Litmus Test Revives Dormant Family Branch

As influences on the breed go, the impact of Silent Cal has been almost negligible. Indeed, there are probably few readers of this column for whom the name will mean anything at all. Nonetheless, he now plays a significant part in the pedigree of a horse who appears a very promising classic prospect for 2026—Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Litmus Test. A foal of 1975, Silent Cal was by the Princequillo line stallion Hold Your Peace, out of a half sister to the high-class runner Verbatim (by Silent Cal's grandsire Speak John). Tough and consistent, but some way short of top-class, Silent Cal won 11 of 35 starts and hit the top three a further 14 times, with seven of his victories coming in black-type events, including two graded contests, the Seminole Handicap (G2) and Roamer Handicap (G2). Retired to Spendthrift Farm, Silent Cal sired 175 foals in 10 crops, of which only four won black-type races, and only one, the filly Silent Turn, earned graded status. An extremely durable performer, Silent Turn made 34 starts over four seasons, winning ten of them, including the Tempted Stakes (G3), Cotillion Handicap (G3), Hillsdale Handicap, Jacaranda Handicap, Coral Gables Handicap, Burn's Return Handicap, and City of Laurel Stakes. She also earned places in 11 other black-type contests, among them thirds in the Gazelle Handicap (G1), Beldame Stakes (G1), and Selima Stakes (G1). Silent Turn is out of Irvina, a minor winner by another modest sire, Turn to Reason, but her second dam, Chalvedele, was good enough to run second to that year's champion 3-Year-Old Filly Berlo in the 1960 Mother Goose Stakes, and second in the 1960 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, behind the following year's champion older mare Airman's Guide. Via stakes-placed Love Note, a sister to the 1902 Alabama Stakes heroine Par Excellence—who, remarkably, is the most recent top-level winner from this particular branch—Silent Turn descends from one of the foremost American classic families. Love Note's third dam is Maggie B. B., a mare who had the distinction of producing three classic winners: Harold (Preakness Stakes, 1879), Panique (Belmont Stakes, 1884), and most famously, Iroquois, who in 1881 became the first American-bred to win the English Derby. Love Note's granddam, Jaconet, was the most important producer among Maggie B. B.'s daughters, appearing as dam of leading sire Sir Dixon, and ancestress of Kentucky Derby (1938) winner Lawrin, Preakness Stakes (1947) victor Fautless, and Kentucky Oaks winners Rose of Sharon (1929), Suntica (1932), Inscolassie (1940), and Challe Anne (1948). Silent Turn never produced a black-type winner, but through her Royal Academy daughter, Silent Academy, may be the channel through which this long-dormant branch of Maggie B. B. produces a classic contender. A maiden and allowance-winning sprinter, Silent Academy produced a high-class runner in the Malibu Moon filly Sweet August Moon. A high-class West Coast speedster, Sweet August Moon captured the A Gleam Handicap (G2), Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3), Las Flores Handicap (G3), and Honest Lady Stakes, and also took third in the Santa Monica Stakes (G1) and La Habra Stakes (G3). The mare that has returned the family to prominence, however, is not Sweet August Moon but her sister, Study Hard. On paper, it appeared that Study Hard inherited virtually none of her sister's ability, as in three starts she was beaten a total of 98 3/4 lengths, succeeding in finishing ahead of just one of her rivals. According to Litmus Test's breeder, Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden, despite her race record, Study Hard did show ability at home, but was compromised by an old sesamoid fracture, which was visible on the x-ray when Brogden purchased her as a yearling for $100,000. Happily, the gamble paid off in the long term, and Study Hard has proved to be a much better producer than runner, as three of her first four foals are winners, the fourth being Litmus Test, who Dec. 13 took the Los Alamitos Futurity by 1 1/4 lengths. Litmus Test has been making a steady improvement since winning a 5 1/2 furlong maiden race at Del Mar Aug. 16, and in his Los Alamitos Futurity effort, he achieved a new top Beyer Speed Figure of 96, a number bettered by only four juvenile colts this year, and only by Ted Noffey at the distance of 8 1/2 furlongs. In between his debut victory and the Los Alamitos Futurity, Litmus Test finished fourth in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), third in the Breeders' Futurity (G1), and fourth, beaten just 1 3/4 lengths, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). If there are some holes in the female line, that can't be said of the paternal half of the pedigree. His sire, Nyquist, was only the second horse to capture the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby, and also captured the Best Pal Stakes (G2), Del Mar Futurity (G1), Frontrunner Stakes (G1), San Vincente Stakes (G2), and Florida Derby (G1). He lost his unbeaten record when third in the Preakness Stakes (G1), and didn't make the first three in his only subsequent outings, the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G2). Retired to stand at Darley in Lexington in 2017, Nyquist has been a very successful sire with 34 stakes winners, 21 graded, to date. They include champion 2-year-old fillies Vequist and Immersive, and other grade 1 winners Nysos, Randomized, Johannes, Slow Down Andy, Tenma, Cavalieri, Argos, Velocity, and Gretzky the Great. Litmus Test is the only stakes winner from 23 starters by Nyquist out of mares by Malibu Moon, but he has sired 10 stakes winners—six grade 1—from a total of 100 starters out of mares by all sons of A.P. Indy. The pedigree does feature the closely related Storm Cat and Royal Academy 4x3, and we can also note that Litmus Test stems from the I2a1 mitochondrial haplotype, which is very prevalent in the pedigree of Nyquist, and which is found in the female line of his grade one winners Slow Down Andy, Gretzky the Great, and Velocity.