In a showdown of stars, Almond Eye ended her brilliant career with a victory in Sunday’s Japan Cup. She will head on to broodmare duty next season looking to carry on the legacy of one of the best female families in the world, that of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best in Show. Stallion plans have not yet been announced. This has been an active year for Best in Show’s descendants, as her torch continues to be passed around the world three decades after her death. In addition to Almond Eye, her descendants on the track this season have included War of Will, who became a dual-surface Grade 1 winner by taking the Maker’s Mark Mile a year after winning the Preakness Stakes; Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights; Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Tacitus; Irish classic winner Siskin; and track record-setting stakes winner Mundaye Call. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales Almond Eye, who is from the first crop of Japanese Horse of the Year Lord Kanaloa – a grandson of late Kentucky standout sire Kingmambo – was bred by Northern Farm and raced for Silk Racing. She earned Japan’s Horse of the Year honors in 2018, when she swept Japan’s Filly Triple Crown and later took the Japan Cup. She retires as just the second horse to win the Japan Cup twice. She won nine Group 1 races, including the Dubai Turf at Meydan last year. In Sunday’s race, she defeated Contrail, who swept Japan’s Triple Crown this year, and Daring Tact, who won Japan’s filly triple. Almond Eye is one of eight winners from as many starters out of the Sunday Silence mare Fusaichi Pandora, also bred by Northern Farm. Fusaichi Pandora, a Group 1 winner via disqualification, also is the dam of stakes-placed Unakite. Fusaichi Pandora is out of the unraced Nureyev mare Lotta Lace, a half-sister to champions and sires El Gran Senor and Try My Best. Lotta Lace, who was sent to Japan after selling as a yearling, is a granddaughter of Best in Show, who found success both with her first-generation progeny and with later generations through the years. Best in Show, a winning Traffic Judge mare, is the dam of champion Malinowski, Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride, Group 2 winner Gielgud, and Group 3 winner Monroe. Blush With Pride is the dam of Better Than Honour, who in turn produced Kentucky Oaks and Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, an Eclipse Award champion; fellow Belmont winner Jazil; Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron; and Grade 2 winner Casino Drive. Better Than Honour’s daughter Teeming is the dam of three stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner Streaming. Blush With Pride produced Maryinsky, dam of European champion Peeping Fawn and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare. Monroe is the dam of champion Xaar. Monroe’s daughter Minnie Hauk produced Group 1 winners Aviance and Chief Contender, and her daughter Nijinsky’s Best was represented by Grade 1 winner Yagli. Aviance, in turn, is the dam of champion Aldebaran and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Chimes of Freedom and Denon. Various branches of Aviance’s family are responsible for Preakness Stakes winner War of Will, Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Spinning World, and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Good Journey and Pathfork. Other descendants of Best in Show via various daughters and granddaughters include champion Close Hatches (the dam of Tacitus), Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Domedriver, and Grade 1 winner Effinex. Another branch of her family tree flourished in Australia, where it is responsible for four-time Group 1 winner Redoute’s Choice, multiple times a leading sire, as well as Group 1 winners and sires Al Maher, Hurricane Sky, Manhattan Rain, Platinum Scissors, and Umatilla.