Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Jackie's Warrior

We know Jackie’s Warrior has plenty of speed—he displayed it quite clearly when posting a gate-to-wire victory in the one-mile Champagne (G1) at Belmont Park, prevailing by 5 1/2 lengths to join the Road to the Kentucky Derby is resounding fashion.

But does Jackie’s Warrior have the stamina to be effective over classic distances? That’s the question handicappers must consider as Jackie’s Warrior marches toward the Kentucky Derby.

Generally speaking, Jackie’s Warrior’s sire—Maclean’s Music—is known for speed more than stamina. A blazingly fast debut winner sprinting 6 furlongs at Santa Anita, Maclean’s Music’s progeny win at an average distance of just 6.2 furlongs, with 2018 Champagne winner Complexity and Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) winner Classic Rock among his best runners.

But Maclean’s Music himself has the breeding to be more than a sprinter. A son of Distorted Humor, who has sired classic winners Funny Cide and Drosselmeyer, Maclean’s Music was produced by the Unbridled’s Song mare Forest Music, also dam of the graded stakes-winning routers Electric Forest and Uncle Chuck. Even better, Maclean’s Music seemed to pass some of this endurance on to his accomplished son Cloud Computing, upset winner of the 2017 Preakness (G1).

Cloud Computing’s dam was sired by 1992 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner A.P. Indy, a renowned source of stamina, so it’s encouraging that Jackie’s Warrior is the result of a similar cross. Jackie’s Warrior is the third named foal produced by the durable sprinter Unicorn Girl, who compiled a 19-for-54 record competing primarily against claiming company.

Unicorn Girl is a daughter of A. P. Five Hundred, a son of A.P. Indy who sold for $700,000 as a yearling. A half-brother to the two-time stakes-winning router Gold Streamer, A. P. Five Hundred failed to win a stakes of his own, with a third-place finish in the 2002 Super Derby (G2) ranking as his best effort. Given a brief chance at stud in the U.S., A. P. Five Hundred was soon sent to Chile, leaving behind little of note among his American foals.

Little of note, that is, until Unicorn Girl foaled Jackie’s Warrior. Now A. P. Five Hundred is back in the spotlight as the dam sire of a major Kentucky Derby contender. If Jackie’s Warrior has inherited any of the stout bloodlines descending through A. P. Five Hundred, then this stamina—coupled with the speed of Maclean’s Music—could make Jackie’s Warrior very dangerous over classic distances.