Final Curtain for Theatrical

Theatrical (March 13, 1982 - August 31, 2012)

Irish-bred Theatrical, who died on Friday, August 31 at the age of 30, was the firstborn Group 1 winner for Nureyev, from his sire’s first foal crop of foals (one foal resulted in 1981 from a test breeding in 1980). Theatrical was a late bloomer, so chronologically, Classic winners Sonic Lady (a foal of 1983) and Miesque (1984) preceded him to Group 1-winning level.

Racing initially as a homebred for Mr. and Mrs. Bert Firestone, the dark bay or brown Theatrical was trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld. He won his only start at two, and at three, he became a stakes winner with his victory in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial S.-G2 prior to finishing second in the Group 1 Joe McGrath Irish Sweeps Derby.

Theatrical made his North American debut in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Turf, in which he ran eleventh. Returned to Europe, his best effort was a second in the Grosser Preis von Berlin-G1. He returned to the U.S. a month later, placing a non-threatening tenth in the Budweiser Arlington Million-G1.

He remained in the U.S., with trainer Bobby Frankel. Although he was unable to win a stakes race at four, he was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, the Oak Tree Invitational S. and third in the Hollywood Turf Cup Invitational -- all Grade 1 events -- in his only starts for Frankel that season. In the Breeders’ Cup, Theatrical was a neck behind 1986 turf champion Manila, and just ahead of Estrapade and Dancing Brave in third and fourth, respectively.

In January of 1987, he was switched to the barn of Bill Mott, under whose patient handling the temperamental, somewhat difficult horse came into his own as a five-year-old. In his debut for Mott, he was disqualified from second to 14th for bearing in during the running of the Bougainvillea Handicap-G2. Theatrical then put together a four-race win streak -- Hialeah Turf Cup H.-G1, Red Smith H.-G2, Bowling Green H.-G1, Sword Dancer H.-G1 (in which he was put up from second due to interference from first-under-the-wire Dance of Life) -- before the final loss of his career, a third (behind Manila and Sharrood) in the Budweiser Arlington Million-G1.

Theatrical rebounded with victories in three Grade 1 events: the Turf Classic S., Man o’ War S., and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. In the latter, he defeated Trempolino, fresh off a course-record win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Gary Stevens, working as an analyst for NBC’s Breeders’ Cup telecast, said (in the video below) that Theatrical, under Pat Day, “just jerked the heart out of Trempolino.” The final time of 2:24 2/5 equalled the course record at Hollywood Park.

Owned solely at this point by Allen Paulson -- who had bought 50% of Theatrical for $5 million in 1985 prior to purchasing the Firestones’ remaining 35% share (Irishman Michael Smurfit owned the other 15%) the night before the 1987 Breeders’ Cup over a dispute about whose silks he would carry in the race -- Theatrical was voted champion turf horse in the U.S. and retired to stud at Paulson’s Brookside Farm, having earned over $2.9 million with a total of 10 wins, three seconds, and two thirds from 21 starts.

A mile-and-a-half turf specialist, Theatrical was an anomaly for Nureyev, whose sons and daughters primarily excelled at a mile. Theatrical inherited his love of distance from his dam Tree of Knowledge’s sire Sassafras, who defeated the great Nijinsky by a head in the 1970 Arc. Tree of Knowledge was a stakes-placed winner by Sassafras, sire of 55 stakes winners, and in addition to Theatrical, she foaled Taiki Blizzard (a Grade 1 winner in Japan, but recognized as only a Listed stakes winner internationally) and the dam of 1994 turf champion Paradise Creek.

Theatrical's dam Tree of Knowledge in 1993, with a Mining colt who was never named.

Theatrical, who stood in Central Kentucky throughout his entire stud career, had the odds stacked against his emerging as a top sire in a country where precocity and speed on dirt are valued above all. Nonetheless, he became a notable stallion, due in no small part to Paulson’s belief in and support of his horse. After Paulson’s death, Theatrical moved to Hill ’n’ Dale Farm for the 2002 season, where he was pensioned in 2009 before his death on Friday.

Among Theatrical’s 48 Graded or Group stakes winners are these 20 Grade/Group 1 winners with their respective G1 wins:

~Golden Treat (1989 filly out of Golden Dust, by Dusty Canyon): Santa Anita Oaks [this filly was a half-sister to Belmont S.-G1 winner Bet Twice]

~Dahlia’s Dreamer (1989 filly out of Dahlia, by Vaguely Noble): Flower Bowl H.

