Pedigree notes for Bashford Manor, Debutante

It’s early days yet as far as the two-year-olds are concerned, but Friday night’s Bashford Manor (G3) features a handful of smart pedigrees with the scope to progress from here.

Might at least one or two graduate from Churchill Downs’ closing night feature to the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail?

Mo Diddley topped last summer’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York Bred Preferred Yearlings Sale when commanding $450,000. He’s by champion two-year-old colt and outstanding young sire Uncle Mo, who got 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) star Nyquist in his first crop. Mo Diddley was produced by stakes-placed Miss Bodine, a daughter of unbeaten juvenile champion Vindication. Miss Bodine is a half-sister to 2002 Del Mar Futurity (G2) victor Icecoldbeeratreds and Grade 2-placed multiple stakes winner Controlled, the dam of Canadian champion Bear Now.

Copper Bullet, a $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, is a son of dual hemisphere celebrity More Than Ready. Himself a leading two-year-old who added the King’s Bishop (G1) at three, More Than Ready has sired two Golden Slipper (G1) champions as well as the prolific mare More Joyous in Australia, and his top U.S. performers include Verrazano and Daredevil. Copper Bullet has turf influences on his dam’s side as well, being out of a daughter of Unbridled’s Song and the multiple stakes-winning/Grade 3-placed Peintre Celebre mare Louve Royale. Loup Breton and highweights Loup Sauvage and Loup Solitaire also appear in the female line.

Ten City’s sire, Run Away and Hide, was unbeaten in three career starts at two, including the Saratoga Special (G2) and Kentucky Breeders’ Cup (G3). His best offspring, however, is two-time Canadian champion older male Are You Kidding Me. Ten City likely inherits further scope to progress from his dam, a Rock Hard Ten half-sister to Japanese champion Grass Wonder and multiple Grade 1-winning turf millionaire Wonder Again. His second dam is a full sister to Grade 1 vixen and graded stakes producer Tribulation. Despite the depth of the catalog page, Ten City was unsold for $9,000 as a Keeneland November weanling, and trainer Ken McPeek landed a $12,000 bargain at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October.

Hardworkcleanlivin is a full brother to Apollo Texas, a two-time winner in Japan. By Colonel John, whose top progeny Airoforce, Concave, Cocked and Loaded, and La Coronel were all quite useful at two, he’s out of a Pulpit mare from the family of multiple stakes scorer and Grade 1-placed General A Rod. Second dam Buckeye Search was a stakes victress and runner-up in the 1997 Black-Eyed Susan (G2). Further back, this is the family of Hall of Famer Majestic Prince. Hardworkcleanlivin sold for $50,000 at Keeneland September.

Figjam fetched only $6,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling, but his pedigree isn’t bad. He is a son of Forestry (responsible for Shackleford and Discreet Cat) and a Pine Bluff mare who’s since been exported to Peru. The gelding hails from the immediate family of Canadian Grade 3 winner and multiple U.S. Grade 1-placed Breaking Lucky, and a more distant maternal relative is Group 2 queen Strawberrydaiquiri.

I’m Corfu is the first starter and winner for freshman sire Corfu. A son of Malibu Moon, Corfu was a precocious juvenile who captured the 2013 Saratoga Special and finished second in the Futurity (G2). I’m Corfu’s dam is by Hennessy, the 1995 Hopeful (G1) winner and an influential sire of the likes of transatlantic champion two-year-old Johannesburg. There’s not a great deal of black type through his first three dams, which partly accounts for his $3,500 price at OBS this January.

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Freshman sires are more prominent in the companion Debutante for juvenile fillies.

Champion Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby and 2013 Dubai World Cup (G1) hero, has a smart prospect in Sunny Skies. An impressive first North American winner for her sire, the half-sister to Grade 2 victor Sky Cape romped in her unveiling at Keeneland.

Amberspatriot put freshman Awesome Patriot, a full brother to 2013 Preakness (G1) hero Oxbow, on the map with a debut Keeneland win, and Waki Patriot made it a double the next day. It’s fitting that they’re his first two stakes performers as well, with Amberspatriot second in the Kentucky Juvenile and Waki Patriot (fourth that day) most recently third in the Astoria. Amberspatriot’s third dam is Miss Indy Anna, who captured the 1993 Churchill Downs Breeders’ Cup (G2) and missed by a head in the Test (G1). Waki Patriot comes from the female line of star French miler Priolo.

Cleverly named Therighttobearrarms ranks as the first starter and winner for her ill-fated sire, Grade 2-winning speedster Fast Bullet. Produced by a Malibu Moon mare (like rival Upset Brewing), she hails from the family of Eddington. Chelada is the first U.S. winner for Power Broker, himself a Grade 1 scorer at two, and her distant maternal relatives include 1997 champion juvenile filly Countess Diana.

Grade 1 sprint millionaire Justin Phillip is off to a fast start with three winners in his initial crop, and Upset Brewing came up just shy of making it four. She’s out of a full sister to Grade 2-winning two-year-old Perfect Moon. Overanalyze, a multiple Grade 2-winning juvenile who added the 2013 Arkansas Derby (G1) at three, likewise has three winners already but Genuwine isn’t among them.

Other Debutante contenders are by well-established sires.

She’s a Julie sports an exceptional pedigree as a daughter of Elusive Quality and the Dubai Millennium mare Kydd Gloves, who is in turn a half-sister to Grade 3 vixen Untouched Talent, the dam of Bodemeister.

Lady O’Toole is closely related to 2009 Dubai World Cup romper Well Armed. She’s by Colonel John (who also has Hardworkcleanlivin in the Bashford Manor), a son of Tiznow like Well Armed, and out of a half-sister to Well Armed. In addition, her dam is a full sister to Grade 3 victress Witty.

Caroline the Great is by Into Mischief out of a Tiznow mare. Her second dam is Canadian champion filly Catch the Thrill, herself a daughter of Canadian champion Catch the Ring.

Patrona Margarita is a half-sister to reigning Super Derby (G3) and Oklahoma Derby (G3) victor Texas Chrome. Her sire, Special Rate, is less well known, but he’s a Pulpit half-brother to $2.4 million-earner Sightseek and millionaire Tates Creek. Red Dread, a daughter of Five Star Day, shares the same female line as Grade 1 scorers El Brujo and Moanin (in Japan). Rockin Royalty, by Early Flyer, descends from the extended family of multiple Grade 2-winning sire Kafwain.

Copper Bullet photo courtesy Churchill Downs/Coady Photography