Knicks kicked

Given a soft lead, Knicks Go saw out the Breeders’ Cup Classic 1m2f trip in style and gave sire Paynter a first Breeders’ Cup success, writes Alan Porter

AS A CONTEST, the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) was effectively over after about 50 yards. When his eight opponents elected to allow the miler Knicks Go – a dedicated front-runner stretching out to 1m2f for the first time – an unchallenged lead to all intents and purposes they conceded the race.

Left to dictate at his leisure, Knicks Go set swift, but for him, comfortable, fractions. The challengers closed to within a length with a quarter of a mile left to run, but, having had a breather, Knicks Go was able to pick up the pace, and draw away to score by over 2l in a time little more than a half-second off the track-record set by Candy Ride back in 2003.

Knicks Go’s sire Paynter is a son of Awesome Again – winner of one of the deepest-ever renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) – and out of a sister to two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Tiznow.

Like Knicks Go, Paynter had his share of ups and downs in his racing career. Unraced at two, Paynter broke his maiden on his debut at three over an extended 5f, and then nearly three months later came within inches of capturing a Classic at more than twice that distance missing by a neck to Union Rags in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

Paynter then took the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) in impressive style, and seemed set to assume leadership of the division. Just days after the Haskell, however, he was struck by a life-threatening combination of colitis and subsequent laminitis.

Remarkably, and with heroic efforts from his veterinary team, Paynter not only survived, but recovered so well he was able to return to training at four.

He looked better than ever on his return to action, taking a 7f allowance in 1:21.86. That effort earned him a lifetime-best Beyer Speedfigure of 114, but, in four subsequent starts, Paynter proved unable to capture the brilliance of that effort, although he did finish second to that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) victor Mucho Macho Man in the Awesome Again Stakes (G1).

Retired to stand at WinStar Farms, Paynter has now sired 19 stakes winners in his first four crops of three-year-olds and up. In addition to Knicks Go they include the Pocahontas Stakes (G2) scorer Lazy Daisy, Harpers First Ride, winner of four black-type events including the Pimlico Special Stakes (G3), and Ms Peintour, successful in the Astra Stakes (G3). He stood at just $7,500 in 2021.

The dam of Knicks Go is the extremely speedy Kosmo’s Buddy. A daughter of the non-winning but well-bred Outflanker (by Danzig from the immediate family of A.P. Indy), Kosmo’s Buddy had black-type form on Dirt and Turf at two, three and four years of age, and from 5f to a mile. Successful in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint and the Crank it Up Stakes, she also earned places in 12 other stakes events.

Kosmo’s Buddy is out of the multiple stakes-placed Vaulted, a daughter of the Mr. Prospector horse Allen’s Prospect. In turn, Vaulted is half-sister to My Sweet Caroline, the dam of Sweet Cassiopeia, a four-time stakes winner of over $650,000 in earnings, and also Grade 2 placed.

Kosmo’s Buddy’s second dam Aube D’Or is also a stakes winner and is a half-sister to Countus In, successful in the Matriarch Stakes (G1) and dam of the graded winner Think Red and granddam of Ransom The Moon, winner of back-to-back renewals of the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1).

The family goes back to the mare My Beauty, who arrived from Britain at the turn of the last century. She also appears as the fifth dam of Porterhouse, the champion two-year-old colt of 1953.

The family is the mitochondrial haplotype N2a by the Achilli claffication, and that same maternal line has not only produced Knicks Go, the highest earner for Paynter, but also Paynter’s own sire Awesome Again, Game On Dude, the highest earner for Awesome Again, as well as Awesome Again’s Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Sir Winston and his millionaire earner Something Awesome.

We can also note that Awesome Again is a grandson of Vice Regent (a son of Northern Dancer with a second dam by Windfields) out of a mare by a grandson of Nasrullah, while Medaille D’Oro, sire of Knicks Go’s third dam Aube D’Or, is by a grandson of Nasrullah, out of the great mare Fanfreluche. She was a daughter of Northern Dancer with a second dam by Windfields.

Japan’s Marche Lorraine surprise

It may have been a history-making moment – the first Japanese winner of a Breeders’ Cup event when Loves Only You took the Filly and Mare Turf (G1) – but it wasn’t a tremendous shock as we’ve long-known that Japan produces world-class middle-distance performers, and Loves Only You herself had finished just half a length behind Mishriff in this year’s Dubai Duty Free (G1).

