Bellamy Road
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Andrew Caulfield, April 12, 2005–Bellamy Road P EDIGREE INSIGHTS However, you will find only one winner of the Kentucky Derby in the last 20 years--the excellent BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Spend A Buck--whose sire stood for as little as $5,000. So can a $3,500 stallion like Concerto realistically be Saturday, Aqueduct expected to strike a major blow for the WOOD MEMORIAL S.-GI, $750,000, AQU, 4-9, 3yo, bargain-basement stallions? 1 1/8m, 1:47 (ETR), ft. I think it is very much in Concerto’s favor that he is 1--sBELLAMY ROAD, 123, c, 3, by Concerto by Chief’s Crown, who could hardly have had a more 1st Dam: Hurry Home Hillary, by Deputed Testamony ideal pedigree for the classics. Chief’s Crown’s four 2nd Dam: Ten Cents a Turn, by Cozzene grandparents included Northern Dancer, who started 3rd Dam: Rub Al Khali, by Mr. Prospector odds on to complete the Triple Crown in the 1964 ($87,000 2yo 2004 OBSAPR). O-Kinsman Stable; Belmont S.; Secretariat, who became the first Triple B-Dianne D Cotter (FL); T-Nicholas P Zito; J-J Crown winner since Citation in 1948 and Chris Evert, Castellano; $450,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0, the champion three-year-old filly of 1974 who won the $611,400. free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. NYRA Filly Triple Crown. If anyone ever wondered why there is such strength Chief’s Crown--the champion of his generation at two in depth in America’s Thoroughbred market, the run-up in 1984--started favorite for the 1985 Kentucky Derby, to this year’s Kentucky Derby is surely providing the finishing a creditable third, and again when he was answer. beaten a head by Tank’s Prospect in the Preakness. He Take a look at the Blood-Horse’s list of prep races rounded off his Triple Crown campaign with a third in and you will find that for every Graded winner by such the Belmont S., so was didn’t fall far short of living up high-priced stallions as Storm Cat, A.P. Indy and to his illustrious ancestry. Danzig, there are a lot more by much cheaper sires. Chief’s Crown has succeeded in extending his Among them are Intidab (whose 2001 fee of $12,500 ancestors’ classic influence, but in Europe rather than has fallen to $3,500), Lost Soldier ($4,000), Maria’s the USA. His son Erhaab triumphed in the 1994 Epsom Mon ($12,500), Distorted Humor ($12,500), Malibu Derby and another son, Grand Lodge, was responsible Moon ($3,000), Wild Wonder ($4,500), Successful for Sinndar, who followed up his victory in the 2000 Appeal ($5,000) and Robyn Dancer ($4,000). Derby with further successes in the Irish Derby and the Now two more “cheapies” can be added to the list Arc. Then in 2003 it was Chief’s Crown’s son Key of following Saturday’s GI Derby trials. The Wood Luck who sired Alamshar, winner of the Irish Derby and Memorial saw a sensational effort from Bellamy Road, a King George. son of the $3,500 Concerto, while the Santa Anita Concerto put himself in line for a tilt at the 1997 Derby was won in very game style by Buzzards Bay, a Kentucky Derby when the Kinsman Stable homebred son of the $3,000 Marco Bay. strung together successes in the Whirlaway S., John The question now is whether a son of such low-priced stallions can establish himself as the leader Battaglia Memorial S., GII Jim Beam S. and the GIII of his generation at Churchill Downs. History suggests Federico Tesio S. He had previously earned an this could happen. Elusive Quality stood at $10,000 Experimental Free Handicap figure of 114 during a when he sired Smarty Jones; Distorted Humor at juvenile campaign which featured wins in the Storm Cat $12,500 when he sired Funny Cide; Our Emblem at S. and GIII Kentucky Jockey Club S. $10,000 when he came up with War Emblem and Although Concerto lined up for the Kentucky Derby Maria’s Mon at $7,500 when he got Monarchos. as a winner of seven of his 10 starts, including his last Previous examples include Real Quiet, a son of the five, he was only seventh choice in a 13-runner field $10,000 Quiet American; Silver Charm, by the $6,000 and he couldn’t maintain his good early position, fading Silver Buck; Go For Gin, who is by the $10,000 into ninth. It was a similar story in the Preakness, when Cormorant, and Lil E. Tee, a son of the $7,500 At The he faded into sixth, and the message was that he Threshold. simply wasn’t talented enough. click click www.coolmore.com Northern Dancer Concerto was nevertheless good enough to win three Danzig more stakes races, including the GIII Clark H., in nine Pas de Nom Chief’s Crown further starts at three and four, and his bankroll stood Secretariat Six Crowns at over $1.3 million by the time he retired to Ocala Stud Chris Evert Concerto Farm. The farm’s spokesman Karl Koontz commented Intentionally In Reality at the time that Concerto had “remained sound over a My Dear Girl Undeniably hard campaign,” adding that, “he should be able to add Messenger of Song Past Forgetting some distance to the short-bred Florida mares.” Pastiche Bellamy Road is a member of Concerto’s third crop, Traffic Judge Traffic Cop which contains only 25 named foals. In fact, there are Deputed Flight Bird only 107 named foals in his first three crops, so he has Testamony Prove It Hurry Home Proof Requested had limited chances of establishing himself so far (his Hillary Come On best winners prior to Bellamy Road have been in Puerto 6-1-0-0, $8,730 Caro (Ire) Cozzene Rico). However, that will soon change, as he covered 4Fls, 1GSW Ten Cents a Turn Ride the Trails 20-3-2-0, $17,672 100 mares in 2002 and 118 in 2003. This surge in his 4Fls, 1GSP Rub al Khali Mr. Prospector popularity was probably set in motion by one of his 10Fls, 2SW Arabian Dancer first-crop daughters selling for $230,000 early in 2002. He then came up with a pleasing percentage of first-crop winners, headed by the stakes-winning Collymore Hall. There is good cause for saying that Bellamy Road has a right to be a cut above the average Concerto foal. His dam, the minor winner Hurry Home Hillary, is by Deputed Testamony, winner of the Preakness and the Haskell Invitational H., and she comes from an exceptional female line. Bellamy Road’s third dam, the Mr. Prospector mare Rub Al Khali, produced a couple of useful juveniles to Local Talent and Explodent. More to the point, she was a half-sister to the high-class Out of Place and to Lead Kindly Light, the Grade III-winning dam of Gold Fever. When Bellamy Road’s fifth dam, Ten Cents a Dance, visited Bellamy Road’s great-grandsire, Danzig, the outcome was Versailles Treaty, an outstanding filly whose career figures stood at 20-9-9-2. Although fast enough to win the GI Test S. over seven furlongs, Versailles Treaty also won the GI Alabama S. over a mile and a quarter, so stamina was not a problem for her and it is also unlikely to be a problem for Bellamy Road. Another mare from this family visited Chief’s Crown to produce Chief Honcho, winner of the GI Brooklyn H. over 1 3/8 miles. Perhaps I should add that Bellamy Road’s seventh dam is the famous Exclusive, whose son Exclusive Native sired two winners of the Kentucky Derby, including Affirmed. With a background like this, Bellamy Road’s cost of production could well fade into insignificance..