Pedigree Insights by Andrew Caulfield
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Andrew Caulfield, February 8, 2011-Giant Oak PEDIGREE INSIGHTS BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Saturday, Gulfstream Park DONN H.-GI, $500,000, GPX, 2-5, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48 1/5, ft. 1--GIANT OAK, 118, h, 5, by Giant=s Causeway 1st Dam: Crafty Oak (GSW, $442,155), by Crafty Prospector 2nd Dam: Oak Blossom, by Tarleton Oak 3rd Dam: Dianthus, by Your Host O/B-Virginia H Tarra Trust (IL); T-Chris M Block; J-Shaun Bridgmohan; $300,000. Lifetime Record: 24-5-5-3, $1,256,677. *Full to Apple Martini, MSW & GSP, $352,581. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs o r the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. After Giant Oak=s decisive victory in the Donn H. three days ago, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to highlight the achievements of his broodmare sire Crafty Prospector--one of the unsung heroes of the American breeding industry. It was while I was trying to unearth Crafty Prospector=s fee in his first year at stud in 1984 that I came across an old issue of the invaluable Racing Update, listing stallion fees for 1984 and 1985. I had almost forgotten how out of control the industry had become before the crash of the late 1980s. The 1985 fees showed Northern Dancer leading the way at $950,000, followed by Seattle Slew ($750,000), Alydar ($450,000), Nijinsky ($400,000), and Blushing Groom, Danzig, Lyphard and Mr. Prospector (all $275,000). Then came Spectacular Bid ($250,000), Roberto and Slew o=Gold (both $225,000), Devil=s Bag, El Gran Senor and Nureyev (all $200,000), The Minstrel ($185,000), Conquistador Cielo and Vaguely Noble (both $150,000), and Caro, Damascus, Riverman and Storm Bird (all $125,000). Another six stallions commanded six-figure fees, making a total of 27. Twenty-six years later, there are only a handful of six-figure stallions, with a top price of $150,000, but it could be argued that the current situation will prove healthier, and less fragile, than the crazy days of 1985. Incidentally, note the number of top stallions in 1985 that had made their names racing on turf in Europe. Unfortunately for America, these international stars have largely disappeared from Kentucky=s stallion roster, a notable exception being Giant Oak=s sire Giant=s Causeway, who has made a bright start to his bid to become champion sire for a third consecutive year. Crafty Prospector appeared on the 1985 list at a fee of $15,000, the same as in his first year at Happy Valley Farm in Ocala, Florida. This probably equates to less than $7,500 in today=s industry. Caulfield cont. www.coolmore.com Cont. from p4 His lack of Grade I winners makes it unlikely that he His fee reflected the fact that his racing career lacked will establish an enduring branch of the Mr. Prospector one essential--a stakes victory. Although he had an male line, but his sons Crafty Friend and Prospectors impressive-sounding record of seven wins, two seconds Gamble both sired a Grade I winner. and a third from 10 The chances are that his influence will be exerted starts, only two of those more by his broodmare daughters than his stallion sons. starts had been at stakes They have 20 graded winners to their credit, with Giant level. At three, he had Oak being one of four Grade I winners among them. finished third to Significantly three of the four--Giant Oak, Distinctive Pro in the Harmony Lodge and Downthedustyroad--were sired by Marigold S., a sprint sons of Storm Cat, namely Giant=s Causeway, restricted to Hennessy and Storm And A Half. His daughters also Florida-breds. More have Grade II winners by Pure Prize and Hennessy. importantly, the Crafty Prospector mares have a particularly good Giant Oak Horsephotos four-year-old Crafty record with Giant=s Causeway. Their seven foals feature Prospector had failed by Giant Oak, the Grade III winner Win McCool and Giant just a neck to hold the late challenge of the champion Oak=s stakes-winning sister Apple Martini. Another of filly Christmas Past in a less-than-vintage edition of the Giant=s Causeway=s graded winners, First Passage, has GI Gulfstream Park H. a second dam by Crafty Prospector. However, any shortcomings in Crafty Prospector=s Of course, Crafty Prospector is by no means the only racing career were amply compensated for by his son of Mr. Prospector to figure among the broodmare pedigree. With Mr. Prospector as his sire and a sires of Giant=s Causeway=s graded winners. Thanks to daughter of In Reality as his dam, his bloodlines were daughters of Seeking the Gold, Kingmambo, Gone guaranteed to appeal to Florida=s breeding community. West, Machiavellian, Miswaki, Fappiano, Forty Niner Mr. Prospector made such an exceptional start to his and Crafty Prospector, there are 14 graded winners career while based in Florida that he was transferred to bred this way, including no fewer than nine Grade I Kentucky in 1980. Inevitably, Florida=s breeders tried to winners (the colts Shamardal, Frost Giant, Red Giant fill the void with some of Mr. Prospector=s sons, and Giant Oak and the fillies Internallyflawless, Maids including Fappiano and Crafty Prospector. Causeway, Swift Temper, My Typhoon and Carriage These two also did so well that they, too, eventually Trail). Giant=s Causeway has also sired the Grade I headed for Kentucky, Fappiano to Lane=s End in 1987 winners Aragorn and Ghanaati from daughters of and Crafty Prospector to Brookdale Farm in 1990. Mr. Prospector. As a dual two-year-old winner who stood only 15.2 One of the other trends in Giant=s Causeway=s stock hands, Crafty Prospector was just the type to get is the number of late bloomers among them, such as speedy juvenile winners, as his first crop confirmed in Aragorn, Heatseeker, Swift Temper, Carriage Trail and 1987. His eight winners from 15 runners included two Fairbanks. Giant Oak is the latest example, perhaps at stakes level, and he took the title of leading unsurprisingly, as his dam Crafty Oak didn=t become a freshman sire of 1987. That first crop also included the stakes winner until she was four or a graded winner tough Prospectors Gamble, who became his sire=s first until she was five. graded stakes winner when he took three races, including the GII Bel Air H., in 1990, after Crafty GIANT OAK, h, 2006 Prospector had moved to Kentucky. Storm Bird Northern Dancer By the time Crafty Prospector was pensioned at the South Ocean Storm Cat age of 28 in March 2007, the veteran had built up an Secretariat Terlingua admirable total of 89 stakes winners. He had covered Giant’s Crimson Saint 33 mares at the age of 27, for 14 live foals, so he was Causeway Blushing Groom Rahy blessed with the type of enduring fertility that was also Glorious Song Mariah’s Storm a feature of the careers of his sire Mr. Prospector (who Roberto Immense sired 43 foals from the 46 mares he covered as a Imsodear 28-year-old) and grandsire Raise a Native (who sired 31 Raise a Native Mr. Prospector foals from 42 foals as a 26-year-old). Crafty Prospector Gold Digger Crafty Prospector finally died last year at the grand age of 31. In Reality Crafty Oak Real Crafty Lady Crafty Prospector=s total of stakes winners now GSW Princess Roycraft stands at 93, from a total of 1,070 foals. Although he 8Fls, 1GISW, Tarleton Oak Northern Dancer was represented by only one Grade I winner in the U.S. 2SW Oak Blossom Hide Out 13Fls, 1GSW (the Cigar Mile winner Devious Course), he was also Dianthus Your Host represented by the Japanese champion Agnes Digital Rampart and by 20 other American graded winners, including Giant Oak=s dam Crafty Oak..