2011 Queen's Plate: DIGGING DEEP

The 152nd Queen’s Plate was won dramatically by Inglorious, remarkably the 34th time a filly has beaten the boys in this classic. And it marked the second Queen’s Plate win for lady trainer Josie Carroll, following her 2006 win with Edenwold. Racing 12th early in the race, Inglorious flew down the stretch, leaving the pacesetters floundering in her wake.

Inglorious (Hennessy-Noble Strike, by Smart Strike) was a $90,000 yearling purchase by her owners, Donna and Vern Dubinsky of Sherwood Park, Alberta. And they were specifically looking for a yearling by Hennessy, a sprinting son of champion sire Storm Cat who never won beyond sevenfurlongs. But those wins included the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, along with a close second in the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) that probably cost him the two-year-old championship. For his brief career, Hennessy showed four wins and three seconds in his nine lifetime starts at ages two and three. Now deceased, Hennessy shuttled between hemispheres for most of his stud career, siring over 1300 foals with 82% runners, 57% winners, and now 74 stakes winners (6%), through July 1, 2011.

On the maternal side, the dam of Inglorious is Noble Strike, a daughter of Smart Strike (Mr. Prospector) with strong Canadian ties. Smart Strike is from the fine mare Classy ‘N Smart who won the 1984 Canadian Oaks and later produced the great filly Dance Smartly, herself a female winner of the Queen’s Plate. The first three dams of Inglorious are all impressive stakes winners on the racetrack, yet their broodmare production has been relatively modest.

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Inglorious’ dam, Noble Strike, won three of 18 starts and the Belle Geste Stakes, good for $235,456, but she has produced only two winners from her first five foals, including Inglorious. The second dam, Green Noble (Green Dancer), was a multiple stakes-winner $348,239, but produced little else besides Noble Strike from 13 foals. And third dam Hattab Voladora was a stakes winner of 18 races and $140,726, and her first eight foals were all winners, but modest ones other than Green Noble. Fourth dam, Wonderful Gal, had only two minor wins from eight starts, but she was a full-sister to the fine racehorse and sire, Al Hattab (The Axe II).

Inglorious herself is now over the million-dollar mark in earnings, with five wins in seven starts, including a perfect five for five at Woodbine. Looking at her pedigree we find linebreeding of 4×5 to Northern Dancer, and 5×5-Bold Ruler, both grandsons of the undefeated European champion Nearco. She is also deeply linebred 6x6x7x6- Nasrullah, a pattern fast becoming a hallmark of the breed. (Her dam, Noble Strike is 5x6x5-Nasrullah.)

In the broader sense, Inglorious is also a product of the cross between Storm Cat and Mr. Prospector, which has produced many stakes winners, including the likes of Tale of the Cat and Speightstown.

And a clever bit of linebreeding also deserves mention here. Inglorious’s grandsire, Storm Cat, is a product of the Northern Dancer x Bold Ruler cross, with his second dam by Spy Song. Inglorious’s granddam, Green Noble, is also a product of the Northern Dancer x Bold Ruler cross, with a dose of Spy Song closeup. It was a recipe that worked for Storm Cat, so repeating this pattern through linebreeding on the dam’s side certainly makes sense, and Inglorious’s success on the racetrack clearly underlines the point.

Turning to the second and third finishers in the Queen’s Plate, Hippolytus and Pender Harbour, it’s certainly noteworthy that both are from the first crop of Philanthropist (Kris S.), a grandson of Epsom Derby winner Roberto. Philanthropist won six times from 18 starts, including the Grade III Queen’s County at Aqueduct, while earning $266,430 lifetime. He stands at Gardiner Farms Ltd. in Ontario.