special is as special does: hard-luck broodmare earns her forever home with first-class racers

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carrie brogden, david hayden, nocardioform placentitis, special me

Gina Romantica, winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, is the fourth graded stakes winner from her dam, the Unbridled’s Song mare Special Me. The daughter of Into Mischief (by Harlan’s Holiday) is the second Grade 1 winner from the mare. All of them were bred by Machmer Hall, Carrie Brogden, and Craig Brogden.

And yet, that these foals even exist is nearly a miracle. Their dam Special Me was born compromised by nocardioform placentitis, a particularly harmful infection of the placenta that frequently results in late-term loss of a pregnancy or a foal that is notably small or low weight.

Obviously, with Special Me, the pregnancy survived, but breeder David Hayden recalled, “She was an absolute midget.

“I know a lot of people wouldn’t keep a foal like that, especially one bred on a big stud fee,” Hayden said, and Unbridled’s Song stood for $125,000 live foal in 2005, the season that Special Me was conceived. “The vet said, ‘Leave the barn and I’ll take care of this.’ I said, ‘No. I can’t do that. We’re going to play it out.

“She was alive, jumped up and nursed right away, was okay if really small. I couldn’t put her down,” Hayden admitted.

That would have been the smart economic decision because Dark Hollow had to pay a big stud fee, then significant vet bills when the young filly ran into a fence and injured her left shoulder, and finally the continuing costs because Special Me couldn’t be sold because of her diminutive size, and when put into training, couldn’t have outrun me.

“Dave Hayden is the hero of the story,” Carrie Brogden said. “What he did for this mare was amazing. They took a terrible financial hit.”

When Special Me had raced unsuccessfully three times and had just turned three, “we’d had enough and put her in the Keeneland January sale in 2006,” Hayden said. “We knew going in, it was going to be big loss, but on the other side, we claimed the dam of Safely Kept for $11,000, and we’ve bred our share of good horses.

“We sold her as a broodmare prospect for $6,000, and full marks to Carrie for making it work,” Hayden concluded.

Even the Brogdens’ acquisition of Special Me wasn’t as straightforward as usual.

“We were ready to claim this mare before she went to the sale, and the trainer that we had to make the claim for us refused to do it,” Carrie recalled. “He said she was the size of a large pony, and he wasn’t joking.

“So we didn’t get her through a claim. Then we saw she was in the Keeneland January sale, and I went to look at her at David’s consignment. He told me all about the placentitis, and I looked at her, and I couldn’t resist. I love Unbridled’s Song mares.

“The only reason I found her Special Me was that I was specifically searching for Unbridled’s Song mares. That’s what led me to her at the racetrack, then at the sale.”

There was no question that the mare was severely compromised by the nocardioform placentitis. And although the disease did not affect this mare’s ability to produce good foals, Carrie voiced a caveat about buying other mares of this type: “We have bought four mares who were compromised as foals. Half worked out; half had small foals like themselves. But there’s only one Special Me.

“Eltimaas, the dam of [2016 champion sprinter] Drefong, and Special Me have funded our children’s educations and our home and operation. It’s an amazing experience.”

And normally, the Brogdens would have sold Special Me after her first or second stakes winner.

Carrie Brogden said, “We make our living by selling horses, and normally we sell on the update,” when a mare hits with a big runner, she goes to the sale. “But we had to keep Special Me because she’s a large pony … and now we just hope for a safe foaling” with the 16-year-old mare.

The happy owner-breeder said: “Special Me is about 14.2 but is a normal-bodied mare. Her genetics weren’t compromised the way that her body was, and she gets beautiful foals.

“When she’s done breeding, she’ll have a paddock here. This is her home.”

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bully for bourbon (county) as local stallion operations have impressive weekend successes

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blame, claiborne farm, curlin, hill 'n' dale, war front

Maybe it’s something in the water.