What came as a far bigger surprise just a couple of hours later was the triumph of Loves Only You’s compatriot Marche Lorraine in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).

Sent off at odds of nearly 50-1, Marche Lorraine was well off the pace as Private Mission, with Letruska and Shedaresthedevil close at hand, set suicidal early fractions of 21.84 and 44.97.

As the early contenders faded Marche Lorraine made a wide run that took her clear in the stretch, and then held off the late charge of Dunbar Road by the slimmest of noses.

Marche Lorraine came into the Distaff with only one win in a race recognised internationally as a black-type event, the 2020 Ladies Prelude, but she had captured several other events that would be regarded as stakes level contests in Japan, and was coming off a win in the Monbetsu Breeders’ Gold Cup (G1) in mid-August.

Marche Lorraine is also notable for the extensive Japanese roots in her pedigree. She is, like Love Only You, a daughter of Deep Impact from the Sunday Silence line, but both her sire and grandsire, Orfevre and Stay Gold, were bred in Japan, and the female line has been in Japan for more than 80 years.

Orfevre himself made a significant international impression. Winner of the Japanese Triple Crown and the Arima Kinen (G1) over older horses at three, the following year he took the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) then travelled to France for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) with a pre-race win in the Prix Foy (G2).

In the Arc itself he looked the likely winner when quickening clear in the stretch, but, on the heavy ground, he veered sharply towards the rail and was caught late by Solemia.

He won the Prix Foy (G2) again the following year, and then took second spot in the Arc again, this time behind Treve. Orfevre ended his racing career by winning the Arima Kinen Grand Prix (G1) by 8l.

Orfevre has four crops of three-year-olds and up, and has 15 stakes winners, 12 graded, including the four-time Grade 1 winner Lucky Lilac, and Epoca D’Oro, who was successful in the Satsuki Sho (G1).

Stay Gold, the sire of Orfevre, also has his own place in Japanese breeding history. In 2001 he upset the established top-class performer Fantastic Light in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G2), the first international victory for a son of Sunday Silence, and then captured the Hong Kong Vase (G1) to become the first overseas Grade 1 winner bred by a Japanese Farm. He’s gone on to sire more than 50 stakes winners, ten of them Grade 1.

Marche Lorraine’s dam Vite Marcher is a winning daughter of the imported Deputy Minister horse, French Deputy.

Vite Marcher is half-sister to Triumph March, a black-type winner by Special Week, another son of Sunday Silence. The second dam Kyoei March, a daughter of Dancing Brave, won the Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas), and four other black-type races.

Marche Lorraine, by Orfevre, holds on under Oisin Murphy to win the Distaff for Japan

The family arrived in Japan in 1930 via the Australian-born mare Shrilly, who through a half-sister to Queen Narubi, also appears as third dam of another Oka Sho heroine, Tosa Mistsura. The family goes back to the AJC Oaks scorer Crossfire, a sister to Arsenal, who lifted the Melbourne Cup in 1886.

Remarkably, Marche Lorraine is the first stakes winner from 21 starters by Orfevre out of mares by French Deputy although the cross is actually a rather interesting one. Orfevre is inbred 4x3 to Northern Taste, an intensely inbred horse from the Windfields Farm programme. He was by Northern Dancer, out of a half-sister to Northern Dancer’s sire Nearctic, a pattern that gives a 3x2 inbreeding to Nearctic’s dam, Lady Angela.

French Deputy’s grandsire Vice Regent is also by Northern Dancer, and he is out of a half-sister to Northern Taste’s broodmare sire, Victoria Park.

Of course, Sunday Silence is by Halo, and his grand-dam Almahmoud is also granddam of Northern Dancer.

Marche Lorraine’s Classic-winning second dam Kyoei March is by Dancing Brave, and he is by a son of Northern Dancer, out of a mare by Drone, a horse with a very similar background to Halo, so there is significant accumulation of similar strains.

On top of that Marche Laorraine is from the ‘L’ mitochondrial haplotype as are Orfevre, Halo, Sunday Silence, Nearctic, Northern Dancer, Vice Regent, Deputy Minister and Dancing Brave, so the chances of Marche Lorraine having appropriate nuclear DNA for her mitochondrial DNA were high.

Into Mischief scores again

Life Is Good faced his toughest competition in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

At the head of affairs throughout and setting very sharp fractions – he passed the 6f pole just 0.33 slower than the winning time in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) – Life Is Good powered through the stretch to score by nearly 6l.

Life Is Good is another credit for the remarkable sire Into Mischief.

