Govenor Charlie
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Andrew Caulfield, March 26-Govenor Charlie Although Real Quiet managed 20 starts, including PEDIGREE INSIGHTS nine as a juvenile, his physical flaws as a young horse B Y A N D R E W C A U L F I E L D were well documented. For example, David Heckerman=s coverage of the 1998 Kentucky Derby in Sunday, Sunland Park the Blood-Horse related that Aas a foal, Real Quiet SUNLAND DERBY-GIII, $800,000, SUN, 3-24, 3yo, hardly matched anyone=s picture of a future Classic 1 1/8m, 1:47 2/5 (NTR), ft. winner. Narrow enough to raise the image of an 1--#@GOVENOR CHARLIE, 122, c, 3, by Midnight Lute aquarium fish--he was nicknamed >The Fish=--the colt=s 1st Dam: Silverbulletway, by Storm Cat front legs appeared early on to be growing in several 2nd Dam: Silverbulletday, by Silver Deputy directions other than correct. 3rd Dam: Rokeby Rose, by Tom Rolfe A[Eduardo] Gaviria [Real Quiet=s breeder] elected to O/B-Michael E Pegram (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Martin send the colt to the University of Florida veterinary Garcia. $400,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, center for a procedure designed to straighten growth of $444,800. *1/2 to Crisis of Spirit (Vindication), SW, the legs. Surgical screws were implanted in both of $132,611. Werk Nick Rating: A. Real Quiet=s knees early in his yearling season, and Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. wires were attached in an attempt to force growth in Sometimes you have to admit that you might be the desired direction. The procedure is sometimes wrong. compared to straightening a child=s teeth with When I looked at the pedigree of Govenor Charlie, the temporary braces, and the wires and screws were latest colt to earn points towards a Kentucky Derby removed after six months. start in Sunday=s GIII Sunland Park Derby, I decided it A>From an engineering point of view, it was an was just as well that I hadn=t been asked to advise the alignment job,= said Gaviria. colt=s breeder, Mike Pegram. If I had, I would have had A>It=s not an uncommon procedure,@ said [Richard] serious qualms about mating Midnight Lute, a son of Kingwell [of Ocala=s Pride & Joy Farm]. >In the end, it Real Quiet, with Silverbulletway, an unraced daughter might have been just enough to get him over the edge of Storm Cat out of champion Silverbulletday. where he could stand training.= My concerns would have had nothing to do with the AIt was not enough, however, to win any beauty blend of bloodlines. After all, the Werk Nick Rating is A. contests as a yearling. My fears would have been based on potential physical flaws. A>He was a big gawky, crooked thing who was typical In the earlier quote about trying to correct Real of a yearling not ready to be sold,= said Kentucky Quiet=s forelegs, the procedure was likened to horseman Craig Bandoroff, whose Denali Stud straightening a child=s teeth with braces. We English consigned Real Quiet to the fifth day of the Keeneland famously have plenty of experience of crooked teeth-- September sale. >He had a lot of action at the barn on enough to know that adults who needed their teeth pedigree, but people would take one look when he straightening are quite likely to have children with teeth walked out and tell us to put him back in the stall.=@ going in all directions. It all makes work for the I am not suggesting for a moment that Midnight Lute orthodontists to do, and I sometimes wonder if all the inherited this flaw from Real Quiet. On the contrary, he corrections being made to young horses are making appears to be a bigger, darker, more handsome version plenty of of his sire, with much better forelegs. I=ve seen it said work for future generations of veterinarians. that he is a little narrow in front, but that isn=t unusual Equally, I can understand why Mike Pegram was in the descendants of Fappiano--a horse who possessed eager to go ahead with a mating which combined Real the same sort of size and power as his great-grandson. Quiet, Midnight Lute and Silverbulletday, three of the My concern would have been that Midnight Lute is a son of an incorrect horse whose pedigree features 4 x 3 finest Thoroughbreds he has owned or part-owned. inbreeding to Raise A Native--a horse once described as Midnight Lute remains the only horse to have won a flying machine who was grounded after only four two editions of the GI Breeders= Cup Sprint, but his flights on account of mechanical problems. With that eye-catching first crop has already demonstrated his concern at the back of my mind, I would have been ability to sire quality performers with more stamina than wary of mating Midnight Lute to a daughter of Storm he possessed. Govenor Charlie clearly had no problems Cat. For all his undoubted talents as a sire, Storm Cat with a mile and an eighth in the GIII Sunland Derby and tended to pass on his less-than-perfect, offset knees. Midnight Lucky covered only 110 yards less in winning My concerns would have been intensified by the fact the fillies= equivalent. that the Storm Cat mare in question, Silverbulletway, Thanks to the likes of Gulch, Boundary, Elusive never made it to the races. Quality and Our Emblem, there are several recent Offset knees weren=t the only flaw sometimes found examples of sprinters siring Kentucky Derby winners, in the descendants of Storm Cat and his sire Storm and it is reassuring that Midnight Lute=s sire Real Quiet Bird. Wind problems could also be an issue. As the took the Churchill Downs classic before very nearly candid piece on Midnight Lute in the Feb. 23 issue of completing the Triple Crown. TDN related, Midnight Lute required two surgeries on We also have the encouraging thought that Govenor his throat. Charlie=s magnificent second dam won the GI Alabama Many American vets and breeders seem to be fans of S. over a mile and a quarter. By the end of her second the British children=s cartoon >Bob the Builder,= with its season, this daughter of Silver Deputy had won 14 of motto ACan we fix it? Yes we can!@ So they may not her 18 starts and landed two Eclipse Awards. share my concerns about less-than-perfect forelegs and Her record was a reminder of how difficult it can be potential wind problems. It is my view, though, that to assess a broodmare. Her dam, Rokeby Rose, was such imperfections are best avoided in the first place, if sold for $42,000 as an 18-year-old, while carrying the at all possible, rather than having to correct them by future champion. None of Rokeby Rose=s previous 11 surgery. foals had managed to earn black type, even though their sires included stallions of the quality of Northern Dancer, Blushing Groom, Fappiano and Danzig. GOVENOR CHARLIE, c, 2010 Silverbulletday has unfortunately been similarly Quiet American Fappiano ineffective so far in her broodmare career, but the Real Quiet Demure excellent news is that Govenor Charlie is out of her Really Blue Believe It eldest daughter and that her next daughter, Silver Bullet Midnight Lute Meadow Blue Moon (Vindication), produced Midnight Lute=s GII San Dehere Deputy Minister Vicente S. winner Shakin It Up. Candytuft Sister Dot Govenor Charlie and Shakin It Up are inbred 4 x 4 to Boltfromtheblue Blue Times Deputy Minister, via Midnight Lute=s broodmare sire Berkut Dehere and Silver Deputy, and Govenor Charlie is also Storm Bird Northern Dancer inbred 5 x 5 to Secretariat. Storm Cat South Ocean There is also stamina to be found in Silverbulletday=s Silverbulletway Secretariat Unraced Terlingua female line. Her dam Rokeby Rose was a 5 Fls, 2 Wnrs, Crimson Saint three-parts-sister to Arts And Letters, a Horse of the Deputy Minister 2 Sws, 1 GSW, Silverbulletday Silver Deputy Year who scored at up to two miles. Rokeby Rose also 2xCh., MGISW, Silver Valley stayed reasonably well, as she showed in winning the 10Fls, 1Wnr Rokeby Rose Tom Rolfe GII Flower Bowl H. over a mile and a quarter. 14Fls, 1SW Rokeby Venus.