The fields are set for the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 6 and 7 respectively and handicapping and pedigree study have reached a fever pitch. No race’s entrants have their bloodlines dissected quite like the Derby as owners and breeders and bettors alike all seek that winning magic formula.
Nearly all of the Derby entrants can count Secretariat as an ancestor at some point. The 1973 Triple Crown legend factors especially as the broodmare sire of A.P. Indy, Gone West, and Storm Cat.
The outliers lacking Secretariat are Tawny Port, Summer Is Tomorrow, and Rich Strike.
Several sires have a shot at the Oaks/Derby double
In the 148-year history of the Churchill Downs classic, only four times has a stallion sired the winner of Derby and its counterpart for fillies, the Kentucky Oaks (G1), in the same year. King Alfonso (1885), *McGee (1918), Bull Lea (1952), and Native Dancer (1966) could welcome a new member into the exclusive club. Four stallions have runners in both races, and a fifth sire has a Derby also-eligible.
Gun Runner goes for the double with his undefeated champion daughter Echo Zulu in the Oaks, where he also has Beguine as the also-eligible, before Taiba and Cyberknife try the Derby. Upstart likewise has a prime Oaks chance in Kathleen O., who could be the opening act for Derby fancy Zandon.
Uncle Mo’s filly Cocktail Moments would be a surprise in the Oaks, unlike Mo Donegal in the Derby. Munnings sends out unbeaten UAE Oaks (G3) heroine Shahama in addition to Derby hope Zozos. Connect needs Rattle N Roll to draw into the Derby as number 22 on the list, but his daughter Hidden Connection is safely in the Oaks field.
Northern Dancer has six male-line descendants in the field
Six contenders come from the sire line of 1964 Kentucky Derby victor and breed-shaping patriarch, Northern Dancer.
Half of these are representatives of the Storm Cat branch via Giant’s Causeway. The late, great “Iron Horse” has a final chance of siring a Derby winner in Classic Causeway. But Giant’s Causeway’s up-and-coming son Not This Time has two major chances with Epicenter and Simplification.
Two others hail from the Danzig branch, both as grandsons of War Front. Tiz the Bomb is by Hit It a Bomb, while Summer Is
Tomorrow is a son of Summer Front.
Happy Jack, as a son of Oxbow, descends from the Canadian/Ontario-breds Deputy Minister branch via Awesome Again. Oxbow, sixth in the 2013 Derby before rebounding in the Preakness (G1), sired last year’s promoted Derby runner-up Hot Rod Charlie.
More Canada comes from Messier, whose sire and dam, Smart Strike and Checkered Past, are both Sam-Son Farms bred horses, foaled in Milton, ON. Messier’s first three generations are packed with Ontario breds.
Pioneerof the Nile and Uncle Mo have already sired a Derby winner
Two sires of contenders are already responsible for a Derby winner. Pioneerof the Nile, himself runner-up in the 2009 Derby, sired 2015 Triple Crown star American Pharoah. He has two chances on Saturday, albeit with outsiders Tawny Port and Pioneer of Medina.
Champion Uncle Mo, who was scratched from the 2011 Derby, sired 2016 hero Nyquist. Uncle Mo has a prominent player in Mo Donegal.
Ten contenders descend from the sire line of Native Dancer
Although Native Dancer suffered his lone career defeat in the 1953 Kentucky Derby, by a head after a frustrating trip, the “Gray Ghost” has left his genetic imprint on the breed. Ten of Saturday’s runners trace to his sire line, all via Native Dancer’s son Raise a Native.
Smile Happy descends from Raise a Native’s Derby-winning son, Majestic Prince (1969), who is himself the paternal ancestor of Super Saver. The 2010 Derby hero, Super Saver is the grandsire of Smile Happy (by Runhappy).
The other nine contenders hail from various branches of the line established by Raise a Native’s prolific son, Mr. Prospector.
Five of them count the “Mr. P” stallion Fappiano as their male-line ancestor. Messier is by 2003 Derby runner-up Empire Maker, also sire of the aforementioned Pioneerof the Nile who has Tawny Port and Pioneer of Medina. Empire Maker is by Fappiano’s 1990 Derby champion Unbridled. Taiba and Cyberknife are both by hot young sire Gun Runner, who goes back to another Fappiano son, Cryptoclearance. Gun Runner was third in the 2016 Derby, and late-running Cryptoclearance was fourth in 1987.
Mr. P’s son Gone West factors in the sire line of both Ethereal Road and Zozos. Ethereal Road is by Quality Road, the 2014 Derby favorite until he had to scratch. Quality Road, like 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones, is a son of Elusive Quality. Zozos is by Munnings, a son of champion sprinter Speightstown.
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