by Ann Ferland ©

Have people been noticing how well California-breds have been doing over the last few years? Tiznow is just the tip of the iceberg, with stars like General Challenge, Smooth Player, Budroyale, Men's Exclusive, just to mention a few, bringing honor to their home state. Another example is the recently retired Golden Ballet this spring's queen of Santa Anita, winner of the Santa Anita Oaks-G1, Las Virgenes S.-Gr1, Railbird S.-Gr2, and Santa Ynez S.-Gr2.

Golden Ballet is a daughter of Moscow Ballet, who has spent a long and fruitful stud career in the Central Valley of California at the Harris Farms of Coalinga. He has sired over a dozen stakes winners but has never quite fulfilled the promise he showed in getting Dominant Dancer (Oak Leaf S.-Gr1, Landaluce S.-Gr3, etc.) in his first crop, although his sprinting filly Soviet Problem earned over $900,000. Until now, perhaps.

Moscow Ballet's pedigree looks on the surface as though he should have been a classic-distance performer, since he was by the legendary Nijinsky II out of a half-sister to the equally legendary Mill Reef. But that 'half' made all the difference, since Millicent, the dam of Moscow Ballet, was sired by the precocious two-year-old and sire of precocious two-year-olds Cornish Prince and the lady definitely took after her daddy.

Unraced herself, Millicent produced three group-winning sons - Peterhof, by The Minstrel; Western Symphony, by Nijinsky II; and Moscow Ballet. Despite their classic sires, all three did their group-race winning at two and tailed off at three - in Moscow Ballet's case, his group win was the six furlong Railway S.-Gr3, run on the same program as the Irish Derby. He showed enough quality to be rated at 123 pounds on the Madrid Free Handicap in Ireland, 10 pounds below champion Law Society and beneath only seven other horses.

Peterhof also stood in California and sired a number of locally notable runners but his only impact on the national scene has been through his daughter Program Pick, dam of last year's star two-year-old filly Stormy Pick.

Of the brothers, Western Symphony has done the best at stud; standing in New Zealand and Australia, he has sired three Group 1 winners - India's Dream, Procol Harum, and Cherontessa. But his greatest claim to fame is as the damsire of the world-class Australian race mare Sunline, winner of the Hong Kong Mile last December.

Have you noticed a pattern here? Nearly all of the good offspring of these brothers have been female and blessed with early speed, the major differences among them being how far they can carry it. That may be determined by the other side of the pedigree, and in Golden Ballet's case, there are causes for hope that she can carry on beyond a mile.

Golden Jewel Box, dam of Golden Ballet, was an unraced daughter of champion and stamina influence Slew o' Gold, a half-brother to Belmont winner Coastal. She has produced six foals of racing age and all have made it to the track and earned money, although only four have won. Her 1995 filly, Box of Jewels, has placed in minor stakes and earned over $100,000 while winning six of 42 starts. This family has a tradition of producing tough running horses even if they were not always of the highest class.

The story begins with *Consuelo II, a bay mare imported from England just after the turn of the 20th Century. She produced only one stakes winner but that one was the *Out of Reach colt George Smith, a top two-year-old of 1915 and winner of the Kentucky Derby the following year. George Smith continued his successful career by winning stakes at four and five.

A full sister to George Smith, La Patrie, was a year older but nowhere as distinguished on the track. And only two of her seven offspring were worthy of much notice, again full siblings, the gelding Afton, winner of eight of 52 starts, and the filly Scotland Yet, unraced, both of them by Friar Rock. Something about the combination of Friar Rock with *Out of Reach and *Consuelo worked. (Another daughter of La Patrie, Judelle, by Cherokee, became fourth dam of the top sprinting mare Matching, but this is a less prolific branch.)

Scotland Yet produced only three foals, two of which ran, both of them winning. Her filly of 1928, Sunny Lassie, was more than just a winner - she was one of the better two-year-old fillies of 1930. She won the Nursery Stakes at Belmont and was second in the Fashion Stakes, with champion Baba Kenney in third. Finally, she ran third in the Champagne Stakes, behind subsequent Preakness winner Mate and champion Equipoise.

Sunny Lassie was sired by Sun Flag, a Travers winner by top sire *Sun Briar from a Hamburg mare. Few of the mares from this family were bred to fashionable sires and Sunny Lassie was no exception, despite her race record. It made no difference, as she produced two stakes-placed winners and an unraced, stakes-producing filly from her three foals.

Her daughter Quaker Girl came from a mating with *Gino, a Tetratema half-brother to top sire *Alibhai. *Gino won the important Imperial Produce S. as a two-year-old in England, but his primary influence at stud in the U.S. was with his steeplechasers. Quaker Girl produced six foals, all of which ran and four of which won; her stakes winner Bit o' Fate won 13 of 61 starts and placed twice in the important Saratoga Cup at 14 furlongs, while her Tarry Not raced over nine years, winning 27 of 156 starts.

One of Quaker Girl's non-winners was the three-times-placed Sunshine Gino, a daughter of Sun Again, the stallion who gained fame as the sire of Sword Dancer and Palestinian. Following the family pattern, Sunshine Gino produced three foals, all of whom raced; but in her case, all of them were winners. And her best winner was her only filly, Sun Lover, who won 11 of 44 starts and a minor stakes at Tropical Park.

Sun Lover was one of four stakes winners sired by Nasomo (*Nasrullah-Blue Eyed Momo), a stakes-placed winner of eight races and a seven-eighths brother to the better racehorse and sire Francis S. (by *Royal Charger). Nasomo also sired Ship Leave, winner of the 13-furlong Gallant Fox H and a regional sire of some note in Western Canada.

Sun Lover became the most notable producer in the family since *Consuelo II; her first two foals were the stakes winners Chati (the second-best stakes winner by Terrible Tiger) and Hawkin's Special (by Great Sun). Chati was a stakes-horse from two to six on the Maryland-Pennsylvania-New Jersey circuit, winning eight stakes-races, including a grade three, most in the eight to nine furlong range.

Hawkin's Special had a shorter but more brilliant career than Chati, his best win being the grade two Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park. And Hawkin's Special made a name for himself at stud with Blue Grass winner Taylor's Special.

Her sons' accomplishments gained Sun Lover access to the higher rank of stallions, the first being champion Irish two-year-old Storm Bird, by whom she produced two fillies, the stakes-placed Sungull and Miss Storm Bird, the second dam of Golden Ballet. Miss Storm Bird raced eight times in England and placed four times without winning. To Conquistador Cielo, Sun Lover produced her last stakes winner, Sun Luck, but in general her foals by "inferior" stallions were better than those by "superior" stallions. Go figure.

And this brings us back to Golden Jewel Box, Miss Storm Bird's daughter by Slew o' Gold. Does her ancestry provide enough stamina to counteract the sprinting influence of Moscow Ballet? Both Slew o' Gold and Storm Bird have sired high-class winners at classic distances, and the female line provides toughness and determination. While the ten furlongs of the Alabama or the C.C.A. Oaks might prove beyond her powers, she won the eight and a half furlong Santa Anita Oaks-Gr1 and finished second in the Ashland Stakes-Gr2.

By the way, Golden Ballet is inbred to Northern Dancer 3 x 4, through his sons Nijinsky II and Storm Bird. What does that mean? Who knows? But Sunline carries the Dancer 4 x 4. That extra cross of Northern Dancer may help Millicent's sons bring out the best in the bloodline.

Copyright Ann Ferland 2001.

[This article also appeared in the June 2001 issue of Owner-Breeder International, Vol. 14 No. 4, entitled "Golden Filly".]