A two-year-old Grade 1 winner from the Storm Cat line via Harlan and Harlan’s Holiday, and out of Leslie’s Lady, dam also of the multiple champion Beholder, and of Mendlessohn, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and UAE Derby (G2) winner, Into Mischief started off at a modest fee, but has enjoyed an astonishing climb through the ranks.

Now the dominant sire in North America, he was leading sire of two-year-olds in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and is on his way to a third consecutive overall leading sires’ title.

He now has 100 stakes winners to his credit, 11 Grade 1, including the Horse of the Year and the 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) victor Authentic, the champion three-year-old filly and champion sprint female Covfefe, the champion sprint female Gamine, Mandaloun, who is likely to end up as winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) once legal machinations have run their course, Goldencents, twice the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Audible and Practical Joke.

Life Is Good is out of Beach Walk, a placed daughter of Distorted Humor out of the stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Mineshaft mare Bonnie Blue Flag. She is a half-sister to Diamondrella, who captured the Just A Game Stakes (G1) and First Lady Stakes (G1), and was subsequently the dam of the Australian graded scorer Spectroscope.

She is also half-sister to stakes winner Highest Honors, and to the dams of graded winner Nikkis Smartypants and Lemieux.

The third dam Tap Your Feet was a minor stakes winner, as was her dam the Miswaki mare, Exotic Moves.

Life Is Good’s fifth dam Syrian Dancer is a sister to the excellent sprint filly Honorable Miss and to Bailjumper, best known these days as the broodmare sire of Medaglia D’Oro.

Life Is Good is one of six stakes winners by Into Mischief out of a Distorted Humor mare, and the second Grade 1 winner following Practical Joke. He also sired Goldencents out of a mare by Banker’s Gold, another son of Distorted Humor’s sire Forty Niner.

Aloha West off the mark in the Sprint

Remarkably, the Sprint was the first black-type success for the four-year-old Aloha West, who didn’t make it to the racecourse until this year.

He’d won four of his previous eight races, and had been beaten just a neck by Special Reserve in the Phoenix Stakes (G2).

Aloha West is by Danzig’s son Hard Spun. A consistent and versatile performer in a vintage crop, Hard Spun won six black-type events, including the King’s Bishop Stakes (G1), and also took second in the Kentucky

Derby (G1), the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and third in the Preakness Stakes (G1).

He set a record for a number of firstcrop stakes winners with an initial group that included the champion three-year-old filly Questing. He has since never quite reached the heights that his bright beginning indicated, but he’s been an extremely reliable sire of black-type winners in both hemispheres.

Overall, he’s been represented by 14 other Grade 1 scorers, including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Spun To Run, this year’s Metropolitan Handicap (G1) victor Silver State, Wicked Strong, Hard Aces, Hardest Core, Hard Not To Love, Zo Impressive, and the Australian pair of Le Romain and Gatting.

Aloha West is out of the good sprint mare Island Bound, a daughter of Speightstown whose most notable success came in the Winning Colors Stakes (G3).

She is out of A.P. Indy’s stakes-placed daughter Indy Mood For Luv, a half-sister to the graded scorers Savorthetime and Rogue Romance, who also took third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

The fourth dam Katie Love is a half-sister to the brilliant but fragile Ogygian, and to the dam of top-class miler and later leading freshman sire Honour And Glory.

The family goes back to the great Tartan Farm foundation mare Cequillo, ancestress of numerous major winners, among them the important sires Fappiano – who would qualify as a breed-shaper, as least in North America – and Quiet American.

Ce Ce another feather in the cap for the late Elusive Quality in Filly & Mare Sprint

Ce Ce is a daughter of the late Gone West horse Elusive Quality, who was 22 when she conceived.

He was a member of a remarkable cohort of stallions, including Distorted Humor, Awesome Again, Indian Charlie, Tale Of The Cat, Grand Slam and Stormy Atlantic.

Oddly enough, Elusive Quality, Distorted Humor and Indian Charlie – three of the brightest stars in that illustrious constellation – all retired at fees of $10,000, compared to the most expensive member of that intake Coronado’s Quest, whose initial fee was $75,000.

One wonders if Elusive Quality and Distorted Humor would have even got an opportunity at stud these days, and certainly Elusive Quality’s race-record would make him a marginal proposition.

Although he’d shown talent at three, when he was beaten just a nose by the far more determined Honour And Glory in the King’s Bishop Stakes (G1), and at four, when his sole victory saw him take a 7f allowance at Gulfstream Park in a new track-record, it wasn’t until he was five that Elusive Quality gained his first black-type victories.

