Pedigree Insights: Weekend of Validation

If nothing else, last week's action-packed program of Group and Graded races provided ample validation for the fees charged for some of America and Europe's high-priced stallions.

In Europe, England's highest-priced stallions in 2016 were Dubawi at £225,000 and Frankel at £125,000. Dubawi's chances of winning the Arc were strengthened by two of his most accomplished sons, with Postponed recording his sixth consecutive win–and his third this year at G1 level, when he defeated King George hero Highland Reel in the Juddmonte International. Two days earlier his Prix du Jockey-Club winner New Bay had shown that he was on the way back, with an easy G3 success [profiles of these horses can be found in the TDN Archive, on July 27, 2015 and June 1, 2015].

Frankel, for his part, consolidated his fine start when Queen Kindly and Fair Eva took first and third in the G2 Lowther S. He wasn't the only high-priced English-based son of Galileo to shine last week, as New Approach, the first of Galileo's three Derby-winning sons, also had a Group/Graded double with Messi and Nearly Caught, a pair of six-year-old geldings from his first crop. New Approach, whose fee has been as high as £80,000, now has eight Group winners from his 94 first-crop foals.

Galileo, needless to say, is by far the highest-priced stallion in Ireland. Although his game son Highland Reel couldn't beat Postponed in the Juddmonte International, Galileo still enjoyed another tremendously rewarding few days. He added five more Group victories to his tally, including the G1 Yorkshire Oaks with his Irish Oaks winner Seventh Heaven and the G2 Great Voltigeur with Idaho, many people's idea of the next winner of the St Leger. Also on show were Order of St George, who proved he is ready to defend his Irish St Leger title, and the juveniles Churchill and Rhododendron.

Another in-form Irish stallion was Dark Angel, an 11-year-old who has steadily been climbing the Irish price list, reaching €60,000 this year. He confirmed his worth with impressive Group victories by two of his daughters. Firstly Mecca's Angel won her second G1 Nunthorpe S., and then the very progressive Persuasive extended her unbeaten sequence to six in the G3 Atalanta S., shaping like a future Group 1 winner.

No fee is published for Kildangan Stud resident Shamardal, now that no outside nominations are available, but this son of Giant's Causeway stood at €70,000 in 2015. He added another G1 winner to his extensive list earlier this year when Dariyan took the G1 Prix Ganay and his progeny were in particularly fine form last week. His two-year-old son Blue Point looks sure to continue to play a leading role in the year's top juvenile events following his stylish success in the G2 Gimcrack S. Another of Shamardal's juveniles, the filly Alrahma, chased home Lady Aurelia in the G1 Prix Morny, on a day when another Shamardal filly, Speedy Boarding, became a G1 winner in the Prix Jean Romanet. (Incidentally, I can't mention Speedy Boarding without congratulating her owner-breeders on her name. Anyone who witnessed EasyJet's speedy boarding process, which usually resulted in an indecorous battle between them and us, will appreciate the naming of this daughter of Dash To The Front).

Shamardal also made an impact last week via his son Lope de Vega, whose fee was up to €45,000 this year. The Ballylinch stallion is responsible for South Seas, whose easy win in the G3 Solario S. suggest he is another with a part to play in the year's top juvenile events.

Over in the U.S., the top-priced Tapit added the smart turf filly Time And Motion to his long list of important winners. Arch rival War Front had to settle for second in the G2 Lowther S. when Roly Poly separated the two Frankel fillies. Bearing in mind that she was giving 3lb to the three-quarter-length winner Queen Kindly, Roly Poly performed very well and she completed a 1-2-3 of sorts for Galileo, as her dam is by him.

The remarkable Songbird ensured that Medaglia d'Oro also made his mark. Uncle Mo once again demonstrated why his fee is sure to rise substantially from this year's $75,000, with his daughter Unbridled Mo becoming no less than the 11th graded winner from his first crop when she took the GIII Monmouth Oaks.

