Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Cezanne

Cezanne

Curlin – Achieving, by Bernardini

Bred in Kentucky by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and St. Elias Stables ($3.65 million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old purchase by M.V. Magnier)

The pricey Cezanne, who won his highly anticipated career debut last weekend at Santa Anita, sports the definition of a classic pedigree. The colt’s sire and broodmare sire both won the Preakness Stakes; his sire is already represented by a pair of American classic winners; and he is from the extended family of a pair of Belmont Stakes winners.

Two-time Horse of the Year Curlin competed with distinction in all three 2007 Triple Crown races in a strong crop, finishing third in the Kentucky Derby to juvenile champion Street Sense, winning the Preakness over that foe, and was narrowly bested by the champion filly Rags to Riches when second in the Belmont.

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Curlin, winner of the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2008 Dubai World Cup, was represented by a classic winner or classic-placed runner from each of his first six crops, led by 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice and 2016 Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator. He also is the sire of 2014 Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin; 2015 Belmont third-place finisher Keen Ice, who later defeated Triple Crown winner American Pharoah at a classic distance in the Travers; 2017 Belmont runner-up Irish War Cry; and Good Magic, runner-up in the 2018 Derby.

Achieving, a maiden winner sprinting on synthetic, is the dam of Arabian Hope, a Group 1-placed stakes winner in England who was a Group 3 winner in Turkey. Achieving also has produced stakes winner Counterforce, by Smart Strike (the sire of Curlin). Achieving is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Streaming, stakes winners Treasuring and Cascading, and stakes-placed Distracting and Gifting. Streaming and Treasuring are both by Smart Strike.

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Achieving’s second dam is the Grade 2 winner and blue hen Better Than Honour, the dam of back-to-back Belmont Stakes winners Jazil and Rags to Riches, Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron, and Grade 2 winner Casino Drive.

Rags to Riches also won the Kentucky Oaks to earn her Eclipse Award championship. Better Than Honour is a half-sister to several other stakes producers, including Maryinsky, dam of European champion Peeping Fawn, and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare.

Bernardini, winner of the 2006 Preakness Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup, is an emerging broodmare sire. His daughters have produced Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress and Grade 1 winners Catholic Boy, Dunbar Road, Hunter O’Riley, and Mo Town in recent years.