Stallion Analysis: Flameaway

Taking a closer look at one of my most-anticipated freshmen sires of 2023

Flameaway's first foals will be two-year-olds of 2023, and he is one of the stallions I am the most excited for in this upcoming class of freshmen. Flameaway was a $400k yearling in 2016 by Scat Daddy and out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Vulcan Rose, whose first foal to race was a stakes winner at two, three months after the sale of her half brother.

As a racehorse, Flameaway was a stakes winner at two, three, and four, and was able to win stakes on both dirt and turf in addition to breaking his maiden in his debut over Woodbine's synthetic track. I love that he was a racehorse with precocity and early speed who also had the ability to carry that speed two turns, and he was a gritty, determined type of horse - traits that seem to be inheritable to at least some degree, as the gutsy Bolt d'Oro's first crop have recently demonstrated.

Flameaway stands for $7,500 at Darby Dan Farm, a price point that feels about right for a G3 winner but I expect will seem like a bargain when his foals hit the racetrack. Last year, his yearlings were reasonably well-received, with a few standouts including a $425k yearling at the Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and seven other six-figure yearlings, though they averaged just over $43k with a median of $25k - far from the top of his class, but a solid return on a modest stud fee.

Pedigree Analysis

Even with all there is to like about Flameaway as a racehorse, I think his pedigree might be the most exciting thing about him. At first glance, he has sex-balanced inbreeding to both Mr. Prospector 3x3 (as well as an additional strain of that stallion in the fifth generation on his sire's side) and to Nijinsky 4x5. He also has some very interesting linebreeding to his tail-female line.

I love that he is from the same female family as his grandsire Johannesburg - the mare Aloe appears 10x9x9 in Flameaway's pedigree, with the additional strain courtesy of Round Table in his fifth generation. In addition to Flameaway, Johannesburg, and Round Table, Aloe is the tail-female ancestor of horses such as Height of Fashion, Deep Impact, Pulpit, and Tale of the Cat, to name just a few. Note that while Aloe is also listed as the tail-female ancestor of Gone West and Shackleford, there is a studbook error at either the mare Persian Maid or her dam Aroma, and they are actually a genetically distinct family - most of family 2f is part of the “L4a” mitochondrial haplotype, but those descending from Persian Maid are the related but separate “L1a” haplotype.

Height of Fashion, in particular, presents some interesting parallels to the pedigree of Flameaway. She was by family 1w's G1 winner Bustino, who was out of a mare by family 2f's Doutelle (whose third dam was Aloe). Her dam was a G1 winner from family 2f out of a mare by family 1w's Borealis. As a result, Height of Fashion and both of her parents are examples of the same female family combination seen in Flameaway - combining the families of the mares Aloe and Rose Red.

Neither of Flameaway's first two dams are stakes winners, but his dam is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Essential Edge. They were out of the mare Rose of Tara, by the Irish stallion Generous, whose fourth dam was a full sister to Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and his talented full brother Fighting Fox. Flameaway gets a second dose of family 4n in his sixth generation via Halo's sire Hail to Reason (who was by family 1w’s Turn-To). Generous was by the stallion Caerleon, himself a member of La Troienne's family 1x, which Scat Daddy brings in distantly via Francis S (the damsire of Johannesburg's damsire Ogygian) and Bimelech (the damsire of Scat Daddy's third damsire No Robbery). Scat Daddy himself was from the related family 1w, and produces a healthy 8.93% stakes winners with mares carrying La Troienne in the first 8 generations (Flameaway is not an example of this, as La Troienne appears in his 10th generation).

Flameaway's third dam, Flame of Tara, was a graded stakes winner in England and Ireland who also produced the brilliant filly Salsabil, a G1 winner in England, Ireland, and France who in turn produced graded stakes winner Sahm.

His fourth dam, Welsh Flame, was a four-time winner in ten starts and introduces more interesting linebreeding to this pedigree. She was inbred 5x3 via a daughter and son to the stallion Donatello, whose fourth dam Pretty Polly was the 7th dam of Flame of Tara's sire, Artaius (himself a son of family 2f's Round Table and out of a mare by family 1w's My Babu). She also possessed sex-balanced inbreeding to the influential stallion Hyperion via her tail-male line and her second dam.

Also intriguing about the pedigree of Welsh Flame is that each of her parents were inbred 4x4 to an influential broodmare. Her dam was from the Blenheim sireline, and also carried his half-brother King Salmon as her second damsire. Meanwhile, her sire Welsh Pageant (a member of family 1s) had a daughter and son of the great Lady Juror 3x3 in his pedigree.

Incidentally, Welsh Pageant's second damsire, Borealis, was out of a half-sister to the 9th dam of Scat Daddy, and his dam was by the same stallion, Court Martial (family 1p), as Scat Daddy's 6th dam, showing the effectiveness of bringing together multiple branches of family 1. Perhaps related, Scat Daddy has 6 stakes winners from 39 starters (15.38%) out of mares carrying Welsh Pageant.

