Queen's family that was hanging by a thread hits Grade 1 heights at Santa Anita

A family that was once hanging by a thread is gaining further momentum in the US via the Chad Brown-trained Duopoly, whose front-running success in the Grade 1 American Oaks was a highlight of Santa Anita’s opening day card on December 26.

From the third American crop of Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, Duopoly was bred by Tolie Otto’s Jamm Ltd out of Justaroundmidnight, a Grade 3-winning daughter of Danehill Dancer from the Queen’s Pas De Deux family.

Pas De Deux, foaled in 1974, was the only foal produced by the high-class Example. The family had joined the Royal Studs in 1961 with the yearling purchase of Amicable, a daughter of the Queen’s good colt Doutelle, by Captain Charles Moore, then the Queen’s racing manager, with her principal trainer Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort.

Amicable went on to win the Nell Gwyn Stakes and Lingfield Oaks Trial before producing the Group-winning siblings Expansive and Example, both daughters of Arc winner Exbury.

Ribblesdale Stakes heroine Expansive later supplied the Queen with her Trying For Gold family, responsible for the high-class fillies Phantom Gold and Fictitious among others.

However, Example, whose finishing flourishes propelled her to victory in the Park Hill Stakes and Prix Jean de Chaudenay for Ian Balding, died having her first foal, the Nijinsky filly Pas De Deux.

Pas De Deux won once at three but, as perhaps anticipated, it was at stud where she was to become a real asset, notably as the dam of Group 2 winner Starlet, subsequently the ancestress of royal Listed winners Film Script, Free Agent and Peacock.

Justaroundmidnight descends from Starlet’s Teenoso sister Once Upon A Time as a daughter of Strategy, who was sold to join Lynch Bages in 2003. Justaroundmidnight is the best runner out of the Machiavellian mare by virtue of her win in the Grade 3 Marshua's River Stakes for Patrick Biancone and in the colours of Mrs Paul Shanahan. She was purchased by Headley Bell of Nicoma Bloodstock on behalf of Otto for $450,000 in 2012 and Duopoly is her third foal and one of two winners.

Jamm Ltd has been a client of the Bell family’s Mill Ridge Farm in Kentucky for more than 30 years and Bell talked through the decision to patronise Animal Kingdom, then in his early years at Darley’s Jonabell Farm.

“Justaroundmidnight was a good racemare, she ran some good figures and then cost some money,” he says. “Animal Kingdom was a bit of a gamble but I had spoken at length to Jon Freyer [bloodstock manager of Arrowfield Stud, to where Animal Kingdom shuttled] about the horse and he really believed in him. And then, of course, he’s a member of the Blushing Groom line, so you’re bringing that in, although we were guessing a bit as to how that might work through his sire Leroidesanimaux. I ended up using him quite a bit.

“Duopoly was a beautiful filly and we placed a $150,000 reserve on her - strong for an Animal Kingdom at the time - and Chad Brown bought her for $160,000.

“To win a Grade 1 was wonderful. She was the lone speed and the race set up beautifully for her. Chad has done a wonderful job with her, he’s given her plenty of time and I doubt she'd be the filly she is today if she wasn’t trained by him.”

Justaroundmidnight has a two-year-old colt by Kitten’s Joy purchased by Qatar Racing through Fergus Galvin for $275,000 who is in training with Andrew Balding. She is now in foal to Mill Ridge’s Oscar Performance, a multiple Grade 1 winner whose first crop are yearlings.

“Jamm are shareholders in Oscar Performance,” says Bell of the son of Kitten’s Joy. “We’ve got a great group of shareholders in the horse and it’s exciting this mare is in foal to him.”

Bago’s resurgence

Duopoloy’s American Oaks victory was warmly received in Japan given the nation’s breeders now have access to Animal Kingdom. The filly is the third Group/Grade 1 winner for the sire, who was bought by the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station to join their roster in 2020.

Animal Kingdom is a highlight of a JBBA roster that also includes another sire-of-the-moment in Bago, a former Arc-winning champion for the Niarchos family who signed off 2020 as the sire of the Group 1 Arima Kinen heroine Chrono Genesis and Group 1 Asahi Hai Futurity runner-up Stella Veloce.

