Andrew Caulfield, January 15, 2008–Indian Blessing The record books show that any filly good enough to P EDIGREE INSIGHTS triumph in the Breeders= Cup Juvenile Fillies has an BY ANDREW CAULFIELD almost divine right to head the voting for the Juvenile filly Eclipse Award. In the first 23 years of the Breeders= Sunday, Santa Anita Cup, no fewer than 20 winners of the Juvenile Fillies SANTA YNEZ S.-GII, $150,000, SAX, 1-13, 3yo, f, 7f went on to take the Eclipse Award, the only ones to fail (AWT), 1:19 4/5 (NTR), ft. to complete the double being Twilight Ridge in 1985, 1--INDIAN BLESSING, 123, f, 3, by Indian Charlie My Flag in 1995 and Cash Run in 1999. Even they 1st Dam: Shameful (SW & MGSP, $241,345), by Flying Chevron were beaten to the award by fillies they had beaten into 2nd Dam: Lady's Legacy, by Matchlite second or third place on Breeders= Cup Day. 3rd Dam: Wavering Lady, by Wavering Monarch Indian Blessing, who made all to win the 24th edition O/B-Patti and Hal J Earnhardt III (KY); T-Bob Baffert; of the Juvenile Fillies so decisively, is therefore likely to J-Garrett K Gomez; $90,000. Lifetime Record: take all the beating when the latest Eclipse winners are MGISW, 4-4-0-0, $1,447,200. announced at next week=s awards ceremony, even 2--Golden Doc A, 123, f, 3, Unusual Heat--Penpont though her rivals include Country Star. This daughter of (NZ), by Crested Wave. O-D & B Abrams, Dyan, M Empire Maker is also a dual Grade I winner. If Indian Auerbach LLC; B-D Abrams (CA); T-B Abrams; $30,000. Blessing does extend the sequence, she will become 3--Peisinoe, 116, f, 3, Yes It's True--Galadriel, by Ascot the second Eclipse Award winner for the up-and-coming Knight. O-Jeff Davenport, Tom Lenner, David Indian Charlie, who also scored at last year=s ceremony Naftzger and Howard Litt; B-Padua Stables (FL); when Fleet Indian took the older female award. T-Patrick Gallagher; $18,000. There are similarities--and some big differences-- Margins: HD, 7 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 0.10, 12.00, 11.30. between Indian Blessing and Fleet Indian. The Also Ran: Champagne Eyes, Izarra. similarities include the fact that both these daughters of Scratched: P. S. U. Grad, Nook and Granny. Indian Charlie are out of mares by speedy Mr. Click for brisnet.com chart or brisnet.com catalogue- Prospector-line stallions. style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. Caulfield cont. www.coolmore.com That speed is very evident in Indian Blessing, who Indian Blessing=s dam Shameful was bred in Florida, has barely been headed in four starts, the latest in the where she was sold for only $14,000 as a foal. Her GII Santa Ynez S. two days ago. Although she was price rose to $50,000 as a two-year-old and she proved close to being caught at the line, her excellent early a bargain even at this higher price. She retired with pace enabled her to lower the seven-furlong track earnings of over $240,000 after being graded placed record to 1:19.89. over six and seven furlongs at three, and winning a Fleet Indian, of course, also occasionally used forcing six-furlong stakes race at four. tactics to beat her opponents into submission, including Indian Blessing=s broodmare sire Flying Chevron died in the GI Personal Ensign S. over 13 miles, but she was in 2007 at the age of 15. This son of the very speedy also amenable to restraint. The chances are that Indian Carson City didn=t show his sire=s precocity, but he Blessing will have to prove similarly adaptable if she is made up for lost time at three, winning five of his to maintain her unbeaten record. Habitual front-runners seven starts, including the GII Pegasus H. and GI NYRA eventually tend to become sitting ducks for the strong Mile H. Although winless at four, he failed by only a kickers, especially as the distances lengthen. That said, head to land the GI Carter H. Flying Chevron=s best her connections can be forgiven if they are reluctant to effort as a stallion was the Grade I-winning sprinter even contemplate a change of tactics, as Indian Captain Squire. Blessing=s speed is clearly her greatest asset. Indian Blessing=s fourth dam, Pia=s Lady, visited Indian Blessing=s pedigree contains plenty of fast Clever Trick to produce One Smart Lady, a mare who horses but, as an Englishman, I like to think that the added to the family=s reputation by becoming the dam main source of her speed is her male line, which traces of the GI Ballerina H. winner Roamin Rachel. Roamin to the top European sprinters Fortino and Grey Rachel hit the jackpot as a broodmare by producing the Sovereign. Indian Blessing=s grandsire, In Excess, outstanding Japanese horse Zenno Rob Roy. arrived in the U.S.A. in 1990, having won three of his Another of Pia=s Lady=s daughters, Wavering Lady, six starts at up to seven furlongs. Bearing in mind that followed a similar path to her dam, visiting Clever his dam Kantado and broodmare sire Saulingo had Trick=s unexceptional son Matchlite to produce Indian raced almost exclusively over five furlongs, it came as a Blessing=s second dam Lady=s Legacy. bit of a surprise when In Excess proved capable of carrying his speed as far as 13 miles, the distance of Indian Blessing, f, 2005 his record-breaking win in the GI Suburban H. The Caro (Ire) Siberian Express explanation is that In Excess=s grandsire Caro--the Indian Call In Excess (Ire) product of a mating between a sprinter and a stayer-- Saulingo (GB) Kantado (Ire) had been effective over a wide range of distances. Vi (GB) Indian Charlie Although Indian Charlie was no speedball, he was Sovereign Dancer Leo Castelli fast enough to win a 5 1/2Bfurlong maiden in August of Suspicious Native Soviet Sojourn his juvenile season. He also raced prominently in the Diplomat Way Political Parfait process of extending his winning sequence to four, Peach Butter over distances of seven, eight and nine furlongs (in the Mr. Prospector Carson City GI Santa Anita Derby). He was ridden with a bit more Blushing Promise Flying Chevron restraint when he was sent off favorite for the *Herbager Shameful Fly Me First Kentucky Derby, but couldn=t maintain his effort after 12-4-3-2, Flying Fable moving into second with a quarter mile left to run. $241,345 Clever Trick Matchlite Unfortunately, his honourable third behind Real Quiet 4Fls, 1GSW Lady’s Legacy Light Up My Life and Victory Gallop proved to be his final appearance. 23-1-1-2, $22,367 6Fls, 2SW Wavering Lady Wavering Monarch Indian Charlie=s advertised height is 16.3 hands (one 9Fls, 2SP Pia’s Lady inch taller than his sire In Excess) and his size possibly contributed to the difficulties which forced his retirement. I find it interesting that his lengthy list of stakes winners is dominated by fillies, who account for all of his three Grade I winners and four of his five graded winners. Altogether, he has 19 fillies among his 30 stakes winners in North America. Could it be that fillies, which are generally smaller than their male counterparts, are that little bit easier to keep sound? Unbridled=s Song, another big stallion with Caro in his pedigree, has five fillies among his eight Grade I winners..