Some mares produce foals who look so athletic, so balanced and racy, that buyers cannot resist them. They pay good money for the weanlings and yearlings of this type, even if the sire isn’t on fire and even if there isn’t black-type activity in the dam.
And should the dam strike the brass ring, then the prices really go up. That is the case with the outstanding Cryptoclearance producer Ava Knowsthecode. As the dam of G3 Holy Bull Stakes winner Algorithms and four other stakes winners, she does indeed know the code.
From the first, the commercial marketplace endorsed her offspring as the type it looks for — powerful, athletic, and good-looking. Those are the qualities that most good horses posses, and Ava Knowsthecode produces them consistently in foal after foal. As a result of that and other consistently excellent qualities, she is now the dam of five stakes winners and counting.
Her produce record could get really interesting from here on because, when a mare gets this many outstanding performers, she is doing nearly everything right. Consider, for instance, if five of the first 10 starters by a stallion turned out to be stakes winners. Breeders and owners and even general fans would be going wild with enthusiasm.
And well they should. Having 50 percent winners is better than the breed average. Then consider how amazing it is to exceed the breed averages for stakes winners (about 3.5 percent) by a factor of 15 times or so.
That is truly extraordinary.
Catherine Parke, who has Valkyre Stud north of Georgetown, Ky., foaled and raised Ava Knowsthecode, as well as all her foals, for owner Pat Klussman (Oakbrook Farm). Parke and her staff at Valkyre work hard all year long getting everything as right as horses will allow, like any good farm in the Bluegrass.
So having one of their mares do this well is a great reward for the team, but even then, Parke deflected the credit onto the mare. “Ava Knowsthecode is an extraordinary mare. She had the most determination on the racetrack. She just kept on trying and trying, and she has absolutely hickory legs.”
The soundness of bone may be a legacy of her sire Cryptoclearance and her broodmare sire, Belmont Stakes winner Avatar (a son of Graustark).
In addition, Ava Knowsthecode is credited with an outstanding constitution, another trait frequently associated with her sire Cryptoclearance, perhaps the toughest high-class son of Fappiano. The mare also had speed and the class to place in graded company.
Add it all up, and she is a producer to savor like a fine wine as she ages.
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1st Dam: Ava Knowsthecode, b, 1994. Bred by Oakbrook Farm (KY). Raced 4 yrs in NA, 29 sts, 3 wins, $156,596 (ssi = 2.74). 3rd Senorita S. (G3). |
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Broodmare sire: CRYPTOCLEARANCE, dkbbr, 1984-2009. Sire of 337 dams of 1298 foals, 930 rnrs (72%), 613 wnrs (47%), 130 2yo wnrs (10%), 50 sw (4%). |
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2nd Dam: AVA ROMANCE, ch, 1981. Bred by Happy Times Farm Inc (OH). Raced 5 yrs in NA, 56 starts, 7 wins, $283,749 (ssi = 5.45). Won Rose Debartolo Memorial H. (R), Indian Maid Handicap; 2nd Lady Mannequin H., Lottery Winner S., Myrtlewood S. (R), Ms. Southern Ohio S. (R), First Lady S. (R), River Downs Breeders Cup S., My Charmer H.; 3rd Governors’ Buckeye Cup H. (R), Governor’s Buckeye Cup H. (R), River Downs Breeders Cup S. Dam of AVA SINGSTHEBLUES (f, Dixieland Band, $41,714. Won Big Tree Ranch Claiming S.; 3rd White Tail S. Dam of Glitteration.), TIME FOR ROMANCE (f, Gilded Time, $92,250. Won Mesa Handicap; 3rd Camilla Urso Handicap.). |
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bloodstock in the bluegrass 