Harlan's Holiday's Dam, FLORIDA DERBY-GI, $1,000,000, GPX, 3-16, 3Yo, Christmas in Aiken, Is Just Such a Mare
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Andrew Caulfield, March 19, 2002 – Harlan’s Holiday P EDIGREE INSIGHTS With a background like this, there was always a chance that Harlan would sire the occasional horse who BY ANDREW CAULFIELD stayed better than himself, given mares with some stamina in their make-up. Harlan's Holiday's dam, FLORIDA DERBY-GI, $1,000,000, GPX, 3-16, 3yo, Christmas in Aiken, is just such a mare. She has the 1 1/8m, 1:48 4/5, ft. advantage of being a winning daughter of the great 1--sHARLAN'S HOLIDAY, 122, c, 3, by Harlan Affirmed, who still holds the distinction of being the 1st Dam: Christmas in Aiken, by Affirmed last Triple Crown winner. 2nd Dam: Dowager, by Honest Pleasure 3rd Dam: Princessnesian, by *Princequillo The next dam, the Claiborne-bred Dowager, was a ($97,000 yrl '00 FTKJUL). O-Starlight Stable; lightly raced daughter of the champion juvenile Honest B-Double D Farm Corp (OH); T-K McPeek; J-E Prado; Pleasure, who started a hot favorite for the 1976 $600,000. Lifetime Record: 9-5-4-0, $1,001,564. Kentucky Derby on the strength of victories in the Flamingo S., Florida Derby and Blue Grass S. Although Nearly three years ago, when reporting on Menifee's Honest Pleasure went down by a length to Bold Forbes victory in the GI Blue Grass S., I commented in this column that breeders must be wishing they had made on the big day, he later confirmed that he stayed 1 1/4 fuller use of his sire Harlan, who had succumbed to a miles well by winning the Travers S. in record time. ruptured aorta a few weeks earlier. Another record breaker over 1 1/4 miles is Harlan's The bare facts of the matter were that the number of Holiday's third dam, Princessnesian. This very talented live foals by the 1994 Vosburgh S. winner amounted to mare set new figures when she won a division of the only 30 in 1996, 18 in ‘97, 17 in ‘98 and 28 in ‘99, Santa Barbara H. by eight lengths and she later giving Harlan a not-so-grand total of 93 foals in four defeated the males over the same distance, coming completed seasons at Stone Farm. Considering that with a powerful late run to take the Hollywood Gold these foals were sired at the modest fee of $5,000, it is Cup. remarkable that Harlan has now come up with a second Of course this is an extremely good family. As a son, Harlan's Holiday, who appears to have an excellent daughter of Princequillo and Alanesian, Princessnesian chance in the Triple Crown events. Menifee, you'll was a sister to Quillesian, dam of that outstanding filly remember, followed up his Blue Grass triumph with Revidere, and she was also a half-sister to Boldnesian strong seconds to Charismatic at Churchill Downs and (grandsire of Seattle Slew) and to Stay At Home (dam Pimlico before failing to stay at Belmont. He went on to of the top Irish colts Home Guard and Boone's Cabin). win the GI Haskell Invitational at 1 1/8 miles. Princessnesian's best winner was Lords, a winner at Will the consistent Harlan's Holiday prove similarly Group 2 and Group 3 level over 1 1/2 miles in Ireland, effective over 1 1/4 miles? The way he finished in the and two of her daughters, Bold Enchantress and GI Florida Derby certainly suggested that he has every Passing Fancy, also produced Group winners in Ireland. chance of staying the Kentucky Derby trip, even though The Dowager branch of this family hadn't made a he is by a sprinting son of Storm Cat. Although Harlan significant contribution to the family fortunes until gained his only stakes success in 30 starts at seven Harlan's Holiday came along, and Christmas in Aiken furlongs, it's worth remembering that he twice won changed hands for as little as $15,000 as an in-foal over 1 1/16 miles and that he had a fair amount of five-year-old. Christmas in Aiken's mates in 1999 and staying blood in the bottom half of his pedigree. His 2000 were Railway Cat and Spirit Voices, two dam Country Romance, third in the Canadian Oaks over non-stakes-winning stallions based in Ohio at the 1 1/8 miles, was by Halo, the sire of two Derby Double D Farm Corp where Harlan's Holiday was bred. I winners, and his second dam, Sweet Romance, was by Gun Bow, a top-class winner at up to 1 1/2 miles. don't know which stallion Christmas in Aiken is visiting this year, but I'd guess he has a much higher profile. www.coolmore.com.