Andrew Caulfield, July 30, 2002 – Russian Rhythm

P EDIGREE INSIGHTS True test of time.... For good measure, Balistroika is a half sister to another BY ANDREW CAULFIELD Group winner, Nashamaa, and her half sisters Desirable, Park Appeal and Salidar are respectively the dams of PRINCESS MARGARET S.-G3, £45,000, Ascot, 7-27, the Group 1 performers Shadayid, Cape Cross and Bin 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:15.30, gd/fm. Ajwaad. 1--#@RUSSIAN RHYTHM, 121, f, 2, by Kingmambo The second generation of Russian Rhythm’s pedigree 1st Dam: Balistroika, by Nijinsky II is pure gold. Her four grandparents are Mr. Prospector, 2nd Dam: Balidaress (Ire), by Balidar (Ire) one of the few stallions responsible for over 100 3rd Dam: Innocence (GB), by Sea Hawk (Fr) graded-stakes winners; Miesque, a winner of 10 Group ($370,000 wnlg ‘00 KEENOV; 440,000gns yrl ‘01 1 races and dam of two Classic winners; Nijinsky II, the TATHOU). O-Cheveley Park Stud; B-Brushwood only English Triple Crown winner in over 60 years and Stable; T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Kieren Fallon; sire of 155 stakes winners; and Balidaress, a true blue £26,100. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, £30,845. hen. In these circumstances it would be unfair to At last year’s Houghton Sales, only two fillies made attribute Russian Rhythm’s talent to any particular more money than the 440,000 guineas that the ancestor. Cheveley Park Stud team had to pay to secure a rangy The strength of her pedigree also raises questions daughter of Kingmambo and Balistroika. While the filly’s about whether Russian Rhythm’s class owes anything price was substantial, it wasn’t enormous for a to the 4x3 inbreeding to Northern Dancer in her fashionably bred granddaughter of the remarkable pedigree. I am tempted to think it does, if only because broodmare Balidaress. Members of this family have she is comfortably the best of her dam’s first six named been in great demand ever since Balidaress’ Group foals and she is the only one inbred to Northern Dancer. 1-winning daughter Desirable made no less than It is also relevant to ask how much of Kingmambo’s 1,000,000 guineas in the same sales ring as long ago success is attributable to inbreeding to Northern as 1984. Dancer. With Northern Dancer back in the fourth Desirable had recorded the first important win of her generation of Kingmambo’s foals, the Lane’s End star distinguished career when she won the Princess was bound to be sent a lot of mares with Northern Margaret S. at Ascot on her second start and history Dancer blood. It is no surprise, then, that the likes of repeated itself three days ago when the Kingmambo Sadler’s Wells, Lyphard, Danzig, Dixieland Band and filly, now named Russian Rhythm, was a very smooth Nijinsky II have all appeared among the sires of the first winner of the same race on her second start. How two dams of Kingmambo’s leading representatives. smooth can be judged by the fact that the The Grade II-winning brothers Parade Ground and Brushwood-bred filly is now on offer at odds as short Parade Leader both have a Nijinsky mare as their as 10-1 for the 1000 Guineas in nine months’ time. second dam and are therefore inbred 4x4 to Northern The Kingmambo filly possesses a physique which Dancer, through his truly exceptional sons Nureyev and suggests she will train on into a high-class performer, Nijinsky. While Nijinsky isn’t considered a typical son of but I suspect that her owners would have regarded her Northern Dancer, the idea of combining Nijinsky and as an excellent buy even if she had won nothing more Nureyev in a pedigree makes good sense. Whereas important than a maiden race. After all, her sire is one Nureyev was small, Nijinsky possessed size and scope; of the hottest properties in Kentucky at a fee of whereas Nureyev managed only three starts, Nijinsky $200,000, and her dam Balistroika is a half sister to was tough enough to race five times at two and eight two winners of the G1 Cheveley Park S. in Desirable times at three; and whereas speed has often been the and Park Appeal and to a winner of the G1 Irish Oaks in main asset of Nureyev’s progeny, Nijinsky has left a Alydaress. legacy of superior staying power. (Cont. next page)

www.coolmore.com (Pedigree Insights cont.) Khalid Abdullah experimented with this combination a while ago. One of the Prince’s Nijinsky mares was Nijinsky Star, who had the distinction of having two Triple Crown-winning parents (her dam Chris Evert landed the NYRA Fillies Triple Crown). However, Nijinsky Star was a very big, plain mare who never made it to the races. She produced two daughters to Nureyev, which were inbred 2x3 to Northern Dancer. The better of them was Viviana, a very attractive individual who won two Listed races over 1 1/4 miles prior to taking second place in the G3 Prix de Psyche. This closely inbred mare is now shaping up as an even better producer. Her first foal, the Distant View filly Valuable Idea, was considered very promising until she met an untimely death. Her second foal, the Rahy filly Tates Creek, improved her record to six wins from nine starts with her victory in Saturday’s GII Diana H. And her third foal, the Distant View filly Sightseek, made an eye-catching winning debut at Saratoga a day later. Next in line is an impressive looking two-year-old son of Pulpit, so it looks as though this experiment with close inbreeding is paying off handsomely.