PEDIGREE INSIGHTS
HIP 146 – f, 2005, EMPIRE MAKER –
SLUICE
SIRE LINE
There was no mystery behind the fact that none of the numerous
stallions which commenced stallion duties in 2004 commanded a
higher fee than Empire Maker’s 100,000 dollars.
This son of Unbridled had recorded a trio of magnificent GI
victories in 2003, taking the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and
Belmont Stakes, and in two of them he defeated Funny Cide, the
gelding who got the better of him in the Kentucky Derby. Empire
Maker dominated the Florida Derby to such an extent that his
winning margin of nearly 10 lengths was the longest in the race’s
long history. Empire Maker possessed enormous potential – so much,
in fact, that when his regular rider, Jerry Bailey, was asked where
Empire Maker ranked among the horses he had ridden, he replied:
“Empire Maker had more raw talent than any other three-year-old
I had ever ridden…he would have done some incredible things.”
Empire Maker’s impressive bloodlines simply added to his appeal.
By a winner of the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup
Classic, Empire Maker was the fifth Graded winner to emerge from
the first six foals out of the GI-winning Toussaud, who was voted
Broodmare of the Year in 2002. Among his predecessors was the
tremendously speedy Seattle Slew filly Honest Lady, who was second
in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Now a member of the Juddmonte
broodmare band, Honest Lady has an impressive two-year-old colt by
Unbridled’s Song.
My association with Juddmonte means that I have been acquainted
with Empire Maker since he was a weanling. “He was just an
outstanding foal, a great physical specimen,” Dr. John Chandler
recalled prior to the Kentucky Derby. Empire Maker was already
being thought of as a Kentucky Derby candidate as a yearling and
his youngsters look similarly promising. Garrett O’Rourke,
Juddmonte’s farm manager, is greatly impressed by the way they are
developing:
“As individuals, this year’s yearlings are one of the most
exciting crops that Juddmonte has had, and this is largely
attributable to Empire Maker. It’s a similar story with the 2006
foals.”
Bearing in mind the exceptional quality of the mares sent to
him, Empire Maker can be confidently expected to make the type of
start we have regularly witnessed from Selling Wednesday, August 9
Fasig-Tipton Saratoga
Selected Yearling Sale his sire line. The first crop by his
great-grandsire, Mr. Prospector, contained the co-champion filly
It’s In The Air and his second produced Fappiano, his most
influential classic influence. So far seven descendants of Fappiano
have compiled a total of three victories in the Kentucky Derby, two
in the Preakness and three in the Belmont Stakes.
When Empire Maker took the Belmont Stakes, Unbridled became the
only member of the Mr. Prospector male line to have matched Mr.
Prospector’s feat of siring a winner of each of the Triple Crown
events.
Fappiano made a fast start, with a first crop which contained
Tasso, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and a second headed by
the triple GI winner Tappiano. Fappiano’s best son, Unbridled, also
got off to a flyer, with the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner
Unbridled’s Song and the Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone in his
first crop. Since then we’ve seen Unbridled’s Song come up with the
Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Unbridled Elaine and the GI-winning
Songandaprayer among his first foals. Mention of Unbridled Elaine
is a reminder of how well Unbridled and Unbridled’s Song have done
with their fillies.
It is easy to forget that Unbridled’s death at the age of 14
meant that he left only 10 crops and no more than 566 named foals.
Yet one of those crops contained those outstanding distaffers
Banshee Breeze and Manistique. Banshee Breeze’s proud record
of 10 victories and five seconds from 18 starts featured five
GI successes, including the CCA Oaks and Alabama S., with her
three-year-old exploits earning her the title of
champion of her sex. It was only by a nose that Banshee Breeze
failed to catch Escena in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Manistique,
for her part, graduated from winning the GII Hollywood Oaks and GII
Bayakoa H. as a sophomore to land the GI Santa Margarita and GI
Vanity Handicaps at four and the Santa Maria H. at five.
Unbridled’s next star in the distaff division was Exogenous, who
met with a freakish, tragic accident on Breeders’ Cup day.
Exogenous had earned her place in the Distaff line-up with her GI
victories in the Gazelle and Beldame Handicaps, as well as with
seconds in the CCA Oaks and Alabama S.
Each of Unbridled’s last two crops also featured a top-class
filly. Among his penultimate collection was Halfbridled, who
established herself as the champion two-year-old filly of 2003 with
an unbeaten campaign highlighted by victories in the GI Del Mar
Debutante and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Then, finally,
Unbridled came up with another champion daughter in the excellent
Smuggler, winner of the last two legs of
the NYRA’s Triple Tiara.
Unbridled’s Song wasted no time in showing that he had inherited
Unbridled’s ability to sire excellent fillies. His first crop
contained Unbridled Elaine, who got the better of the redoubtable
Spain to take the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and subsequent crops
have produced Marylebone, winner of the GI Matron S., and Splendid
Blended, a winner of the GI Hollywood Starlet S. at two and GI
Vanity H. at three. There is therefore every reason to expect
Empire Maker’s daughter out of Sluice to live up to her
blue-blooded pedigree.
FEMALE LINE
When
Sluice came on the market as a yearling at Keeneland in July 1999,
only one filly managed to beat her price of $1,500,000. And who
could blame the bidders for being so enthusiastic about this
Seeking the Gold filly? As a daughter of a Seattle Slew mare, the
youngster represented the same cross as the GI winners Cape Town
and Seeking the Pearl. Cape Town won the 1998 Florida Derby (and is
now the sire of the champion filly Bird Town), while the
outstanding Japanese filly Seeking the Pearl defeated the males in
the G1 NHK Mile Cup in Japan and the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in
France.
