PEDIGREE INSIGHTS Jock Whitney, Dunce Cap Went on to Finish Second in B Y a N D R E W C a U L F I E L D the Cheveley Park S
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Andrew Caulfield, December 4, 2012-Philly Ace A well-named daughter of Tom Fool, belonging to PEDIGREE INSIGHTS Jock Whitney, Dunce Cap went on to finish second in B Y A N D R E W C A U L F I E L D the Cheveley Park S. and fourth to the exceptional Hula Dancer in the 1,000 Guineas. She also took advantage TROPICAL TURF H.-GIII, $100,000, CRC, 11-30, of a big weight concession to win the Hungerford S. 3yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:49 1/5, fm. from Queen=s Hussar, the colt who went on to sire the 1--@PHILLY ACE, 117, g, 4, by Smart Strike brilliant Brigadier Gerard. 1st Dam: Bloomy (SP, $127,670), by Polish Numbers Dunce Cap=s history--and that of her great-grandson 2nd Dam: Late Bloomer, by Stage Door Johnny Philly Ace--provides some valuable lessons about not 3rd Dam: Dunce Cap II, by Tom Fool being too dogmatic in several key areas. O/B-Brushwood Stable (PA); T-Christophe Clement; J-Luis Saez. $59,520. Lifetime Record: 14-7-2-2, 1) Don=t be in a rush to write off a very talented, $356,966. *1/2 to Slambino (Grand Slam), MSP, well-connected broodmare, even if she makes a slow $309,119; and Spring of Fame (Grand Slam), SW-Fr start. & Eng, GSP-UAE, $429,284. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ 2) If you like a mating well enough to do it once, you *Triple Plus*. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or brisnet.com should consider repeating it. chart or the brisnet.com PPs. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made Sales. 3) Don=t dismiss the progeny of a veteran mare, Lunching with an old school friend one day last week, especially if the mare has produced several important I felt incredibly old when he informed the waitress--for performers. no obvious reason--that it was 52 years since we had 4) And, if you are of a patient disposition, don=t be met. I received another reminder of my advancing years put off by a late foaling date. a few days later on studying the result of the GIII Tropical Turf H. in the TDN. The third dam of the Taking these points one at a time, Dunce Cap started winner Philly Ace is Dunce Cap II, winner of the her career so disappointingly that many of today=s Lowther S. at York on Aug. 22, 1962. That was the breeders would have dispatched her to the sales. None day I paid my first visit to the races, struggling to of her first six foals, which included three by the watch the action from the packed cheap enclosure. excellent Hail To Reason, so much as placed in a stakes It was a good day to start my association with this race (however, they did give their owner some nice great sport. The day=s feature race, the Ebor H., was naming opportunities, as her Outing Class gelding was won by Sostenuto, a colt owned and bred by Phil Bull, named Detention and another son was Sit In The who was to become my future employer at Timeform Corner). 10 years later. And I still remember the thrill of seeing Her fifth foal, Frillery, was by Whitney=s champion the future St Leger winner Hethersett flash past me, three-year-old Stage Door Johnny, who carried the locked in battle with Miralgo, the first winner of the Greentree Stable colors to victory over Forward Pass in innovative Timeform Gold Cup. the 1968 Belmont S. Although Frillery was good My interest in bloodlines flourished as I began to enough to win two of her five starts, it is doubtful that follow Hethersett=s foals, headed by the Derby winner her record in itself would have earned Dunce Cap Blakeney, and my knowledge of American racing and another visit to Stage Door Johnny. It was just as well, breeding benefited from keeping an eye on Dunce Cap then, that Dunce Cap had already been returned to and her progeny. Stage Door Johnny in 1972 and 1973, before Frillery=s limitations were exposed. The 1972 covering resulted in Johnny Appleseed, PHILLY ACE, g, 2008 who won the GII Louisiana Derby before being injured Native Dancer Raise a Native soon afterwards. The 1973 mating produced an even Raise You Mr. Prospector better winner in the aptly-named Late Bloomer. Nashua Gold Digger According to Bill Munn=s report in the Bloodstock Sequence Breeders= Review, Late Bloomer was bothered by bad Smart Strike Cyane Smarten ankles at two, when she failed to win in three starts, Smartaire and a bad back restricted her to five 3-year-old starts, Classy ‘n Smart Nodouble of which she won three. The filly more than made up No Class Classy Quillo for lost time at four, when she amassed six stakes Northern Dancer victories, including Grade I wins in the Delaware H., Danzig Pas De Nom Ruffian H. and Beldame S., with two of these GI wins Polish Numbers Buckpasser coming over a mile and a quarter. At the end of the Bloomy Numbered Account year Late Bloomer was voted champion older filly. SP, 11-4-3-0 Intriguing By the time Dunce Cap made her last visit to Stage 7Fls, 1GSW, Prince John Stage Door Johnny 1SW Late Bloomer Peroxide Blonde Door Johnny she was 18 years old, but she again did MGISW well, producing the durable gelding Late Act, a multiple 9Fls, 2GSW Duce Cap II Tom Fool 11Fls, 1Ch, 3GSW Bright Coronet GIII winner who was GI placed. During my association with Juddmonte, we have done numerous repeat matings, often to support the home stallions, and the lesson has been that the same mating can produce wide variations--anything from a Group 1 winner to a cripple. So, if the first foal fails to meet expectations, breeders shouldn=t necessarily be deterred from trying again. Late Bloomer added further chapters to the Dunce Cap story. Her first two foals were those very smart colts Ends Wells (GI United Nations H.) and Fred Astaire (GII Rutgers H. and third in the GI Breeders= Cup Mile). Unfortunately, her breeding record became very patchy, with eight fruitless years because of dead foals, slipped foals and failures to conceive. Undeterred, her connections kept trying and Late Bloomer was 21 when she foaled a filly by Kingmambo and 23 when she produced her last foal, a daughter of Polish Numbers. The Kingmambo filly, Zagora (USA), never raced but she produced a stakes-winning colt to A.P. Indy and her A.P. Indy filly Romantic Comedy is now the dam of Matthewsburg, winner of the GIII Kentucky Cup Sprint in 2011. The Polish Numbers filly, Bloomy, finished first or second in seven of her 11 starts and is now making her mark as a broodmare. Her 2006 Grand Slam gelding Spring of Fame earned a Timeform rating of 118 while racing in Dubai earlier this year. And now her 2008 Smart Strike gelding Philly Ace has become a GIII winner, with a record of 14-7-2-2. It has taken Philly Ace a while to reach graded-winner status but he can be forgiven for this, as he has a May 23 birth date. No wonder the TDN report on the Tropical Turf H. described the Brushwood color-bearer as progressive B a word which could equally be applied to Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno), with his June 15 birthday, and Point of Entry (Dynaformer), a May 10 foal. Bloomy=s 2011 Elusive Quality filly failed to find a buyer at $150,000 at Saratoga, but I guess that Brushwood will be happy to keep her now. Incidentally, Philly Ace is another reminder of Smart Strike=s propensity for mares from the Danzig male line. The Lane=s End stallion sired Soaring Free, High Strike Zone, Smart Bid and this year=s GII turf winner Air Support from Danzig mares and he also has Graded winners out of mares by Danzig=s sons Belong To Me (the excellent Lookin At Lucky), Boundary, Dayjur (G1 winner Shadow Cast), Danehill, Zieten and now Polish Numbers..