Uncle Mo–and hopefully American Pharoah–is going to help fill the considerable void left at Ashford by the death of Scat Daddy, who would have stood the 2016 season at $100,000 had he lived. He hit the G1 target on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to his daughters Harmonize and Lady Aurelia. With Dacita (CHI) and Caravaggio also scoring at the top level this year in the northern hemisphere, Scat Daddy is making a serious impact–especially when none of his racing-age offspring was sired at a fee higher than $30,000. It would have been truly fascinating to see what he might have achieved with 100,000-dollar mares.

I don't know a great deal about Puerto Rico, except that tennis player Monica Puig recently won gold at the Olympics. Now D' Wildcat Speed, another female who distinguished herself in Puerto Rico, has found fame as the dam of the blisteringly fast Lady Aurelia. D' Wildcat Speed won 14 straight races in Puerto Rico, including four PR-GI stakes, after losing her career debut. In the process she earned the titles of champion three-year-old and Horse of the Year in 2003.

Her success led to her being transferred to Florida, where her best win came when she landed the GII Rampart H. over a mile and an eighth at Gulfstream Park in 2005. Her trainer Bill White explained afterwards that: “she finally got to run today at a distance she was most successful at in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, I never had a chance prior to this race to run her at this distance because of soundness issues, but today she was finally able to show everybody what she's all about.”

That Grade II victory no doubt gave a sizeable boost to D' Wildcat Speed's value, as she was sold to Stonestreet later in the year for $1,000,000 at Keeneland.

Bearing in mind that Scat Daddy also thrived at around a mile and an eighth, winning the GII Fountain of Youth and GI Florida Derby, Lady Aurelia has every right to stay beyond a mile. This would probably surprise anyone who watched her make all over five furlongs in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot. It mustn't be forgotten, though, that she put in all her best work in the final 300 yards at Royal Ascot.

That she will stay beyond a mile also seems a bit unlikely after the terrific early speed she once again showed on her way to victory in the G1 Prix Morny, but both her rider Frankie Dettori and trainer Wesley Ward had relevant excuses for why she wasn't as impressive at the end of her race as she had been at the start.

A mile is the furthest that Lady Aurelia will be asked to go this year, if her connections opt for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, rather than the dirt equivalent. Ward's opinion that she will get the mile has to be respected, as he took the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with Hootenanny, another winner over five furlongs at Royal Ascot.

Lady Aurelia's second dam, Velvet Panther, was another star in Puerto Rico, where she notched up no fewer than 31 victories from 52 starts. She was bred in Florida, though.

If there proves to be a weakness in Lady Aurelia's stamina, there are several possible sources. Her broodmare sire Forest Wildcat raced exclusively over sprint distances and once equaled a track record over six furlongs. Although Velvet Panther's sire Pentaquod won at up to 1 1/16 miles, his best win came in the Hialeah Sprint Championship over seven furlongs. And Great Above, the sire of Lady Aurelia's third dam Blue Eyed Cat, was another whose stakes victories came over sprint distances, even though he too scored over 1 1/16 miles. Great Above also crops up in Caravaggio's pedigree, as the grandsire of his dam.

One interesting aspect of Lady Aurelia's pedigree is that she is inbred 4 x 3 to Storm Cat, an outstanding sire of two-year-olds, including two winners of the Juvenile Fillies on dirt. The previous GI winners with Storm Cat inbreeding have been in South America, but now Lady Aurelia and Harmonize have achieved that status in the north. Harmonize, who is inbred 4 x 4 to Storm Cat, had no difficulty with a mile and an eighth in the GI Del Mar Oaks. Scat Daddy's daughter Pretty N Cool–another with 4 x 4 inbreeding–won the GII Matron S. over a mile at two. For what it's worth, Harmonize also has two lines of Mr Prospector (3 x 4), whereas Lady Aurelia has two to his sire Raise A Native.