by Avalyn Hunter ©

If ever a horse was misnamed, it was No Class, a Canadian Broodmare of the Year and fountainhead of one of Canada's finest modern families. The daughter of two-time champion handicap male Nodouble did not excel on the racecourse, but she has been by far the most important offspring of 1981's leading sire.

Although no champion, No Class was much better than an empty stall. Her record showed three wins from 29 starts for earnings of $37,543, and she was twice stakes-placed as a juvenile, albeit in races restricted to Canadian-breds. But it was as a broodmare that she was to earn a place among the immortals of the Turf. She did not give much hint of her talent with her first foal, the Cannonade gelding Classy Cannonade. But she struck gold with her 1981 filly, Classy 'n Smart. A daughter of the hardy Smarten, Classy 'n Smart won five of nine starts including the Canadian Oaks and was honored as Canada's Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Classy 'n Smart emulated her dam by becoming a Canadian Broodmare of the Year. Her progeny include the Secretariat colt Secret 'n Classy, four times stakes-placed; the Mr. Prospector colt Smart Strike, winner of the Philip H. Iselin Handicap (G1) and now a well-patronized young sire; the Grade-2 placed Mr. Prospector colt Strike Smartly; and Seattle Classic, unraced but dam of the Mazarine Stakes winner Hello Seattle.

But it was Classy 'n smart's second foal, the Danzig filly Dance Smartly, who proved best of all. Canada's Horse of the Year in 1991, Dance Smartly swept the Canadian Triple Crown, handily defeating the best Canadian colts. She also won the Canadian Oaks, completing a Classic sequence unprecedented in Canadian racing history. But she did not stop there. She thrashed males again in the Molson Export Million (G1) at Woodbine. Her victims there included several good U.S. invaders; among them was 1990 Champion Juvenile Male Fly So Free, who had the Florida Derby (G1) and three G2 victories to his credit in 1991. Then she made a foray of her own to the south. Her dominating victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff proved without a doubt that she was the best female of any age racing in North America. Off that win, she was named the U.S.'s Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Dance Smartly returned to the races at four but won only the Canadian Maturity in a brief campaign plagued by bad luck.

Her ill fortune continued into her broodmare career, as her first foal died early and her second, the Mr. Prospector colt Dance Brightly, was able to make only two starts before injury forced him into retirement. Dance Smartly's luck turned with her 1997 Mr. Prospector colt, Scatter the Gold, who won the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown in 2000. His full sister Dancethruthedawn did still better in 2001, winning the Canadian Oaks and the Queen's Plate to earn the title as Canada's Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Dance Smartly's 1999 colt, aptly named Dance to Destiny, will no doubt be closely watched through the 2002 racing season, as he is a full brother to Scatter the Gold and Dancethruthedawn.

The accomplishments of Scatter the Gold and Dancethruthedawn earned Dance Smartly honors as Canada's Broodmare of the Year for 2001, completing a remarkable three-generation sequence for No Class's family. It will be interesting to see if Dancethruthedawn can follow in the family tradition by herself becoming a Broodmare of the Year; with her pedigree and race record, she is certain to be given every opportunity.

After Classy 'n Smart, No Class' next foal was the 1983 *Grey Dawn II colt Grey Classic. Canada's Champion Juvenile Male in 1985, Grey Classic won two Grade 3 races and ran second in the Grade 1 Arlington Handicap.

Next up for No Class was Regal Classic, a 1985 colt by Vice Regent who was also a champion juvenile in Canada. A multiple Grade 3 winner and several times Grade 1-placed, Regal Classic became a useful sire whose offspring include the Canadian classic winners Regal Discovery and Stephanotis.

The best horse No Class ever produced was Sky Classic, her 1987 colt by Nijinsky II. Like his half-brothers Regal Classic and Grey Classic, he was precocious enough to reign as Canada's Champion Juvenile Male, but he trained on better than either. Sidelined by injury for most of his three-year-old season, he returned at four to take titles as Canadian Champion Older Male and Champion Turf Male. His career peaked at age five with an extremely consistent campaign in which he won five graded stakes including the Turf Classic (G1) and finished second in three more, including a nose loss in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). His efforts that year earned him the U.S. title of Champion Turf Male. He has been a useful sire, his best runners being Canadian Horse of the Year Thornfield and Turkish champion three-year-old filly Texas Gal, who swept both of Turkey's filly Classics in 1999.

