by Nigel Pullen©

There was a surprise result to the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh, with Aidan O'Brien trained colts filling the first three places. That, in itself, was not unusual, given the Ballydoyle trainer's dominance of Irish racing. What was surprising was the finishing order of his representatives, with 20-1 shots Black Minnaloushe and Mozart first and second, and the favourite Minardi only third.

Black Minnaloushe (by Storm Cat - Coral Dance by Green Dancer - Carvinia by Diatome) had won both his juvenile outings over six furlongs, and after pulling too hard when second on his three-year-old bow, was noted running on well in his subsequent two starts, fifth in the G3 Tetratrch Stakes and seventh in G1 Poule D'Essai des Poulains.

His dam, Coral Dance, had her racing career compromised by an injury sustained when making her three-year-old reappearance in the spring of 1981, a season which had promised much after she had won her maiden and finished second to Tropicaro in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac the previous autumn. She did return to the race track as a four-year-old, winning a couple of allowance races in America, before retiring to the paddocks there.

Coral Dance's career at stud gives a fascinating insight into the importance of selling a mare's offspring in the right market place. Her second foal was a son of the French G1 winner Al Nasr, and since both her sire and dam had made their reputations in France, the colt was sent to Deauville Sales, where he fetched 1,050,000 French francs (approximately 165,000 dollars) to a bid from Sheikh Mohammed. The yearling was named Nasr El Arab, and racing in France and America, won over a million dollars in prize money, including four G1 events, the Oak Tree Invitational Stakes, Carleton F. Burke Handicap, Charles H. Strub Stakes and San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap.

In 1993, Coral Dance's yearling, by another top French performer in Bering, was offered at Keeneland September Yearling Sale, rather than Deauville. Even though she had now produced a G1 winner, her colt was knocked down to Sheikh Mohammed for just 40,000 dollars. This yearling made Coral Dance a dual G1 producer, for trading under the name of Pennekamp, his only defeat in a seven-race career came in the Epsom Derby, following three G1 victories in the Prix de la Salamandre, Dewhurst Stakes and English 2000 Guineas.

Coral Dance's dam Carvinia won twice in France at three, and was a half sister to the tough racehorse and sire Carvin (by Marino). The latter won the G2 Criterium de St Cloud and his seven placing in G1 events came in races as contrasting as the Prix Morny (six furlongs) and the Prix Royal Oak (15.5 furlongs). However, Carvin's main claim to fame was as the sire of the Epsom Oaks heroine, Pawneese.

A 750,000 dollar foal bred by John Gaines, Black Minnaloushe is a son of the all-conquering stallion Storm Cat. Storm Cat had been a top class juvenile, winning three of his six starts, including the G1 Young America Stakes, before finishing runner-up in the G1 Breeders Cup Juvenile. After undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his knee, he was never quite the same horse the following year, winning once from two starts.

He was son of Storm Bird, another horse who showed his best form at two, and it is the appearance of Storm Bird that is a key element in the genetic make up of Black Minnaloushe. Storm Bird was by Northern Dancer, and his first and second dams were sired by sons of Bull Page and Flares respectively. If we look at the pedigree of Black Minnaloushe's dam Coral Dance we find a very similar pattern in her grandsire, Nijinsky II. He was also a son of Northern Dancer, and while his dam was by Bull Page, his third dam was by Flares's full brother Omaha. This effectively made Storm Bird and Nijinsky II near three quarter relatives, and the potential for this cross has already been well advertised by the exploits of G1 winners Golden Ballet, High Yield and Spain.

The appearance in Black Minnaloushe's pedigree of Storm Bird and Nijinsky II, via their sons Storm Cat and Green Dancer, had additional bonuses. Firstly, the granddams of Storm Cat and Green Dancer were either granddaughters or daughters of Spy Song. Furthermore, Storm Cat's third dam, Bolero Rose, was bred on very similar lines to Nijinsky II's dam Flaming Page; both sharing Menow, Broomstick, Man O'War, Ultimus and either Sir Gallahad III or his full brother Dull Dog.

Another interesting feature of the relationship between Storm Cat and Green Dancer was the number of sources of the Broomstick/Peter Pan cross it accumulated. Northern Dancer's ancestress, Flying Witch, was by Broomstick out of a Peter Pan mare, a combination also found in Storm Cat's ancestress, Rowes Bud. In addition, the granddam of Pavot (sire of Green Dancer's third dam) was by a son of Peter Pan out of a Broomstick mare. This was further reinforced by Spy Song (present in both Storm Cat and Green Dancer), for he was himself 3x3 to Peter Pan, and also provided Broomstick's close genetic relative Belgravia.

With the victory of Black Minnaloushe, his dam Coral Dance joined an elite band of mare who have bred three G1 winners by three different sires; namely Nasr El Arab (by Al Nasr), Pennekamp (by Bering) and Black Minnaloushe (by Storm Cat). To add to this achievement, Nasr El Arab and Pennekamp were almost certainly the best offspring of their sires; and it would certainly be difficult to find two more contrasting types of stallions than Bering and Storm Cat. Perhaps the key to all this is the presence of Green Dancer. His background of American and French strains being the linking factor that enabled Coral Dance to work with a wide range of stallions

Copyright Nigel Pullen 2001.