OBS April Pedigree Highlights: Part One

A few noteworthy pedigrees from the first half of the sale

There are 1,222 two-year-olds in training cataloged for the 2023 OBS April Sale, which will take place in Ocala from April 25th through 28th. I’ve been working my way through the catalog, and will be highlighting some of the more interesting and notable pedigrees I found. This post will cover Hips 1-612, horses who will be selling on April 25th and 26th. On April 24th, I will highlight additional selections from Hips 613-1222. At the time of writing, photos are unavailable on the OBS website, but I will add them as they become available.

This is strictly an evaluation of pedigree, and as always, other aspects such as conformation and vet work should be taken into account when deciding to buy a horse.

Hip #37 - f. Flameaway x Appreciating (Sky Mesa)

I’ve written before about how I’m looking forward to Flameaway as a sire, and I love the cross here with Sky Mesa.

This filly’s dam, Appreciating, was a talented homebred for John Oxley and was trained throughout her career by Mark Casse. She broke her maiden on debut going seven furlongs on the turf as a two-year-old and finished third in the G2 Natalma Stakes in her second start. She failed to hit the board in her next two starts against graded stakes company, then returned in April of her three-year-old season to win a 6 1/2 furlong allowance race over the all weather track at Keeneland. She was given three more starts against stakes company at Woodbine, with her best finishing being a 4th place effort in the Alywow Stakes.

Appreciating is from a solid branch of Lowe family 19, tracing back to the mare Forest Song. Her dam, Hello Barbara Sue, was a maiden, but produced graded stakes winner Buddy’s Humor, as well as the dam of G1 winner Celestine (by Flameaway’s sire, Scat Daddy). She is a half to three stakes winners and her dam, Barbara Sue, was a multiple stakes winner who won 12 of her 73 lifetime starts. Her dam, Maytide, also produced the multiple graded stakes winners Super May and Ide. Maytide was a half sister to Florida Derby winner Croeso and stakes winner Cardell, all out of the mare Forest Song. Other tail-female descendants of Forest Song include G1 winners Slewpy and Top Corsage, as well as G1 winner Appealing Zophie and her G1 Belmont Stakes-winning son Tapwrit.

As a broodmare, Appreciating has produced four winners in as many starters, including the G1 placed Nasreddine by Nyquist. A $360,000 yearling at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Select sale, Nasreddine broke her maiden in her second start as a two-year-old and subsequently finished third in the G1 Starlet. In what would be her final career start, she finished fifth of six in the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes.

Appreciating’s daughter Penny Saver, by Super Saver, was also quite talented, but had a similarly abbreviated career, racing only five times, all at age two. She broke her maiden in her third career start, a 1 1/16 mile maiden special weight at Churchill Downs. She was overmatched when trying the G1 Darley Alcibiades, but returned to win a mile allowance at Churchill by over ten lengths in gate to wire fashion in her final career start.

Her other two foals, Skywriting by Super Saver and I Lived It by Colonel John, were both winners at lower levels. I Lived It took eight tries to break his maiden, and his status as a winner has to be taken with a grain of salt, as his maiden victory came in a $15,000 maiden claiming race at Prairie Meadows against only one rival. He outfinished only one horse in his two races against winners at that track. Skywriting, by comparison, was a highly regarded yearling who sold for $425,000 at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, but after seven unsuccessful tries, primarily on the NYRA circuit, was relocated to Finger Lakes, where he was able to win a maiden special weight. He was a three-time winner in 34 career starts, with his other wins coming at the $7,500 and $5,000 level at Finger Lakes and Penn National, respectively.

Clearly, there’s a wide margin of talent from Appreciating’s offspring, but I think Flameaway makes an ideal mate for her. His sire, Scat Daddy, has done well with this immediate family, producing G1 winner Celestine out of a half sister to Appreciating. Scat Daddy has also crossed well with mares carrying Sky Mesa’s sire Pulpit, with three G1 winners, including Triple Crown winner Justify, and 18.92% stakes winners in 37 starters out of mares carrying Pulpit. G1 winner Harmonize is one of four starters by Scat Daddy and out of Sky Mesa mares. The cross of Flameaway with Pulpit is even more appealing because he is from the same family 2f as Pulpit and Johannesburg. Scat Daddy has also produced a stakes winner in nine starters out of mares carrying Dehere.

