Andrew Caulfield, September 11, 2012-Famous Name (GB) PEDIGREE INSIGHTS B Y A N D R E W C A U L F I E L D Sunday, Curragh, Ireland REFUSE TO BEND SOLONAWAY S.-G3, i62,500, Curragh, 9-9, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:38.09, gd. 1--FAMOUS NAME (GB), 138, h, 7, by Dansili (GB) 1st Dam: Fame At Last, by Quest for Fame (GB) 2nd Dam: Ranales, by Majestic Light 3rd Dam: Katsura, by Northern Dancer O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd; T-Dermot Weld; J-Pat Smullen; i40,625. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older Horse-Ire at 7-9.5f, MGSW & MG1SP-Ire, MG1SP-Fr, G1SP-Ger, 37-20-8-5, i1,549,566. *1/2 to Zamanist (GB) (Zamindar), SW & GSP-Ire. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the Racing Post chart or the brisnet.com PPs. Video, courtesy attheraces.com. Who says today=s Thoroughbreds aren=t as tough as their ancestors? Try telling that to Juddmonte=s wonderful old stager Famous Name, who achieved a remarkable 19th stakes victory in the G3 Solonaway S. two days ago. His career figures now stand at 37-20-8-5, which means that this tough-as-teak 7-year-old has been out of the first three on only four occasions, even though 36 of his starts have been against stakes company. And it isn=t just on the racecourse that he has been busy, as his trainer Dermot Weld pointed out in yesterday=s TDN: AHe takes plenty of training and we have to work him hard to keep him fit, but his enthusiasm for being a racehorse is remarkable.@ The son of Dansili has now won one Group 2, 12 Group 3s and six listed races and I remain convinced that he would also have won the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club in 2008 but for being drawn 17 in a 20-horse field, which forced him to race wide. He still did very well to close to within a head of the high-class Vision d=Etat. Famous Name has won at least two stakes races in each of the last five years, his 2012 total being an impressive six. His failure to win a stakes race during his juvenile season can be forgiven on the score that he wasn=t born until May 8. Despite this handicap, he was a wide-margin winner on his 2-year-old debut in July and was second at Group 3 level. Of course, I=m not exactly unbiased here. As a member of the Juddmonte team, it was my responsibility to make the initial suggestion that his dam, Fame At Last, should visit Dansili in 2004. The reasoning behind this suggestion was that Fame At Last is a lengthy, low-to-the-ground mare who stands little more than 15.2 hands. By the fall of 2003, we had only two foals by which to judge her. Her first foal, by the 16.3-hands Zafonic, was small and lengthy and her second, by Lomitas, was also small. These foals= lack of size no doubt owed something to their being their dam=s first two produce, as all of Fame At Last=s subsequent foals have been bigger. Caulfield cont. The toughness of Dansili=s background is one of the reasons why his progeny have earned an enviable Even so, it made sense to look for a stallion who reputation for soundness. Famous Name=s latest win usually transmits some size, such as Dansili. Dansili came a day after three of Dansili=s 5-year-olds had also appealed on the basis that his progeny are rarely acquitted themselves well at group level. Dandino, lengthy--a tendency which also applied to his sire making his 20th start, showed admirable determination Danehill--so he made a lot of sense from a conformation in landing the G3 September S. Then Bated Breath viewpoint for Fame At Last. turned in another respectable Group 1 effort to take Another incentive was that Fame At Last=s second third in the Betfred Sprint Cup. Finally Emulous failed dam, Katsura, had another granddaughter, Tugela, narrowly to repeat her victory in the G1 Matron S. which had already excelled with a son of Danehill, These three rank among Dansili=s total of a dozen 2012 namely Desert King. Their daughter, the legendary group/graded winners--a total which ranks him a clear Australian-raced mare Makybe Diva, gained her first third in this respect among the Northern Hemisphere Melbourne Cup victory at about the time the mating stallions, behind Galileo and Deep Impact. He ranks plans were being formulated. By the time she retired, second behind Galileo in terms of black-type winners. Makybe Diva had notched up seven Group 1 victories, There are plenty of other tough performers among in the process becoming the first horse ever to win Dansili=s total of 45 group/graded winners, including three editions of the Melbourne Cup. She was six when Proviso (four Grade I wins as a 5-year-old) and she completed this outstanding hat trick, so she was as Illustrious Blue (G2 Goodwood Cup as a 7-year-old). tough and durable as Famous Name. That said, his story is by no means one dominated by Famous Name can surely thank Dansili for much of mature performers. Dansili is well capable of siring his toughness. Dansili=s blue-hen dam Hasili raced eight quality juveniles, too, as Famous Name=s sister Big times at two and a further nine times the following Break underlined on Saturday, when she earned year. Dansili was sound enough to have raced on at J “TDN Rising Star” J status with a very five, if required, but he retired after his narrow defeat in eye-catching victory. Juddmonte has two other the GI Breeders= Cup Mile at four. However, his talented juvenile winners by him in Ashdan and Winsili, brothers Cacique and Champs Elysees both enjoyed while other owners have the very promising Irish colt Grade I success after the age of four, as did Famous Nevis, the group-placed French filly Sara Lucille and the Name=s broodmare sire Quest For Fame, who added the once-raced winner Love Magic (described as Aa lovely GI Hollywood Turf H. to his win in the 1990 Derby. prospect@ by the Racing Post after her debut). Famous Name, Big Break and hopefully Ashdan are all FAMOUS NAME (GB), c, 2005 examples of Dansili=s affinity for mares from the Northern Dancer Blushing Groom male line. He has four stakes-winning Danzig Pas de Nom daughters out of Rainbow Quest mares, plus Famous Danehill His Majesty Name and Big Break out of a granddaughter of Rainbow Razyana Spring Adieu Quest. Dansili also has a compelling record with mares Dansili (GB) Ile de Bourbon by Blushing Groom=s son Rahy. This partnership has Kahyasi (Ire) Kadissya only four foals of racing age but three of them are Hasili (Ire) High Line (GB) black-type winners. He also has a black-type winner Kerali (GB) Sookera among his two foals out of Arazi mares. Perhaps this Blushing Groom (Fr) success with the Blushing Groom line stems from the Rainbow Quest I Will Follow fact that Dansili=s pedigree also contains this Quest for Fame (GB) Green Dancer exceptional juvenile. Fame at Last Aryenne (Fr) 5-1-0-0 Americaine (GB) Fame At Last=s success hasn=t been limited to her 8Fls, 1GSW, Majestic Prince Dansili progeny, as she also produced the very useful Ranales Majestic Light 1SW 2-1-0-0 Irradiate Irish filly Zaminast to Zamindar. She has a yearling from 3Fls, 2Wnrs Katsura Northern Dancer the first crop by Dansili=s brother Champs Elysees and 12Fls, 1SW, 1GSP Noble Fancy is again in foal to Dansili. The family entered the Juddmonte stud book in 1981 with the purchase, for $400,000, of Fame At Last=s A # will distinguish first-time stakes-winners, a @ will second dam, Northern Dancer=s group-placed daughter indicate first-time graded stakes-winners, a s will Katsura. Famous Name has repaid that sum several denote a first-time Grade/Group 1 winner, a + will times over. More importantly--rather like Frankel--he has indicate first-time starters, an (S) will be used for state- surely given his owner-breeder the type of pleasure that bred races, a (C) will be used for maiden-claiming races counts for far more than money. and an (R) will be used for other restricted races. " " " " " ".