Pedigree Insights
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Andrew Caulfield, June 26, 2007–Excellent Art (GB) P EDIGREE INSIGHTS Excellent Art is one of five group winners (and six stakes winners) to have emerged from the 116 foals in BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Pivotal=s 2004 crop and there is every chance, given the way some of Pivotal=s progeny improve with age, ST JAMES=S PALACE S.-G1, ,250,000, Ascot, 6-19, that these figures will rise still higher. 3yo, c, 1mT, 1:39.33, gd/fm. Incidentally, the considerable increase in the size of 1--sEXCELLENT ART (GB), 126, c, 3, by Pivotal (GB) Pivotal=s more recent crops will make it difficult for him 1st Dam: Obsessive (GSP-Eng), by Seeking the Gold to match the very impressive statistics he achieved 2nd Dam: Secret Obsession, by Secretariat with his first five crops. The 268 foals in those five 3rd Dam: Ann Stuart, by Lyphard crops--all sired at fees of ,6,000 or under--included 22 (76,000gns yrl >05 DONSEP). O-Susan Magnier, group winners (including one in Turkey and one in Hong Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Matthew Green; Kong). This equals more than eight percent B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd; T-Aidan O=Brien; J-Jamie group/graded winners and his 36 stakes winners in the Spencer; ,141,950. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Fr, GSP- major racing countries from those first five crops Ire, 7-4-0-2, ,250,353. equate to 13 percent. Excellent Art is his ninth Group 1 Click for the Racing Post chart or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style winner, following Kyllachy, Chorist, Golden Apples, pedigree. Video courtesy of attheraces.com. Silvester Lady, Megahertz, Peeress, Saoire and Somnus. Kyllachy also made his mark at Royal Ascot, with his When an inexpensive commercial stallion makes a first-crop sons Tariq and Arabian Gleam taking first and sensational start, there is always a slight worry that he third places in the G3 Jersey S. won=t maintain the same level of success when his fee soars and he starts to cover supposedly superior mares. Theoretically, the fortunes of the stallion should Excellent Art (GB), c, 2004 continue to rise, but these superior mares often Northern Dancer A @ Nureyev Special represent a significant change in direction, perhaps Polar Falcon from cheap speed to a more Classic type, and the Marie d’Argonne Jefferson (GB) (Fr) Mohair (Fr) anticipated improvement isn=t always forthcoming. Pivotal (GB) Caro (Ire) Consequently, it was always going to be fascinating Cozzene to see whether Cheveley Park Stud=s remarkable stallion Fearless Revival Ride the Trails (GB) Bustino (GB) Pivotal would build on his eye-popping start after his Stufida (GB) fee had been raised from ,10,000 in 2002 to ,25,000 Zerbinetta (GB) Raise a Native in 2003 (and subsequently to ,85,000 in 2007, Mr. Prospector Gold Digger through steps of ,40,000 and ,65,000). His current Seeking the Gold Buckpasser fee--the highest for a stallion in England--is 17 times the Obsessive Con Game Broadway amount he stood at in his third, fourth and fifth 8-1-2-2, $22,277 10Fls, 5Wnrs, Bold Ruler seasons. Secret Obsession Secretariat 1GSW 5-1-0-1, $11,638 Somethingroyal The good news is that Pivotal=s ,25,000 crop--now 11Fls, 1GSP Ann Stuart Lyphard three-year-olds--is maintaining his high profile. It was 1SP 14Fls, 1GSW Miss Carmie represented by its first Group 1 winner last week when Excellent Art defeated a strong field in the St James=s Palace S., to make amends for his very unlucky run in the French 2000 Guineas. Caulfield cont. www.coolmore.com Excellent Art=s success helped Cheveley Park take the Miss Carmie=s lightly raced Blushing Groom filly title of leading breeder at the Royal meeting, with Missed The Wedding produced a pair of graded Nannina=s victory in the G2 Windsor Forest S. providing winners, headed by the GI Test S. heroine Missed the another major contribution. With both these winners Storm. being by their own stallions, the Cheveley Park team Royal Ascot success runs in this family, as Excellent had every right to be delighted with their week=s work, Art=s third dam Ann Stuart produced Beyton, an Alleged the only downside being that the dams of both these colt who landed the G2 King Edward VII S. in 1992, group winners have been sold. and Miss Carmie=s Vaguely Noble filly Social Column Excellent Art=s dam, the Seeking the Gold mare bred Two Timing, winner of the Prince of Wales=s S. in Obsessive, was sold for only 15,500gns at Tattersalls= 1989. 2004 December Sales when she was a weanling. Then 11, Obsessive=s catalogue page recorded that the mare had produced three winners from five foals of racing age. Although one of them, Double Obsession, won the 2004 Ascot S. over 22 miles at the Royal meeting, none had earned black type. As Obsessive had been sent to such as Green Desert, Danehill and Sadler=s Wells (twice), no one could say that this third in the G3 Musidora S. hadn=t received every chance. However, her 2004 mate was the Cheveley Park=s first-season sire Carnival Dancer, a Group 3 winner whose fee was only ,4,000. Excellent Art=s exploits, which also include a victory in the G2 Mill Reef S. at two, have shown that Cheveley Park=s original faith in Obsessive wasn=t misplaced. The family was introduced to Cheveley Park 20 years ago when David Minton paid $325,000 for a yearling filly by Secretariat out of the Lyphard mare Ann Stuart at Keeneland=s July Selected Sale. That price made the filly, Secret Obsession, the second-highest-priced yearling by Secretariat, which reflects the high quality of her pedigree. With Secretariat as her sire and a daughter of Miss Carmie as her dam, Secret Obsession was a three-parts sister to Six Crowns, a stakes-winning mare who had recently been represented by the admirable Chief=s Crown. This son of Danzig had started his stallion career at Three Chimneys in 1986, after earning the title of champion two-year-old colt in 1984 and finishing second or third in all three legs of the 1985 Triple Crown. You=ll hardly need me to remind you that Miss Carmie had already found fame as the dam of that exceptional filly Chris Evert and she was soon to add considerably to her reputation when her daughter All Rainbows became the dam of Winning Colors, the Caro filly who did Aa Rags to Riches@ against the colts in the 1988 Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby. The family has continued to thrive over the past 20 years. Much of the success traces to Chris Evert=s broodmare daughters, whose descendants include Sightseek, Tates Creek, Etoile Montante, Pollard=s Vision, Bowman=s Band and Dominican. Don=t forget, though, that as many as SEVEN of Miss Carmie=s other daughters produced group or graded winners, which makes Miss Carmie a true blue hen. In addition to producing Winning Colors, All Rainbows became the second dam of the Japan Cup winner Tap Dance City, while Miss Carmie=s Green Dancer filly Whisper Who Dares produced the Grade I-winning Confessional. .