Gamine a part of Ruffian's extended family

Gamine stole the show on Belmont Stakes Day by devastating the field in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes by 18 3/4 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 110. Her time for the mile was 1:32.55, a stakes record and just off Najran’s track record of 1:32.24, set in 2003.

The stakes record for the Acorn was once held by the great and star-crossed Ruffian, who won the 1975 edition by 8 1/4 lengths in 1:34 2/5, before times were recorded in hundredths. While Gamine has a long way to go before being mentioned in the same breath as Ruffian and other greats, she does share a blood link with that champion as she is inbred to her speedy half-brother Icecapade.

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Gamine, who sold for a sale-record $1.8 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, is by leading sire Into Mischief, who is out of blue hen Leslie’s Lady. Leslie’s Lady’s sire, Tricky Creek, is by Icecapade’s son Clever Trick. Meanwhile, Gamine is out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane, who is out of the Chief Seattle mare Seattle Splash. Chief Seattle is out of the Icecapade mare Skatingonthinice.

Icecapade, foaled in 1969, was by Nearctic and out of the stakes-placed Native Dancer mare Shenanigans, the dam of Ruffian. Shenanigans also produced Grade 2 winner Buckfinder and finished her career with six winners from as many starters.

Icecapade, who once ran six furlongs at Monmouth in a track-record 1:08, won 13 of 32 starts in three seasons of racing before retiring to stud in Kentucky. He is best known for siring Wild Again, winner of the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1984. He also sired 1990 Canadian Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Izvestia, Canadian champion Kingsbridge, and Italian champion Ice Cool.

Wild Again went on to be a successful sire in his own right, represented by 2002 Belmont Stakes winner Sarava, 1997 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Elmhurst, Canadian champion and Grade 1 winner Wilderness Song, Canadian champion Free At Last, Metropolitan Handicap winner Wild Rush, two-time Santa Anita Handicap winner Milwaukee Brew, and Grade 1 winners A Wild Ride, Offlee Wild, Shine Again, Wild Event, and Vicar.