Hip #94 - f. Maximus Mischief x Blackhawk Honey (Malabar Gold)

Like Flameaway, Maximus Mischief stands for $7,500 in 2023, and I think he’s a good candidate to outperform his price point with his first crop. He’s been throwing substantial, good-looking foals that have sold quite well considering his stud fee. Numbers are key to a stallion’s early success, and Spendthrift is great at ensuring their young stallions get the support they need. Maximus Mischief bred 198 mares in 2020 for 131 live foals reported in 2021, and last year, he had 95 yearlings sell for an average of $54,579. So far this year he has had twelve two-year-olds sell for an average of $65,750.

Maximus Mischief won his first three starts impressively in wire-to-wire fashion, including the G2 Remsen Stakes, then finished third as the favorite in the G2 Holy Bull in his final career start. He was obviously a very talented horse, with the kind of brilliance that is likely to attract breeders. On top of his racetrack performance, I’m very drawn to his pedigree. He’s out of a half-sister to G1 winner Secret Compass and comes from the same branch of family 23b as his sire, Into Mischief - his 7th dam, Mahari, is the 8th dam of Into Mischief. The big question mark with Maximus Mischief is going to be soundness, of course, between his own short career and a catastrophic breakdown under his second dam.

In that regard, one good sign for this filly is the longevity of her 3/4 brother, Spectacular Gem, the best foal to race from her dam. A son of Into Mischief’s Can The Man, he won on debut as a two-year-old in maiden claiming company, but went on to be a solid competitor in allowance and stakes company. He was a stakes winner at ages three and four, and won seven of his 35 lifetime starts, with wins from six furlongs on the dirt to a mile and an eighth on the turf.

Nine of Blackhawk Honey’s ten foals to race have been winners, though Spectacular Gem is the only one of any real quality. However, all of them except for her current three-year-old have raced at least ten times, and five of them, including Spectacular Gem, have multiple wins to their name.

While it would be a longshot to expect this mare to throw her best foal at the relatively advanced age of 17, I think still this could be a useful filly. There’s quite a bit of female family inbreeding going on in the pedigree of Blackhawk Honey, and Maximus Mischief introduces other influences to complement some of the key broodmares there.

Blackhawk Honey is a daughter of the Unbridled stallion Malabar Gold, whose second dam Incantation is the third dam of Unbridled’s Song, the sire of Maximus Mischief’s damsire Songandaprayer. Incantation, therefore, appears 7x4 in this pedigree. Additionally, Blackhawk Honey’s second damsire, Superbity, is a half brother to the excellent stallion In Reality, the second damsire of Unbridled. This filly has their dam, My Dear Girl, 9x7x5.

Into Mischief has done quite well with mares carrying Blackhawk Honey’s damsire Well Decorated, with four stakes winners in 33 starters (12.12%) out of mares carrying that stallion, including Maximus Mischief himself.

Hip #130 - f. Street Sense x Cali Thirty Seven (Eskendereya)

This filly was a $145,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase who comes from the immediate family of Street Sense’s multiple G1 winner McKinzie. I love the idea of crossing Street Sense with a daughter of Eskendereya, due to the linebreeding created in doing so.

Eskendereya’s third dam, Stellar Odyssey, was inbred 3x3 to her third dam, Almahmoud. Her sire, Northern Dancer, was a grandson of Almahmoud, and her dam was a half-sister to Halo (also a grandson of Almahmoud). Eskendereya also got additional sources of Northern Dancer and Halo from his sire Giant’s Causeway, a patrilineal descendant of Northern Dancer whose damsire Rahy was out of a Halo mare. Street Sense’s grandsire, Machiavellian, was out of the mare Coup de Folie - a daughter of Halo out of a half-sister to Northern Dancer. Street Sense also gets Northern Dancer as the sire of his damsire Dixieland Band.

Cali Thirty Seven was a nice racehorse, breaking her maiden wire-to-wire at a mile on the dirt as a four-year-old in her fifth career start before finding her niche on the turf. She showed improvement in her first turf start, then won a Monmouth allowance going a mile. She was given a chance against graded stakes company in the Boiling Springs, where she was a bit over her head, but started her five-year-old campaign with two straight wins at Gulfstream Park in an allowance and the Powder Break Stakes. She continued to race in stakes and allowance company, finishing third in the 5 1/2 furlong Blue Sparkler Stakes and winning the Powder Break Stakes again at age six. She won five of her 22 career races and earned $271,060.