~Marchand de Sable (1990 colt out of Mercantile, by Kenmare): Criterium de Saint-Cloud (at two)

~Madeleine’s Dream (1990 filly out of L’Attrayante, by Tyrant): Poule d’Essai des Pouliches

~Broadway Flyer (1991 colt out of Serena, by Jan Ekels): Sword Dancer Invitational H.

~Vaudeville (1991 colt out of S’Nice, by Riverman): Secretariat S.

~Pharma (1991 filly out of Committed, by Hagley): Santa Ana H.

~Duda (1991 filly out of Noble Tines, by Drums of Time): Matriarch S.

~Geri (1992 colt out of Garimpeiro, by Mr. Prospector): Oaklawn H. (on dirt); Woodbine Mile S.

~Zagreb (1993 colt out of Sophonisbe, by Wallow): Irish Derby

~Portland Player (1993 colt out of Spirit of Kingston, by Bletchingly): Victoria Derby

~Auntie Mame (1994 filly out of Lady Vixen, by Sir Ivor): Flower Bowl H.

~Royal Anthem (1995 colt out of In Neon, by Ack Ack): Canadian International; Juddmonte International; Gulfstream Park H. -- a G1 winner in three countries

~Run Man Run (1995 gelding out of Marshua’s Echelon, by Marshua’s Dancer): Malibu S.

~Astra (1996 filly out of Savannah Slew, by Seattle Slew): Gamely H. (twice); Beverly Hills H. (twice)
~Media Puzzle (1997 gelding out of Market Slide, by Gulch): Melbourne Cup

~Startac (1998 colt out of Tenga, by Mr. Prospector): Secretariat S.

~Shakespeare (2001 colt out of Lady Shirl, by That’s a Nice): Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational S.; Woodbine Mile S.

~Mrs. Lindsay (2004 filly out of Vole Vole Monamour, by Woodman): Prix Vermeille; E.P. Taylor S.

~Winchester (2005 colt out of Rum Charger, by Spectrum): Secretariat S.; Manhattan S.; Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational; Sword Dancer Invitational S.

~*Hishi Amazon (1991 filly out of Katies, by Nonoalco): Not included among Theatrical’s tally of G1 winners, Hishi Amazon won numerous races, including the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, that were classified as Grade 1s in Japan only but that are now recognized internationally as Grade 1 events. She was a champion at two, three, and four.

Theatrical’s sons have sired such good horses as Commercante (E.P. Taylor S.-G1; by Marchand de Sable); Cosmo Bulk (Singapore Airlines International Cup-G1; by Zagreb); Eclair de Lune (Beverly D. S.-G1; by Marchand de Sable); Marchand d’Or (five Group 1 wins in France; by Marchand de Sable); Presious Passion (United Nations H.-G1-twice, Clement L. Hirsch H.-G1; by Royal Anthem);  and Starine (Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf-G1; by Mendocino).

As a broodmare sire, Theatrical is represented by G1 winners Coil, Dublino, English Channel, Karelian, Lord Shanakill, Numerous Times (a champion in Canada), Rail Link, and Wigmore Hall. Like his grandsire, English Channel (by Smart Strike) won a Breeders’ Cup Turf and earned an Eclipse Award as champion turf male. Rail Link (by Dansili) won the 2006 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Theatrical was a favorite of mine because of his connection to Nureyev, and I visited him a number of times at Brookside and Hill ’n’ Dale. He was a tough horse, very much the “alpha male” around the barn, but certainly (in my limited interaction with him) was not mean. The photos (taken with a film camera) in this post are from one of my earlier trips to see him at Hill ’n’ Dale.

Frenchie and Lulu

Lulu nuzzling Frenchie.

I was treated by Jen Roytz, marketing and communications director at Three Chimneys, to a pasture visit with the retired broodmares at the Midway, Kentucky, farm yesterday. There are some prominent broodmares pensioned there -- including 31-year-old Albertine -- who are more than worthy of a blog post...however, as someone who is obsessed with Nureyev, my primary interest was in meeting the stallion’s 27-year-old daughter Action Francaise and 26-year-old daughter Louveterie, so for today, I will concentrate on these old gals.

