Pedigree Profile: Domestic Product
This Klaravich homebred is an example of a variation on the potent Into Mischief/Tiznow cross
The buzz coming out of the weekend at Tampa Bay Downs has had little to do with the winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, as a tote issue that affected much of the east coast led to a significant post time delay and officials opted to run the prep as a non-wagering event. The final race of the day was canceled. All vertical wagers on the race were refunded the following day, as was the late Pick 4 beginning in Race 9. The Tampa Bay Derby and the canceled 12th race were considered “all” races in other multi-race exotics.
Despite the wagering woes, the Tampa Bay Derby was still a 50-point qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby, and it was won by Domestic Product, who was last seen finishing second to Hades in the Holy Bull Stakes. Chasing a dawdling pace set by Good Money, Domestic Product angled out in the stretch and was able to just catch No More Time - the only previous stakes winner in the field - on the wire in a blanket finish. Grand Mo The First finished third, while pacesetter Good Money stayed on for fourth, 3/4 of a length behind the winner. The final time of 1:45.47 made this the slowest Tampa Bay Derby since 1994, and the top three finishers were all assigned a Beyer figure of 82 for the effort.
Though it’s a prep that will be talked about in infamy for reasons far beyond the control of its participants, we’re here today to talk about the winner and his potential impact on the Kentucky Derby.
A homebred for Klaravich Stables trained by Chad Brown, Domestic Product is a son of fellow Chad Brown trainee Practical Joke, a winner of the G1 Hopeful and Champagne Stakes at two who finished fifth in the 2017 Kentucky Derby, beaten 9 1/2 lengths by winner Always Dreaming. He has since become an exceptional sire in both the United States, where he is the sire of G1 winners Practical Move and Chocolate Gelato, and Chile, where he is the sire of five G1 winners.
Practical Joke never won a race beyond a mile, though he was beaten less than a length in both the Blue Grass Stakes and Haskell Invitational at nine furlongs, and most of his offspring’s success has also been as sprinter-milers. Practical Move was proven effective at up to nine furlongs, as a nose winner of the Santa Anita Derby, but had to be scratched from the Kentucky Derby after developing a fever prior to the race. Practical Joke is the sire of a G1 winner at ten furlongs on the dirt in Chile, and that filly is out of a Scat Daddy mare who was herself a stakes winner at five furlongs, so it may not be impossible for the offspring of Practical Joke to go the classic distance, but so far their niche seems to be at slightly shorter distances.
Domestic Product’s dam, Goods and Services, is an unraced daughter of G1 winner Paynter, who might be presumed to impart some stamina to his offspring. He himself was a runner-up in the Belmont Stakes by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Awesome Again and out of a full sister to two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow. He is the sire of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Knicks Go; of Miss Leslie, a winner of the G2 Delaware Handicap going ten furlongs; and of a G3 winner going twelve furlongs on the turf.
Goods and Services’ first foal, a gelding by Connect, has been a useful New York-bred claiming horse, with four wins in twelve starts and earnings of over $100,000. He’s won at distances up to a mile and a sixteenth, and raced competitively at up to nine furlongs.
Goods and Services is out of the stakes winning sprinter Indian Legend, a daughter of Cherokee Run who is also the dam of stakes winning sprinter Kenda by Bodemeister. Indian Legend was a full sister to Cherokee Queen, a seven-time stakes winner, primarily on the turf, whose greatest success came in the G3 Suwannee River Stakes going nine furlongs. As a broodmare, Cherokee Queen produced two stakes-placed runners - Entertainer (Malibu Moon), who was twice stakes placed at six furlongs, and Naval Aviator (Tapit), who was twice stakes placed at nine furlongs.
The cross of Into Mischief over mares carrying Paynter’s sire Awesome Again has been rather lackluster overall - Domestic Product is just the second stakes winners in 38 starters on the cross, with the other being Mahoming Distaff winner Call on Mischief. However, Into Mischief and his sons have done very well with mares carrying Tiznow, a full brother to the dam of Paynter - Into Mischief is the sire of G1 winner Played Hard out of a Tiznow mare and two-year-old champion Wonder Wheel out of a mare by his son Tiz Wonderful, and there are five other stakes winners (four graded) by Into Mischief or his sons and out of mares carrying Tiznow. Fellow Kentucky Derby prep winner Mystik Dan is a son of Into Mischief’s Goldencents out of a mare by Tiznow’s son Colonel John. The cross has produced 8.5% stakes winners in 82 starters overall. While Paynter does not carry the direct influence of Tiznow, the presence of a full sister to that legendary runner might be further evidence of an affinity between these two stallions.
Chad Brown has said that the plan with Domestic Product is to get him a prep at nine furlongs prior to the Kentucky Derby, which seems to me like a wise choice to see if this colt is cut out for the classic distance. Although the presence of Paynter on the bottom is cause for some hope that ten furlongs could possibly be in Domestic Product’s grasp, there’s not a preponderance of stamina in the female family, and though he made it to the wire first and I believe he has some ability, I’d like to see a bit more from the runners coming out of this race, which was noteworthy for all the wrong reasons, before taking them with any confidence in the Kentucky Derby.