by Ernest Newcomb ©

It looks like D.Wayne Lukas got just that, a jump start for Overbrook Farm and Mr. W. T.Young with a June 23 maiden special weight win with a nice two-year-old named Jump Start. The dark bay colt was born in January of 1999, so he was chronologically well into his two year season when on Wednesday August 15, 2001, he burst out of the gate in his second start with Pat Day aboard in the Saratoga Special (G2).

He stalked the two leaders through a fast first half in :44.40 about two lengths back. Heavyweight Champ, the leader pulled off in the stretch but the son of A.P. Indy out of Steady Cat by Storm Cat showed a nice blend of a 3 sire by 4 dam inbreeding (3x4) to the great Secretariat drew even and edged clear to the wire by three-quarters of a length. This A.P. Indy colt winning the Saratoga Special (G2) has to catch the eye. He has some good maturity, and it is true, an uncharacteristically patient D.Wayne Lukas, for his custom to push them hard.

Jump Start may be one to watch and has an intriguing pedigree to ponder. He has two fine racing daughters of Secretariat in his pedigree: Weekend Surprise a stakes winner of $402,893, being the dam of his sire A.P. Indy, and Terlingua, a stakes winner of $423,896, the dam of his broodmare sire Storm Cat; each of them a daughter and a granddaughter of stakes-winning dams.

Weekend Surprise is out of stakes winner Lassie Dear who was sired by Buckpasser and out of stakes winner Gay Missile, who was sired by Sir Gaylord. We see here A.P. Indy is already intensified to Somethingroyal, the dam of Secretariat; Sir Gaylord being half-brother to Secretariat.

Terlingua, the dam of Storm Cat, Jump Start's brood mare sire, is out of stakes winner Crimson Saint who was sired by Crimson Satan and out of the stakes winner Bolero Rose. That touch of speed may also be receiving some influence through the dam of Jump Start, Steady Cat. Steady Cat by Storm Cat is out of Hopespringsforever by Mr. Prospector and she is out of Hopespringseternal who was sired by Buckpasser.

If there is a touch of weakness to give any pause it may be in the tail female line of Jump Start, but this colt is also a 4 sire by 4 dam inbreeding to Buckpasser. Hopespringseternal was an unraced mare out of the stakes runner Rose Bower who was sired by Princequillo. Princequillo was also the sire of Somethingroyal. Rose Bower was out of the stakes-winning mare Lea Lane who has been named a Reine-de-Course mare.

The female tail line of Jump Start, 16-g in this instance is a nice diversion, as is the tail female line of Crimson Satan, 26, for there is a good deal of intensification to the female family 8 (f-c-d); the 4 (m-n-j); the 1 (k-s-b); with the 8 and the 1 being particularly speckled with speed influences. Jump Start is tail male sire line to Bold Ruler 8-d. Jump Start's sire A.P. Indy had Secretariat by Bold Ruler as the tail male broodmare sire line. Storm Cat is tail female line 8-c with his broodmare sire being Secretariat. Raise a Native, the sire of Mr.Prospector, the broodmare sire to Steady Cat, the dam of Jump Start, was tail female line 8-f.

In each case, there is a clear cut case of a tight reining speed often thought to have some distance limitations when going well beyond the mile, and subject to struggling past the nine furlong mark with consistent success. A.P. Indy has been thought early on in his stud career to be giver of some stamina making this intensity to speed inbreeding particularly interesting and one worth keeping an eye on. It will be a good test of this cross.

Jump Start has been savored for a late summer and fall campaign, with good maturity in him, being a January colt, he should be ready for strong run at the three-year-old classics with thoughts to test that curse of a Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner going on to win the classic of May, the Kentucky Derby (G1). As W.T. Young has been known to say, if I may paraphrase, "you can't win 'em if you don't run in 'em." If Jump Start stays healthy, hope springs eternal for the Rose Bower.