Breeders’ Cup Sires: Into Mischief, Dubawi, More Than Ready in tie with Curlin

Hovering in the background of the 14 Breeders’ Cup events is another race of sorts – among sires, for the most wins at the championships. 

At the conclusion of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, you might say that the sires’ race currently stands as a quadruple dead-heat. Four stallions now share the all-time record of eight wins by their progeny.

The Gang of Four

Hall of Famer Curlin, who had stood alone when setting the record last year, was joined by Into Mischief on Friday. Dubawi and More Than Ready followed suit on Saturday with their eighth trophy.

Perennial leading sire Into Mischief scored Breeders’ Cup win number eight with Citizen Bull in the Juvenile (G1). But this represented just the second two-year-old winner for Into Mischief, after Wonder Wheel in the 2022 Juvenile Fillies (G1). 

Although Into Mischief never raced in the Breeders’ Cup himself, he’s a half-brother to a couple of famous winners in Beholder and Mendelssohn. Beholder captured three Breeders’ Cup events during her Hall of Famer career, the 2012 Juvenile Fillies and two editions of the Distaff (G1) (2013 and 2016). Mendelssohn landed the 2017 Juvenile Turf (G1). 

Dubawi’s son Rebel’s Romance is responsible for two of his record haul, as the 2022 Turf (G1) star reclaimed his crown on Saturday. Yibir (2021) had also won the Turf for Dubawi. The only sires with more Turf wins are Sadler’s Wells and Galileo with four apiece.

The greatest bequest from the sole crop of Dubai Millennium, Dubawi has a few Breeders’ Cup veterans in his pedigree. Paternal grandsire Seeking the Gold was runner-up to Alysheba in the 1988 Classic (G1); Dubawi’s dam, Zomaradah, placed third in the inaugural Filly & Mare Turf (G1) in 1999; and Zomaradah is herself out of a mare by Dancing Brave, a subpar fourth as the favorite in the 1986 Turf.

More Than Ready had been stuck on number seven since Uni’s victory in the 2019 Mile (G1). More Than Looks finished with a flourish in Saturday’s renewal to elevate him to a share of the record.

In his only Breeders’ Cup appearance, More Than Ready closed for fifth to Kona Gold in the 2000 Sprint (G1). But he comes from the family of two-time Breeders’ Cup heroine Stephanie’s Kitten, who won the 2011 Juvenile Fillies Turf and the 2015 Filly & Mare Turf. 

Breeders’ Cup champions Ghostzapper, Gun Runner, Nyquist add to totals

Hall of Famer Ghostzapper celebrated his fourth Breeders’ Cup win courtesy of Moira in the Filly & Mare Turf. Ghostzapper thereby equaled the feat of his own sire, Awesome Again. The other Ghostzapper winners came in the Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), Judy the Beauty (2014) and Goodnight Olive (2022-23)

Nor is this the first time that the son echoed the father. Ghostzapper emulated Awesome Again, the 1998 Classic winner, when romping in his record-setting Classic in 2004. But in the sires’ race, Ghostzapper is still chasing his older half-brother City Zip, who has sent out five Breeders’ Cup winners.

When Sierra Leone won Saturday’s Classic like his Hall of Fame sire Gun Runner, they became the third father and son tandem to do so. Curlin (2007) and Vino Rosso (2019) were hitherto the only pair succeeding Awesome Again and Ghostzapper.

Gun Runner’s initial Breeders’ Cup champion was Echo Zulu in the 2021 Juvenile Fillies. Given his race record, and close pedigree connections to the Classic, Gun Runner is likely to come up with more contenders in the future. His dam, Quiet Giant, is by 2000 Classic runner-up Giant’s Causeway, and she is a half-sister to 2005 Classic-winning Horse of the Year Saint Liam.

Nyquist celebrated his second Juvenile Fillies victory with Immersive, following his first-crop daughter Vequist (2020). The fillies are third-generation Breeders’ Cup winners, since Nyquist, the 2015 Juvenile champion, is himself by 2010 Juvenile standout Uncle Mo. Interestingly, Uncle Mo’s other Breeders’ Cup winner was also precocious – Golden Pal, the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) winner who doubled up in the 2021 Turf Sprint (G1). 