Chrono Genesis (second left) comes with her winning charge in the Arima KinenCredit: Masakazu Takahashi

Chrono Genesis’ win in the Arima Kinen, an iconic race on the Japanese calendar, capped a remarkable run for her dam, the Kurofune mare Chronologist, following the success of another daughter, the now-retired Normcore, in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin in early December.

Chrono Genesis and Stella Veloce are the headline acts of some eye-catching results for Bago, a stallion who stands for the equivalent of £3,500 and has averaged around 40 foals per crop over the course of his stud career.

Unsurprisingly though, the son of Nashwan is now in the midst of a resurgence in popularity, as the JBBA’s Shigeki Yusa explains.

“Bago is 20 this year but he's still very strong and healthy,” he says. “He covered 118 mares last year and 110 mares the year before that. Now we're receiving an increasing number of inquiries from breeders and we believe he'll serve a book of around 100 mares this year.

“Many will be from the Sunday Silence bloodline, especially Stay Gold mares, which he seems to cross very well with. With Chrono Genesis’ success, he also seems to be receiving more Kurofune and French Deputy mares, and more Deep Impact mares too, as a result of Stella Veloce’s success.

“With solid books in terms of both numbers and quality, we're hoping that perhaps one of his offspring might be able to win the Arc, like he did in 2004.”

He adds: “Bago typically gets very well-balanced offspring and they tend to look alike, so much so that you can often pick out his progeny at a sale just by looking at them. As such, his stock have generally been well received at the sales.”

With Sunday Silence now such a dominant influence in Japan, access to a different sire line has become an increasingly desirable option for breeders. To that end, Bago and Animal Kingdom serve the JBBA’s roster well as descendants of Blushing Groom.

Hopes also run high that Frankel’s brother Noble Mission, a new recruit from Kentucky for 2021 who is already a Grade 1 sire, will fulfil a similar role as a son of Galileo.

“We're hopeful Animal Kingdom will prove successful, since Bago has already shown that the Blushing Groom sire line crosses well with Sunday Silence,” says Yusa.

Charlatan’s brilliant return

The Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, another highlight on Santa Anita’s opening day card, was billed as a showdown between Speightstown colts Charlatan and Nashville. However, in reality it was very much a one-horse affair as Charlatan scorched past his main rival on the turn for home and bounded clear for a four-and-a-half length victory, with Nashville fading to fourth.

Charlatan’s career to date for Bob Baffert has been brief but brilliant. After winning his first two starts by daylight, he confirmed himself an exceptional talent when running away with a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in early May.

Charlatan and jockey Mike Smith win the Malibu StakesCredit: Benoit Photography

Within days it had been announced that John Sikura’s Hill ’n’ Dale Farm had won the race to secure the colt’s breeding rights. A Grade 1-winning son of Speightstown with the speed to win at six furlongs who was a $700,000 yearling purchase from the powerful buying group of SF Bloodstock and Starlight West - nicknamed ‘The Avengers’ by Baffert - is just the kind of package the market craves.

But then it came perilously close to disaster.

At the end of May, it was revealed Charlatan's post-race Oaklawn sample had returned positive, and by early July it was confirmed it was for the local anaesthetic lidocaine and that he would be stripped of his Arkansas Derby win. To make matters worse, Charlatan was by that stage sidelined with an ankle injury.

Therefore, his return from a near eight-month absence to win the Malibu with such arrogance was a welcome tonic.

“It’s a shame about the incident in Arkansas but that's past history,” says Sikura. “Charlatan’s performance in the Malibu came as no surprise. He's been consistently brilliant and I believe he's an extraordinary talent.

“The job Bob Baffert did getting him ready off the layoff to run over such a talented field is just as impressive.”

Charlatan is the 20th Group/Grade 1 winner for WinStar Farm’s veteran Speightstown and was bred by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC out of the Grade 1-placed Authenticity, a daughter of influential broodmare sire Quiet American.

There is a common perception that speed and precocity go hand in hand. Yet Speightstown, who won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint as a six-year-old, is proof of that not always being the case. Although a speed influence, only three of the stallion’s top-flight winners - Charlatan included - broke through in Group or Grade 1 company prior to midsummer of their three-year-old year.

Should Charlatan make the improvement of a typical Speightstown, a lucrative four-year-old season is certainly in store.

“The sky's the limit and he's a stallion farm’s dream,” says Sikura. “Succinctly, he's the total package.”

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