Pedigree fun facts: 2024 Belmont Stakes

Jun 05, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Protective (inside) and Mindframe work for the Belmont

Protective (inside) and stablemate Mindframe call to mind the Parthenon frieze in this photo of their workout (Photo by Coglianese Photos)

Because Saturday’s Belmont (G1) at Saratoga is held over 1 1/4 miles, rather than the customary 1 1/2-mile distance at Belmont Park, the pedigree connections to past runnings might not be as salient. A more direct indicator would be the Travers (G1), contested at this track and trip.

Seize the Grey is by the late Hall of Famer Arrogate, who famously conquered the 2016 Travers in a track-record 1:59.36. Arrogate sired last year’s Belmont and Travers champion, Arcangelo.

If Seize the Grey prevails, Arrogate would join the club of sires with back-to-back Belmont winners. Bookending that list are the breed-shaping patriarch Lexington and current stallion Tapit, who hold the joint record of siring four Belmont winners overall. Lexington’s quartet includes Kingfisher (1870) and Saunterer (1871) in consecutive years, and Tapit likewise went back-to-back courtesy of Creator (2016) and Tapwrit (2017).

Other sires with two consecutive Belmont winners are *Australian (sire of Joe Daniels and Springbok in 1872-73); Commando (sire of Peter Pan and all-time great Colin in 1907-08); the sublime Man o’ War, sire of back-to-back scorers American Flag (1925) and Crusader (1926) as well as Triple Crown star War Admiral (1937); Triple Crown hero Gallant Fox (sire of fellow Triple Crown sweeper Omaha in 1935 and Granville in 1936); and Triple Crown legend Count Fleet (sire of Counterpoint and One Count in 1951-52).

Aside from Arrogate, the only other sire going for a second Belmont winner is Constitution, whose son Tiz the Law won the 1 1/8-mile edition during the pandemic-scrambled 2020 Triple Crown calendar. Constitution has the unbeaten Mindframe making his stakes debut here in the third jewel. Mindframe is out of a mare by 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) champion Street Sense.

Constitution is himself by the prolific Belmont sire Tapit. Initially responsible for Tonalist (2014), Tapit brought up his total to four when champion Essential Quality scored in 2021.

Tapit is a scion of the male line of 1977 Triple Crown legend Seattle Slew, via his Hall of Fame son A.P. Indy, who won the 1992 Belmont. A.P. Indy factors as the paternal grandsire of Belmont contender Honor Marie.

Honor Marie’s sire, Honor Code, is a champion son of A.P. Indy. The winner of both of his starts at Saratoga, Honor Code got up in dramatic last-to-first fashion in his career debut as well as in the 2015 Whitney (G1). In his first crop, Honor Code sired Max Player, who was third in the shortened 2020 Belmont.

Sierra Leone counts A.P. Indy as an ancestor on his maternal side. He’s out of Grade 1 winner Heavenly Love, a daughter of the A.P. Indy stallion Malibu Moon.

Sierra Leone’s sire is incoming Hall of Famer Gun Runner. The third-placer behind Arrogate in the 2016 Travers, Gun Runner became the Horse of the Year of 2017 with major victories including the Whitney and Woodward at Saratoga and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

Also claiming A.P. Indy on the bottom half of his pedigree is The Wine Steward. His mother is by To Honor and Serve, who is by A.P. Indy’s Preakness (G1)-winning son, Bernardini.

The Wine Steward is by a past Belmont competitor in Vino Rosso, the fourth-placer behind Triple Crown champion Justify in 2018. In fact, The Wine Steward is a third-generation Belmont runner; Vino Rosso’s sire, Hall of Famer Curlin, just missed to champion filly Rags to Riches (by A.P. Indy) in 2007.

Vino Rosso went on to emulate Curlin by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, although as a four-year-old during his championship campaign in 2019. Now Vino Rosso tries to emulate Curlin in another way, by siring a Belmont winner in his first crop. Curlin achieved that feat through his son Palace Malice (2013).

Curlin has another grandson in the field, Dornoch. By Good Magic, himself a champion son of Curlin, Dornoch is a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby victor Mage. They are out of Puca, a daughter of 2008 Derby and Preakness champion Big Brown, who sustained his only career loss when pulled up in the Belmont.

