Deep Family Lies Behind Wood Memorial Victor Lord Miles

In the modern history of Canadian thoroughbred breeding, there have been no more influential entities than the Windfields Farm of E.P. Taylor and the Sam-Son Farm of Ernest L. Samuel (subsequently managed by his daughter, the late Tammy Samuel-Balaz). Windfields produced an extraordinary 320 worldwide stakes winners, more than any other 20th century breeding operation, and in Northern Dancer, Taylor was responsible for the most important sire of that century. Sam-Son, founded in the early 1970s, produced 10 Canadian champions and three Eclipse Award winners, also garnering an Eclipse as leading owner. While Sam-Son didn't produce a stallion with the worldwide impact of Northern Dancer, in Smart Strike it was represented by a horse who has had a breed-shaping influence in North America. Inevitably, there has been some overlap between the two operations, none more significant than that of Northern Dancer line stallions with the family of Smart Strike, and subsequently between Smart Strike line stallions and Northern Dancer line mares. This is particularly so with the most important of Sam-Son Farm's families, that of Smart Strike's granddam No Class. A stakes-placed daughter of Nodouble, No Class earned honors as broodmare of the year, and was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 1997. She is ancestress of 45 stakes winners, and 11 grade 1 scorers. Those include the Sam-Son-bred Sky Classic (by Windfields-bred Northern Dancer son Nijinsky II), a champion in Canada and the U.S.; Canadian champion Regal Classic (by Windfields-bred Northern Dancer son Vice Regent); Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Hello Seattle, and grade 1 winner Always a Classic (both by Deputy Minister, a son of Vice Regent), and Smart Strike's half sister Dance Smartly (by Northern Dancer son Danzig), a filly who defeated colts in all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, then captured the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1)—the first victory for a Canadian-bred at the event—earning honors as champion 3-year-old filly in the U.S. and champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year in Canada. From a non-Sam-Son branch of the family, we can also note grade 1 winner Moreno, who is by Deputy Minister's grandson Ghostzapper. Not surprisingly, since he was a Mr. Prospector son, free of Northern Dancer, Smart Strike—and for that matter his sons—enjoyed outstanding success when crossed back over Northern Dancer line mares, particularly the two branches that had the most success with Smart Strike's family, Danzig and Vice Regent/Deputy Minister. Smart Strike/Danzig—the reverse cross to Dance Smartly—has had at least 11 grade 1 winners, including champions Good Magic, Lookin At Lucky, and Kentucky Derby (G1) victor Country House. Smart Strike and sons crossed over Vice Regent/Deputy Minister line mares has Smart Strike's most important stallion son, Curlin; his son Keen Ice and champion older horse Accelerate. For Curlin, who is out of a Deputy Minister mare, doubling down of the connection seems to be particularly effective, and there are already at least 21 stakes winners by Curlin and sons out of Deputy Minister line mares. The latest of them is Lord Miles, who raced his way into the Kentucky Derby (G1) field with an upset win in Saturday's Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack. This was his first win since he took a maiden at Gulfstream Park on his racecourse debut back in November, and his limitations had seemingly been revealed by a sixth in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and a fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on his most recent two starts. Lord Miles' dam, Lady Esme, a daughter of Majestic Warrior, never ran, but does own an impressive page as she is half sister to champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road, to the three-time graded stakes winner Officiating, and to stakes winner One of a Kind. They are all out of the winning Dixie Union mare Come a Callin, a half sister to the multiple stakes- winning and graded-placed Citizen Advocate. The Deputy Minister comes into the distaff pedigree through Lord Miles' fourth dam, Sunset Service. She was unable to do better than a third place in four starts but proved a much better producer, her offspring including the stakes-winning siblings Vespers (dam of the Donn Handicap (G1) victor Hymn Book, and granddam of graded winner Celestial City) and Database (dam of Data Link, successful in the Maker's 46 Mile Stakes (G1) and three other graded events). Another daughter, Vesper Cat, is dam of the Noble Damsel Stakes (G3) scorer Strike The Bell. Sunset Service is out of stakes winner Songlines. Her dam, Begum, was born blind, but her breeder, Alice Chandler, kept her in a special paddock at her Mill Ridge Farm, where her foals wore bells to let their dam know where they were. It's easy to see, looking at her pedigree, why the effort was made. Begum was by Alydar, and a half sister to graded stakes winner Old Goat, and to stakes winners Good and Early and Sailors Mate, and what's more was the last foal of her dam, the stakes-placed Nasrullah mare Rullah Good. The family goes back to Rhetoric, a sister to the 1905 English Derby hero, Cicero, and arrived in the U.S. with the importation of Rhetoric's daughter Peroration in 1923. Peroration's most important immediate descendant was Damaged Goods—so called as she was injured in a fire when she was a yearling—successful in the Acorn Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks. It is Damaged Goods' stakes-winning daughter, Case Goods, who appears as the granddam of Begum. We'll also note that Lord Miles is a product of the prolific Curlin/A.P. Indy cross that has already been represented by nearly 30 stakes winners, including champions Malathaat, Stellar Wind, and Nest, and other grade 1 winners Clairiere, Global Campaign, Idol, and Paris Lights.