Diverse pedigree group featured in 400,000€ Prix de France

The 400,000€ Prix de France on Sunday (Feb. 12) at Vincennes in France pits 18 of Europe’s best harness racing trotters against each other. From the 5-year-old Imhatra Am to the four 10-year-olds in the field, it’s a very diverse group of horses, especially when you breakdown each horse’s pedigree.

Vivid Wise As was a superstar already at age 2 when he won 7 out of 8 starts in his native Italy. However, the European model – and French in particular – is such that you do not need to be a child prodigy to succeed at the highest level. On the other side of the spectrum, the French mare Decoloration didn’t earn 100,000 euros in a season until she was 7. The 10-year-old mare made 265,000 euros up to and including age 7, but roughly 440,000 euros after that.

To illustrate how diverse the group is, one need only look at the 8-year-old Fado du Chene. The stallion has career earnings of 967,400 euros and has won 14 of 46 lifetime starts. Pretty much all of that is in monte (RUS), though. In fact, the son of Singalo has only made 6 starts with a sulky and in 5 of those ended outside of the money. Only 4,500 of his career earnings come from a sulky race. Yet this monte specialist is again trying his luck with a sulky. Needless to say, Fado du Chene will be a high-odds proposition on Sunday.

The Experiment

The pedigrees are also wildly different. Beads, naturally, have a wholly American pedigree. So does three other horses in the race. The first is Vivid Wise As, a son of Yankee Glide and Temple Blue Chip. The latter is by Cantab Hall and Down Does Debbie, an Andover Hall sister to Muscles Yankee. The second is Imhatra Am, a daughter to Muscle Hill and Swedish-born Breeders Crown-winner Tamla Celeber. Given that the dam is a daughter to Cantab Hall, Imhatra Am carries the very same sire x damsire cross that has produced stars including Manchego, Ariana G and Southwind Frank.

That Cantab Hall is the damsire of both of these stars is a testament to the recently deceased Hanover stallion’s huge influence.

The final wholly American-bred is Don Fanucci Zet (Hard Livin—Kissed By The West), whose pedigree is a whole different animal altogether. Trainer Daniel Reden has several times referred to Don Fanucci Zet as representing a new breed of trotter. Looking at his pedigree, it’s easy to see why. Don Fanucci Zet has a trotting sire and a pacing dam.

Nobody can accuse Reden of always copying the tried and tested approaches. He’s known for going his own ways, and in 2012 he flew to the auction in Lexington with an idea. A pretty crazy idea to most prople. In Kentucky he picked up the yearling fillies Machingbird, by Mach Three, and Kissed By The West, by Western Terror.

The initial idea was to race these pacing bred mares, then breed them. The racing aspect was abandoned, however. Though Machingbird was all trot, she was bred at age two, while Kissed By The West, who simply refused to trot a single step for Reden, was bred at age three. Reden would later describe this as a fun project that turned out wrong. He wanted a filly, but when her first two foals were colts Kissed By The West was sold.

The second foal became a real star, though. Don Fanucci Zet has won 22 of 39 career starts including the 2021 Elitlopp. By SJ’s Caviar-son Hard Livin, the sires along the maternal lines are Western Terror, Jenna’s Beach Boy and Tyler B. This mixture of trotting and pacing is experimented with by several Scandinavian breeders, primarily inspired by 1976 Hambletonian runners-up Zoot Suit, who went on to become an elite stallion in Sweden.

In recent years Googoo Gaagaa has been high in demand in Scandinavian and pacer Hayden Hanover has also been imported to Sweden to be bred to trotting mares. Googoo Gaagaa has produced several stars in Sweden, not to mention Hambletonian-winner Captain Corey.

The Hybrids

Another five horses are foreigners in France: the Italian-born duo of Ampia Mede SM and Vernissage Grif, the Swedish-born mares Dear Friend and Honey Mearas, as well as Norwegian-born International Trot winner Cokstile. All are “hybrids” in the sense they combine American and French bloodlines.

Vernissage Grif is sired by Varenne while his dam Dalia Grif is a daughter of Hambletonian-winner Park Avenue Joe. This makes him 3×3 inbred on Speedy Somolli (i.e. Speedy Somolli occurs in the 3rd generation on both the paternal and maternal side). It’s not a wholly American pedigree, though. Varenne has a French influence on this maternal side, and further back on the maternal side the same is true for Vernissage Grif.

The maternal family traces back to a familiar source in Kentucky, though. Miss Woerner was a fairly good racehorse for Walter Cox around 1930 before being exported to Italy. Further back on her maternal line we find Miss Rita born 1892. Together in tandem with Josie B, and driven by Orrin Hickok, Miss Rita set a pacing world record of 2:09 1/4 in 1896. Miss Rita is named for the then wife of W.E.D. Stokes, owner of Patchen Wilkes Farm and most notably Peter the Great.

Cokstile hails from similarly familiar genes. A son of Quite Easy, the 2007 Goodtime Stakes winner, the dam Joystile is a daughter of French legend Coktail Jet and Classical Stile, the latter by Crown Sweep out of Merrie Annabelle-winner Geraldine Broline. That win was particularly fitting, because a few steps back on the maternal line we fine Annette McElwyn, whose sister Annabella is the dam of – who else – Merrie Annabelle. The maternal family traces back to the mare Katie Kimble born 1878 in Kentucky.

