Pedigree Insights: Recoletos

Bearing in mind that the roll of honour for the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp features that great mare Miesque in 1987 and her first foal Kingmambo in 1993, we shouldn't be too surprised that the 2018 edition fell to Recoletos, a grandson of Kingmambo's brother Miesque's Son.

There are aspects of the family history, though, that make Recoletos's emergence as one of the year's best milers look far less predictable. The story takes us back to 2001, when a weanling colt from Miesque's Son's fourth crop was offered by the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings at Keeneland's November Sale. The youngster was out of the very well-bred listed winner Myth To Reality, who was by Sadler's Wells and from the family of dual Derby winner Shirley Heights. The mare already had a group-placed listed winner in France to her credit.

Not for the first time, the fact that Flaxman Holdings was selling the youngster made would-be buyers wary. They should have remembered, though, that Hector Protector, a champion 2-year-old and Classic-winning miler, had been bought back for only $35,000 as a yearling. The Miesque's Son colt received an even colder reception, with the hammer falling at only $4,000, and there was no interest in him when he was re-offered as a yearling at Deauville the following August.

The colt was to spend the next three years splashing egg on the faces of all the people who had ignored him at the sales. Named Whipper, he made his first five starts in the colours of Elias Zaccour and broke his maiden at the fourth attempt at Chateaubriant. Less than two weeks later, he was allowed to take his chance in the G1 Prix Morny, in which he defied odds of 25-1 with a two-length victory. That victory lead to a change of ownership, to Richard C. Strauss of Kilfrush Stud and Whipper never gave him cause to regret his purchase.

Whipper achieved the remarkable feat of becoming a Group 1 winner at Deauville in three consecutive seasons, going on to add the Prix Jacques le Marois at three and the Prix Maurice de Gheest at four. His career earnings amounted to the equivalent of more than £700,000–not bad for a $4,000 reject–and his value was also boosted by the exploits of Myth To Reality's next foal.

Having foaled her Miesque's Son colt in 2001, Myth To Reality was given her chance with Kingmambo (to whom she had already produced the listed-placed Indigo Myth). This represented quite a jump, as Miesque's Son's fee stood at only $10,000, whereas his older brother commanded a fee of $200,000 (which eventually rose to $300,000). Remarkably, her Kingmambo filly Divine Proportions proved even more successful than Whipper. She followed in Whipper's footsteps by taking the G1 Prix Morny a week after his Jacques le Marois victory and progressed to win the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, in the process extending her unbeaten record as a 2-year-old to five.

The daughter of Kingmambo stretched that winning sequence to a magnificent nine, sweeping through the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, the Prix de Diane and Prix d'Astarte to boost her tally of Group 1 triumphs to five. It is a measure of the filly's charisma and talent that she started odds on when she clashed with Whipper, fresh from his Prix Maurice de Gheest success, in the Prix Jacques le Marois. The opposition also featured the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Dubawi and the G1 Queen Anne S. winner Valixir and unfortunately she proved no match for these three colts. She never raced again.

Whipper managed two more starts, without winning, to boost his career total to 19 starts in three seasons. His three Group 1 wins attested to his class, as did his Timeform ratings of 125 at three and 126 at four, but he had a couple of handicaps to overcome when he began his stallion career at Ballylinch Stud in 2006. Firstly he was perceived as a mudlark, even though his last Group 1 win was gained on good ground. Then there was the fact that he was by Miesque's Son, a horse who had won only one of his nine starts. That win came as a 4-year-old, when he landed the G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis over six furlongs, and he later showed Group 1 ability when second in the Prix Maurice de Gheest and the Prix de la Foret. It was by only a head that he failed to take the latter.

Although Miesque's Son followed Kingmambo to the States, American breeders never really took to him. From limited support he sired a handful of stakes winners from his early crops but by 2003 he had been relocated from Kentucky to California and it wasn't long before he was back in France, following the emergence of Whipper. His best effort, apart from Whipper, was his second-crop son Miesque's Approval, whose finest moment came when he took the 2006 Breeders' Cup Mile as a 7-year-old.

It would be nice to be able to say that Whipper overcame these obstacles with colours flying. He has certainly had his moments, such as when his fast daughter Wizz Kid landed the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp and when his son Lord Glitters went close to winning this year's G1 Queen Anne S. and G2 Summer Mile.

The reality, though, is that he left Ballylinch after five seasons to stand at a lower fee at Haras du Mezeray and then moved on to a further two establishments. His 2018 fee was only €3,000, just a quarter of his initial fee, Now 17, he should benefit next year from Recoletos's consistent efforts this year, which also feature another Group 1 success in the Prix d'Ispahan and a creditable second place behind 'TDN Rising Star' Alpha Centauri in the Prix Jacques le Marois.

His d'Ispahan win came over nine furlongs and he showed last year that he stays a mile and a quarter, the distance of his win over Waldgeist in the G2 Prix Grefulhe. He was also beaten only a length into third place in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club.

Needless to say, there is some stamina to be found in the bottom half of Recoletos's pedigree. His third dam, the unraced Sharata, was by Darshaan, a winner of the Prix du Jockey-Club over a mile and a half, out of Shademah, dam of the Derby and Irish Derby winner Shahrastani. These Classic bloodlines stood Sharata in good stead as a broodmare and she produced the impressive total of five black-type winners, including three at group level. Sadler's Wells was responsible for three of the five, most notably the smart Crimson Tide. Sadler's Wells's once-raced brother Fairy King also got into the act, as the sire of Recoletos's second dam Pharatta. This smart performer enjoyed Group 2 success at up to nine furlongs in France and the U.S., winning four of her six starts.

Unfortunately, Pharatta produced only four named foals and only one of them won. However, two of her daughters have produced a group winner, including Highphar, dam of the very smart Recoletos and this year's G3 Prix Cleopatre winner Castellar. The mare also has a so-far-unraced 2-year-old brother to Recoletos named Villalar and a 2018 filly by the good German stallion Adlerflug, so there may be more chapters to be written in Highphar's story.