Whatever it is, the stallion operations in neighboring Bourbon County (northeast of Fayette County, which includes Lexington) have been ringing the bell repeatedly. Today, there are only two commercial stallion operations in Bourbon County: Claiborne Farm and Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa.

On Keeneland’s second day of racing this fall, in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, which is sponsored by Claiborne, the first two finishers were out of mares by 2010 champion older horse Blame (by Arch), who stands at Claiborne. Annapolis, winner of the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland, is by Claiborne stallion War Front (Danzig); Nagirroc (Lea) won the G3 Futurity Stakes in New York; and a few days earlier on the West Coast, Midnight Memories won the G2 Zenyatta Stakes to become the first graded winner for Claiborne stallion Mastery (Candy Ride).

In the Breeders’ Futurity, the winner was G1 Hopeful winner Forte (Violence) by a neck over Loggins (Ghostzapper). The sires of both stand at Bourbon County’s Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, which also stands Curlin (Smart Strike), the sire of Saturday’s G2 Vosburgh Stakes winner Elite Power. On Sunday, Curlin’s daughters Nest and First to Act finished one-two in the G2 Beldame Stakes, and later that day, the stallion’s Malathaat won the G1 Spinster at Keeneland.

Malathaat was last year’s champion 3-year-old filly, and Nest is a virtual certainty to win the Eclipse Award for that division this year after impressive victories in the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama, then a blowout victory in the Beldame against older fillies and mares.

Curlin stood the 2022 season at Hill ‘n’ Dale for $175,000 live foal, and with 89 stakes winners to date, including five G1 winners this year, Curlin is an eminently “proven” stallion. He, like Ghostzapper, won a Breeders’ Cup Classic and was named Horse of the Year, then followed up those racing performances by siring repeated successful performers at the top level of sport.

Violence, however, had a more limited racing career of four starts. The strikingly handsome dark brown won the first three of his races, then was second in the G2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream to subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon).

The handsome son of Medaglia d’Oro raced no more and was retired to stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale for the 2014 breeding season. He proved very popular with breeders, getting 119 and 116 named foals in his first two crops, which included G1 winner Volatile in the second crop. Overall, the stallion’s first two crops produced 84 percent starters to foals, compared to 61 percent for the breed overall; 71 percent winners (42 percent); and 7 percent stakes winners with 16, compared to 3 percent for the breed.

That counted as a positive start to a stallion career, and Violence is still standing in Kentucky to sizable books of good mares and stands for a fee of $25,000. The young Three Chimneys Farm stallion Volatile, along with third- and fourth-crop G1 winners No Parole (Woody Stephens) and Dr. Schivel (Del Mar Futurity; Bing Crosby Handicap), have been excellent indicators of what Violence is capable of siring, but the stallion needed a national champion, a home run colt, to break into the ranks of elite sires like Curlin, Tapit, or War Front.

Could Forte be that colt?

He is certainly talented, fast, and brave. When he ranged up outside of Loggins in the Breeders’ Futurity, it appeared the Violence colt would blow past his rival. Loggins had other ideas and never gave up, but at the wire, Forte was a neck in front of his rival and claimed the victory.

The third-place colt, Red Route One (Gun Runner), was seven lengths behind the winner.

The suggestion of the form is that both Forte and Loggins are quite good and that the future holds high promise for them both.

Bred in Kentucky by South Gate Farm, Forte has now won three of his four starts and is one of two juvenile colts with a pair of G1 victories. The other is Cave Rock (Arrogate).

Forte is out of the Blame mare Queen Caroline, a four-time stakes winner, and the colt’s second dam, Queens Plaza (Forestry), won the Sorority Stakes at 2. The third dam, Kew Garden (Seattle Slew), was only a winner, but her dam was the multiple graded stakes winner Jeano (Fappiano). Another daughter of Jeano, Contrive, produced the champion 2-year-old filly Folklore (Tiznow).