This filly is her third foal, and while her first foal - a filly by Pioneerof the Nile who was a $210,000 Keeneland September yearling - has yet to hit the board in five starts against maiden special weight company at Fair Grounds, her second foal looks like she could be a nice one. Get Your Kicks, by Quality Road, was a $100,000 yearling who sold for $300,000 at this sale last year. She finished fourth in her debut, going a mile on the dirt, then returned to win a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight on the turf in impressive fashion on April 1st, stalking the pace and drawing off to win by over five lengths.

Cali Thirty Seven has a solid female family, as a half-sister to a graded stakes winner by Colonel John and a multiple stakes placed winner by Shanghai Bobby. Her dam, the Carson City mare Mama Tia, was unraced, but is a half sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Runway Model - the dam of multiple G1 winner McKinzie by Street Sense, - as well as stakes winner Mambo Train, graded stakes placed Elena Strikes, and stakes placed Texas Kitty (who produced graded stakes winner Saham). Their dam, the Houston mare Ticket to Houston, was a winner of half of her eight starts, including two stakes, and was a half sister to graded stakes winner Sea Ditty. She was out of the stakes winning mare Stave, a daughter of the Grey Dawn stallion Navajo.

The cross of Street Cry over Giant’s Causeway has not been particularly productive, with only 3.33% stakes winners in 120 starters, but it did produce G1 winner Fair Maiden, by Street Cry’s son Street Boss and out of a Giant’s Causeway second dam. It would seem that there isn’t any particular benefit in crossing these two stallions in particular, but the appeal of Eskendereya as a broodmare sire is more about his female line than his sire, so the hope is that this will still be a useful cross. Street Sense has, of course, produced a fantastic horse from Cali Thirty Seven’s immediate female family, so I’m not worried about the lack of precedent on the Street Cry/Giant’s Causeway nick.

Hip #500 - c. Omaha Beach x Hong Kong Silver (Badge of Silver)

This colt’s pedigree immediately jumped out to me - he’s from a female family that is already duplicated in his sire’s pedigree, and his stakes winning sibling is by a stallion who is a half brother to the dam of Omaha Beach. Although War Front has not crossed particularly well with either Silver Deputy or Alysheba, with only a single stakes winner in 42 starters out of mares carrying the former and no stakes winners in 17 starters out of mares carrying the latter, I love the idea of bringing War Front to his damsire’s immediate family.

This branch of Lowe family 3o traces back to the blue hen mare Foggy Note, this colt’s fifth dam. His third dam, Ruby Slippers, is the dam of Rubiano, to whom Omaha Beach is inbred 3x4 as the damsire of War Front and of Omaha Beach’s second dam, Take Charge Lady. Other horses descending from Foggy Note, aside from those shown on the page, include the likes of G1 winner and champion sire Tapit, G1 winner Life At Ten, multiple graded stakes winner and sire Relaunch, graded stakes winner and sire Glitterman, multiple graded stakes winner Freefourinternet, and multiple graded stakes winner Madefromlucky.

This mare, Hong Kong Silver, has already proven that inbreeding to her second dam works well, as her only foal to race is a stakes winner by Take Charge Lady’s son Take Charge Indy. That mare, A G Indy, is a four-time winner - all on turf - in 18 starts and an earner of $282,602. She broke her maiden as a two-year-old in her third start, going a mile on the turf at Santa Anita, and won the 2021 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes at Del Mar, as well as two five furlong races at that track - a $50,000 starter allowance and a $40,000 allowance optional claimer. She showed a good amount of speed in her races, even as a sprinter, rarely more than a length or two off the pace, and her allowance optional claiming win came in gate-to-wire fashion.

Hong Kong Silver was a winner in two of her 14 career starts, both sprinting on the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs. Like her daughter, she showed a good amount of pace in her races, breaking her maiden gate to wire and being on or within a length of the lead for at least one point of call in 11 of her races.

Since A G Indy, who sold for $105,000 as a yearling, Hong Kong Silver’s foals have not sold well at auction and neither her 2019 nor her 2020 fillies - by Lookin at Lucky and Midnight Lute, respectively, - have raced. The Lookin at Lucky filly was a $17,000 RNA at Keeneland September, while the Midnight Lute filly sold at that sale for just $9,000. Of course, Omaha Beach, as a young, exciting stallion, is much more commercial than those two - so far this year, he has had five two-year-olds sell for an average of $326,000 and median of $285,000.

