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by Bill Lathrop © A long time ago, in the year 1828 to be exact, there was born in England a certain grey Thoroughbred filly. She was the first foal of her dam, Camillina (1822), a mare who would later be designated by Bruce Lowe as a member of Family 23. The filly was to be named Galopade by her owners. How could they have fathomed, even in their wildest imaginings, that a man, one hundred and seventy three years in the future, and thousands of miles away, would be murmuring "Galopade" softly under his breath, her name still alive as he wrote of their filly, and tried to visualize that place and that time. These names, these rare and beautiful animals, and their wondrous heritage have the power to transport us back in time, to feel their era, and embrace their history. The impact that this little grey filly would make on the breed in years to come could not be foreseen. Her sire, the bay stud Catton (1809) by Golumpus (1802) ex Lucy Gray (1804), was the winner of the Doncaster Cup and was to become a prominent stallion of his era. His daughter, Galopade, was prepared for the races and won her only start as a two-year-old, a sweepstakes at Lincoln. As a three-year-old, she raced five times, with only a second in a lower level event to show for her efforts. In 1831, she disappeared as far as recorded history is concerned, only to reappear in America via Canada in 1836. Richard Ulbrich in his monumental Peerage Of Racehorses quotes John Hervey (Salvator), who wrote in 1934: "Many students of American bloodlines consider Galopade the ranking progenitress imported during the past 100 years, and it is difficult to name another capable of contesting the palm with her." His observations would eventually be borne out even more as future generations executed his vision. The proof of what was to come started early on. One of Galopade's daughters, Reel (1838) by Glencoe, a grey like her mother, was the dam of Le Compte (1850) by Boston, the only horse ever to defeat the immortal Lexington. An augury perhaps? We will now move forward to Galopade's daughter, Cotillion (1837) by Leviathan, and on to Cotillion's daughter, Galopade Jr. (whose foaling date is lost to us), by Glencoe (sire of the great Pocahontas), and on to Reunion (1860) by Union, to Lady Hardaway (1869) by Commodore to Lou Lanier (1875) by Lever, to Kildeer (1888) by Darebin and finally to the "conduit" mare Adriana (1905) by Hamburg. Adriana was the dam of seven foals, three to race, with one winner of one race. This modest production hardly trumpeted the success that would fulfill the promise cast by Galopade so many years before, that same assurance which would someday manifest itself in champions. Adriana's unraced daughter, Coquette (1912) by Celt (who would become the leading sire in America in 1921 and leading broodmare sire in 1930), was a much better producer than her dam, breeding nine foals, six raced, with five of those that raced being winners. One of her winning daughters was Felisa (1933) by American Derby winner Toro, who bred six foals, four raced, two winners. One of Felisa's unraced daughters, Glamour-Girl (1937) by Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, finally gave a glimpse of the quality that was to the embodiment of her descendants. She produced six foals, five of which raced, four winners, including the stakes winner Sierra Fox (1941) by the Djebel son, Sierra Nevada. Glamour-Girl's daughter Tirl (1942) by Tick On, was a non-winner in two starts and only produced three foals, however, all three won, with one of them being the stakes winning filly, Tonga (1949) by Polynesian, who won the Del Mar Debutante Stakes, and ran third in the Hollywood Oaks. Tonga in turn produced the stakes winner Kubla Khan by Alibhai, among the five foals, all of which raced and four of the five winning. Tonga's last foal was the winning Princequillo daughter Quillopoly (1958) who bred 12 foals, 11 raced with nine winners. Among those winners were the stakes winners Alquillo (1958) by All Hands, Sharp-Eyed Quillo by One-Eyed King and the G3 winner of the Canadian Turf Handicap, Baccalaureate by Outing Class, who was sent to Venezuela at nine years of age. One of Quillopoly's daughters was Classy Quillo (1969) by Outing Class, a winner of two of 14 starts. She bred nine foals, eight raced, all winners, including the stakes winners Baraquillo (1975) by Barachois, who was sent to Australia as a nine-year-old, (and was the dam of G1 stakes-placed winner Chingquillo (1989) by Bletchingly, in that country), and Money By Orleans (1980) by L 'Enjoleur. She also produced the stakes-placed Royal Signature (1975) by His Majesty, who was the dam of G3 stakes-placed winner Vast Domain (1981) by Vice Regent and who, in the breeding shed produced the Irish bred stakes horses Americarr and St Elias. Classy Quillo's winning daughter Written Word by Vice Regent, is the dam of graded stakes horse Thesaurus (1994) by With Approval. The next dam forward is Classy Quillo's stakes-placed daughter, No Class (1974) by Outing Class. No Class was to eventually become Canadian Broodmare of the Year. The reasons for this honor are evident.
Among her accomplished performer's are: Classy 'n Smart raced only at three years, winning five of nine starts, being placed three times. Among her wins were the Canadian Oaks and the Fury stakes. She produced, in 1987, the stakes-placed winner Secret 'n Classy by Secretariat, who was sent to Germany at five years of age. Then came stakes winner Dance Smartly (1988) by Danzig, who will be examined later in more depth. Next was the Grade 1 stakes winner and sire, Smart Strike (1992) by Mr Prospector. Dance Smartly was a truly outstanding runner. She was the Canadian Triple Crown winner, and among her wins were the Queen's Plate, the Canadian Oaks, the Selene Stakes and the Breeders Cup Distaff. She was honored as the Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, the Canadian Horse of the Year, and the Eclipse Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. As a broodmare, she has continued her excellence, producing the stakesplaced winner Dance Brightly, and the back-to-back Queen's Plate winners, Scatter The Gold and Dancethruthedawn (this year's winner), both by Mr Prospector. This is a ringing endorsement of "breeding the best to the best"…or is the best yet to come? Only time will tell. Unfortunately Dance Smartly's 2000 colt by A.P. Indy died. July 8, 2001. Copyright by Bill Lathrop 2001. |