South Gate sold Forte for $80,000 as a weanling at the 2020 Keeneland November sale, and the colt was pinhooked into the following year’s September sale, where he brought $110,000 from Repole Stable & St. Elias Stable, which entities own and race the colt.

Forte’s dam Queen Caroline was purchased by Amy Moore of South Gate Farm for $170,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Queen Caroline won four stakes and $401,608, placing in four other stakes. Forte is the mare’s first foal, and she has a yearling colt by Uncle Mo who sold to Mayberry Farm for $850,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale. Earlier this year, Queen Caroline was bred to Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway), the sire of Epicenter and other good racers.

arc winner alpinista descends from a famed and historic line of gray mares out of the aga khan studs, beginning with the great mumtaz mahal

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aga khan studs, alpinista, mumtaz mahal

From one of finest families in the stud book, Alpinista (by Frankel) has added more luster to the line on Oct. 1 with her victory in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. That victory was her eighth in succession, with the last six being all G1s.

Alpinista is not especially large, nor especially massive, but all the parts of the lovely gray filly work in harmony, and she has improved consistently under the training of Mark Prescott.

Now a winner in 10 of her 15 lifetime starts, Alpinista is the ninth gray mare from the last 11 generations of her maternal line, stretching all the way back to Mumtaz Mahal, a gray daughter of the gray stallion The Tetrarch (Roi Herode).

A filly of extraordinary speed, Mumtaz Mahal was bred by Lady Sledmere of Sykes and was a foal of 1921. A hundred years ago, she sold for 9,100 guineas to the Aga Khan III, the grandfather of the present Aga, and became a cornerstone of the breeding program that the Aga Khan developed.

The Flying Filly, Mumtaz Mahal, doing a piece of work as a 2-year-old. The daughter of The Tetrarch followed an excellent racing career with a life tenure in the paddocks for the Aga Khan, principally at Marly-la-Ville in France, where she was one of the few good mares not stolen by the Germans during WWII, presumably because of her age. She died there, age 24, in 1945.

Trainer George Lambton selected Mumtaz Mahal for the Aga Khan, but as the stable trainer for Lord Derby, Lambton was unable to train the filly. Lambton loved a fast horse, however, and trained the highly talented Diadem, a well-recommended weight carrier named Phalaris, as well as 11 classic winners, including subsequent stallion stars such as Swynford and Hyperion.

Trained by Dick Dawson for the Aga Khan, Mumtaz Mahal was widely accepted as the best 2-year-old of 1923, regardless of sex, and the next season she very nearly became the owner’s first classic winner. Favored at odds of 6-5 for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, Mumtaz Mahal ”held a commanding lead at the Bushes, two furlongs from home, and appeared to be travelling so smoothly that nothing appeared more certain that that she would retain her advantage until the winning post was reached,” according to the report in the British Bloodstock Review for that season.

As the flying filly met the rising ground coming toward the finish, however, she faltered, was passed by Plack, and only her tremendous courage allowed her to keep second from Straitlace, who later won the Oaks.

Possessing speed in excess of stamina, Mumtaz Mahal was mated with classic sires in an effort to balance those qualities, and the results either had some semblance of the dam’s speed, such as her talented son Mirza (Blenheim), or they didn’t appear to have much racing talent at all.

A contributor of intense speed, Mumtaz Mahal became an integral part of the Aga Khan pedigrees, not so much for the immediate success of her own foals but for the immense and lasting significance of succeeding generations. Bred to classic sires like Gainsborough and Solario, Mumtaz Mahal did not have exceptional success with those offspring, but her daughters foaled top-class racers, including the internationally successful sires Nasrullah (out of Mumtaz Begum, by Blenheim) and Royal Charger (out of Sun Princess, by Solario).

Another of Mumtaz Mahal’s daughters was Mah Mahal (Gainsborough), who produced 1936 Derby winner Mahmoud (Blenheim) and the high-class juvenile Mah Iran, a daughter of English Triple Crown winner Bahram (Blandford). Mah Iran was ranked the second-best 2-year-old filly of 1941 in England.

