Wind Blows Hot

Race the Wild Wind

by Nigel Pullen ©

Wind Blows Hot - the story of Race the Wild Wind

Within the space of just two months, the offspring of the mare Race The Wild Wind have helped raised her profile considerably. It all began on 13th June 2001, when her three year old colt by Nureyev named King Charlemagne took the seven furlong Ballycorus Stakes (G3) in Ireland. At Royal Ascot the following week King Charlemagne's year younger full brother Meshaheer looked an extremely unlucky loser when third in the Coventry Stakes (G3), but made up for this in early July with an emphatic victory in Newmarket's July Stakes (G3).

Only four days after Meshaheer's success King Charlemagne added a further Group 3 to his record by scoring in the Minstrel Stakes, and now in mid August he boasts a Group 1 win on his CV, thanks to a hard-fought neck success in the Prix Maurice De Gheest over 1200 metres at Deauville. Both were Keeneland purchases, King Charlemagne fetching $1.5 million as a foal, and Meshaheer needing a bid of $525,000 to secure him as a yearling, after he made $425,000 as a foal.

The pedigrees of King Charlemagne and Meshaheer closely resemble that of Imagine, the winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas and English Oaks in 2001. Imagine was by Sadler's Wells out of Doff The Derby by Master Derby out of Margarethen by Tulyar out of Russ-Marie. Now compare this with King Charlemagne and Meshaheer who were by Sadler's Wells's three quarter brother Nureyev out of Race The Wild Wind by Sunny's Halo out of Redpath by Indian Chief II out of Lady Marguery by Tim Tam out of Russ-Marie, and the connection becomes obvious.

Furthermore, Hail To Reason, the grandsire of Sunny's Halo was also present in Sadler's Wells. In fact with Northern Dancer, Special, Hail To Reason and Russ-Marie common to both, ten of the sixteen ancestors in King Charlemagne's fourth generation were also present in the pedigree of Imagine. An analysis of Imagine's pedigree can be found here. In that particular article I pointed out Imagine's strong build-up of Plucky Liege together with the full brother and sister St Marguerite and St Honorat. It is surely no coincidence therefore that these strains are also prominent in the portion of King Charlemagne's pedigree not shared with Imagine.

Let us begin by recapping on the build up of Plucky Liege and St Marguerite/St Honorat in the strains common to Imagine and King Charlemagne. Firstly both had the full brother and sister Gallant Fox and Marguery, who were by Sir Gallahad III (a son of Plucky Liege) with the mare Seraph (by St Frusquin - St Marina by Janissary - St Marguerite) as their third dam. Next there was Hail To Reason, who was 4x4 Plucky Liege, traced tail female to Trefle (by Sainfoin - Cimiez by St Simon - Antibes by Isonomy - St Marguerite), and had a dam, Nothirdchance, who was 3x4 to Man O'War. Man O'War's maternal grandsire was Rock Sand, a close relative of Trefle, being by Sainfoin out of Roquebrune by St Simon out of St Marguerite. Other strains common to both Imagine and King Charlemagne were Abbots Trace (4x3 to St Marguerite/St Honorat) and Simon Shoes, whose sire Simon Square was by St Simon out of Sweet Marjorie by Kendal out of St Marguerite. Note how closely related all these descendants of St Marguerite were.

Let us now pick up the pedigree of King Charlemagne/Meshaheer, by starting with their third dam Lady Marguery, and see how the strains of Plucky Liege and St Marguerite/St Honorat were reinforced. On the racetrack Lady Marguery could only manage two placings from thirteen starts earning a paltry $342 in prize money. Her sire, Tim Tam, the winner of both Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was 3x3 to Bull Dog (by Teddy - Plucky Liege), thus introducing additional Plucky Liege, and making Lady Marguery 4x4x3 to the full brothers Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad III.

When she was retired to stud, Lady Marguery's had a regular suitor in the South American bred stallion Indian Chief II, who sired her first three foals. The best of this trio on the racetrack was Bobby Murcer, the winner of six of his forty-nine starts and over $100,000 in prize money, with a victory in the La Brea Stakes and a third place in the Jim Dandy. The last of these three foals by Indian Chief II was King Charlemagne's granddam Redpath, who won just one of her 20 races in America.

Indian Chief II's dam, Coya Linda, was 3x3 to the half brothers Hyperion and Hunter's Moon. However, our interest in her pedigree centres on her dam, Coya Bruja. Not only was she 4x4 Tracery, whose sire Rock Sand was by Sainfoin out of Roquebrune by St Simon out of St Marguerite; but also Coya Bruja's dam was 3x4 to Marcovil. Now Marcovil's granddam Dinah was by Hermit out of a Rataplan mare; making her a three quarter genetic relative to St Marguerite, who was by Hermit out of a mare by Rataplan's full brother Stockwell. Additional reinforcement of this background was provided by Coya Linda's grandsire Prince Chevalier, who had Abbots Trace (4x3 St Marguerite/St Honorat) in the third generation of his pedigree.

On the whole Redpath's record as a broodmare was disappointing. She had eleven foals, and of the eight that saw a racecourse only three managed to win. Easily the best was her 1989 filly named Race The Wild Wind, who was to become the dam of King Charlemagne and Meshaheer. From thirteen races she secured five victories, including the Santa Maria Handicap (G1), Fantasy Stakes (G2) and Princess Stakes (G2), and she also earned places in Hollywood Oaks (G1), Del Mar Oaks (G2), Railbird Stakes (G2) and La Brea Stakes (G3).

She was a daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo, who also the sire of the G3 winner Mount Lemon from Race the Wild Wind's half sister Lettuce Miss, so the mating certainly had some merit. Sunny's Halo was a grandson of Hail To Reason, and the latter's background of St Marguerite has already been mentioned. However, the input to the pedigree from Sunny's Halo's dam, Mostly Sunny, was equally important. Firstly her sire, Sunny, was 5x6 Rock Sand (by Sainfoin - Roquebrune by St Simon - St Marguerite), once via Papyrus who was 4x4 to the three quarter genetic relatives St Marguerite and Dinah.

Turning now to Mostly Sunny's dam, Doily, we find that she provided Coronach (4x3 Dinah/St Marguerite), as well as the rarely found Warden Of The Marches. The latter was the maternal grandsire of Our Boots (sire of Doily's granddam), and, believe it or not, Warden Of The Marches had Sweet Marjorie (by Kendal - St Marguerite) as his third dam. This is not the end of the story, for the pedigree of Our Boots 's dam, Maid Of Arches, also featured three more close genetic relatives to St Marguerite (by Hermit out of a Stockwell mare) in Tristan (by Hermit out of a Stockwell mare), Suicide (by Hermit out of a Rataplan mare) and Nellie (by Hermit out of a King Tom mare), King Tom being a half brother to both Stockwell and Rataplan.

One more important factor found in the pedigree of King Charlemagne and Meshaheer is the 4x5 duplication of the mare Almahmoud, as the granddam of both Northern Dancer and Halo.

Race The Wild Wind's record as a broodmare is still unblemished, reading five winners from five foals to race. Prior to King Charlemagne she produced the winning fillies Chasethewildwind (by Forty Niner), Chasetheragingwind (by Dayjur), along with the winning colt Chasethewinterwind (by Rahy).

Ironically, her full brothers King Charlemagne and Meshaheer, are owned by Michael Tabor and Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, key players behind two of the biggest powers in European racing, Coolmore and Godolphin. Who knows, perhaps next season King Charlemagne and Meshaheer will be racing against each other to prove not only which member of the family is superior, but also to provide yet another chapter in the rivalry between the racing superpowers of Coolmore and Godolphin.