Wootton Bassett, Frankel send out winners for second straight year

Wootton Bassett increased his total to three wins when Henri Matisse got up in the Juvenile Turf. He became his sire’s second straight winner of this race, after Unquestionable (2023). Wootton Bassett earned his first Breeders’ Cup score with Audarya in the 2020 Filly & Mare Turf.

All-time great Frankel furnished the Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine, Lake Victoria, who extended her record to a perfect 5-for-5. Frankel opened his Breeders’ Cup account last year with Inspiral in the Filly & Mare Turf. 

Six new members of Breeders’ Cup sires’ club

Two sons of Medaglia d’Oro came up with their first Breeders’ Cup winners on Saturday. Fast Anna’s Thorpedo Anna put herself into the Horse of the Year discussion in her Distaff jaunt, and Atreides’ daughter Soul of an Angel upset the Filly & Mare Sprint. 

Medaglia d’Oro, twice second as the Classic favorite (2002-03), has gained compensation by siring four Breeders’ Cup winners. Three were females – Songbird (2015 Juvenile Fillies), New Money Honey (2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf), and Bar of Gold (2017 Filly & Mare Sprint) – with Talismanic (2017 Turf) the lone male. So it’s intriguing that Fast Anna and Atreides have made headlines because of their daughters.

Fast Anna, who was fifth in the 2010 Sprint, is himself out of 2006 Juvenile Fillies champion Dreaming of Anna. This is the further family of champion Kitten’s Joy, runner-up as the 7-10 favorite in the 2004 Turf, and Justenuffhumor, third in the 2009 Mile.

Atreides also has significant maternal connections as a son of multiple Grade 1 vixen Dream Rush, the fifth-placer in the inaugural Filly & Mare Sprint in 2007. His half-sister is Dreaming of Julia, the 2012 Frizette (G1) winner and Juvenile Fillies third, who went on to produce 2022 Distaff champion Malathaat. 

Medaglia d’Oro traces to Sadler’s Wells, whose full brother Fairy King is the male-line ancestor of Starlust, the Turf Sprint surprise package. Starlust is by Australian-bred Zoustar, a scion of Encosta de Lago via Northern Meteor. Fairy King himself made an impact on the 2003 Turf with his globetrotting son Falbrav, who was a near-miss third to dead-heaters High Chaparral and Johar. 

Juvenile Turf Sprint hero Magnum Force is by Mehmas, who came close to a Breeders’ Cup coup when his daughter Malavath was second in the 2021 Juvenile Fillies Turf. Mehmas himself is a son of Acclamation, also the sire of 2018 Mile winner Expert Eye. 

Sprint victor Straight No Chaser and Dirt Mile (G1) upsetter Full Serrano represent the sire lines of Breeders’ Cup winners. 

Straight No Chaser’s sire, Speightster, is by 2004 Sprint champion Speightstown. Himself the sire of a pair of Breeders’ Cup winners, Speightstown is responsible for Tamarkuz (2016 Dirt Mile) and Sharing (2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf). 

Full Serrano’s sire, Full Mast, is a son of Mizzen Mast, whose progeny won four Breeders’ Cup races – Mizdirection (2012-13 Turf Sprint), Flotilla (Juvenile Fillies Turf), and Caravel (2022 Turf Sprint). Mizzen Mast is in turn by 1985 Mile star Cozzene, sire of Tikkanen (1994 Turf) and Alphabet Soup (1996 Classic).

Postscript on broodmare sires

Although it’s beyond the scope of this piece to delve into broodmare sires, those who were Breeders’ Cup winners themselves deserve a nod.

Uncle Mo, mentioned above in the exploits of Nyquist, also sired the dam of Thorpedo Anna. 

Unbridled’s Song, the 1995 Juvenile hero and sire of six Breeders’ Cup winners, factors as the broodmare sire of Moira.

Johannesburg, the transatlantic Juvenile champion of 2001, sired the dam of Straight No Chaser. For added measure, Straight No Chaser’s second dam is by 1986 Juvenile scorer Capote. 

Also worthy of mention is the broodmare sire of Rebel’s Romance, Street Cry. Third in the 2000 Juvenile, Street Cry belongs to Breeders’ Cup history as the sire of Hall of Famer Zenyatta (2008 Distaff and 2009 Classic) and Juvenile winners New Year’s Day (2013) and Street Sense (2006). Street Cry also appears as the broodmare sire of 2019 Classic victor Vino Rosso and 2023 Juvenile Fillies scorer Just F Y I.