Mah Iran’s foal of 1944 was a gray colt by the Derby winner Bois Roussel later named Migoli. At two, Migoli won the Dewhurst Stakes; at three, he won the Eclipse Stakes and Champion, was second in the Derby, third in the St. Leger; at four, the gray won the 1948 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Sent to stud, Migoli sired a small bay colt later sold by the Aga Khan Studs and exported to the U.S., where he was named Gallant Man, winner of the 1957 Belmont Stakes and sire of champion Gallant Bloom, among others.

Migoli’s full sister, Mah Behar, was born eight years later in 1952 and was the first break in the line of gray coats among the mares leading to Alpinista. A third full sibling, Star of Iran (1949, gray) became the dam of Petite Etoile (Petition), who was the best filly in Europe from 1959 at three through 1961 at five.

Only a winner herself, Mah Behar was bred to Nuccio (Traghetto), winner of the 1952 Arc de Triomphe for the Aga Khan. The result was the second non-gray in this line, the bay Nucciolina, a winning foal of 1957; she is the sixth dam of Alpinista.

Bred to the fast and talented Aga Khan stallion Zeddaan (Grey Sovereign), Nucciolina produced the gray filly Allara, a winner from four starts. And bred to the gray Prix du Jockey Club winner Crystal Palace (Caro), Allara produced Alruccaba, a winner of a race at Brighton racecourse from four starts.

One might have expected that this series of minor winners spelled the end of the line for this branch of the family, but it was only the end of its time in the Aga Khan’s breeding operation.

Alruccaba was sent to the Tattersalls December sales in 1985, where she sold for the reasonable price of 19,000 guineas to Sonia Rogers and Kirsten Rausing as a broodmare prospect.

To bring a price like that, after middling racetrack results for a time, indicates that the gray daughter of Crystal Palace must have been a pretty decent physical specimen. Certainly, she proved to be much more than decent as a producer.

In all, Alruccaba produced eight winners from 11 foals and four stakes winners: Last Second (Alzao) won the G2 Nassau Stakes; Alleluia (Caerleon) won the G3 Doncaster Cup; Arrikala (Darshaan) won the listed Curragh Cup; and Alouette (Darshaan) won the listed Oyster Stakes, was third in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

In addition to having a solid racing career, Alouette produced nine winners, including two-time Champion Stakes winner Alborada and the German highweight Albanova, the 2022 Arc winner’s grand-dam. Both are by the Lyphard stallion Alzao.

Albanova has produced four stakes winners, including G3 winner Algometer (Archipenko), and Albanova’s stakes-winning daughter All at Sea (Sea the Stars) produced Eldar Elbarov (Dubawi), winner of the 2022 St. Leger. Alpinista is out of Albanova’s stakes-winning daughter Alwilda (Hernando).

With her pedigree and performance, Alpinista will have plenty of opportunity when she goes to stud, and the story of this fabulous family will go on.

cotillion winner society is another top performer for breeder peter blum, sire gun runner, and a female family nurtured for generations by the phippses and the aga khan

Continuing to make history with his first crop of racers, Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) picked up a sixth Grade 1 winner on Sept. 24, when he had a total of five stakes winners on the day. Among those five were Taiba, who won the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, and Society, who became a Grade 1 winner with victory in the Cotillion.

Foaled in Kentucky, Society is bred and raced by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC. Blum also bred but sold Authentic (Into Mischief), who won the 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Based on those achievements, Authentic was named 2020 Horse of the Year.

A summertime development after her seasonal debut in May, Society propelled herself to a ranking among the elite fillies of 2022 with her Cotillion success, and among those behind her were Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate); stakes winner Green Up (Upstart), unbeaten this year until the Cotillion; Monmouth Oaks winner Shahama (Munnings); Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), winner of the Las Virgenes earlier this year; and Mother Goose Stakes winner Gerrymander (Into Mischief).

