|
|
|
The crux of our mating ideology is, generally, to try and duplicate what has already worked for other members of a mare’s female family. In the case of Littlemissperfect, we hope to replicate the success of her dam’s full-sister, Procession, who produced Proceed Bee, a Grade 3 winner of 20 races, when bred to the Storm Cat stallion Bernstein. To that end, for Littlemissperfect’s first mate we have selected the Grade 2 winner Fed Biz, by Giant’s Causeway and thus a grandson of Storm Cat.
Nor is Proceed Bee is the only stakes winner from Littlemissperfect’s female family sired by a Storm Cat-line horse, as her relatives also include Grade 3 victor With Distinction (sired by Storm Cat himself), while black-type winners Grand Prix and Knit One Purr Too are both sired by Storm Cat’s son Tale of the Cat.
Those successes with Tale of the Cat are particularly noteworthy here, as Fed Biz’s dam, Spunoutacontrol (by Wild Again) is a half-sister to Tale of the Cat. Fed Biz is also related to the successful runners and stallions Johannesburg (a grandson of Storm Cat) and Pulpit, all of them hailing from this noted “stallion family” that traces back to Narrate and her granddam Monarchy, a full-sister to Round Table, and which has had significant success when mated with Storm Cat-line horses. Littlemissperfect’s female family has also produced the Grade 2 winner Sightseeing, by Pulpit, so the female families have crossed successfully more than once. And having noted that Spunoutacontrol is by Wild Again, it is worth mentioning that Mustang Jock, a stakes-placed winner of over $100,000 and sired by Wild Again, shares a second dam with Littlemissperfect.
As Littlemissperfect herself is sired by the Street Cry stallion Street Hero, this mating also creates some similarities to the pedigree of Group 1 winner (and now leading sire) Shamardal – the first high-class runner by Giant’s Causeway, who is out of a full-sister to Street Cry. The cross of Giant’s Causeway and his sons with Street Cry-line mares has produced 2017 multiple Grade 2 winner Sharp Samurai, among others.
One of the more interesting aspects of this mating is that it creates 5×5 inbreeding to the Janney family’s mare Shenanigans, best known as the dam of Ruffian. In this case, Shenanigans will appear “sex-balanced” through her son, Icecapade (sire of Wild Again), and her daughter, Laughter (dam of Littlemissperfect’s broodmare sire, Private Terms). Also noteworthy here is the appearance 5×4 of the champion 2-year-old Storm Bird via his similarly-bred sons Storm Cat and Summer Squall (who are both out of Secretariat mares). Storm Bird’s close relative, Nijinsky II, will also appear in the fourth generation of this foal.
Beyond the pedigree positives to recommend this mating, Littlemissperfect and Fed Biz match up well in terms of their racing proclivities, as well. Littlemissperfect was a hard-knocking, versatile mare who won 11 of 47 starts from ages 2 through 6, with victories on dirt and turf from 7 furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth, at eight different tracks.
Fed Biz, meanwhile, was a $950,000 yearling purchase who won six of his 19 starts from 2 through 5, with victories on dirt and all-weather (he was also Grade 1-placed on turf) from 7 furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth, setting track records at both of those distances.
A maiden winner in his second start at 2, going one mile on December 30th, Fed Biz added a one-mile allowance tally in his sophomore debut in February to step onto the Kentucky Derby trail. He ended up missing the Triple Crown, though, going to the sidelines until August, when he returned with his first stakes victory in the El Cajon at Del Mar, out-battling Jimmy Creed with Private Zone further back. Fed Biz followed up that victory with a 3rd in the G2 Indiana Derby, then was off the board in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the G1 Malibu to close out his 3-year-old season.
Returning at 4, Fed Biz showed his guts again to take the G2 San Fernando, then was 3rd in the G2 Strub, 3rd in the G1 Kilroe Mile (his turf debut), and 2nd in the turfy Thunder Road Stakes. After a 5th in the G1 Met Mile, he tried turf again when 4th in the G1 Eddie Read, then found the winner’s circle following a track record performance in the 7-furlong, G2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar (when they had an all-weather surface). Fed Biz ran once more at 4-years-old, when he was again off the board in the G1 BC Dirt Mile.
Off eight months thereafter, Fed Biz returned with another track record-setting win at Del Mar, this time romping in the mile-and-a-sixteenth G2 San Diego Handicap. Unlike his off-the-pace win in the previous year’s Pat O’Brien, this time Fed Biz went wire-to-wire to eclipse Zenyatta’s mark over the surface and distance. Second after that when attempting to defend his title in the Pat O’Brien, Fed Biz ran champion Shared Belief to a neck in the G1 Awesome Again going a mile-and-an-eighth, before, unsuccessfully, trying the G1 BC Dirt Mile for a third time to close out his career.
Fed Biz retired to WinStar for $12,500 after that, and his first foals were well-enough thought of to consider him a value sire heading into the 2017 breeding season (when he stood for $10,000, as he does in 2018), and they sold well again last year as yearlings, including a $300,000 colt. Fed Biz’s first 2-year-olds will reach the races this year, and as we laid out a few months back, we think he’s poised to become a top sire.
Physically, Fed Biz and Littlemissperfect are both good-sized horses with plenty of leg (though he’s significantly more muscular and she’s a bit longer-bodied) who should make a nice like-to-like pairing to kick off Littlemissperfect’s reproductive career.
Fed Biz sets a new track record in the G2 San Diego
Fed Biz sets a new track record in the G2 Pat O’Brien
Fed Biz wins the G2 San Fernando
Fed Biz breezing in advance of the 2014 BC Dirt Mile