Derby Prospects: Two Phil's

The talented Jeff Ruby Stakes winner has mitochondrial linebreeding galore

Two Phil’s has been a really interesting horse on the Kentucky Derby trail, and I’m thrilled to have an excuse to talk about his pedigree now that he’s gotten a win in the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks.

Two Phil’s got a 101 Beyer for his win at Turfway Park on March 25th, and the addition of 100 points to his 15 points from running third in the Risen Star and 8 points for running second in the Lecomte placed him at the top of the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 123 until Forte and Angel of Empire won their final preps this past weekend, bringing their totals to 190 and 154, respectively. Sent off as the 5-2 second choice in a field of ten, he broke well from post position 8 and tracked on the outside in mid-pack for most of the race behind pacesetter Funtastic Again, then made his rally alongside favorite Major Dude and out-finished that rival handily, drawing away to win with authority by 5 1/4 lengths.

The effort represented a career-best effort for the son of Hard Spun, who was already a graded stakes winner in last year’s Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. A win over the track - even if it was sloppy that day - certainly has to increase his connections’ optimism about his chances on the first Saturday in May, and while he’s always had talent, it seems like he’s coming into his own at the right time.

I love that this horse has shown the ability to overcome adversity - in the Street Sense, he was bumped quite significantly early on, but seemed relatively unbothered by the trouble, settling before making a nice rally to win. He was green in the stretch, but still won by over five lengths that day. In the Lecome, he was a bit keen early on - something he showed in his maiden win and victory in Canterbury Park’s Shakopee Juvenile Stakes - but settled nicely and made his customary run, taking the lead but getting overtaken by Instant Coffee. He stayed on nicely for second and never quit in that race. Behind him that day was Confidence Game, who would return to win the Rebel Stakes in his next start. He was between horses throughout most of the Risen Star and took the lead into the stretch, though he could not hold that advantage and ended up third. This horse strikes me as the type who will do whatever his jockey asks of him - he seems to have the ability to turn off mentally and doesn’t overreact to the stress of being around other horses, which is a must for horses in the Kentucky Derby. He’s becoming more professional with experience, and displayed that beautifully in the Jeff Ruby.

Two Phil’s is an example of a pedigree pattern I’m very fond of, as the product of two horses from the same Lowe family. Both his sire Hard Spun and dam Mia Torri are members of family 16h, tracing back to the mare Tuscan Red, and thus share the L3a1b mitochondrial haplotype. Interestingly, this mitochondrial family shows up multiple times in this pedigree, as his damsire General Quarters and second damsire Birdstone are also from this haplotype as members of family 16g and 8f, respectively.

Mia Torri was a stakes winner of over $300,000 in ten lifetime starts, winning both Charles Town’s Sugar Maple Stakes and Gulfstream’s Sunshine Millions Distaff as a four-year-old. She was twice a runner-up in graded stakes company, finishing second in the Charles Town Oaks at three and in the Bed O’ Roses Invitational Stakes at four. Two Phil’s is her first foal to race. Her dam, the unraced Birdstone mare Flip the Stone, also produced stakes placed winners River Rocks (by Western Pride) and Go Gator Girl Go (by Cajun Breeze).

Two Phil’s third dam was named Flippy Diane. She was a daughter of Aaron’s Concorde who won the Maryland Million Distaff Handicap at age five. After this point, it takes some digging to find a lot of quality in this branch of family 16h. but his 9th dam was 1939 Co-Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and 1940 Champion Handicap Mare War Plumage, herself a half-sister to three stakes winners. While she produced only one stakes winner, she is the 7th dam of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. Her granddam, Tuscan Red, is the most recent common ancestor between Mia Torri and Hard Spun.

Hard Spun is an exceptionally useful stallion, getting 74% starters from foals, 68.4% winners from starters, and 7% stakes winners from starters. While most of his best G1 winners have been sprinters or milers - most recently having the likes of Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West, Metropolitan Handicap winner Silver State, and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun To Run, - he’s also capable of siring routers. His G1 winning daughter Questing was dominant in the mile and a quarter Alabama Stakes; Hardest Core was a G1 winner in the Arlington Million at the same distance on turf; and Hard Spun even has a graded stakes winner at twelve furlongs, with his Hard Aces winning the 2017 Tokyo City Cup and 2016 Cougar II Handicap in addition to 2015 Gold Cup at Santa Anita at a mile and a quarter. Notably, Hard Spun has graded stakes winner Hard Legacy out of a mare by Two Phil’s’ second damsire Birdstone.

As a racehorse, Hard Spun was a consistent competitor who danced every dance and proved he could carry his speed by finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness. The Belmont distance was probably too far for him, and his biggest win came in the King’s Bishop at 7 furlongs, but the stamina on the bottom of his pedigree and his own tenacity came throughout his three-year-old season.

Hard Spun is by Danzig and out of the stakes-winning Turkoman mare Turkish Tryst. His second dam, Darbyvail, was a half-sister to Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Little Current, as well as G1 winner Prayersn Promises. Their dam, Luiana, was a half sister to the Kentucky Derby winner Chateaugay and champion Primonetta, both by Swaps. Chateaugay appears in the eighth generation of Two Phils’s’ pedigree as the second damsire of Birdstone’s sire Grindstone. This strong branch of Tuscan Red’s family tracing back to Luiana’s dam Banquet Bell also includes G1 winners Drill, Cum Laude Laurie, and Prince Thou Art, as well as the Japanese G1 winning full siblings Lachesis and Satono Aladdin.

Hard Spun had a small degree of inbreeding to his female line - his sire, Danzig, was out of a mare by Petition, whose fifth dam Ornament was the third dam of Tuscan Red. His damsire, Turkoman, also had the influence of family 16, being out of a daughter of family 16g’s Table Play. Table Play’s second dam, Lea Lark, is a full sister to the fifth dam of Two Phil’s’ damsire General Quarters.

General Quarters was a G1 winner at three and four on synthetic and turf, and his influence combined with Hard Spun’s ability to get a runner on any surface would give the impression that turf could be a future option for Two Phil’s after the Kentucky Derby season.

In addition to the influence of family 16 and the genetically related family 8 of Birdstone, there is some inbreeding worth noting in Two Phil’s. His sire was a son of Danzig, the second damsire of his damsire General Quarters, producing that stallion 2x5 in his pedigree. It’s not often you see this precise inbreeding pattern, but Hard Spun has produced the likes of graded stakes winners Green Light Go and Curly Jack out of mares with Danzig in the fourth generation. According to G1 Goldmine, he has produced 4.46% stakes winners out of mares carrying his sire, a slight decrease from the 6.48% stakes winners from all starters with Hard Spun on the top half of their pedigree.

His dam is also inbred 4x4 to Unbridled via his sons Unbridled’s Song and Grindstone. Graded stakes winners Sergei Prokofiev (by Scat Daddy) and Double Thunder (by Super Saver) are also out of mares inbred to Unbridled. The 3.53% stakes winners of 85 starters out of mares inbred to Unbridled is significantly less than the 5.17% stakes winners in 13,649 starters produced by mares carrying any Unbridled at all, so I’m not inclined to think this will become a popular pattern any time soon.

While Hard Spun fell just short at the classic distance, General Quarters was probably best at nine furlongs, and his dam was best at seven, I think there’s some hope for Two Phil’s’ ability to get the classic distance. He has some stamina on the bottom with Birdstone, and doesn’t seem to burn excess energy in his races. I think he’s a very exciting racehorse for the future and could absolutely get ten furlongs with the right trip.