With five victories from six starts to date and a Grade 1 success, Society would also rank as the best racer in some time from her branch of this illustrious family tracing back to Missy Baba (My Baby) and Uvira (Umidwar).

Blum bred not only Society but also her dam Etiquette (Tapit). Now 10, Etiquette might have been a slow learner. In her first seven starts, she was four times second or third. In the eighth start, however, the chestnut filly read the script and won off by 10 lengths as the favorite. The filly was twice second in her remaining three starts, earning $89,177.

Sent to stud, Etiquette has done much better.

The mare’s first foal was a colt by Quality Road (Elusive Quality) who sold for $500,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of select yearlings, and Society is the second foal from Etiquette.

Blum bred Etiquette from the Pleasant Tap mare Archduchess, who is a half-sister to three stakes winners, including Rookie Sensation (Unbridled’s Song), winner of the G2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita, and Mark One (Alphabet Soup), winner of the G3 Eclipse Handicap at Woodbine.

Archduchess was a product of the Adena Springs breeding program, where she produced a good horse – Pleasant Prince (Indy King), winner of the G3 Ohio Derby and listed Oklahoma Derby, as well as second in the G1 Florida Derby.

The dam of Archduchess and her stakes-winning siblings was the stakes winner My Marchesa (Stately Don), who was one of two stakes winners out of Sooni (Buckpasser). Michael Phipps, cousin of Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, bred Sooni and some of her celebrated siblings from Missy Baba, whom Phipps had bred from Uvira.

This is where we find other racers of similar merit to Society. Bred in Ireland by the Aga Khan, Uvira, for instance, won the Irish Oaks, was imported to the States, and changed hands a couple more times before coming to rest at Claiborne among the broodmares of Michael Phipps.

A quality racemare, Uvira was a good producer of five stakes winners. Her daughter Missy Baba was a moderate racer but perhaps an even better producer. In all, Missy Baba produced a half-dozen stakes winners, and a pair of stakes-placed racers, including Sooni, who was third in the G3 Seashore Handicap.

Missy Baba produced the next high-class racer in the family, foaling Gay Missile in 1967, and that daughter of Sir Gaylord went on to win the 1970 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. Gay Missile’s branch of this female line is the one that has brought it the greatest acclaim with Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, classic winner Summer Squall (Storm Bird), Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo), all of whom became sires of significance.

In addition to Sooni and Gay Missile, Phipps had bred a pair of Bold Ruler colts from Missy Baba, and both of them became stakes winners. Master Bold won the 1968 Dade Metropolitan and was second in the Fountain of Youth; he proved a fairish sort of sire.

The other Bold Ruler colt was foaled in 1968 and named Raja Baba. The handsome bay won a stakes at two, a pair of them at three, and retired with seven victories from 41 starts. He was more effective as a sprinter and had the build of a very strong, very fast horse.

A son of the most important sire of the time in Bold Ruler and from a distinguished family, Raja Baba found a home in Kentucky at Hermitage Farm. At a time when there was a son of Bold Ruler under every cabbage leaf, however, not a great deal was expected from Raja Baba.

So, the handsome bay made everyone who believed in him look really smart.

With his first crop to the races in 1976 (Seattle Slew’s juvenile season), Raja Baba rocketed to the top of the freshman sire list over Bold Reasoning (Slew’s sire), and such was his dominance that he led the juvenile sire list, as well, by both gross earnings and races won. Raja Baba’s leading earner that season was Royal Ski, winner of the Remsen.

In 1980, Raja Baba led the general sire list and was leading juvenile sire a second time. He sired 62 stakes winners (10.5 percent from foals), including 1987 champion 3-year-old filly Sacahuista, Canadian champion Summer Mood, and 1988 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Is It True.

From a family of depth and significance, Society has added a new luster to her branch of the old line.