Honey Mearas is a daughter to Readly Express and Swedish mare Khao Manee. Readly Express is a blue-blooded former Prix d’Amerique-winner who combines some of the very best of American and French bloodlines. He is sired by Ready Cash, while his dam Caddie Dream is by Viking Kronos. The latter, an American Winner-brother to King Conch, may just be the best European stallion of all times.

Caddie Dream’s dam Fatima Lavec is in turn by Sugarcane Hanover, winner of the March of Dimes, out of Margit Lobell, a Speedy Crown-sister to Mack Lobell. Honey Mearas’ dam Khao Manee is by Muscles Yankee out of an Express Ride-mare. Through the mare Gay Party, exported to Sweden in 1936, the maternal line hails back to the legendary Maggie H born in Kentucky in 1883.

The Swedish mare Dear Friend is a sire of French stallion Orlando Vici, whose pedigree is predominantly French except for Workaholic as his damsire. His sireline also decends from American-born The Great McKinney, a grandson of McKinney, exported to France in 1929.

Dear Friend’s maternal family is wholly American and awfully familiar. Her dam Juventas Broline is a son of Pine Chip and Canadian-born Warrawee Anken, a daughter of Balanced Image and Anken Countessa by Dream of Glory. Some generations back on the maternal line we find Volga E., herself a superstar and Kentucky Futurity-winner in 1916, not to mention a full sister to Peter Volo.

Ampia Mede SM is by French sire Ganymede, a paternal grandson of Royal Prestige, while the maternal side seems wholly French. It isn’t, however. Going back to the mare French mare Janville born 1909, we find her to be a daughter of French sire Urgent and the American import Lady Mary. The latter is by Trevillian and Maureene, born in 1883 in – where else? – Kentucky.

There is always one or two exceptions to the rule, and Ampia Mede SM’s maternal family is it. At first glance, it appears ordinary. Her dam Polimpia Slide SM is a daughter of Yankee Slide, the 2004 Breeders Crown-winner by Self Possessed (and not to be confused with Yankee Glide).

The granddam is Cup Olimpia SM by Supergill and Olympia L, the latter by Florida Pro and Swedish mare Attila L. That means Olympia L is a sister to Swedish-born Prix d’Amerique-winner Queen L.

Historically, this pedigree gets really interesting when one looks at the tail female, Roberta born 1912. She is by Pelle, a Norwegian-bred stallion by the American pacer Jordan and Russian orlov trotter Secunda. Robertas dam Rhitra is by Prisrack, an orlov trotter, and Frigga, a mare that hails back to the famous Danish castle Frederiksborg. They didn’t breed trotters, but instead lighter typer for riding and also horses from use at the royal castle. Whatever her background is, Ampia Mede SM sure can trot and is a contender to glory in Sunday’s race.

The French

The remaining nine horses are French. Of course, no French trotter has a wholly French pedigree, and all have a lot of American influences.

Hohneck is a son of Love You-son Royal Dream. The super speedy 6-year-old is 3×4 linebred on Coktail Jet and has Ready Cash as damsire. Speedy Crown and legendary French stallion Florestan, the son of Star’s Pride and Roquepine, both appears three times in his pedigree.

Prix d’Amerique-winner Hooker Berry (Booster Winner-Osaka Berry) is one of the least inbred horses in the trotting world. The French champion stallion Kerjacques, born 1954, appears a mere four times while Speedy Crown and Coktail Jet both make one appearance. His dam and maternal grandam are elite broodmares with exceptional production – with all types of stallions.

His maternal line goes back to The Substance, born 1912, whose 2:08 1/2 record made her one of the faster mares in the US immediately after WWI. Needless to say, the maternal family goes straight back to Lexington where his tail female, Ladoga born 1871, was bred. This mare is interesting as she’s a full sister to the famous Mambrino King.

A very similar situation is found in the pedigrees of Decoloration, Delia de Pommereux, Gu d’Heripre Horsy Dream, Hip Hop Haufor and Fado du Chene. On the top line, the latter goes back to the legendary Italian stalion Sharif di Iesolo, a paternal grandson of Victory Song. This sireline is crossed with that of Speedy Crown/Royal Prestige in the sire Singalo.

Coktail Jet is the damsire of Fado du Chene while Florestan-son Podosis is the damdamsire. This specific pedigree, with the particular horses Singalo and Podosis in it, is more of monte/RUS-type of pedigree and this is reflected in Fado du Chene’s affinity for the discipline, as noted above. It’s, just like Hooker Berry, a pedigree based on constantly getting fresh influences instead of just doubling or tripling up on the same horses.

But again, there is somebody who breaks the trend. Go On Boy is 2×4 inbred on Goetmals Wood. This sounds like a daring proposition on paper. Goetmals Wood tends to throw relatively large horses (quite a few over 17 hands), sometimes needing more time to develop and their temperaments often leave a lot to be desired – and I mean really a lot. But, despite their shortcomings they can trot – and their tough tempers also means they never quit.

Go On Boy’s sire Password wasn’t a typical Goetmals Wood-son, but that’s because Workaholic is his damsire. On the maternal side, Speedy Crown x2 and Florestan balances out Goetmals Wood making the pedigree an interesting mix of French and American.

Over the years a few wholly American-bred horses have won. Most recently Vivid Wise As last year. Who will win this year?

To watch the Prix de France live on the internet, click here.

by Lisa Harkema, for Harnesslink