No Class was put to Seattle Slew in 1987, producing Classic Slew the following spring. Classic Slew never made it to the races and has not been a particularly successful broodmare, her best runner being stakes-placed Comet Kris.

No Class's next star was the 1989 filly Classic Reign, a full sister to Regal Classic. A somewhat unlucky racemare, Classic Reign ran second in the Breeders' Stakes at three but finally came into her own at four, when she won the Canadian Maturity and the Mint Julep Handicap. As a broodmare, her best representative so far has been the Seeking the Gold filly Treasureinmyhand, winner of the Fury Stakes.

The last top runner produced by No Class was Always a Classic, a 1993 Deputy Minister colt who captured the Turf Classic (G1) in 1997. He is now at stud in Turkey.

No Class belonged to a family which had done well in Canada for generations. She was a half-sister to the stakes winners Baraquillo and Money By Orleans, while her dam Classy Quillo (by the Travers Stakes winner Outing Class) was a full sister to the Canadian Turf Handicap (G3) winner Baccalaureate and a half-sister to the Princess Elizabeth Stakes winner Allquillo, dam in turn of Canadian Champion Older Female Diane's Lady. Classy Quillo was also a half-sister to Quillummo, dam of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Canadian Oaks winner Gal in a Ruckus, and to the Prince of Wales Stakes winner Sharp-Eyed Quillo, a successful sire in Chile.

Classy Quillo was out of Quillopoly, a winning daughter of the great broodmare sire *Princequillo and the Del Mar Debutante Stakes winner Tonga, by Polynesian out of the Tick On mare Tirl. The next two dams, Glamour-Girl (by Gallant Fox) and Felisa (by Toro), were not overly distinguished, although Felisa was a half-sister to Cozy Time, dam of the Kentucky Oaks winner First Page.

But the next dam, the Celt mare Coquette, won the Demoiselle Stakes, and her dam Adriana was also the dam of the Demoiselle Stakes winner Celandria and the third dam of the great Discovery. The female line traces back to the great foundation mare *Galopade through her daughter Cotillion.

The nearest duplications in No Class' pedigree are a 5x5 cross to Hyperion, a 6x5 cross to *Papyrus, and a 5x6x8 cross to Black Toney. However, one could say she was bred to be a broodmare. She was line-bred 6x6x7 to the outstanding matron Selene and 8x7x7x8x8x8x9 to Selene's paternal granddam Canterbury Pilgrim, also a highly influential broodmare. No Class was also line-bred 6x6x7 to Phalaris, 7x6x7 to Swynford, 7x6x7x7x8 to Chaucer, and 7x7x7x7 to Sunstar, all leading broodmare sires in England (as was Hyperion). In addition, she carried 35 lines back to *Galopade, all but two through Mannie Gray, the dam of Domino.

Although Classy 'n Smart's sire Smarten was a poor broodmare sire overall, he reinforced several of the strongest strains in No Class's pedigree. His extended pedigree carried one cross to Hyperion, one to Selene, eight to Canterbury Pilgrim (four through Swynford and four through Chaucer), three to Phalaris, two to Sunstar, and 30 more links to *Galopade, all through Mannie Gray.

Danzig, a far superior sire to Smarten, continued to reinforce these predominant strains. In Dance Smartly's pedigree, he adds two crosses of Hyperion, four crosses of Selene, 10 of Canterbury Pilgrim, four of Phalaris, three of Swynford, and six of Chaucer. He also contributes another 47 links to *Galopade, 45 of them through Mannie Gray.

Whether Dancethruthedawn will be a Broodmare of the Year remains to be seen, but on pedigree she is promising. Her sire Mr. Prospector is himself a leading broodmare sire, and like Danzig and like Smarten, he reinforces the most important strains in No Class's family. His pedigree includes one cross of Selene, three of Canterbury Pilgrim, three of Phalaris, one of Swynford, two of Chaucer, and one of Sunstar. Best of all, he adds another 32 links to *Galopade, 30 of them through Mannie Gray.

Unlike many other successful broodmares, No Class, Classy 'n Smart, and Dance Smartly are not closely inbred, none of them carrying duplications closer than the fifth remove. But they illustrate the importance of repeated line-breeding to the strengths in a pedigree, and mares from this line should be a force in North American breeding for some time to come.