Stu's Fam!

So, let's talk about Stu's fam! For starters, his JC name is String Music, and he ran one whole race....where he was dead last until the homestretch, and only passed some horses because they faded due to actually exerting themselves. 

Anyway. Stu's sire was Street Cry.

What a chunk...

Street Cry won the 2002 Dubai World Cup, the 2002 Stephen Foster Handicap, and placed in the 2002 Whitney Handicap, but he's probably best known for siring both Zenyatta and Street Sense. He stood at Jonabell Farm, with a $150,000 stud fee, then later stood at the Darley Stud in NSW. Oliver Tait, Darley's COO, said that he produced "easy horses to train" that were "tough, willing, and genuine." He was euthanised in 2014 due to a neurological condition, though I'm unsure of the exact condition (would love to know). He sired 7 Grade I winners prior to his death. 

Street Cry goes back to the well-known, polarizing Mr. Prospector, via his sire, Machiavellian. 

The infamous Mr. P.

Mr. Prospector was fast, sired gobs of foals, but is also vilified for passing along crooked legs and soundness issues. With that said, he's sired some sound ones - Fappiano is a great example of a TB that a lot of us "like to see" in a pedigree when picking a prospect. 

With that said, Machiavellian's dam, Coup de Folie, was sired by Halo, who was by Hail To Reason, two names I very much like seeing in a pedigree! Granted, they are very far back in Stu's lines, but I was still pleased to see them. Her dam was by Hoist The Flag, another nice sporthorse name, and by Natalma - who was Northern Dancer's dam, too. 

Halo / Hail To Reason - both droolworthy, even if Halo was batshit. 

Stu's damline starts with Contralto, a 2002 model with one start. I can't find anything on her, other than that, unfortunately. However, what's so exciting about her is her sire, A.P. Indy.

I see a lot of him in Stu...

A.P. Indy was the 1992 Horse of the Year. He won the Peter Pan Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths, then went on to win the Belmont in 2:26, and eventually the Breeder's Cup Classic, which was the final race of his career. His dam, Weekend Surprise, also sired Danzig, a name I wish was in Stu's pedigree. A.P. Indy went on to sire horses such as Pulpit, Rags To Riches, and Bernardini. His sire, of course, was Seattle Slew. 

Seattle Slew - 1977 Triple Crown winner.

Contralto's dam was Note Musicale, who was by Sadler's Wells - yet another great name in a sporthorse pedigree.

Sadler's wells - such a looker.

Sadler's Wells won the Irish 2000 Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes, and the Phoenix Champion Stakes. He later went on to be the leading sire in GB and Ireland 14 times, and sired 323 stakes winners! His name is found in several UL event horse pedigrees. 

Two other names way back in Stu's family are Buckpasser (1966 Horse of The Year), Secretariat (though that's not surprising, haha).

Of course, you always have to look at the horse in front of you, but there's something fun about researching bloodlines. 

:D