Hip #506 - f. City of Light x Hot Summer (Malibu Moon)

Among freshman sires of 2022, City of Light had the second-highest yearling average, behind only Justify. His first foals to the track didn’t quite live up to those high expectations, as he was the 10th leading first crop sire and is currently 6th on the second crop sire list, but I don’t think that’s reason to jump ship on City of Light. He has five stakes winners to date, and if they’re anything like they’re sire, they’ll only get better with age. City of Light didn’t debut until July of his three-year-old season, and his first graded stakes win came at the very end of that year in the Malibu Stakes. He flourished as a four-year-old with G1 wins in the Triple Bend Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile before finishing off his career with a win in the Pegasus World Cup.

One of the most unique features of City of Light’s pedigree is the presence of Somethingfabulous, a half-brother to Secretariat, as his second damsire. His dam, the unraced Dehere mare Paris Notion, was inbred 4x3 to Somethingroyal, as her sire was out of a Secretariat mare. Their family 2s is also the family of Malibu Moon, the damsire of this filly.

In addition to the linebreeding to family 2s created by sending a daughter of Malibu Moon to City of Light, this is a deep female family. This filly’s dam, Hot Summer, was a talented filly who won twice at age two, including an impressive 7-length win in an allowance at Philadelphia Park, then stepped into stakes company for her three-year-old season. She was fifth in the Davona Dale in her first try against stakes horses, but came back to win the G3 Comely. She was well-beaten when third behind Royal Delta in the G2 Black Eyed Susan Stakes, but was victorious in her next start when shortening up to win the G3 Victory Ride Stakes. She would race five more times, all in stakes, with her best finish being a brave 3/4 length runner-up finish to the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Musical Romance in the Inside Information Stakes.

Hot Summer was a half sister to two black type placed winners. Her stakes-placed dam, Summer Delight, was a daughter of Quiet American whose second dam, Key to the Bridge, was a stakes winner and producer. Key to the Bridge was out of the 1991 Broodmare of the Year Toll Booth, who produced G1 winners Christiecat and Plugged Nickle among her six stakes winners. Other descendants of Toll Booth include Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, and G1 winners Riskaverse and Fog of War.

Toll Booth was a daughter of Missy Baba, who produced G1 winners Sauce Boat and Gay Missile, as well as stakes winners Chokri, Master Bold, and Raja Baba. Gay Missile is often seen in modern pedigrees as the dam of the stakes winner and brilliant broodmare Lassie Dear, who in this case is most notable as the second dam of the G1 winning half siblings A.P. Indy and Summer Squall - Hot Summer’s paternal grandsire and second damsire, respectively.

With three crosses of the great broodmare Missy Baba, it’s unsurprising that all five of Hot Summer’s foals to race have been winners, though their levels of success have been varied. Her first foal, by Distorted Humor, was a $285,000 Keeneland September yearling who was good enough to break his maiden in maiden special weight company at Santa Anita but wound up dropping into the claiming ranks. In 62 starts to date, he has won 5 times and hit the board an additional 14 times, for earnings of $169,869. Her second foal, also by Distorted Humor, notched two career wins in 25 starts - a $20,000 maiden claiming race and a $16,000 claimer, both at Aqueduct.

Her 2016 foal, Mount Travers, by Speightstown, is her most accomplished foal to date. He won a 5 1/2 furlong Delaware Park maiden special weight on debut as a two-year-old, and was stakes placed in the Bridgetown Stakes and Parx Spring Derby at three. After being competitive in allowance optional claiming company at age four and five, and getting another stakes placing in Mountaineer’s Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial Stakes, he dropped into claiming company, generally fluctuating around the $20k-$32k level at the NYRA circuit, and was last seen in an Aqueduct starter allowance. His career record is 40: 4-6-9, with $276,105 in earnings.

In 2018, Hot Summer produced the Empire Maker gelding Harpoon Harry, who has three lifetime wins at Tampa Bay Downs against claiming company and earnings of $73,506 in 23 starts.

Hot Summer’s most recent foal, a four-year-old Uncle Mo colt named Speed Bias, might be her most promising to date. A $220,000 Keeneland September yearling, this colt didn’t get to the races until April of his three-year-old season, but broke his maiden in his fourth career start going a mile and a sixteenth in a Keeneland maiden special weight last October. He was fifth in his first start against winners, then returned to take an Oaklawn Park allowance wire-to-wire, winning by 5 1/2 lengths. Most recently, he was second in an allowance optional claiming race at that track, beaten a length and a quarter by the graded stakes winner Smile Happy. Based on his two most recent efforts, there could be an opportunity against stakes horses in his future, which would only increase this filly’s residual value.

