Pedigree Profile: Getaway Car

The Sunland Derby winner traces to a Broodmare of the Year as his fifth dam

Bob Baffert’s Getaway Car demonstrated superb grit in his Sunland Park Derby victory as the favorite this weekend. After setting an uncontested pace of :23.31 and :46.93 early under jockey Juan Hernandez, he was challenged and overtaken by Caldera coming into the turn but fought back resolutely to prevail in a head-bobbing finish at the wire in a final time of 1:42.64. It was the third victory in seven starts for the son of Curlin, and his first since taking the G3 Best Pal Stakes in his second career start.

Getaway Car sold for $300,000 as a weanling and was purchased for $700,000 at Keeneland September by an ownership conglomerate that includes SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, among others. He’s the first foal out of his dam, the stakes winning Morning Line mare Surrender Now. She was a winner of her first two starts on dirt, including an eight-length score in the 5 1/2 furlong Landaluce Stakes, but found success sprinting on turf later in career.

Morning Line was a winner of the G2 Pennsylvania Derby at three and the G1 Carter Handicap as a four-year-old. He passed away after only five seasons at stud, but produced a respectable 65.3% winners and 5.1% stakes winners in 176 starters. He was one of two stakes winners out of his A.P. Indy dam, Indian Snow, the other being the Liam’s Map gelding Liam’s Pride, a winner of the 2020 Gold Fever Stakes going six furlongs at Belmont Park. His second dam, the Storm Cat mare November Snow, was a winner of both the G1 Alabama and G1 Test Stakes as a three-year-old. In addition to Morning Line, she’s the second dam of G1 Santa Anita Handicap winner Express Train and the third dam of the G1-winning half-siblings Anthony Van Dyck (winner of the G1 Epsom Derby) and Bounding (a G1 winning sprinter in New Zealand). This Blue Denim branch of Lowe family 16c is responsible for 106 stakes winners worldwide, including 26 G1 winners.

Surrender Now was out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Surrender, who also produced G3 winner Red Flag by Tamarkuz. Her second dam, the Mr. Prospector mare Beaucette, was a stakes placed runner whose best runner was a stakes placed son of Indian Charlie. Beaucette was out of the graded stakes winning Summer Squall mare Mackie, and this is where the quality begins to stack up in Getaway Car’s pedigree.

Mackie was the dam of stakes winners Mr Mellon and Seeking the Best, and was a daughter of 1993 Broodmare of the Year Glowing Tribute, the dam of seven stakes winners including Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero and multiple G1 winner Hero’s Honor. She is the tail-female ancestor of 39 stakes winners. A multiple graded stkaes winner on the racetrack, Glowing Tribute was out of the stakes winner Admiring, who produced two additional stakes placed runners. Admiring’s dam was Hall of Famer Searching, who produced Hall of Famer Affectionately and the excellent two-year-old Priceless Gem, who won the 1965 Frizette and Futurity Stakes, the latter over Hall of Famer Buckpasser (incidentally, both Priceless Gem and Buckpasser traced to the immortal La Troienne as their third dam).

Aside from coming from arguably the greatest female family in the breed, there are some other intriguing notes about Getaway Car’s pedigree. His dam is inbred 4x5 to the great Weekend Surprise via the brothers A.P. Indy and Summer Squall. She carries three crosses each of Seattle Slew and Storm Bird within five generations, and four crosses of Secretariat within six generations. Although Surrender Now was fairly significantly inbred, with an eight-generation inbreeding coefficient of 4.5%, the choice to send her to Curlin duplicates only Mr. Prospector 3x4 in the five-generation pedigree of Getaway Car.

Curlin has seen recent success with La Troienne’s family 1x via Cody’s Wish, but is also the sire of graded stakes placed runner Liberated, stakes placed Villanelle, and G1 winning steeplechaser Awakened from this female line.

The cross of Curlin over mares carrying Tiznow has been mildly successful, with four stakes winners in 74 starters (5.4%) to date, a decrease on the 6.4% stakes winners from all starters with Curlin on the sire’s side of the pedigree but an increase on the 4.5% stakes winners from all starters with Tiznow on the dam’s side of the pedigree. In addition to Getaway Car, Curlin is the sire of stakes winner Corporate Power out of a second dam by Tiznow, while his son Good Magic has gotten graded stakes winner Society Man out of a mare by Tiznow’s son Colonel John and stakes winner Magic Cross out of a mare by Tiznow.

While the Curlin/Tiznow cross has not been remarkable, the cross of Curlin with mares carrying Stormy Atlantic has been quite good, with five stakes winners in 46 starters (10.9%). Curlin is the sire of graded stakes winners Curlin’s Voyage and Ocean Knight out of Stormy Atlantic mares, his son Exaggerator is the sire of stakes winner Pacific Coast out of a mare by a son of Stormy Atlantic, and his son Jess’s Dream has stakes winner Dreaming of Snow from a Stormy Atlantic second dam.

The Sunland Park Derby was Getaway Car’s first win around two turns, and the bottom half of his pedigree does seem to lean toward speed in recent generations, as Surrender Now never won past 5 1/2 furlongs, her sire’s G1 win came at seven furlongs (although he was a graded stakes winner at up to nine), and her best sibling never won past seven furlongs. Curlin’s influence does help instill some confidence that the win at a mile and a sixteenth may not have been a fluke, and a mile and an eighth might be within his wheelhouse with the right trip. I tend toward skepticism when it comes to Getaway Car getting a mile and a quarter with an honest pace, but Getaway Car has the kind of tenacity and trainer that could get him home first in the Kentucky Derby.