Both those came on the Turf – in the Jaipur Handicap (G3) over 7f and the Poker Handicap (G3) over a mile.

Even though he did establish a new world record of 1:31.63 in the second event, a horse who took so long to fulfil his potential, who ultimately did so on Turf, and who also had the reputation of not being the most enthusiastic individual, might not have been the hottest proposition these days.

That said, Elusive Quality did have undeniable raw talent, good looks and, as a son of Gone West from a very successful branch of a famed family going back to twice champion racemare Vagrancy, a very attractive pedigree.

Happily, he threw to those traits and with his combined northern and southern hemisphere crops he’s sired 137 stakes winners, 56 Group or Graded, and 17 Group or Grade 1.

They include some truly outstanding individuals, amongst them the champion three-year-old and Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) victor Smarty Jones, Quality Road, who we will consider later as sire of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Raven’s Pass, successful in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) in England and the Breeder’s Cup Classic (G1), the European champion two-year-old filly Elusive Katie, the European champion two-year-old filly Certify, the champion US sprint female Maryfield, and Sepoy, winner of the Golden Slipper (G1) at two and the highestranked sprinter of his age on the World Thoroughbred Rankings at three.

Ce Ce is now the third consecutive Grade 1 winner from her female line – dam Miss Houdini (Belong To Me) annexed the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), while second dam Magical Maiden took the Starlet Stakes (G1) and Las Virgenes Stakes (G1).

Miss Houdini has had a very successful career as a broodmare – Ce Ce is a half-sister to the talented performer Papa Clem, who took the San Fernando Stakes (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G1), and was also fourth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Magical Maiden also appears as the second dam of English sprinter Moviesta, successful in the King George Stakes (G2) and Renaissance Stakes (G3), while the third dam Gils Magic was a tremendously successful broodmare.

In addition to Magical Maiden, she also produced graded winner Magical Mile and the stakes winner Magical Sister, and she’s ancestress of 21 stakes winners, most notably champion two-year-old Good Magic.

Ce Ce is one of four Group or Grade 1 winners and 18 stakes winners for her sire out of mares by sons of Danzig, but there are also some interesting pedigree patterns.

Elusive Quality is by a Raise A Native line stallion out of a Northern Dancer line mare, with a Sir Gaylord (Turn-to) line second dam.

Miss Houdini is by a stallion who is a Northern Dancer/Raise A Native cross with a Turn-to line second dam, and her own dam is also Sir Gaylord line.

In addition, the dam of Elusive Quality is a Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord cross, while the dam of Miss Houdini is Sir Gaylord/ Northern Dancer cross, with the Northern Dancer through the three-quarters brothers Hero’s Honor and Magesterial.

Admiring, the granddam of Hero’s Honor and Magesterial, is a three-quarters sister to Straight Deal, the granddam of Belong To Me, a grandson of Northern Dancer.

Gun Runner enforced his position as leading freshman sire

THE BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE events cemented the first-crop sire sensation Gun Runner as the leading freshman sire, and also the leading sire of two-year-olds, so ending the three-year reign of Into Mischief, who looks set for runner-up spot this time.

Echo Zulu: the well-bred filly is a first-crop star for Gun Runner

Gun Runner entered the Breeders’ Cup meeting with five first-crop stakes winners, four graded and two Grade 1.

One of those Grade 1 winners Echo Zulu secured herself the two-year-old filly championship after going wire-to-wire to secure an easy win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), while Pappacap, a Grade 2 winner earlier in the year, was a courageous, if well-held, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

It’s no surprise to see Gun Runner doing well as a sire – he was a top-class runner, Horse of the Year in 2017, is by the undefeated Candy Ride, himself a very successful stallion, and he is out of a Giant’s Causeway mare from a good family. However, few would have expected him to be this good, this early. He didn’t start himself until the September of his two-year-old season, and, after winning a maiden and an allowance race, he finished fourth in a Grade 2 in the final start of the campaign.

At three, he did win four graded stakes, but for most of the year he was just a cut below the top – second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G2), and third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1). He broke through at the highest level late November in the Clark Handicap (G1).

Despite that rigorous three-year-old campaign, Gun Runner went on to win six of his final seven starts. His sole defeat came when second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup (G1), and his triumphs included the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), the Whitney Stakes (G1), the Woodward Stakes (G1), the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and, in his only start at five, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1).

