12 Pedigree fun facts: Litigate

Litigate’s ancestry is replete with stallions who excelled over classic distances, and both of his parents come from richly embroidered female lines. 

Here are his 12 pedigree fun facts:

1. Litigate’s sire, Blame, ended Zenyatta’s perfect record in her Breeders’ Cup finale.

Blame will go down in history as the one who toppled Hall of Famer Zenyatta in the epic 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The hitherto undefeated supermare was bidding to end her career with a repeat victory in the Classic, but she could not quite peg back the redoubtable Blame.

That clinched Blame’s Eclipse Award as champion older male, the crowning touch of a campaign that also featured major wins in the Whitney (G1) (over Quality Road) and Stephen Foster (G1). Yet he didn’t exactly come from nowhere. As a late-developing sophomore, Blame concluded 2009 with scores over his elders in the Fayette (G2) and Clark (G2), and he fulfilled his potential at four. 

2. Blame has a grandsire in common with Zenyatta.

Blame’s sire, Arch, was likewise a late-developing sophomore of 1998. He compiled a three-race winning streak including the Super Derby (G1) and Fayette (G3) at Keeneland, where he denied Touch Gold in then-track record time. Arch was ninth in that fall’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, a vintage renewal won by Awesome Again from Derby-winning Hall of Famer Silver Charm. 

Arch is a son of Kris S., who was a promising stakes winner at three before injury curtailed his career prematurely. Kris S. became a top sire, and his influence extends through his daughters; among them is Vertigineux, the dam of Zenyatta. Thus the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic was fought out by “grandchildren” of Kris S., the paternal grandsire of Blame and broodmare sire of Zenyatta.

3. Blame descends from the sire line of 1972 Epsom Derby winner Roberto.

Kris S. is by Roberto. A homebred for Pittsburgh Pirates owner John Galbreath, he was named in honor of baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, a legendary right-fielder for the Pirates. The equine Roberto would make a name for himself in Europe, as a champion in England and Ireland. Aside from winning the prestigious Derby at Epsom, the original “Derby” and inspiration behind the Kentucky Derby, Roberto handed the great Brigadier Gerard the only loss of his career in the 1972 Benson and Hedges Gold Cup (now known as the Juddmonte International) (G1).

Roberto, the paternal grandsire of 2006 Derby hero Barbaro, has exerted an enduring influence at stud. He’s one of two major branches upholding the legacy of his sire Hail to Reason, the champion two-year-old colt of 1960. Hail to Reason’s other marquee son is Halo, best known for siring 1989 Derby-winning Hall of Famer and supersire Sunday Silence. 

4. Blame’s best son so far is Nadal, but he’s sired several top-class fillies.

Blame has yet to sire a horse with an impact in the Triple Crown races, but his best son, unbeaten Nadal, was retired with injury before the pandemic-delayed 2020 Derby. While Litigate’s the leading candidate to change that stat, Blame has another emerging son in Henry Q. By demolishing the Mine That Bird Derby, Henry Q set himself up for potential Derby points in the Sunland Park Derby (G3).

Blame has furnished a stream of notable fillies, from French classic winner Senga to Grade 1 heroines Marley’s Freedom, Fault, and Abscond (on turf), and current Kentucky Oaks (G1) contender Wet Paint. Hence it is no surprise he’s becoming a noteworthy sire of broodmares. 

5. Blame hails from the same female line as Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells.

Blame’s propensity for siring fillies might be a reflection of his own deep maternal family. His dam, Broodmare of the Year Liable, is also responsible for multiple stakes victor Tend, and she is the granddam of millionaire Carve as well as Group/graded-placed stakes scorers Sloane Avenue and Apropos.

Liable is a daughter of Seeking the Gold and Grade 1-placed blueblood Bound, making her a half-sister to Group 1 hero Archipenko. Bound is herself a full sister to Grade 2 vixen and noted producer Number. By 1970 English Triple Crown legend Nijinsky II and out of the prolific matron Special, Bound is also a three-quarter sibling to Nureyev from the immediate family of another supersire, Sadler’s Wells.

Litigate is out of Salsa Diavola, a daughter of royally-bred champion Mineshaft. By Hall of Famer A.P. Indy, Mineshaft compiled a 7-for-9 record in 2003 to reign as Horse of the Year, with major wins in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), Pimlico Special H. (G1), and Woodward (G1). 

Mineshaft’s headliners include Dialed In, the 2011 Florida Derby (G1) winner and eighth as the Kentucky Derby favorite; $3.3 million-earner Effinex; and multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire It’s Tricky. Mineshaft’s daughter Sea Gull is single-handedly responsible for producing three graded scorers – Catalina Cruiser, Royal Flag, and Eagle – and other Mineshaft mares have foaled such top performers as champion Vequist, 2016 Kentucky Oaks queen Cathryn Sophia, and 2022 Santa Anita H. (G1) victor Express Train.

