Four broodmares set to join elite Breeders' Cup club

Win or lose, several horses at the Breeders’ Cup will make a bit of bloodstock history when they load into the starting gate.

Four broodmares will be represented by multiple starters this weekend, and several other mares who have previously produced starters in American racing’s major season-ending event will be represented by their second or third career starters. Currently, 154 mares have produced multiple Breeders’ Cup starters; by no means a small group but still a selective one, considering that there have been 3,390 individual starters since the event’s inception in 1984.

The most high-profile of the mares with multiple starters is Life Happened, the dam of champion mare Tepin, bound for a defense of her Breeders’ Cup Mile victory. Half-brother Vyjack was pre-entered in both the Mile and Dirt Mile; he is likely to start in the Dirt Mile since the Mile is oversubscribed and the selection panel excluded him from the main body of the field.

If Vyjack were to draw into the Mile, he and Tepin would be only the third pair of half-siblings to start against one another in a Breeders’ Cup event. Virginia-breds Honor the Hero and Prenup, both out of Homewrecker, were seventh and 13th in the 1994 Sprint. Good Journey, out of Chimes of Freedom, was third in the 2002 Mile; finishing 11th was half-brother Aldebaran, an eventual sprint champion.

Miss Hot Salsa, the dam of 2015 Turf Sprint winner Mongolian Saturday, also will have multiple starters on the weekend, along with the broodmares Belle Watling and Roodeye. Mongolian Saturday’s half-sister, graded stakes winner Daddys Lil Darling, will start in the Juvenile Fillies.

With half-siblings to their defending Breeders’ Cup winners going postward, Life Happened and Miss Hot Salsa will get a chance to join an even smaller group of elite broodmares – the three who have produced multiple Breeders’ Cup winners.

Hasili leads all producers with six individual Breeders’ Cup starters, including Filly and Mare Turf winners Banks Hill (2001) and Intercontinental (2005). Primal Force produced 1998 Classic winner Awesome Again and 2000 Juvenile winner Macho Uno for Adena Springs, and both have gone on to successful stallion careers for the operation, each siring a Classic winner. Sweet Life produced 2004 Juvenile Fillies winner Sweet Catomine and 2009 Ladies’ Classic winner Life Is Sweet.

Land Over Sea was seventh in the 2015 Juvenile Fillies, and her half-brother War Story was eighth in the Dirt Mile. The duo, out of the broodmare Belle Watling, are back this year. Land Over Sea will run in the Distaff; War Story was pre-entered for both the Classic and Dirt Mile. Roodeye’s daughter Prize Exhibit was fourth in the 2014 Juvenile Fillies Turf and is pre-entered for this year’s Turf Sprint. Half-brother Harbour Master is pre-entered for the Juvenile Turf.

Along with the aforementioned four mares, 10 other mares who have previously produced Breeders’ Cup starters will join the ranks of those with multiple career starters thanks to this year’s entrants. That includes Miss Macy Sue, the dam of 2015 Dirt Mile winner Liam’s Map and 2016 Juvenile contender Not This Time.

The others are Blending Element (Texas Ryano), Classic Strike (Union Strike), Glittering Tax (Miss Temple City), Issues (Accelerate), Lemons Forever (Forever Unbridled), Listen (La Coronel), Miss Simpatica (Carina Mia), Refugee (Hoppertunity), and Sun Shower (Lancaster Bomber). Occupandiste got her second Breeders’ Cup starter last year when Mondialiste ran second in the Mile, and he is pre-entered in both the Mile and Turf this year.

Joining 12 other mares with three or more Breeders’ Cup starters will be La Traviata and Imagine. La Traviata’s daughter Seventh Heaven is pre-entered for both the Turf and Filly and Mare Turf, giving a relatively young mare her third starter on the major weekend. Her others were Crusade, sixth in the 2011 Juvenile Turf, and Cristoforo Columbo, seventh in the 2013 Mile.

Dirt Mile contender Point Piper is out of Imagine, also the dam of Red Rock Canyon, sixth in the 2008 Turf, and Viscount Nelson, eighth in the 2009 Juvenile Turf.

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