(Incidentally, I met Louveterie many years ago when I was at Three Chimneys to see Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk and was inexplicably drawn to a random chestnut mare poking her head over the fence. I’m not too embarrassed to admit that I threw my arms around Louveterie’s neck after I read her nameplate, and that I was more excited to meet her than I was Genuine Risk.)

I was happy -- more than happy -- to observe that Action Francaise (or “Frenchie,” as she is known around the farm) and Louveterie (a.k.a. “Lulu”) are best buds. Frenchie efficiently and rather impolitely, to my amusement, chased away every mare who got near her who wasn’t Lulu. Both Nureyev mares are kind and curious, and appreciative of scratches (and carrots). Action Francaise resembles her sire quite a bit, especially around her head and eye, so I was immediately in love.

Action Francaise (Frenchie)

But Action Francaise is more than just Nureyev’s daughter. She’s also the only stakes winner produced from 1974 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Allez France, a daughter of Arc winner *Sea-Bird out of Priceless Gem, who was a great-granddaughter of La Troienne, one of the most influential broodmares in racing history.

French Art dealer Daniel Wildenstein purchased Allez France as a youngster and named her thus, if memory serves, to get a kick out of hearing announcers call her name, which translates to “Go France.” She was a Group 1 winner and champion in France each season she raced -- from two to five -- earning a Horse of the Year title at four. In addition to the Arc, she won seven Group 1s, two of which -- the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and the Prix de Diane (over subsequent English Horse of the Year, and eventual U.S. champion, Dahlia) -- were classics, and she placed second to Rheingold in the 1973 Arc.

Brought to the U.S. in 1975 and retired after one unsuccessful start, Allez France presumably experienced fertility woes, because she had just four foals, in 1980, 1984, 1985, and 1988. If that’s the case, then it’s almost a miracle that she was able to get in foal to Nureyev, a sub-fertile stallion.

Although by far the most accomplished of her dam’s offspring -- only one of the other four was a winner -- Action Francaise did not prove to have anything near the racecourse ability of her dam. In five starts (four in France, one in England) at two and three, she won twice, including the Group 3 Prix de Sandringham -- her only black-type -- and placed once.

She did, however, surpass Allez France as a broodmare.

Action Francaise is the dam of 15 foals, nine of them winners including five at stakes level:

~1993 ANDROID (c. by Riverman). Group 3 winner, Group 1 placed; sire.

~1995 ASTORG (f. by Lear Fan). Listed stakes winner; stakes producer.

~1997 AIRLINE (f. by Woodman). Listed stakes winner; stakes producer.

~2000 ART MODERNE (c. by Woodman). Stakes winner, Group 3 placed.

~2006 ARTICLE RARE (f. by El Prado). Group 3 winner.

Airline’s Sadler’s Wells daughter Argentina (Ire) never won more than a Listed race, but placed second or third in five G1s, including a second in the Prix de Diane and a second and a third in the Diana Stakes in the U.S. Astorg’s Asti (also by Sadler’s Wells) has a similar story, with one Listed stakes win at Belmont and multiple Graded/Group placings, including a second in the Prix Saint-Alary-G1. Two other daughters of Action Francaise -- Aventuriere (by Alysheba) and Astina (Slew o’ Gold) -- are dams of stakes winners in India.

Article Rare, the final foal from Action Francaise, is at the start of her breeding career and carries high hopes to contribute further black-type to this family. Her first foal -- a son of Dalakhani -- is a yearling, and she has a 2012 colt by Oasis Dream.

Action Francaise’s classic-placed pasture-mate and fellow Nureyev daughter Louveterie (bred and owned by the Wildenstein family, too) was also lightly raced, making only four starts at two and three, with two wins and two seconds. At three in 1989, she won the Prix Vanteaux-G3 and placed in the Prix de Diane-G1 (a race that her granddam had won) and Prix Saint-Alary-G1.

Louveterie (Lulu)

Whereas Allez France had a ready-made pedigree, *Lupe II -- Louveterie’s dam -- was more obscurely bred, by Primera (a dual Princess of Wales’s Stakes winner who was second in the St. Leger) out of the Alycidon mare Alcoa. Primera sired 16 stakes winners, the best of which was champion Lupe, who won the Oaks, Coronation Cup-G1, Yorkshire Oaks, Cheshire Oaks, and Princess of Wales Stakes-G3 in 1970.

