As the Mr. Prospector male line has expanded rapaciously over the last 30 years or so, it has remained an almost entirely American phenomenon in the eyes of the international breeding community. Although scions of Mr. Prospector account for almost as many American graded stakes winners each year as those of Northern Dancer, his male-line descendants are far less prolific in Europe, the Antipodes, South America, and Japan.

by Joe Nevills and Nicole Russo

A closer look at the pedigrees of the entrants for the 147th running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, to be contested Saturday in New York.

DRF sales editor Joe Nevills analyzes the Belmont Stakes field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku, a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.

Mubtaahij
Bred for the distance
But his Derby was so-so
Can’t get excited

Tale of Verve
Shocking Preakness run
But we’ve seen this play before
It ends off the board

Madefromlucky
Peter Pan winner
Takes a third swipe at Pharoah
On a track he likes

Charlie Boden will leave his position at Darley as head of sales at the operation’s U.S. base, Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., on July 1.

Boden has held the position since 2006, and was instrumental in managing the careers of notable stallions including Street Cry, Medaglia d’Oro, and Bernardini. Darley also led all North American farms by number of mares bred twice during his tenure.

Escena, the champion older mare of 1998, died Tuesday at Diamond A Farms in Versailles, Ky., from the infirmities of old age, BloodHorse reported. The 22-year-old daughter of Strawberry Road had been living as a pensioner at Diamond A Farms, producing her last foal, a Shackleford filly, in 2014.

Bred in Kentucky, campaigned by Allen Paulson, and trained by Bill Mott, Escena won 11 of 29 career starts for earnings of $2,962,639.

European champion Dubawi got off to a flying start as a sire, and has quickly established himself as a worldwide presence. The exciting young stallion will get a chance to conquer a new frontier with Mubtaahij, seeking to become his sire’s first American classic winner in the Belmont Stakes.

Vertigineux, the 2008 Broodmare of the Year and dam of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, died last year of colic, the Coolmore Stud Facebook page announced Tuesday.

According to the international breeding and racing operation’s post, the daughter of Kris S. was sent to Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky., but efforts to save the mare were unsuccessful. She was 20 years old.

Grade 2-placed Lion Hearted, a mainstay among the Maryland sire ranks, died May 28 of an apparent heart attack after breeding a mare at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md.

The 19-year-old son of Storm Cat stood at Northview Stallion Station for his entire career at stud, arriving at the farm for the 2001 breeding season. He stood his final year for an advertised fee of $2,500.

A year ago, Tonalist won the Belmont Stakes to deny California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid. The victory was one milestone en route to a record-setting season for his sire, Gainesway stallion Tapit.

American Pharoah’s march toward his date with destiny in the Belmont Stakes is very much a team effort. Those at the helm are well known, as Zayat Stables’ homebred champion and dual classic winner is in the hands of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and multiple classic-winning jockey Victor Espinoza. Assisting in the wings is a team that includes assistant trainers Jimmy and Dana Barnes, exercise riders Jorge Alvarez and Martin Garcia, and groom Eduardo Garcia.