Pedigree Profile: Highland Falls

The Jockey Club Gold Cup winner is his sire's fifth G1 winner inbred to Deputy Minister

Godolphin’s Highland Falls picked up his first G1 win this weekend in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, tracking favored Arthur’s Ride throughout, eventually wearing down that rival and drawing off to win by four lengths over Pyrenees. The four-year-old Brad Cox trainee was making his sixth start of the year and picking up his fifth career victory in nine lifetime starts. Prior the the Jockey Club Gold Cup, his greatest accomplishment had come in the G3 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs in June.

Highland Falls is a son of Curlin and out of the dual G1 winner Round Pond, a daughter of Awesome Again who won the Acorn Stakes as a three-year-old and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at age four. He is the fifth foal to race from his dam from seven found on Equibase, including Long River, a G1 winner in Dubai by A.P. Indy, stakes winner Lake Lucerne, by Dubawi, and stakes placed winner Holland Park, by Tapit. Round Pond is also the dam of two unraced daughters by Bernardini, Fjord and Tyburn Brook. Fjord is the dam of a stakes placed runner by Animal Kingdom, while Tyburn Brook is the dam of G1 winner Speaker’s Corner, by Street Sense. Tyburn Brook is also the dam of the impressive Nyquist colt Knightsbridge, who is undefeated in two starts and recently returned to the work tab for Bill Mott at Saratoga.

Round Pond was by far the most accomplished runner out of her dam, the non-winning Trempolino mare Gift of Dance. Gift of Dance did produce a stakes placed runner by Tale of the Cat, but no other black type. She was a half sister to three G1 winners - Irish 2,000 Guineas and St. James Palace Stakes winner Black Minnaloushe, by Storm Cat; four-time G1 winner Nasr El Arab, by Al Nasr, whose G1 wins included the 1989 Charles H. Strub Stakes and San Juan Capistrano Handicap; and two-time European champion Pennekamp, by Bering, who was a champion two-year-old in France with a win in the G1 Prix de la Salamandre, and a champion miler in Europe at three after wins in the 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst Stakes.

Highland Falls is the first Curlin foal in his immediate family, and the match between Round Pond and Curlin has a few notes of interest. He is Curlin’s second G1 winner out of a mare by Awesome Again, joining G1 Travers Stakes winner Keen Ice. This match creates 3x3 inbreeding to Deputy Minister, the sire of Awesome Again and damsire of Curlin. Although the cross of Curlin over Awesome Again is actually relatively average, producing 5.6% stakes winners in 107 starters, which is actually a decrease on the 6.4% stakes winners from all starters with Curlin in the top half of the pedigree, the cross of Curlin over his damsire gets 6.7% stakes winners, including Curlin’s G1 winners Curalina (out of a mare by a grandson of Deputy Minister), Vino Rosso (out of a second dam by Deputy Minister’s son Touch Gold), and Grace Adler (out of a mare by Newfoundland, whose damsire is Deputy Minister). Palace Malace’s G1 winner Structor is out of a second dam by Deputy Minister’s son Dehere.

In fact, inbreeding to Deputy Minister appears as though it may be a beneficial pattern in general. While 4.2% of starters with Deputy Minister on the sire’s side of the pedigree are stakes winners, 4.6% of starters with Deputy Minister on the top and bottom of the pedigree are stakes winners. Note that this is about equal to the 4.6% stakes winners from all starters with Deputy Minister on the bottom half of the pedigree (4.61% stakes winners with Deputy Minister both top and bottom versus 4.56% from all starters on the mare’s side), so it could be argued that it is simply Deputy Minister’s influence as a broodmare sire that creates this disparity, but I still wanted to note it, especially because - at least in my experience - it is fairly rare to find that comparable influences do better when duplicated (this is a topic I will certainly dive into more in the future, once I have the time to properly investigate).

It will be interesting to see how Highland Falls continues to mature through this year. It’s almost certain that a stud career awaits him when his racing days are over, and he has the right combination of sire power and depth in his female family to make him an attractive prospect in that regard.