Lupe foaled five Group stakes winners, all for Wildenstein: Lascaux-G2 (c. by Irish River; sire of one stakes winner); Legend of France-G3 (c. by Lyphard; sire of seven stakes winners); Leonardo da Vinci-G3 (c. by Brigadier Gerard); L’Ile du Reve-G3 (f. by Bold Lad; like her dam, she won the Cheshire Oaks); and Louveterie-G3. Two of her daughters -- stakes-placed Louve Bleue (by Irish River, dam of Listed winner Louve Mysterieuse) and Louveterie -- became stakes producers.

As Action Francaise was the one to enhance Allez France’s line, so Louveterie did for Lupe. From 11 foals, Louveterie is represented by five stakes horses:

~1993 LOUP SOLITAIRE (c. by Lear Fan). French champion, Group 1 winner; sire.

~1994 LOUP SAUVAGE (c. by Riverman). French highweight, Group 1 winner; sire.

~1995 Loudeac (c. by Riverman). Group 2-placed winner; sire.

~1996 LOUVE (f. by Irish River). Group 3 winner; stakes producer.

~1999 Louveteau (c. by Bahri). Group 2-placed winner; sire.

Daughter Louve is the dam of Loup Breton, a Grade 2 winner in the U.S. and a Group 2 winner in France who is Group 1 placed in both countries, by Anabaa; and Louve Royale, a Listed winner who was multiple Grade 3 placed, by Peintre Celebre (an Arc-winning son of Nureyev for the Wildensteins). Another daughter, Louve Sacree (by Seeking the Gold), produced French stakes winner Lungwa, by One Cool Cat.

Loup Solitaire has sired 11 stakes winners, including Gentoo, who has two French Group 1 wins to his credit. Loup Sauvage has three stakes winners, two Group 3. One of these, Love and Bubbles, is the dam of 2012 Tokyo Yushun-G1 (Japanese Derby) winner Deep Brillante.

Louveterie’s last foal is a three-year-old War Chant filly named Licorne Bleue. She is unplaced in two starts to date, racing in France for Ecurie Wildenstein and trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre.

Now, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t point out that a number of the stakes winners under Action Francaise and Louveterie are inbred to Nureyev’s female family: Article Rare, Astorg, Asti, and Argentina for Action Francaise, and Louve Solitaire and Louve Royale for Louveterie.

Many thanks to Jen and Three Chimneys for a memorable afternoon.

Action Francaise hot on my trail and too close for a photo, looking more for another headscratch than a carrot, though she gracefully accepted both.

Unusual Path to Acclamation

The 1990 Nureyev-Rossard colt as a yearling.

Havre de Grace, Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Azeri, Lady’s Secret, All Along, Moccasin, Busher, and Twilight Tear aren’t the only female Horses of the Year who have made their mark in the United States. Another, Rossard, is a most unusual source of stakes winners in this country, unusual because she carries a quaint country code after her name: (DEN) for Denmark, where she was foaled in 1980. Her grandson, Acclamation, picked up an Eclipse Award last night as 2011 champion older male.

Rossard had been an exceptional runner in Scandinavia. In 1983, she won the Denmark Derby, Swedish Derby, Danish Oaks, Swedish Oaks, Danish St. Leger and the Danish 1,000 Guineas for trainer Hans Adielsson. The filly won all Danish classics that season bar the 2,000 Guineas. She was named Horse of the Year in Sweden, as well as champion three-year-old filly in Denmark and Sweden.

She made eight starts the following season in North America, for Catherine T. Koffend and trainer Evan S. Jackson, winning three times, including the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Handicap at Belmont Park under Laffit Pincay Jr.

Rossard was a daughter of Swedish St. Leger winner Glacial, a Danish-bred son of Pardal. Pardal, a full brother (by Pharis) to Arc winner Ardan, had won the Jockey Club Stakes, Princess of Wales’s Stakes, Lowther Stakes, and the Great Yorkshire Stakes, all in England. Rossard’s dam was the British-bred Peas-Blossom, who was exported to Denmark after she had failed to win on the racecourse, a daughter of the Paul Mellon-bred stakes winner Midsummer Night. Rossard’s was a stout pedigree, and unheard of bloodlines in North America.