Flameaway has additional female family linebreeding to family 8c via his damsire Fusaichi Pegasus, his great-grandsire Hennessy and that stallion's sire Storm Cat. This specific cross has not historically been productive, as the cross of Storm Cat over Fusaichi Pegasus has produced only 2.06% stakes winners from 486 starters. However, it is noteworthy that mares carrying Fusaichi Pegasus produce only 3.62% stakes winners to begin with, and 9.26% of stakes winners with Fusaichi Pegasus on the bottom have Storm Cat on their top side.

Flameaway also carries the "cousins" Halo and Northern Dancer in his fifth generation, and the common family 8f pairing of Nijinsky and Raise a Native on both sides of his pedigree.

Mare Selection

As far as what bloodlines I think Flameaway will cross well with, the obvious choices to me would be to continue to bring him back to families 1w or 2f, as this combination shows up multiple times in his pedigree and has proven successful in other members of family 2f.

Mares by Pulpit would seem an obvious choice based on the success of horses such as Justify, who was by Scat Daddy and out of a Pulpit second dam. The cross of Scat Daddy over Pulpit has been incredibly productive in 36 starters, with 3 G1 winners (8.33%) and 7 SWs (19.44%). Of Pulpit's sons, Sky Mesa would be a particularly interesting influence as a member of family 1x. His daughter Mesa Fresca produced G1 winner Harmonize by Scat Daddy.

If he could get mares carrying Height of Fashion’s son Nashwan or one of his brothers, I believe that would be an exceptional cross, bringing in Height of Fashion's combination of family 1w and 2f. Nashwan's lines aren't common in the American market, but Bated Breath would probably be the most likely modern source. His second dam is by Nashwan, and he has the added appeal of family 1w's Irish River in his fourth generation, as the damsire of his damsire Distant View (who comes from the same female family 16a as Johannesburg’s damsire Ogygian). Bated Breath is from the brilliant family 8f, tracing tail-female to Best In Show. Three separate sons of Scat Daddy have produced stakes winners out of mares carrying Nashwan - 21.43% of all starters bred on the cross. Expanding that cross to all sources of Height of Fashion adds three additional stakes winners (18.75% of starters).

I believe other branches of families 1 and 2 would also be appropriate. Street Cry mares would certainly be interesting, as he is from family 1l by family 2d's Machiavellian, who was inbred to his fourth dam via his damsire Halo. Scat Daddy has produced 2 G1 winners (6.06%) and an additional stakes winner in 33 starters out of mares carrying Street Cry, for a 9.09% rate of stakes winners from starters.

For those looking for a turf horse, I think Kitten’s Joy would be a logical choice, as a member of family 2d by family 1l’s El Prado. There have only been three horses bred on the Scat Daddy/Kitten’s Joy cross, none of them stakes winners, however the Scat Daddy/El Prado cross has produced G1 winner Nickname and two additional stakes winners in 32 foals (9.38% stakes winners). In the future, daughters of Kitten’s Joy’s son Divisidero may cross well with Flameaway, as Divisidero’s second dam is by Nashwan.

Mares carrying Danzig have done very well with Scat Daddy and his sons, and have also gotten ample opportunity with 743 starters. Of those, there have been 9 G1 winners (1.21%) and 58 stakes winners in total (7.81%). Danzig is also appealing to cross with the bottom half of Flameaway’s pedigree, as the cross of Generous over his fellow family 4n member Admiral’s Voyage (Danzig’s damsire) has produced 3 (3.33%) G1 winners in 90 starters.

Mares by Danzig’s son Hard Spun would be exceptionally appealing, as Scat Daddy’s son No Nay Never’s 4-time G1 winner Alcohol Free is one of just three horses bred on the Scat Daddy/Hard Spun cross. Hard Spun is from family 16h, which shares a mitochondrial haplotype with Fusaichi Pegasus’ family 8c. While none of the five starters bred on the Fusaichi Pegasus/Hard Spun cross are stakes winners, the reverse cross of Hard Spun over Fusaichi Pegasus has produced 2 stakes winners in just 13 starters (15.38%), including Kentucky Derby contender Curly Jack (whose sire Good Magic was out of a mare by Hard Spun). Hard Spun also brings in family 1s via his damsire Turkoman.

Just for fun, here’s an example of a hypothetical foal by Flameaway and out of the graded stakes winning Bated Breath mare Simply Breathless, who is inbred 5x3 to Height of Fashion via Nashwan and Nayef and also brings in other female families that are prominent in Flameaway’s pedigree. I have circled each duplicated female family in a different color for an easy glance at how these two match up from that perspective.

Overall, I am thrilled about Flameaway’s prospects as a stallion and can’t wait to see his first crop hit the racetrack later this year.