Sluice’s dam, Lakeway, wasn’t just any old daughter of Seattle
Slew. A winner of her only juvenile start, Lakeway proceeded to
record GI victories in the Las Virgenes S. and Santa Anita Oaks,
displaying so much class that the Kentucky Derby was briefly
considered as a possible objective. After recording further GI
successes in the Mother Goose S. and Hollywood Oaks, Lakeway’s
record stood at six wins from seven starts, her only loss coming in
the Kentucky Oaks, which she lost by a head to Sardula. Lakeway’s
connections claimed after the Kentucky Oaks that their filly wasn’t
in prime physical condition on the day and they proved their point
when Lakeway and Sardula met again in the Hollywood Oaks, with
Lakeway winning by more than four lengths. Lakeway’s achievements
were good enough for her to finish runner-up for the Eclipse Award
for three-year-old female, which went to Seeking the Gold’s
daughter Heavenly Prize, conqueror of Lakeway in the GI Alabama S.
Lakeway continued to compete with distinction at the highest
level as a four-year-old, notably taking the GII Churchill Downs H.
two weeks after filling the show spot behind Inside Information and
Heavenly Prize in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Lakeway’s highly impressive career went a long way towards
justifying the $2,700,000 which Mike Rutherford had splashed out
for her dam, the Alydar mare Milliardaire, as a yearling at
Saratoga. That seven-figure sum made Milliardaire the
highest-priced yearling filly of 1985, her price reflecting the
achievements of her two-years older brother Saratoga Six, himself a
2,200,000-dollar yearling. In a brief but glorious juvenile career,
Saratoga Six had won all four of his starts, including the GI Del
Mar Futurity, GII Hollywood Juvenile Championship and GIII Balbao
S. Saratoga Six was rated just 1 lb below Chief’s Crown – and 2 lbs
ahead of Spend a Buck - on the Experimental Free Handicap, but a
devastating fracture to his near-fore forced his premature
retirement to stud.
This outstanding family had also hit the headlines in November
1984, when Priceless Fame came on the market. Already dam of
Saratoga Six, the high-class English colt Dunbeath and the
high-priced Milliardaire, Priceless Fame became the highest priced
broodmare in American history when she drew a bid of $6,000,000
from Darley Stud Management. Darley has received dividends on its
investment, with Priceless Fame becoming the second dam of the
stakes winners Jilbab (2002 CCA Oaks), Ancient World (G1 Premio
Vittorio di Capua) and Isla del Rey.
It wasn’t just her produce record which made Priceless Fame so
attractive. She also had the distinction of being a sister to the
remarkable Bold Forbes. After being ranked the third-best juvenile
of his year, Bold Forbes established himself as the champion
three-year-old of 1976, when he won the Wood Memorial, Kentucky
Derby and Belmont. Bold Forbes went on to sire the champion filly
Tiffany Lass.
The further you go back in this female line, the more top-class
fillies you find. Sluice’s fifth dam is Nellie L, winner of the
Kentucky Oaks and Acorn S. in 1943, and her sixth dam is Nellie
Flag, the top-ranked American juvenile filly of 1934. Sluice
maintained the family’s tradition of doing well at stakes level,
notably winning the Misty Isle S. over Arlington Park’s 8½-furlong
turf course. This made her one of six stakes winners produced by
the potent Seeking the Gold-Seattle Slew cross. In addition to Cape
Town and Seeking the Pearl, this cross is also responsible for the
very successful stallion Mutakddim, sire of two winners at
Argentina’s equivalent to Breeders’ Cup Day in 2006.
Sluice also combined talent with toughness, as she was sound
enough to race 23 times in three years on the track, compiling
earnings of over $200,000 in the process. Her main value, though,
is going to be as a producer, judging by the strength of her
bloodlines and the outstanding quality of her Empire Maker filly,
her first foal.
BROODMARE SIRE
Seeking the Gold’s potential as a broodmare sire was highlighted in
2003 when John Magnier was prepared to spend a record-breaking
$7,100,000 to secure Seeking the Gold’s daughter Cash Run.
Clearly Magnier shared the widespread belief that Seeking the
Gold’s record as an excellent sire of fillies, coupled with his
bloodlines, marked him out as a potential champion sire of
broodmares. Seeking the Gold’s sire, the immortal Mr. Prospector,
had taken this title for six consecutive years between 1996 and
2001, while Seeking the Gold’s own broodmare sire, Buckpasser, had
taken the title three times, despite having fewer than 150
broodmare daughters.
Seeking the Gold is living up to expectations, with his
daughters’ list of leading winners featuring such as Surfside,
Riskaverse, Pomeroy, Good Reward, Exchange Rate, Pure Prize and Lu
Ravi. Interestingly, this list confirms Seeking the Gold’s liking
for the Seattle Slew clan. Surfside, the champion three-year-old
filly of 2000, is by Seattle Slew, whereas the high-class Lu Ravi
is by Seattle Slew’s son A.P. Indy.
As Seeking the Gold is a son of Mr Prospector, Sluice’s Empire
Maker filly is inbred 4 x 3 to the great Mr. P. The 2005 season saw
an avalanche of Graded winners inbred to Mr. Prospector in the
first four generations, including the G1 winners Flower Alley,
Pleasant Home, Host, Roman Ruler, Commentator, Dawn of War, Fourty
Niners Son, Pussycat Doll, Shadow Cast and Declan’s Moon.
The Sluice filly also has three lines each to Buckpasser and Raise
a Native, so there is every reason to think that she will make a
first-rate broodmare once her racing days are over.
Date:
08 August 2006