That being said, the success of this family is not unprecedented on the continent. This is the same female family as 1986 Canadian Broodmare of the Year Loudrangle. Light of Day (by Hyperion), Rossard’s third dam, was also the third dam of Loudrangle, who produced 1986 Canadian Horse of the Year Ruling Angel – another female Horse of the Year – and 1987 Canadian champion Tilt My Halo, and was granddam of two more Canadian champions: 2004 Horse of the Year Soaring Free, and 1988 champion three-year-old colt Regal Intention.

Rossard was retired to stud following her lone season of racing in North America, and she was subsequently bred to dual Arc winner Alleged. John T.L. Jones Jr. of Walmac Int’l purchased her from the 1985 Keeneland November sale consignment of Pegasus Stud for $300,000.

Crystal Springs Joint Venture and Jones (in partnership with Red McCombs one year) bred the mare’s first three foals: a 1986 colt by Alleged (Pitchfork); 1988 filly by Nureyev (Dot Dot Dash); and 1989 filly by Miswaki (Danish Prospector).

With three foals on the ground – one of which, Pitchfork, had raced, managing just a placing – Crystal Springs and Jones put Rossard, in foal to Walmac’s flagship stallion Nureyev, through the 1989 Keeneland November sale, where Jones bought out his partner for $320,000, probably more for the valuable Nureyev foal in utero than for the mare herself.

Nureyev, sire of Unusual Heat.

Rossard foaled a stout, near-black colt on January 1, 1990. Jones bred the mare back to Nureyev’s Grade 1-winning son Stately Don and sold her to Kirsten Rausing – the Swedish doyenne of Newmarket-based Lanwades Stud in England – for $55,000 at the Keeneland November sale that autumn.

A skittish Unusual Heat meeting me (my arm) for the first time.

Unusual Heat with his best childhood friend, Julie's Jazz.

When the Nureyev colt was a yearling, Walmac offered him at the now-defunct Keeneland July sale, where he was not sold for $185,000. A year later, Jones’s Two Creek Ranch consigned him to a two-year-olds-in-training sale, selling him to The Oaks (Dr. Thomas T.S. Liang) for $250,000, and he was subsequently exported to Ireland and sent to the Curragh yard of trainer Dermot Weld.

The colt, named Unusual Heat, was moderately successful, winning four-of-ten starts from two to four in Ireland. He won three Listed stakes races, two at a mile and one at nine furlongs, and was third in the Group 3 Concorde S.

Owner Liang sent the horse to Richard Mandella in California, where he made his first start as a six-year-old, debuting in an allowance at Santa Anita. He was a half-length second to stakes winner Nonproductiveasset, who had finished second in the Strub Stakes-G1 two years prior. Unusual Heat’s next race, another allowance, saw him run third – a length and a neck behind 1995 Breeders’ Cup Turf-G1 winner Northern Spur (Ire) and Grade 2 winner Wavy Run (Ire).

Encouraged by Unusual Heat’s ability to hang with the big boys, Mandella ran him with stablemate Atticus, another son of Nureyev (who later won a Grade 1), in a minor stakes race at Hollywood Park, but he could only finish fifth, one place behind Atticus. Fifteen days later, on June 10, 1996, Unusual Heat was entered in a claiming race, which he won under Laffit Pincay Jr., who had guided the horse’s dam Rossard to her Flower Bowl victory.

But the real winner that day was Barry Abrams and the Auerbach family, although it would be some time yet before they realized the full extent of it: Abrams and Auerbach (along with Team Green and Wolkoff, et al) claimed Unusual Heat from Liang for $80,000, beating out trainer Mike Mitchell in the shake.

He raced twice for the new ownership, all in less than two weeks from the claim. With Chris Antley aboard (the only time Pincay did not ride him Stateside), Unusual Heat ran sixth of seven in the Grade 2 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile S., then he won a $125,000 claiming race on June 29th by 2-1/2 lengths.

The chart line reads that he “returned lame.” Eight months later, the tendon injury he had sustained in the race hadn’t healed well enough for a return to the track, and he was retired. There had been a deal to sell Unusual Heat to an Argentine farm for stud duty, but when that fell through, his owners thought they had no other option and concluded, “Why not stand him ourselves?”