7. Salsa Diavola is out of a mare by 1990 Kentucky Derby-winning champion Unbridled.

Salsa Diavola’s dam, Miss Salsa, is by champion Unbridled, who turned a rare double by capturing both the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1990. Although Unbridled has established a dynasty through sons Empire Maker and Unbridled’s Song, his daughters have also added to his legacy. 

Unbridled mares have produced the likes of supersire Tapit, 2013 Derby victor Orb, and $4.3 million-earner Gunnevera (all from the A.P. Indy sire line), and dual Eclipse Award champ Covfefe. Unbridled’s daughter Oatsee was honored as Broodmare of the Year, with her five graded performers including 2011 Preakness (G1) victor and $3 million-earner Shackleford as well as 2007 Alabama (G1) scorer Lady Joanne.

8. Salsa Diavola is the “aunt” of multiple Grade 3 heroine Blamed, who is closely related to Litigate.

Miss Salsa’s most accomplished foal is Pacific Ocean, a multiple Grade 3-winning sprinter, but three of her daughters have become graded stakes producers themselves. Aside from Salsa Diavola, Miss Salsa is responsible for Brave Michelle (the dam of Grade 3-placed Sense of Bravery) and English stakes-placed Salsa Star, the dam of multiple Grade 3 heroine Blamed.

As her name implies, Blamed is by Blame, like Litigate, and therefore an especially close relative in light of their dams being half-sisters. Although Blamed scored two of her biggest wins beyond a mile, in the 2018 Comely (G3) and Sunland Park Oaks, she was effective going shorter too. Blamed captured the 2019 Royal Delta (G3) around a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park, and she placed in such sprints as the Raven Run (G2), Shine Again S., and Honorable Miss H. (G2). 

9. Salsa Diavola is inbred to 1977 Triple Crown star Seattle Slew.

While Salsa Diavola descends from the sire line of Seattle Slew via A.P. Indy, she inherits another strain of “Slew” through her maternal side. Her dam, Miss Salsa, is out of Oscillate, who is herself by the 1977 Triple Crown champion and superb sire. 

Oscillate is a noted broodmare in her own right. Her son Mutakkdim became a successful sire, especially in Argentina, and her further descendants include 2008 Suburban H. (G1) winner Frost Giant.

10. Litigate’s ancestress Dance Number was a Grade 1 winner and outstanding matron.

Oscillate’s dam, Dance Number, scored her signature win in the 1983 Beldame (G1), edging Burt Bacharach’s champion filly Heartlight No. One. Dance Number landed three other stakes, notably the Shuvee H. (G2) over Number (Blame’s relative as mentioned above in Fact 5).

But Dance Number was even better as a matron, producing champion Rhythm, the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and 1990 Travers (G1) hero; Not for Love, a top Maryland sire who reached beyond his regional market; and Grade 3 vixen Get Lucky, a prolific broodmare whose influence is extending through generations, with 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver among her descendants.

11. Dance Number’s parents are breed-shaper Northern Dancer and champion Numbered Account.

Dance Number lived up to her exceptional pedigree as a daughter of champions. She is by Northern Dancer, the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness star who developed into a global supersire, and out of blueblood Numbered Account, the champion two-year-old filly of 1971.

Numbered Account is also the dam of multiple Grade 1-winning sire Private Account and another successful son at stud, Polish Numbers. She was handing on her own potent genetic inheritance. By Hall of Famer and influential sire Buckpasser, Numbered Account is out of Intriguing, a daughter of 1955 Kentucky Derby-winning Hall of Famer Swaps, from one of the breed’s greatest families.

12. Litigate belongs to the celebrated tribe of *La Troienne.

Numbered Account traces through her direct maternal line to the exceptional mare *La Troienne. Her sire Buckpasser descends from *La Troienne as well, so Numbered Account is inbred to that blue hen. 

In fact, Seattle Slew’s dam, My Charmer, also sports a duplication of *La Troienne (more specifically, of her daughter Baby League). A similar repetition occurs in Oscillate, who’s inbred to Baby League’s granddaughter Glamour. Mineshaft’s female line also descends from Baby League (via a full sister to Glamour, So Chic). Thus this rich family is a leitmotif in the background of Salsa Diavola.

Including the aforementioned Super Saver, four Kentucky Derby winners hail from *La Troienne’s clan, dubbed 1-x. The first three are Sea Hero (1993), Go for Gin (1994), and Smarty Jones (2004).