Stakes-Winning Siblings Make for Thrilling Race Weekend

Sibling rivalry is at the heart of many a drama, both real and fictional. The relationship is not inevitably destructive, however, and the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend threw up an unusual number of siblings and near siblings combining to good effect in the pedigrees of stakes winners. We'll start with Mrs. Danvers. A 3-year-old filly stretching out to nine furlongs for the first time in eight starts, she demonstrated her appreciation in no uncertain terms when she stormed home to take the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack by 6 1/4 lengths. Mrs. Danvers is by three-time leading sire Tapit, who is enjoying a very strong 2020 with 14 stakes winners, 11 of them graded. Her dam, Gracie Square, was unraced, but is an Awesome Again half sister to five stakes winners—four graded. They include War Front and Teammate, a daughter of Tapit's grandsire A.P. Indy, who took two grade 2 events and was twice second in grade 1 company. Gracie Square's dam, Starry Dreamer—herself a multiple stakes winner and grade 1 placed—is by champion sprinter Rubiano. He is by Fappiano out of the Nijinsky II mare, Ruby Slippers, and is therefore a three-quarters brother to Tapit's dam, Tap Your Heels, a minor stakes winner who is by Unbridled (by Rubiano) out of Ruby Slippers. The Tapit/Rubiano combination appears in at least three other graded stakes winners headed by this year's Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) scorer Halladay, who is by War Front out of a Tapit mare. There is more Tapit combined with Fappiano in the pedigree of another weekend grade scorer, Travel Column. Making just her third start, she overcame a troubled trip and produced a spectacular closing burst to take the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) by one length. Travel Column is from the first crop of 2-year-olds by Tapit's three-time grade 1-winning son Frosted. Her dam, the stakes-winning Swingit, is by Victory Gallop. He is by Cryptoclearance, who is by Fappiano from the family of Seattle Slew's grandsire, Boldnesian, where Tapit is a Seattle Slew line stallion out of a mare by a son of Fappiano. We can note that the cross of Tapit with a Cryptoclearance mare came up with Ring Weekend, a grade 1 winner who earned over $1.5 million. Travel Column also has a sibling connection. Her fourth dam is the Florida-bred Noholme II daughter Carnauba. Racing in Italy, she was champion at 2 in that country and again at 3 when she won the Fred Darling Stakes (G3) in England, and the Oaks d'Italia (G1). She was kidnapped for ransom that August, and it wasn't until the following January that she was found in a slaughterhouse and returned to the U.S. for stud. Carnauba's Prince John half sister, Carnival Princess, had less dramatic career as a runner, winning once in two starts. However, she did produce the Prix de la Foret (G1) victor Salse. More notably in this context, Carnival Princess appears as fourth dam of Frosted, which means Travel Column's sire and dam go back to half sisters. Frosted was preceded last year as a graded stakes-siring freshman son of Tapit by Constitution, a second season sire of 2020. Constitution has continued his bright start this year and at the weekend was represented by juvenile Never Surprised, who was making only her second start when capturing the Central Park Stakes over 8 1/2 furlongs on turf at Aqueduct. Never Surprised is out of the unraced Tiz Dixie, a daughter of Tiznow, which means Never Surprised is bred on the same cross as Constitution's first-crop son Tiz the Law, winner of the Champagne Stakes (G1), Curlin Florida Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), and Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1). As Tiznow is by a son of Relaunch, it also means that Tiz Dixie has a similar background to the Saeed and Mohammed Al Naboodah UAE Derby (G2) captor Blues and Royals, who was by Relaunch's son Honour and Glory out of Tiz Dixie's granddam, Dixieland Blues. There is a second thing to note about the presence of Tiznow here and which connects Never Surprised to Mrs. Danvers. As we've mentioned, Mrs. Danvers has the three-quarters sister and brother, Tap Your Heels and Rubiano. They are both out of the mare Ruby Slippers and her dam, Moon Glitter, is a multiple stakes-winning sister to Relaunch. There are 23 stakes winners with Tapit and Relaunch combined, including champion older mare and champion female sprinter Unique Bella, and the graded stakes-winning siblings Mohaymen, Kingly, and Enforceable. Another weekend stakes winner with an inbreeding scheme featuring Relaunch is Harpers First Ride. Successful in the Pimlico Special (G3) earlier in the year, Harpers First Ride claimed his third black-type victory of 2020 when taking the Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel Park. He is a son of Paynter, who is by Awesome Again (also sire of Ghostzapper out of a Relaunch mare) and is out of Tizso, a sister to Tiznow (both by Relaunch's son, Cee's Tizzy, out of Cee's Song). The dam of Harpers First Ride, Polyester, is by Tiz Wonderful (Tiznow), so has the siblings Tizso/Tiznow 2x3. That's not all as Harpers First Ride's fourth dam is stakes winner Treasure Chest, who is a full sister to champion 2-year-old filly My Dear Girl, whose son, In Reality, is the sire of Relaunch. Paynter has never had a starter out Tapit mare, a formula that would reverse the Relaunch/Moon Glitter combination, but his brother, Oxbow, has three of his five stakes winners from daughters of Tiznow. Tapit is a product of the A.P. Indy/Fappiano cross as is another successful member of that sire line, Bernardini (by A.P. Indy and out of a Quiet American mare), and for our last "sibling connected" stakes winner of the weekend, we'll look at Dontletsweetfoolya, who is by Bernardini's son Stay Thirsty. A 3-year-old filly making her stakes debut and running against older fillies and mares, Dontletsweetfoolya took the Primonetta Stakes at Laurel by 5 1/4 lengths in the style of a horse that is going to make her presence felt in stiffer competition going forward. Donletsweetfoolya is out of Stunning Electra by the Storm Cat son, Catienus. Her second dam, Rebecca's Wish, is by a horse called Devongate. An unraced brother to A.P. Indy, Devongate stood two seasons in Florida where he sired two stakes winners from 51 starters before a torsional twist required the ridgling to become a gelding. This means that Dontletsweetfoolya's sire is by a son of A.P. Indy out of a Storm Bird mare and her dam is by a grandson of Storm Bird out of a mare by a sister to A.P. Indy. Since Dontletsweetfoolya is the first black-type horse to appear under her first four dams, it's hard not to believe that the inbreeding pattern has something to do with her ability.