Why not, indeed.

Unusual Heat duly rewarded their faith in him by quickly producing top-quality runners, despite starting off with a first crop of just 15 foals, two of whom would go on to be stakes winners. He has been the leading sire in California from 2008-2011, and sired the newly minted Eclipse Award winner Acclamation, who won three Grade 1 stakes last year and one in 2010.

Other top sons and daughters of Unusual Heat are Grade 1 winners Golden Doc A, The Usual Q. T., Unusual Suspect, Grade 2 winners Burns (who sadly passed away at Santa Anita last year), Lethal Heat, Pretty Unusual, and Tucked Away, and Grade 3 winner Lightmyfirebaby. Among his other stakes winners (24 in total) are Grade 1-placed Bel Air Sizzle and Grade 2-placed Spend it All Baby. Many of these, although not Acclamation, raced as homebreds for the Auerbachs and were trained by Abrams. Acclamation was bred by Old English Rancho,  where Unusual Heat stood before moving to Harris Farms prior to the 2011 breeding season, and trained by Don Warren on behalf of E.W. “Bud” and Judy Johnston (of Old English Rancho) and Peter and Mary Hilvers.


(Click here to go to Unusual Heat’s website.)

As it turned out, from thirteen named foals out of Rossard, Unusual Heat was the only one who was any count on the racetrack. But his older full sister, Dot Dot Dash, produced multiple stakes winner Dash of Humor (by Distorted Humor), dam of 2011 stakes winner Lil Bit O’Fun (by Langfuhr); and stakes-placed Two Dot Slew (by Evansville Slew), dam of 2011 stakes winner Angelica Zapata (by Sharp Humor).

Stakes producer Dot Dot Dash, as a two-year-old.

Dot Dot Dash, a full sister to Unusual Heat, and a very different physical type to him.

Danish Prospector, the Miswaki filly out of Rossard, is granddam of stakes winner Three’s a Crowd (by Ecton Park). Note that three of the four stakes winners under daughters of Rossard are by Forty Niner-line sires.

Rossard produced her last foal, for Tim Holland, in 2002. The mare was found dead of old age in her paddock at Huntertown Farm in Paris, Kentucky, in March of 2005, at the age of 25.

As a sidenote to this blog post, I knew Rossard, as well as Dot Dot Dash, Danish Prospector, and Unusual Heat as youngsters. I don’t remember much of Rossard physically except that I think she was plain and not a big horse, nor do I recall her personality. (I would scan in a photo if the entire R section of my filed pictures hadn’t disappeared.) She shared her paddock with Parrish Princess, the dam of champion Princess Rooney and a Nureyev filly (Julie’s Jazz) who was Unusual Heat’s playmate.

Danish Prospector was the first horse I ever showed at a yearling sale, at Keeneland in July of 1990. I was paired up with her because she was small, especially for a foal of January 7, and the thought was that she would look less tiny next to an equally small me. I remember a British stud manager inspecting the plain bay filly and saying to me, “Even with you holding her, she’s still small.”

"E.T." (and the gray tail of Parrish Princess).

A year later, during a summer vacation from high school, I worked in the yearling barn with Unusual Heat. I had also known him as a foal, when one of the farmhands nicknamed him “E.T.” because he thought the marking on the colt’s face was in the shape of Spielberg’s martian. As a yearling, the Rossard colt, as he was then known, was not my favorite to exercise: he was very thick – a tank – and always had some fancy footwork with undiscriminating, rather violent placement of his shod feet, but occasionally I ended up having to turn him out. One night, he stomped on me so hard I thought my little toe was severed. I managed to get him to his paddock, then hobbled back to the barn to take off my shoe and sock to see the damage. My toe was smashed but, I was happy to note, still attached to my foot. To this day, there’s a bump on it.

A tank, after being bought back in July of his yearling year.

Who would have ever thought that the U.S. breeding industry’s most influential female Horse of the Year of the last 30 years (not counting Havre de Grace, Zenyatta, and Rachel Alexandra, who haven’t produced foals yet) would be a Danish-bred, primarily Scandinavian-raced, one?

On Nureyev's Birthday

I was on the phone with a friend from my Walmac days and as we were talking I pointed out that today would have been Nureyev’s birthday. “I know,” she said, having been thinking about him too, and it really kind of hit home how much I miss obsessing over his sons and daughters on the racecourse.