Even though many of them have found their home in the claiming ranks, I like the longevity seen in Hot Summer’s offspring, and the fact that many of them have shown speed in their races - 10 of their combined 16 wins came from less than a length off the early pace. Her offspring have won on dirt, turf, and synthetic, at both route and sprint distances.

I also like the decision to send Hot Summer to City of Light. In addition to the previously mentioned linebreeding to family 2s, Quality Road produced G1 winners when crossed with both Malibu Moon and Quiet American. He has multiple G1 winner Bellafina and her stakes winning full brother Diamond King in 21 starters out of mares carrying Malibu Moon (9.52% stakes winners from starters), and has produced 15% stakes winners in 40 starters out of mares carrying Quiet American, including G1 winner Dunbar Road.

Hip #507 - f. Classic Empire x How (Indian Charlie)

This filly, who has already been named Practitioner, has linebreeding to multiple strong families, and I think she’s an interesting prospect despite the relative mediocrity of her siblings to race so far. She was a $30,000 Keeneland September yearling, but the success of Classic Empire this year, with Angel of Empire (who I talked about here) among the top Kentucky Derby contenders, could increase the demand for his offspring. Already this year, his two-year-old sales average is up by over $48,000 from what it was last year.

Classic Empire is a member of Lowe family 4m, and, like Angel of Empire, this filly has linebreeding to that prolific family. Her second damsire, Dixieland Band, is also from that female family, though the most recent common ancestor between Dixieland Band and Classic Empire is the 1867 mare Maggie B B. Classic Empire’s sire, Pioneerof the Nile, has had a fair amount of success with mares carrying Dixieland Band, with five stakes winners in 82 starters bred on the cross (6.1%). I think the fact that his sire has had success, along with the female family connection, bodes well for Classic Empire to cross successfully with Dixieland Band. He has already produced graded stakes winner Interstatedaydream out of a mare by Uncle Mo, who is out of a Dixieland Band mare. She is one of thirteen starters by Classic Empire and out of a mare carrying Dixieland Band.

Another linebreeding thread here is to Pioneerof the Nile’s family 21a, which is shared with Indian Charlie - the fifth dams of these stallions are half-sisters out of the mare Dog Blessed. The crossing of these two stallions has been remarkably productive, with six stakes winners in 27 starters, for an outstanding success rate of 22.2% stakes winners. One of these is the aforementioned Interstatedaydream, whose sire Uncle Mo is bred on the same Indian Charlie/Dixieland Band cross as How.

How herself was a $250,000 Keeneland September yearling, and while she didn’t live up to that price tag, she was good enough to win a maiden special weight and allowance race at Aqueduct as a four-year-old in her second and third career starts. After that, she dropped down the class ladder a bit, with her best effort coming in a $35,000 claimer at Saratoga, where she finished third. She was a half to a solid allowance runner named Capricious, who was stakes placed twice in her career. Their dam, Blink Twice, was a three-time winner in nine starts and a full sister to multiple stakes winner Jena Jena and stakes winner Win With a Wink. Their dam, graded stakes winner With a Wink, also produced stakes winner Up Like Thunder by War Chant. She was a half sister to multiple graded stakes winner Raja’s Shark, out of the multiple stakes winner Shark’s Jaws.

How has produced three winners in four starters to date. Her first foal, by Afleet Alex, cannot be found on Equibase but was named Heung Jjang. Equineline shows him as a winner in eleven starts. Her second foal was named Sugar Daddy, by Candy Ride. He was a $90,000 RNA at Keeneland September and broke his maiden as a three-year-old in his second start for a $25,000 tag at Laurel Park. He has earned $109,111 in 22 starts, and has been a consistent competitor in the claiming and starter ranks in the Mid-Atlantic, with four wins and eight additional on-the-board finishes. Her second foal, a full brother to Sugar Daddy named How It Goes, was able to win in his 11th career attempt, a $5,000 maiden claiming race at Belterra Park. Her 2019 filly, Abuela’s Humor, by Distorted Humor, was a $95,000 weanling and $140,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearing who finished second on debut as a two-year-old in a Horseshoe Indianapolis maiden special weight, but was unable to win in three starts at the maiden special weight level at that track and Fair Grounds.

The hope is obviously that this filly is a bit better than her siblings, but with the success of the Pioneerof the Nile/Indian Charlie cross, and the linebreeding to Classic Empire’s family 4m, I think there’s a good chance she is.