Curlin’s sire, Smart Strike, also appears as the maternal grandfather of three contenders on Saturday – the aforementioned Seize the Grey and Honor Marie, along with Resilience.

Resilience is by Into Mischief, the perennial leading sire who has yet to make an impact on the Belmont. But Into Mischief has two chances of rectifying that omission on Saturday. Another Into Mischief son, Goldencents, is the sire of Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan.

Mystik Dan is out of a mare by Colonel John, the 2008 Travers winner. Colonel John is a son of Hall of Famer Tiznow, sire of the 2008 Belmont shocker Da’ Tara. Tiznow also sired the mother of aforementioned Belmont romper Tiz the Law.

The maiden Protective, who needs to improve to score his first win here, has the closest ties to Belmont success. His sire, Medaglia d’Oro, was runner-up by a half-length in 2002. The 70-1 winner of that edition, Sarava, was trained by Kenny McPeek, who has Mystik Dan in Saturday’s renewal.

Medaglia d’Oro was a perfect 3-for-3 at Saratoga, however. Hero of the Travers and Jim Dandy (G2), he also landed the 2003 Whitney at four.

Protective’s maternal grandfather, Empire Maker, captured the 2003 Belmont. That was the year Funny Cide wound up third in his bid to sweep the Triple Crown.

Protective’s mother, millionaire Grace Hall, scored her signature win here in the 2011 Spinaway (G1), and she would go on to place in such marquee events as the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Protective, Mystik Dan, and Resilience represent the male line of supersire Northern Dancer, whose Triple Crown hopes were dashed with a third in the 1964 Belmont.

Sierra Leone, Seize the Grey, Dornoch, and The Wine Steward all descend from the sire line of Mr. Prospector, a paternal grandson of 1953 Belmont-winning Hall of Famer Native Dancer.

The aforementioned “Slew” is the male-line ancestor of Honor Marie and Mindframe.

The remaining entrant, Antiquarian, hails from the Hail to Reason sire line that hasn’t had a Belmont winner since Temperence Hill (1980). That’s not for a lack of stamina or quality, but probably more of a numbers game over the years. Note that this stat could read very differently if Hall of Famer Sunday Silence, a grandson of Hail to Reason, hadn’t been exported.

Antiquarian traces to Hail to Reason’s son Roberto, the 1972 Epsom Derby (G1) hero and the only horse to beat the great Brigadier Gerard (in the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup [G1]).

Antiquarian’s sire, late-blooming Preservationist, peaked as a six-year-old when winning the 2019 Suburban H. (G2) and Whitney. Preservationist is by Arch, the same sire as champion Blame, who edged the mighty Zenyatta in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both Blame and Zenyatta are grandchildren of Roberto’s son Kris S., Blame on his sire’s side and Zenyatta on her mother’s side.

As far as female lines go, Mystik Dan belongs to the 4-r family that has produced five Belmont winners, but none since Mad Play in 1924. Hence his relationship with them is remote.

Resilience boasts the nearest maternal relation with a Belmont winner. His maternal grandmother, multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Tranquility Lake, is out of a half-sister to Caveat (1983). Their broader 3-n family can also claim Pasteurized (1938).

Protective comes from the family dubbed 9-f, the origin of four Belmont winners. Bold Forbes (1976) and Bet Twice (1987) are from his branch, while Coastal (1979) and Crème Fraiche (1979) represent another branch.

Dornoch descends from the very 5-g family that has delivered Hall of Famer Twenty Grand (1931), Avatar (1972), and champion Afleet Alex (2005).

Seize the Grey’s maternal line is part of the 8-h tribe responsible for 1941 Triple Crown star Whirlaway and two other Belmont heroes – Hall of Famer Damascus (1967) and Conquistador Cielo (1982).

Mindframe’s matrilineal connection to the Belmont is more tenuous. Although he is a member of the 4-c family, his branch diverged about 200 years ago from the more celebrated one that’s associated with Man o’ War (1920) and Triple Crown winner Assault (1946).

Honor Marie and The Wine Steward are also in distant familial territory with a Belmont winner. Chance Shot (1927) and Honor Marie share an ancestress of the 3-c family, while The Wine Steward has to go back to the 19th century to find his kinsman from the 19-c tribe, Eric (1889).

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