Regular readers of this blog will know that our mating plans typically feature matches where the stallion fits the mare for multiple different reasons. But sometimes there’s a stallion prospect that we are just so taken with that we want to use him even though none of our own handful of mares might feature that “perfect” fit that we typically strive to identify — which is basically the case this year with our own young mare Dulce Kiara, who will be part of the first book for the exciting First Mission at Darley.
First Mission is a horse that we have been fans of throughout his racing career. After a close 2nd-place finish in his debut behind his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Bishops Bay (now a multiple graded stakes winner himself) going just six furlongs, First Mission romped by 6-3/4 lengths in his second start when stretched to 1-1/16 miles. He was stepped straight into graded company after that, and triumphed in the G3 Lexington over Arabian Lion and Disarm (who would run 4th in the Kentucky Derby next out) in just his third career start.
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First Mission was our Preakness pick off of that effort¹, though unfortunately he scratched after training at Pimlico the preceding week and went to the sidelines for six months. But he made a big impression on us at Pimlico as a big, imposing, extremely athletic individual with an excellent pedigree (as we detailed in that piece).
When First Mission returned to the races in October of that 3YO season, it was against older allowance company as the odds-on favorite, and he overcame a troubled trip and the short stretch at Keeneland to again display his guts and get up to win on the wire. That was followed by a nose loss when again favored against older rivals, this time in the historic G2 Clark Stakes to close out his sophomore campaign.
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First Mission’s 4YO season was highlighted by back-to-back wins in the G3 Essex Handicap (by 5 carrying top weight) and the G2 Alysheba (earning a 106 Beyer Speed Figure), and he came back again at 5YO to run a 109 Beyer while winning the G2 Oaklawn Handicap, and he finished a game 3rd in the G1 Stephen Foster to Mindframe and Sierra Leone. He regularly showed a high cruising speed which he carried effectively going two-turns, and plenty of determination even if he was never able to add that elusive G1 victory to his resume.
Nevertheless, his accomplishments and his physical are impressive enough to warrant a shot at stud at his birthplace, not to mention his pedigree. As we pointed out in that Preakness piece, Darley already stands Street Sense and two of his sons, but both of those are out of Bernardini mares whereas First Mission has a dam by Medaglia d’Oro, and thus offers breeders the chance to send Bernardini — and other A.P. Indy-line mares — his way in an effort to replicate what has been an extremely productive cross for Street Sense.
And that’s how we get to Dulce Kiara as the mare of ours that is likely to work with First Mission, since she is a daughter of Tapit’s son Bandbox. TrueNicks calls the Street Sense/Tapit cross an “A+” on the basis of G2 winners Concert Tour, Air Strike and ‘25 2YO G2 winner Bella Ballerina, plus five more black-type winners bred this way from just 55 runners. (And note that it doesn’t extend back to pick up A.P. Indy-line broodmares more generally, with whom Street Sense has had additional success — again, as we laid out in that previous blog.)
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It wouldn’t be enough to recommend this mating on its own, but we don’t hate that there is a Medaglia d’Oro black-type winner under Dulce Kiara’s second dam, since he is First Mission’s broodmare sire, and First Mission favors him physically.
And physically this is a matchup that should work very well also — as we said, First Mission is a big, strapping individual with an excellent, athletic walk to him, and Dulce Kiara is a very nicely-made, if medium-sized, mare who will fit him nicely in a fairly apples-to-apples pairing.
All of which hopefully points to this being a very productive mating!
Housatonic Meanderings — 2023 Preakness pick |
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**Unfortunately news came this morning that First Mission has been scratched from the Preakness with a left hind issue. We had previously completed this write-up so will share it anyway as the pedigree notes are still interesting. As far as a Preakness pick goes now, National Treasure looks to be the biggest beneficiary of the pace scenario and we lik…
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