had also this stakes winner when sold by Adena Springs for made a fine start as a stallion. His first crop-- $35,000. three-year-olds of 2003--had produced the Grade I Clearly neither mare was greatly out of the ordinary winners Toccet and Ghostzapper, to boost his fee to and the same could be said of Macho Again=s dam Go Donna Go, who changed hands for $25,000 in 2004. $75,000 for 2004. Harlem Rocker is another Adena Springs graduate. His dam Freedom Come earned nearly $220,000 in HARLEM ROCKER, c, 2005 reaching the first two in seven of her nine starts, and Minnesota Mac Great Above she was second in a pair of Canadian sprint stakes as a Ta Wee Holy Bull four-year-old. She therefore ranks among the better Al Hattab Sharon Brown performers by the champion sprinter Lit de Justice--a Agathea's Dawn stallion that not even the might of Adena Springs could Macho Uno Red God turn into a success. Freedom Come s Grade III-winning Blushing Groom (Fr) = Runaway Bride half-brother Boomzeeboom stayed better, as he showed Primal Force Mr. Prospector when winning GIII Affirmed H. at 1 1/16 miles and Prime Prospect Square Generation running third in the the nine-furlong GII Swaps S. Their Northern Dancer dam Zee Lady earned an Experimental H. rating of 111 El Gran Senor Sex Appeal and possessed plenty of speed, as did her sire, Mr. Lit de Justice Kenmare (Fr) Prospector=s son Unreal Zeal. There isn=t much stamina Freedom Come Kanmary (Fr) MSP, 9-4-3-0, Djallybrook (Fr) to be found here, but Macho Uno and Holy Bull just $218,401 Mr. Prospector about stayed 1 1/4 miles, so Harlem Rocker may stay Zee Lady Unreal Zeal 2Fls, 1GSW SW, 21-4-3-2, Quick Nurse further than the mile of the Withers S. One thing=s for $124,660, Try To Be A Lady Sham sure--this highly promising colt is destined to help focus 4Fls, 1GSW, 1SP 9Fls, 1SW Eighty Lady more attention on his 10-year-old sire, whose pedigree makes him an option for so many mares..