Pedigree fun facts: 2016 Breeders’ Cup Saturday edition

Picking up where we left off on Breeders’ Cup Friday, here are pedigree fun facts for certain contenders on Breeders’ Cup Saturday.

Juvenile Fillies (G1) runner With Honors hopes to emulate her second dam, champion Dreaming of Anna, who wired the 2006 Juvenile Fillies. Dreaming of Anna produced a Breeders’ Cup starter herself, Fast Anna, the fifth-placer in the 2014 Sprint. Dreaming of Anna’s dam, Justenuffheart, was responsible for a total of three BC starters – Lewis Michael, a full brother to Dreaming of Anna, competed in the 2006 Sprint and the 2007-08 editions of the Dirt Mile, and Justenuffhumor finished third in the 2009 Mile (G1). With Honors’ fourth dam, Kitten’s First, produced champion Kitten’s Joy, second in the 2004 Turf, and Precious Kitten, who contested the 2007 Filly & Mare Turf (G1) and checked in fourth in the 2008 Mile.

Daddys Lil Darling is a half-sister to Mongolian Saturday, who defends his title in the Turf Sprint (G1). Their dam, Miss Hot Salsa, thus joins the list of broodmares with two runners in the same Breeders’ Cup.

Union Strike is a half-sister to Handsome Mike, a two-time Breeders’ Cup participant in the 2012 Classic (G1) and 2013 Turf Sprint.

Sweet Loretta hails from the extended family of Lady Eli, the 2014 Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) heroine and morning-line favorite in today’s Filly & Mare Turf. They descend from noted Runnymede matron Kazadancoa.

Turning to the Filly & Mare Turf, Seventh Heaven is the third Breeders’ Cup starter produced by La Traviata, who suffered her only loss when sixth in the inaugural Filly & Mare Sprint in 2007. La Traviata’s prior runners were Crusade in the 2011 Juvenile (G1) and Cristoforo Colombo in the 2013 Mile. She’s now the 14th mare to have at least three BC runners. Juddmonte’s blue hen Hasili boasts the record of six, while Jerry and Ann Moss’s Set Them Free comes next with four. Considering that La Traviata is just 12 years old, she’s got time to join or surpass Set Them Free.

Japan’s flagbearer, Nuovo Record, comes from the extended family of Mile contender Photo Call. They share the same ancestress, Fager’s Glory. Photo Call hails from the more productive branch of the family, and she’s out of a half-sister to Halfway to Heaven, the beaten favorite in the 2008 Filly & Mare Turf.

Peruvian champion Ryans Charm descends from the same female line as Turf Sprint contender Celestine. Both trace to the Elmendorf matron Maytide.

In the Sprint, Drefong has several Breeders’ Cup connections up close in his lineage. He’s from the first crop of four-time BC participant Gio Ponti, arguably unlucky to bump into two of our era’s most successful distaffers. Second to Zenyatta in the 2009 Classic, Gio Ponti was also runner-up to Goldikova in the 2010 Mile. Drefong’s dam, the unraced Eltimaas, is a half-sister to 2003 Juvenile winner Action This Day. She’s by 2004 Classic hero Ghostzapper and out of a mare by Trempolino, the near-misser in the 1987 Turf.

Juvenile favorite Not This Time is a half-brother to last year’s Dirt Mile (G1) star Liam’s Map. Should he prevail, their dam, Miss Macy Sue, would become only the fourth mare to produce two Breeders’ Cup winners. That exclusive list comprises the aforementioned Hasili (Banks Hill and Intercontinental in the 2001 and 2005 Filly & Mare Turf, respectively); Primal Force (1998 Classic winner Awesome Again and 2000 Juvenile victor Macho Uno); and Sweet Life (2003 Juvenile Fillies heroine Sweet Catomine and 2009 Ladies’ Classic queen Life Is Sweet). Interestingly, Miss Macy Sue was third in that same 2007 Filly & Mare Sprint where La Traviata was the beaten favorite. That’s turned out to be a key race for future broodmares!

Klimt’s third dam, Tennis Lady, is a full sister to 1994 Classic winner Concern.

Gormley’s fourth dam is champion turf mare Estrapade, third to Manila and Theatrical in the 1986 Turf.

Turf contender Ulysses boasts two Epsom classic winners for parents, being by Derby (G1) star Galileo out of Oaks (G1) vixen Light Shift, and he’s from the family of 2014 Turf champion Main Sequence.

Ectot hopes to erase his sire line’s futility in the Turf. Both his sire, Hurricane Run (2006) and paternal grandsire, Montjeu (2000), were unplaced as the Turf favorite at Churchill Downs.

Texas Ryano traces to Charming Alibi, best known as the dam of the legendary Dahlia.

Filly & Mare Sprint contender Carina Mia descends from the same Argentinean family as Lord Nelson, who had to be scratched from the Sprint.

Tara’s Tango is the third Grade 1 performer for her dam, Scarlet Tango, who’s also responsible for 2008 King’s Bishop (G1) winner Visionaire and multiple Grade 1-placed Scarlet Strike.

Mile contender Limato comes from the immediate family of The Fugue, the unlucky third in the 2012 Filly & Mare Turf and heartbreaking runner-up in the 2013 Turf.

As you’d expect for a Classic field, there’s no shortage of pedigree fun facts.

Red-hot favorite California Chrome descends from one of the most prolific American families, the female line responsible for the all-time great Swaps. So it’s all the more poignant that his trainer, Art Sherman, was associated with Swaps in his early days.

Frosted is out of Fast Cookie, a Grade 2-winning half-sister to 2008 Juvenile victor Midshipman.

Arrogate’s third dam is Meadow Star, the 1990 Juvenile Fillies champion.

Hoppertunity’s third dam is Calumet great Davona Dale. Thus this is the family of multimillionaire Gate Dancer, who came so close in the first two runnings of the Classic in 1984-85. They all descend from a full sister to 1948 Triple Crown legend Citation.

Effinex’s fourth dam is blue hen Best in Show, the ancestress of a whole clan of champions from El Gran Senor to 1997 Mile winner Spinning World to Rags to Riches.

Keen Ice can claim a unique distinction in this field: his sire Curlin and broodmare sire Awesome Again are both Breeders’ Cup Classic winners (in 2007 and 1998, respectively).

The scratched Shaman Ghost is also by a Classic winner in Ghostzapper (2004), and he’s out of a mare by 1992 Juvenile hero and 1993 Sprint third Gilded Time.

California Chrome photo by Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com