The Legacy of Too Chic

The best could be yet to come from this prolific branch of family 13d

Too Chic was a G1 winner and brilliant racemare in her day, but her influence on the breed is felt to this day through her daughters. The first foal of her dam Remedia and by the champion Blushing Groom, Too Chic was bred by King Ranch and sold for $100,000 at the 1980 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Select Yearling Sale. She quickly validated her purchase price for owner Emory Alexander in May of her three-year-old year when she won her Aqueduct debut by 14 lengths in her debut. After winning an allowance in her next start, she finished second in the Wistful Stakes before stepping into G1 company in the Coaching Club American Oaks, where she finished sixth. She finished sixth again in the Test Stakes, then ran second in the G1 Alabama Stakes before dropping back to allowance company and getting a win at Belmont Park. She became a G1 winner in her next start when she won the Maskette Stakes, which would be the final race of her career. In nine starts, she had four wins and two second-place finishes.

She was sent to Mr. Prospector for her first and second foals, producing G1 winners Chic Shirine and Queena in 1984 and 1986, respectively. Both fillies would go on to be influential broodmares. Too Chic produced six more winners from nine foals, but none would reach the success of those first two, through whom she is the tail-female ancestor of at least 7 G1 winners.

While Chic Shirine was very good, winning the G1 Ashland Stakes in April of 1987, Queena was indisputably better. She didn't debut until the end of March of her four-year-old season, and took three tries to break her maiden, but she immediately swept through her allowance conditions with three consecutive wins after her Belmont Park maiden score. She was fifth in her first try against graded stakes company in the Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap at Meadowlands, but redeemed herself by taking the G3 First Flight Handicap in her next start, and ended 1990 with a runner-up finish in the Straight Deal Handicap at Laurel Park.

Queena started 1991 with a fifth-place finish in the First Lady Handicap at Gulfstream, then finished third in an allowance at the same track. She took three months off, then returned to New York and started another streak of brilliance with a win in an allowance race. She won the G3 Vagrancy Handicap in a driving stretch duel, then reeled off three G1 victories in a row. She won the Ballerina by a head over the same rival she'd finished in a photo with in the Vagrancy, then won the Maskette Stakes by a head, and took the Ruffian by half a length in another driving finish. In her final start, she finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, beaten five lengths by Dance Smartly.

As a broodmare, Queena produced G1 winner Brahms (Danzig) as her fourth foal, as well as graded stakes winner La Reina (A.P. Indy) and stakes winner Olympic (Danzig). Brahms was a decent stallion, siring 16 black type winners in his career. Queena’s daughter Panthera (Storm Cat) produced stakes winner Anegada (Arch) and graded stakes placed Rock Shandy (Lemon Drop Kid), while La Reina went on to produce graded stakes winner Chief Havoc (Giant's Causeway), and graded stakes placed winners Special Event (Arch) and Aurelius Maxinus (Pioneerof the Nile), as well as the dam of graded stakes placed Tejana (Curlin).

Chic Shirine’s first foal was a 1989 colt by Chief’s Crown who would win twice in his fifteen-race career. In 1990, she gave birth to a filly by Mr. Prospector. Later named Tara Roma, she would become a G2 winner in her racing career and produce G1 winner Serra Lake (Seattle Slew) - who would produce multiple black type producer Lake Naivasha - and G3 winner Cappuchino (Capote). Her unraced daughter Wiscasset (Kris S) would produce multiple stakes winner Coal Play (Mineshaft) and the Awesome Again mare Medomak, who would in turn produce G1 Travers Stakes winner Keen Ice by Curlin.

In 1991, Chic Shirine produced a full brother to Tara Roma named Waldoboro. He would win six of his nineteen career starts, including the G2 True North Handicap. The following year, she produced the Nureyev filly Chic Corine, a $380,000 Keeneland July yearling who would never race but became a productive broodmare as the dam of stakes winner Rasta Farian (Holy Bull), graded stakes placed Chic Joy (A.P. Indy), and G1 winner Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid).

In 1993, Chic Shirine gave birth to a filly by Lyphard. Mayan Maiden would never race, and none of her foals were stakes winners, but through her daughters she is the granddam of horses such as G1 winner Harmonize (Scat Daddy), multiple graded stakes winner Al Khali (Medaglia d'Oro), and stakes winners Japan (Medaglia d'Oro), Moe Man, and Sheikhali. Her 1995 foal, a colt by Deputy Minister named Temple Owl, sold for $375,000 as a yearling but was a non-winner in eight starts.

She was bred to Seattle Slew for foals of 1998 and 1999. The first one, named Matikanenijinohasi, sold for $100,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and was sent to Japan, where he was a winner. The second, Rosetti, was a $400,000 Keeneland September yearling and million-dollar two-year-old who won his only career race at Saratoga. He became a sire in Canada and sired a handful of stakes winners but did not see much success.

In 2000, she foaled an A.P. Indy filly who would be named Flying Passage. She was a winner but was better as a producer, as the dam of multiple graded stakes winning More Than Ready filly Hungry Island (herself a black type producer), graded stakes winner Soaring Empire (Empire Maker), and graded stakes placed Tokyo Time (Medaglia d'Oro), the dam of G1 winner Olympiad (Speightstown). She also produced the dams of G1 winner Preservationist (Arch), UAE 2000 Guineas winner Azure Coast (Street Sense), and graded stakes winner Pleasant Passage (More Than Ready), who was most recently seen finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Chic Shirine's final foal, born in 2004, was named Enchanted Rock. She finished tenth in her only start, but became a valuable broodmare. She produced G2 winner El Padrino (Pulpit) as her first foal, then produced G1 winner Verrazano by More Than Ready and stakes placed La Madrina by Tapit. Only two of her next four foals were winners, but she sold as a broodmare for $2 million in 2017 carrying a More Than Ready filly. That foal, named Fire Island, never raced. Enchanted Rock currently has an unraced three-year-old filly by Curlin, who has put in a few works in 2023 but none since February 17th, and a two-year-old filly by Into Mischief.

With Olympiad entering stud in 2023, Preservationist’s first foals yearlings of this year, and Keen Ice siring the 2022 Kentucky Derby winner, it seems the stage is set to find a stallion heir that will help the family of Too Chic continue to prosper. While many of the stallions from this family have been average at best, this trio seems to be poised to change that trend.

In addition to young sire power, there are plenty of active producers in this family that are sure to add to the stakes tally - they’ve certainly been hot commodities in the sales ring over the past few years, with at least 18 six-digit auction prices in 2021 and 2022, a table of which can be found below.

The most exciting member of this family right now is probably Pleasant Passage, who won her first two starts and put in a massive effort to finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in her most recent start. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume the daughter of More Than Ready has a huge three-year-old campaign ahead of her.

With so much success already and plenty of hope for the future, there’s little doubt that the influence of Too Chic will continue to be felt for years to come.