At a time when Danzig and Sadler’s Wells are firmly establishing themselves as the prevalent names in international pedigrees, it has made me sad to see the sub-fertile Nureyev’s line dying out, and to realize that the younger generation of racing folk are probably not familiar with his amazing story.

I found a few links on Wikipedia leading to Blood-Horse articles that were published after Nureyev’s death on October 29, 2001, and I’m re-posting two of them here. If you love horses and don’t know what Nureyev went through, I highly recommend “A Look Back.” The fact that this horse not only survived but lived comfortably and physically flourished for 14 years after his accident is a testament to the people who cared for him.

“Remembering Nureyev” is his obituary.

Pattern for Success

Last weekend’s $1,000,000, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Archarcharch (Arch – Woodman’s Dancer, by Woodman) has arrived at Churchill Downs ahead of a planned start in the Kentucky Derby on May 7. His popular trainer “Jinks” Fires hopes to pull off a huge score with Robert and Loval Yagos’s colt, who despite a third (albeit distant) in the Grade 2 Rebel and a win in the Grade 3 Southwest, Archarcharch paid more than $50 to win the Arkansas Derby. 

Archarcharch is familiar with the track at Churchill, where in late November he made his first start, running second in a maiden special weight before shipping to warmer climates for the winter and spring racing seasons. 

Churchill is also, of course, the scene of the thrilling 2010 Breeder’s Cup Classic won by Blame three weeks before Archarcharch’s debut, as well as where Pine Island broke down during the 2006 Distaff. Besides being by Arch, Blame and Pine Island have something else in common with Archarcharch: damsires by sons of Mr. Prospector out of daughters of Buckpasser. Historically, Roberto and Mr. Prospector nick well in pedigrees together, but these three are the only Grade 1 winners to have emerged to date through Arch. 

Arch, sire of Archarcharch (obviously!).

Blame and Pine Island are out of mares by Seeking the Gold, while Archarcharch’s broodmare sire is Woodman. (Seeking the Gold and Woodman are both from Phipps female families as well.) Another of Arch’s stakes winners, Arch Mistress (a Group 3 filly in South Africa), is out of a mare by Black Tie Affair (Ire), whose sire Miswaki is another representative of the Mr. Prospector/Buckpasser cross. 

But Blame and Archarcharch have a deeper connection, and not just that the sires of their second dams (Nijinsky II for Blame and Nureyev for Archarcharch) are sons of Northern Dancer: Blame’s granddam Bound is a three-parts sister to Archarcharch’s great-grandsire Nureyev, putting the mare Special in the third generation of Blame and fourth of Archarcharch. 

What is also interesting (well,  okay...at least to me) is that Nureyev appears in three other stakes winners sired by Arch. Two of these – Irish Group 3 winner Arch Swing and Arch Rebel (also in Ireland, a 16-furlong, Group 2 winner over hurdles and later a three-time Listed winner from a mile to 10 furlongs on the flat) – are, coincidentally (?!), closely related to Archarcharch through their second dam, Pattern Step. 

Pattern Step in early 2006, before foaling her last known foal, a winning colt by Vindication.

Trained by Charlie Whittingham for owner/breeder Nelson Bunker Hunt (of Dahlia fame), this daughter of Nureyev won 5-of-12 starts and finished second four times at two and three, all while racing exclusively in California. She won the Hollywood Oaks-G1 on the dirt (a very rare Grade 1 winner on that surface for turfy sire Nureyev) and the Listed Providencia Stakes (on turf), and placed in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Handicap, Santa Ysabel Stakes, and Senorita Stakes. (Her dam, the *Commanding II mare Tipping Time, had also won the 1969 Hollywood Oaks.) 

As a broodmare, Pattern Step foaled two minor stakes winners (Seattle Pattern, by Seattle Slew; and Total Bull, by Fusaichi Pegasus) from 13 foals, but as a graded stakes-winning daughter of the great broodmare sire Nureyev, her produce record is disappointing. 

Pattern Step has, however, come good through her daughters, especially when Arch is involved. Three individual daughters – Gold Pattern (winner; by Slew o’ Gold, whose dam is, like Woodman, out of a Buckpasser mare), Sheba’s Step (unraced; by Alysheba and therefore linebred to the Rough Shod family), and Woodman’s Step (Grade 2 stakes-placed; by Woodman) – are responsible for three of Arch’s 26 stakes winners. (Another daughter, the Mr. Prospector mare Nortena, is dam of a stakes winner by Arch’s sire Kris S.)

