Pedigree Profile: Speak Easy
The impressive maiden winner shares a link with the Pegasus World Cup star National Treasure
What would you say if I asked you what the common thread is between Pegasus World Cup winner National Treasure and undercard maiden victor Speak Easy, who earned a 100 Beyer in his debut victory? Well, if you read enough of this blog, you’ll probably say something like “I don’t know, Jess, they probably share their fifth dam or some nonsense like that” - and you would be on the right track!
Both National Treasure and Speak Easy trace tail-female to the matriarch Mono of Lowe family 4c - she is the sixth dam of National Treasure and the fifth dam of Speak Easy. That daughter of Better Self was out of a full sister to Triple Crown winner Assault, and was inbred 5x5 to her fifth dam, Mahubah. Her fourth dam, the stakes winner Masda, was a full sister to the immortal Man O’ War, the sire of Better Self’s damsire War Admiral.
As a broodmare, Mono produced G1 Manhattan Handicap winner Academy Award, G3 winner A Sure Hit, and multiple stakes winner Channing Road. Since 2011, Mono’s tail-female line has produced 27 stakes winners from 356 starters - a very healthy 7.6%. There are seven G1 winners tracing to Mono, all via her daughter Mine Only (by Mr. Prospector), including National Treasure, Travers Stakes winner Golden Ticket, and two-time Sword Dancer Handicap winner telling.
While Speak Easy traces to Mono via a different daughter, the In Reality mare La Finale, there’s still reason to think this colt could have stakes in his future. La Finale is the tail-female ancestor of four stakes winners in 43 starters since 2011 (7%). She was the dam of GSW Ninth Inning, the third dam of Speak Easy, and the third dam of stakes winner Home Run Maker, a 3/4 sister to Speak Easy’s multiple graded stakes placed dam, Fun. La Finale is also the third dam of stakes winner Malibu Pro by Malibu Moon, who, like Speak Easy’s sire Constitution, is from the A.P. Indy sire line.
And what a sire Constitution has been! He’s the sire of 41 black type winners, including 16 graded stakes winners, most notably Tiz the Law and Americanrevolution. The former, of course, was the winner of not only the 2020 Belmont Stakes (at a mile and an eighth), but the Travers Stakes, proving that his sire, for whom a mile and a quarter might have been a tough too far based on his one effort at the distance, was capable of getting a classic distance runner with the right mare. Although we once said the same about Constitution’s sire, Tapit, who has gone on to sire four Belmont Stakes winners, it seems as though a mile to a mile and an eighth is the sweet spot for most of Constitution’s runners, barring a stamina influence on the dam’s side.
Speak Easy’s damsire Harlan’s Holiday is not that stamina influence, but is a fantastic cross with Tapit. The Tapit/Harlan’s Holiday cross has been a prolific one, with 8.9% stakes winners in 123 starters, with all but one of their combined 19 stakes wins coming at 9f or shorter. That one 10f win was White Abarrio’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, proving that the cross can produce a horse capable of winning at the classic distance.
Speak Easy’s second damsire, Empire Maker, could certainly be considered a stamina influence, as a winner of the Belmont Stakes. Empire Maker creates inbreeding to Unbridled in this pedigree, as he is a son of that stallion while Tapit is out of one of Unbridled’s daughters. The Tapit/Empire Maker cross has been even more productive than that of Tapit with Harlan’s Holiday - ten of the 80 starters on the cross are stakes winners (12.5%), including G1 winner Valiance. Constitution himself has produced five of those stakes winners from just 17 starters on the cross - a remarkable 29% stakes winners. This cross has not produced a stakes winner at ten furlongs, and only two of the five stakes winners by Constitution and out of mares carrying Empire Maker found stakes success at nine furlongs, but the broader Tapit/Empire Maker cross has seen plenty of success at the mile and an eighth, suggesting that perhaps the right horse could get the extra eighth of a mile.
While I’m not totally convinced that Speak Easy is bred to get more than nine furlongs, he’s certainly bred to be an outstanding runner, combining a prolific female family, a top-class sire, and sire line crosses with plenty of precedent. With an impressive seven furlong maiden win right off the blocks, it’s almost certain that we’ll see this Todd Pletcher runner against stakes company in the near future.