Queen's Plate pedigree profile: Merveilleux
Merveilleux
Paynter–Breech Inlet, by Holy Bull
Bred in Ontario by Mike Carroll ($45,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Jeffrey Bloom, agent; $150,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring 2-year-old purchase by Al and Bill Ulwelling)
Paynter gained national popularity with his recovery from illness and laminitis to race at a high level. He is now giving the impression of being a stamina source early in his stud career and is chasing classic wins in both the United States and Canada this September.
Paynter is by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Awesome Again and out of a full sister to two-time Classic winner Tiznow. Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow also is in this immediate family.
Paynter finished a close second in the 2012 Belmont Stakes before winning the Haskell Invitational. He is the sire of three graded stakes winners, Knicks Go, Lazy Daisy, and Ms Peintour. Their major wins all came around two turns, including Ms Peintour’s win in the Grade 3 Astra Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on the turf this past January. Paynter is expected to be represented in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 by Winning Impression, a maiden winner at 1 1/16 miles and fourth (placed third upon the medication disqualification of winner Charlatan) in a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
Breech Inlet, who posted her only win at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, is the dam of two winners in Merveilleux, a winner at 1 1/16 miles on synthetic and recently third in the Woodbine Oaks, and Islay Inlet, a winner at six furlongs on turf. Breech Inlet is a half-sister to Bauble Queen, a Grade 2 winner routing on the turf and the dam of Grade 3 San Francisco Mile winner Blitzkreig. They also are half-sisters to stakes winner Leamington.
Holy Bull is the broodmare sire of Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Judy the Beauty and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Caravaggio, Connect, Dr. Zic, My Great Love, and Silent Cat. Judy the Beauty is by Awesome Again’s son Ghostzapper, making her bred on the same cross as Merveilleux.