It’s fair to suggest that Archarcharch owes his existence to the previous success of Arch Swing, who in addition to being a Group 3 winner was second in the Irish 1,000 Guineas-G1, and Arch Rebel. The three-year-old has already surpassed his cousins, and whether or not he wins the Kentucky Derby in two weeks, one could say that the pattern for success is in his genes. 

Pattern Step

The Mien of a Queen

The fairytale story of Lisa’s Booby Trap hit a small bump when the previously undefeated filly finished last in the second division of the Riskaverse Stakes at Saratoga yesterday for owner-trainer Tim Snyder. (Glenn Craven has a nice entry about a personal meeting with Tim and Lisa here at his blog “Fugue for Tinhorns.”) But what’s a fairytale without an evil queen or ugly stepsister?

Cue Queen of the Creek.

Queen of the Creek at Churchill Downs in June.

While the sentimentalists were pulling for Lisa’s Booby Trap, Queen of the Creek – I'll refrain from branding her “evil” – skipped over the lawn under Julien Leparoux and won the Riskaverse easily. The daughter of Irish-bred turf champion Theatrical and Miasma (by Lear Fan) enhanced her already significant value with this, her first stakes win.

Theatrical, sire of Queen of the Creek.

Queen of the Creek was a valuable broodmare prospect before she set foot on a racetrack. Her three-parts sister – which is as close as we’ll get to a stepsister in this tale – Mien (by Nureyev, the sire of Theatrical) was an undistinguished racehorse, winning one of two starts, but quickly made a name for herself at stud. Her second foal Big Brown won the 2008 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Haskell Invitational, and Florida Derby en route to the three-year-old division championship the year Queen of the Creek was sold to Nathan Tinkler’s Patinack Farm for $140,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.

Mien, the dam of Big Brown, as a foal with her and Queen of the Creek's dam Miasma in 1999. Contrary to appearances, Miasma has not been decapitated.

For your amusement, here’s the only photo I got of Queen of the Creek’s nephew Big Brown and Kent Desormeaux (rider of Lisa’s Booby Trap) as they won the Derby. My timing was legendary for all the wrong reasons:

Oops. Headless Big Brown winning the Kentucky Derby.

Queen of the Creek is linebred 5x5 (and Mien 4x5) to the blue hen mare *Rough Shod II, through the full siblings Thong and Lt. Stevens. A profile on Rough Shod and a salute to the many graded and group stakes winners who have multiple strains of her blood is a topic for another post. For the moment, suffice it to say that any time you see Lear Fan or Alysheba (whose dams are full sisters by Rough Shod’s son Lt. Stevens) crossed with Nureyev or his close relatives Sadler’s Wells and Fairy King (full brothers), that horse is linebred to Rough Shod. Some examples through Alysheba or Lear Fan are classic winner Bright Moon, Hong Kong Vase-G1 winner Vallee Enchantee, French highweight Loup Solitaire, and, of course, Queen of the Creek.

Similarly, the potent Kingmambo/Sadler’s Wells cross that has produced Japanese Horse of the Year El Condor Pasa and European classic winners Henrythenavigator, Divine Proportions, Virginia Waters, and Workforce is based on the same principle of a duplication of the Rough Shod family, because Kingmambo’s dam, multiple champion Miesque, is by Nureyev.

I suspect we’ll see a continuation of this pattern when Blame goes to stud: his third dam Special is the dam of Nureyev and second dam of Sadler’s Wells.

[The name of this blog – you guessed it! – is based on this family. As Nureyev’s No. 1 fan, I wanted to honor his female family when I named my business a few years ago. His first three dams were Special; Thong; and Rough Shod. The name Special was apt for the horse but too presumptuous for me, and while the humor of going with Thong was tempting, I was wary about the kind of clients it would attract – although it would certainly have been, er, interesting to hand out “Thong” business cards or to make breeding recommendations on “Thong LLC” letterhead. So, Rough Shod it was!]

Nureyev, great-grandson of Rough Shod and grandsire of Queen of the Creek and Big Brown.