Echo Zulu has been the star of his first crop winning all four of her starts by wide margins with a 4l margin in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) and a 7l win in the Frizette Stakes (G1).

Echo Zulu’s dam Letgomyecho (Menifee) was a very talented runner. She started just four times, but won the first three of those, including the Stonerside Forward Gal Stakes (G2). She’s been a very successful producer as she’s dam of four other black-type horses, including the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes (G1) victor Echo Town, and J Boys Echo, successful in the Gotham Stakes (G3).

This is a family that been a lively recently – Letgomyecho’s stakeswinning half-sister Soundwave is dam of Dean Martini, who took the Ohio Derby (G3) last year, while another half-sister Echo Harbor produced the Sapling Stakes (G3) winner Western Smoke and the Santa Anita Derby (G1) second One Lucky Dane.

Echo Town’s second dam Echo Echo Echo is a stakes-placed grand-daughter of the stakes-placed Tatallah. That mare only produced one stakes winner, the Del Mar Junior Miss scorer Joi’ski, but she’s granddam of Engine One, who took the Vosburgh Handicap (G1). She is ancestress of numerous other good winners in the US, Europe, South America, and Japan, including other US

Grade 1 winners Singletary, Pool Play and Voodoo Dancer. The family goes back through Tatallah’s dam, the champion two-year-old filly Leallah, to the notable tap-root mare Oval.

The branch which descends from Leallah’s granddam Colosseum has produced many notable performers, among them the champion Turf horse Manila, the champion two-year-old filly Champagne Room, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) heroine Blue Prize, St. Nicholas Abbey, who took the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), the champion French two-year-old Targowice, the Prix de Diane (G1) winner Lacovia, White Muzzle, successful in the Italian Derby (G1), and the major sires Miswaki and Southern Halo.

Echo Zulu is inbred to Storm Cat through Giant’s Causeway, the broodmare sire of Gun Runner, and through Harlan, the sire of Menifee, with both Giant’s Causeway and Menifee being extended Storm Cat/Nasrullah crosses.

Remarkably, all five of Gun Runner’s stakes winners feature a double of Storm Cat, and the Hopeful Stakes (G1) winner Gunite, and Kip Deville Stakes scorer Concept, are inbred to Giant’s Causeway.

Corniche: Quality Road’s son set to be champion

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) also went to an undefeated individual who looks certain to be voted champion of his division.

Corniche’s task in the Breeders’ Cup was made easier when the undefeated New York Grade 1 winner and ante-post favourite Jack Christopher was scratched the day before. That left Corniche with a fairly simple task to make all and score by nearly 2l from Pappacap, who tried hard but never looked like winning.

Unlike Echo Zulu, Corniche is by a well-established first-string sire in Elusive Quality’s son, Quality Road.

A brilliant runner who won four Grade 1 races, and set trackrecords from an extended 6f to 1m1f, Quality Road has already sired good horses, including the champion three-year-old filly Abel Tasman, the champion two-year-old filly Caledonia Road, and other Grade 1 winners City Of Light – a red-hot sales sire with his first crop yearlings in 2021 – Bellafina, Dunbar Road, Spring Quality, Hootenanny, Roadster, Salty, Illuminant and Klimt.

Corniche’s dam Wasted Tears was a durable and accomplished racemare who won 12 times, including victories in the John C. Mabee Stakes (G2), the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G2), the Honey Fox Stakes (G3) and three wins in the Oujia Board Distaff Handicap (G3).

She won at up to 1m1f, which bodes well for Corniche’s potential to stretch out to Classic distances next year.

Corniche

Wasted Tears is by the Blushing Groom grandson Najran and is out of the stakes-winning Greinton mare Wishes And Roses, so a product of an extended version of the once hugely successful Blushing Groom/Nijinsky combination.

Overall, the family has been producing plenty of black-type but little of it major, but if we go back to the sixth dam, The Garden Club, she is ancestress of the champion older horse Mineshaft, Flagbird, who was successful in the Premio Presidente della Repubblica (G1), this year’s Canadian Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro, and the further Grade 1 winners Prospectors Delite, Tomisue’s Delight, Mr. Sidney, Little Belle, Dickinson and Runup the Colors.

The family goes back to Striking, one of the legion of important runners and producers by War Admiral out of daughters of La Troienne.

Interestingly, the family didn’t get a reinforcement of La Troienne until the cross with Beau’s Eagle, who goes tail-female to Striking’s magnificent sister, Busher.