Pedigree Insights
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Andrew Caulfield, November 27, 2007–Court Vision P EDIGREE INSIGHTS For example, the GI Citation H. saw Langfuhr represented by his third Grade I winner of the year, in BY ANDREW CAULFIELD the form of Lang Field, while the GI Cigar Mile win by Daaher helped Awesome Again match that notable feat. Saturday, Aqueduct Victory Gallop=s revival continued apace, with REMSEN S.-GII, $200,000, AQU, 11-24, 2yo, 1 1/8m, Kettleoneup taking the GII Falls City H. and Anak Nakal 1:52 2/5, ft. the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Anak Nakal=s win was 1--COURT VISION, 122, c, 2, by Gulch made all the more interesting by the fact that he is 1st Dam: Weekend Storm, by Storm Bird inbred 3x3 to Fappiano. 2nd Dam: Weekend Surprise, by Secretariat 3rd Dam: Lassie Dear, by Buckpasser COURT VISION, c, 2005 ($180,000 yrl '06 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo >07 Native Dancer FTFFEB). O-WinStar Farm LLC; B-W S Farish & Kilroy Raise a Native Raise You Thoroughbred Partnership (KY); T-William I Mott; Mr. Prospector Nashua J-Eibar Coa; $120,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, Gold Digger Sequence $257,542. *Full to Garcia Marquez, SW-HK; and 3/4 Gulch *Rasper II Rambunctious to City Weekend (Carson City), SP, $270,273. *Danae II Jameela Click for the brisnet.com chart or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style Seven Corners Asbury Mary pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. Snow Flyer Every now and again the pages of Monday morning=s Nearctic Northern Dancer TDN are, for me, the equivalent of Old Mother Natalma Storm Bird Hubbard=s cupboard--bare of any obvious material for New Providence Weekend Storm South Ocean my Tuesday column. But then there are other days Unraced Shining Sun when there are enough bones in the Hubbard cupboard 11Fls, 1GSW, Weekend Surprise Bold Ruler Secretariat to satisfy an Irish Wolfhound. The Thanksgiving holiday 1SW 31-7-5-10, Somethingroyal $402,892 Lassie Dear Buckpasser was one such period, with graded stake after graded 14Fls, 1Ch, 3GSW 14Fls, 2GSW, 2SW stake throwing up rich pickings. 1SW Gay Missile www.coolmore.com Although Empire Maker=s daughter Turn Away Another stakes winner from this cross is Court suffered from pilot error when favorite for the GII Vision=s brother Garcia Marquez, who won important Golden Rod S., the 2003 GI Belmont S. winner was races over 13 and 12 miles in Hong Kong. able to show his potential when Mushka cruised from Gulch isn=t the only son of Mr. Prospector with plenty last to first in the GII Demoiselle S. The Saratoga of foals out of Storm Bird mares, others being Seeking sale-topper has a Seattle Slew mare as her second dam, the Gold (sire of the champion juvenile filly Flanders) so each of Empire Maker=s first two graded winners has and Machiavellian (sire of the Group 1 winner the 1977 Triple Crown winner in the third generation of Medicean). There are also graded winners by Chester her pedigree. House, Fusaichi Pegasus, Gone West and Jade Hunter. We also saw Mr. Prospector=s broodmare daughters Court Vision=s connections must have high hopes that reinforce two of their strongest partnerships. A.P. he will continue to follow in Thunder Gulch=s footsteps, Arrow=s first Grade II success, in the Clark H., means but the colt has probably already done enough to earn a that A.P. Indy=s total of 11 graded winners from 98 place in the WinStar stallion barn. foals out of Mr. Prospector mares now includes seven Court Vision came on the market as a yearling in at Grade I or Grade II levels. And The Leopard=s victory 2006, when Gulch was 22 and coming off a couple of in the GIII Generous S. means that daughters of Mr. comparatively quiet years. Although sired at a fee of Prospector have now produced 10 graded winners from $50,000, Gulch=s 2006 yearlings averaged only 89 foals by Storm Cat. Another of those 89 foals, $64,257 and their median was only $50,000. Court Catienus, struck gold when his daughter Precious Kitten Vision, though, achieved the third-best price of topped her fine season with victory in the GI Matriarch $180,000 and was seen in a much better light at S. Catienus also had the second--Talent Search--in the Fasig-Tipton Florida=s select two-year-olds in training GI De Francis Dash. sale, where he made $350,000. And Catienus wasn=t the only son of Storm Cat in Even so, Court Vision=s reception in the sales ring fine form. The royally bred Pure Prize was responsible was in sharp contrast to the welcome that had awaited for Pure Clan, the admirably versatile filly who one of his older brothers, Kipling. maintained her unbeaten record in the Golden Rod S. When Kipling appeared at the 1997 Saratoga Yearling Storm Cat=s broodmare daughters also got into the Sale, he topped the sale at $1,400,000. This was act, with Ministorm being responsible for Mini Sermon. This winner of the GII Top Flight H. is one of the many hardly surprising as, in addition to being bred on the horses with 4x4 inbreeding to Secretariat in their same cross as Thunder Gulch, he was out of a mare pedigree, created by sending daughters of Storm Cat to with a tremendous pedigree. His dam, Weekend Storm, sons of either A.P. Indy or Gone West. Before anyone is an unraced sister to Summer Squall, an excellent jumps to the conclusion that this is a sure-fire way of winner of the Preakness S., and she is also a half-sister producing top performers, I should point out that Mini to A.P. Indy, 1992=s Horse of the Year. What=s more, Sermon is only the third graded winner, following Sky with Storm Bird as her sire and a Secretariat mare as Mesa and Horse Greeley, from the first 109 foals bred her dam, Weekend Storm was bred to the same pattern this way. as Storm Cat, who had already been champion juvenile Another highly popular nick, this one concerning sire on three occasions. Storm Cat=s sire Storm Bird, was also back in the news Although Kipling fell well short of the hoped-for when Gulch=s son Court Vision overcame all sorts of standard on the racetrack, he has shown this year that trouble to land the GII Remsen S. his buyers weren=t totally wrong in having faith in him. It was back in 1991, in his third season, that Gulch He is the sire of Kip Deville, who was gaining his covered Storm Bird=s daughter Line of Thunder. You=ll second Grade I victory when he landed the Breeders= hardly need me to remind you that that mating resulted Cup Mile. There has been no better advertisement for in the excellent Thunder Gulch, who, coincidentally, the virtues of the Lassie Dear female line than Breeders= gained his first stakes success in the Remsen S. in Cup Day. As many as five stallions from this family 1994. That Grade II victory proved to be a prelude to have now sired GI Breeders= Cup winners, the others much greater things, including victories in the Florida being A.P. Indy (Tempera), Summer Squall (Storm Derby, Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers S., plus Song), Honor Grades (Adoration) and Deerhound the title of champion three-year-old colt of 1995. Other (Countess Diana). Three of the five--Kipling, Deerhound Remsen winners who have gone on to land the and Honor Grades --never won a stakes race, so Court Kentucky Derby include Go For Gin, Pleasant Colony Vision, with two graded wins already in the bag, is well and Northern Dancer. qualified for stallion success. Needless to say, Thunder Gulch=s exploits brought daughters of Storm Bird flocking to Gulch=s gate, to the extent that Storm Bird is now the commonest broodmare sire among Gulch=s foals, with a total of 59. The nick has maintained momentum with further graded successes from Fast Decision (2002 Withers S.), the speedy Listen Here (GII Amsterdam S. in 2002) and now Court Vision, who has won his last three starts. .