Pedigree Insights: National Defense

As the unexpected is part of the appeal of racing and breeding, it is always fascinating when a comparatively inexpensive stallion manages to bridge the considerable gap which separates them from the elite sires.

Danzig's tough son Green Desert was responsible for two such stallions. First to make the leap was the miler Cape Cross, who started so brightly that his fee rose quickly from an initial IR£8,000 to €50,000. He justified the increase by siring the magnificent Sea The Stars from one of his €50,000 crops, plus the classic winners Golden Horn and Awtaad from later crops sired at €35,000.

Next to do so was the sprinter Invincible Spirit, who has done even better–to the extent that his fee climbed to €120,000 this year, having been only €10,000 in his first four years.

A change in fortunes such as Invincible Spirit's becomes all the more intriguing when the stallion concerned is a sprinter. Having drawn attention to themselves by siring fast and precocious stock, such stallions inevitably start to attract a more classically-bred type of mare as their fee rises higher and higher.

Consequently, you will find that plenty of Invincible Spirit's current yearlings, sired at a then-career-high figure of €70,000, possess a fair degree of stamina in the bottom halves of their pedigrees. For example, the broodmare sires of the 29 yearlings scheduled to sell at Tattersalls this week include the mile-and-a-half winners Dynaformer, Galileo (2), High Chaparral, Montjeu, Sinndar, Sir Percy, Tiger Hill and Unfuwain. I should quickly add that Invincible Spirit has already enjoyed success with some of these, notably siring the top miler Charm Spirit from a Montjeu mare, and he already has a €650,000 2016 yearling out of another Montjeu mare.

There are still plenty of sprinters among the broodmare sires of these Book 1 yearlings, including Acclamation, Anabaa, Diktat, Dutch Art, Indian Ridge (2), Pivotal (2) and Royal Applause. Diktat, Indian Ridge and Pivotal all have proven records with the Irish National Stud stallion. Invincible Spirit's highest-priced yearling so far this year is the €750,000 brother to the smart Cable Bay, out of a Diktat mare.

Demand for these yearlings can only have been heightened by the 4 1/2-length success in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere by the aptly named National Defense–the only French-trained horse among the six Group 1 winners at Chantilly two days ago.

National Defense is the 14th Northern Hemisphere Group 1 winner for Invincible Spirit, and his third of 2016, following the sprinters Profitable (G1 King's Stand S.) and Signs of Blessing (G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest). There could well be another, judging by the encouraging return of last year's top British 2-year-old Shalaa, who is hopefully now on course for the G1 British Champions Sprint S.

With a dam by Kingmambo, National Defense also acts as a reminder of the considerable debt that Invincible Spirit in particular, and Green Desert's sons in general, owe to broodmares from the Mr. Prospector male line.

It was Green Desert himself who first pointed breeders in this direction. Owned by one Maktoum brother and based at the stud of another, Green Desert had access to many of the blue-blooded Mr. Prospector line mares which were bought in America in the latter part of the last century. The pairing resulted in several fast performers, including two notable performers out of Mr. Prospector mares. Bint Allayl proved herself the fastest 2-year-old filly of 1998, while Desert Lord triumphed in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye as a 6-year-old. Then there was the smart Byron, out of a Woodman mare.

Cape Cross's contribution to this success story was to sire Sea The Stars from Miswaki's extraordinary daughter Urban Sea and the admirable Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn from a granddaughter of Kingmambo. Perhaps significantly, Sea The Stars already has three Group 1 winners with a second line of Mr. Prospector, the closest inbreeding being the 4 x 3 in the pedigree of one of his speedier sons, Zelzal, who is out of a Kingmambo mare.

Oasis Dream hasn't had a mention so far in this story, because this champion 2-year-old and champion sprinter has never been cheap. He too, though, has multiplied his original fee of £25,000 to the extent that it peaked at £85,000 in 2014, when his current yearlings were conceived. He too owes several of his best winners to Mr. Prospector line mares, prime examples being the Group 1 winners Midday (out of a Kingmambo mare) and Goldream and Naaqoos (both out of daughters of Machiavellian).

Invincible Spirit owes an even greater debt to this type of cross. National Defense is the ninth of his 14 Group 1 winners with Mr. Prospector somewhere in the bottom half of its pedigree, and the sixth with a dam from the Mr. Prospector male line.

Invincible Spirit's first-crop son Lawman, out of a daughter of Gulch, was the first to flag the stallion's potential with Mr. Prospector line mares, when he won the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club and G1 Prix Jean Prat in 2007. Since then his Group 1-winning footsteps have been followed by Hooray and Territories, whose broodmare sire, Machiavellian, also sired the second dam of Charm Spirit. Seeking The Gold sired the dam of his 2016 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Signs of Blessing, while it was Mr. Prospector's grandson Zamindar who sired the dam of Horse of the Year Kingman.

Altogether Invincible Spirit has 14 group winners from Mr. Prospector line mares, plus another eight which have won at listed level, these 22 figuring among a total of 90 Northern Hemisphere black-type winners sired by the 19-year-old.

None of Invincible Spirit's Book 1 yearlings is out of a Kingmambo mare, but two of the colts are out of stakes-producing mares by Kingmambo's son King's Best (lot 128 and lot 508). This cross has previously been represented by Ektihaam, a gelding whose best Timeform rating stood at an enviable 124.

National Defense's dam Angel Falls was bred by Darley. Although she never made it to the races, she still had plenty to offer when she was sent, as a 2-year-old, to the 2008 July Sales. In addition to having the excellent Kingmambo as her sire, she is out of Anna Palariva, a group-winning member of the prolific family descending from the German champion Anna Paola. It took 80,000gns to buy her and her price rose to 130,000gns when she was returned to Tattersalls, in foal to Teofilo, at the 2010 December Sales.

Few, if any, American-based stallions have made a bigger impact on Europe's classics in recent decades than National Defense's broodmare sire Kingmambo. His progeny won seven British Classics, the Derby being the only one to elude him, and he also hit the target with Divine Proportions and Bluemamba in France. Kingmambo has now made amends for not siring a Derby winner, as his daughters have produced two, including Camelot, whose first crop is being so well received at the yearling sales.

Anna Paola and her family have served Sheikh Mohammed very well. Although this winner of the G1 Preis der Diana produced nothing better than a Group 3 winner, her broodmare daughters have shone. including National Defense's fourth dam Anna Matrushka. This daughter of Mill Reef passed on plenty of stamina to her group winners Pozarica, Annaba and Anna of Saxony, the last-named being the third dam of National Defense. Another of Anna Matrushka's daughters, the Singspiel mare Accessories, has found fame in Australia as the dam of Group 1 winners Helmet and Epaulette.

Anna of Saxony, an Ela-Mana-Mou filly who won the G3 Park Hill S., also produced a couple of talented broodmare daughters. One, the In The Wings mare Anna Amalia, produced the American Grade I winner Ave to Danehill Dancer, while Anna Palariva–herself a winner of the G3 Prix d'Aumale–has three stakes winners, headed by her Dubawi filly Anna Salai. It was by only a head that Anna Salai failed to take the 2010 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas.

National Defense must also be a Classic contender, although it isn't clear at this stage exactly what he achieved at Chantilly. He clearly stays a mile well and the bottom half of his pedigree suggests he could stay further. The potential problem could be that he seems to prefer striding along in the lead, which would make it more difficult for him over a mile and a quarter.