12 Pedigree fun facts: Two Phil’s

Here are his 12 pedigree fun facts:

Hard Spun romped in his first four career starts, including the Lecomte (G3), but lost his perfect record when fourth in the Southwest (G3). Regrouping on the all-weather at Turfway, Hard Spun rolled to a 3 1/4-length decision in the race then known as the Lane’s End (G2). He tried to wire the Kentucky Derby with his high speed, and ran everyone off their feet except the victorious Street Sense. 

Two Phil’s likewise began his sophomore campaign in the Lecomte, placing second. After a third in the Risen Star (G2) back at Fair Grounds, he too found Turfway a congenial spot to rebound. Two Phil’s drew off by 5 1/4 commanding lengths in the same 1 1/8-mile prep, now called the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), on Turfway’s latest all-weather surface. 

2. Hard Spun had a strong second half after his honorable tries in the Triple Crown.

Hard Spun competed in all three jewels of the Triple Crown, following a third in the Preakness (G1) with a fourth in the Belmont (G1) that was a bit too far for him. Later that summer, he shortened up to seven furlongs and captured the King’s Bishop (now the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial) (G1). Hard Spun stretched out again to take the Kentucky Cup Classic (G2) back at Turfway and concluded his career with a second to Curlin in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

3. Hard Spun is an ancestor of fellow Derby contenders Mage and Reincarnate.

Hard Spun has a couple of other rooting interests in his descendants Mage and Reincarnate. They are both from the first crop of champion Good Magic, who is himself by Curlin and out of a daughter of Hard Spun. 

As an encore to his own versatility on the racetrack, Hard Spun has transmitted a variety of aptitudes to his progeny. His top performers include champion three-year-old filly Questing; 2014 Wood Memorial (G1) winner Wicked Strong, fourth in the Derby and a near-misser in the Travers (G1); Aloha West, hero of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1); Silver State and Spun to Run, both Grade 1 winners at a mile; marathoners Hard Aces and Rocketry; and such turf stars as Hard Not to Like and the Australian gladiator Le Romain. 

4. Hard Spun is by supersire Danzig, founder of his own branch of the Northern Dancer line.

Danzig was undefeated in just three career starts, leaving a sense of unfulfilled potential on the racetrack. But the son of 1964 Kentucky Derby legend Northern Dancer left no unfinished business in a spectacular stud career that propagated his influence on a global scale.

Off to a brilliant start by siring champion two-year-old Chief’s Crown in his first crop, Danzig has secured a perpetual legacy through his sons Danehill and Green Desert, and War Front is angling to add to the thread. Danzig is the paternal grandsire of two Kentucky Derby winners – Sea Hero (1993), by Polish Navy, and Big Brown (2008), by Boundary – and the maternal grandsire of another, Fusaichi Pegasus (2000). 

Danzig himself got a Preakness victor in Pine Bluff (1992) and a Belmont star in Danzig Connection (1986). Other notable sons of Danzig include Hall of Famer Lure, Dayjur, Anabaa (sire of the great miler Goldikova), and War Chant, while his greatest daughter is Dance Smartly, enshrined in both the Canadian and U.S. Halls of Fame. Danzig’s influence is profound as a broodmare sire as well, having sired the dams (mothers) of Distorted Humor and Arch.

Hard Spun’s dam, Turkish Tryst, was a Grade 2-placed stakes winner going long on turf. She is by champion Turkoman, who is also the sire of Turko’s Turn, honored as Broodmare of the Year for producing Hall of Famer Point Given. 

Turkoman is a son of Alydar, the archrival of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Showing promise at three, and notably finishing second to Chief’s Crown in the 1985 Travers, Turkoman put it all together as the champion older horse of 1986. His signature wins came over 1 1/4 miles in the Widener H. (G1) (in a track-record 1:58 3/5 at old Hialeah Park) and the Marlboro Cup H. (G1) at Belmont. He concluded his career with a rallying second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

6. Hard Spun comes from the family of Kentucky Derby hero Chateaugay as well as Little Current.

Turkish Tryst is the ancestress of champion Improbable, who was the beaten favorite in the 2019 Derby and Preakness. Elevated to fourth via disqualification in the Run for the Roses, Improbable regressed to sixth in the Preakness. He reached a consistently higher level of form as a four-year-old and earned the 2020 Eclipse Award in the older dirt male category.

This is the further family of a pair of Darby Dan champions who won two-thirds of the Triple Crown. Turkish Tryst is out of a half-sister to Little Current, a rallying fifth in the 1974 Derby (from last in a 23-horse field!) before capturing the Preakness and Belmont. Maternal relative Chateaugay won the 1963 Derby and Belmont, missing the sweep by finishing second in the Preakness.

7. Two Phil’s is out of a multiple stakes-winning mare inbred to Unbridled.

Bred and co-owned by Phillip Hagan, Two Phil’s is out of Hagan’s multiple stakes winner Mia Torri. The Florida-bred landed the 2017 Sunshine Millions Distaff, beat open company in the Sugar Maple S. at Charles Town, and twice came close to a Grade 3 laurel. A neck shy in the 2016 Charles Town Oaks (G3), Mia Torri was three-quarters of a length short in the Bed o’ Roses (G3) in her career finale.

Mia Torri isn’t fashionably bred, but her pedigree sports inbreeding to 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Unbridled. That outstanding stallion appears in the dam’s side of her sire, General Quarters, and the male line of her broodmare sire, Birdstone. 

8. Maternal grandsire General Quarters was a heartwarming story on the 2009 Triple Crown trail.

Famously claimed by retired school principal Tom McCarthy for just $20,000 out of his debut win, General Quarters took his elderly owner/trainer on an improbable ride through the spring of 2009. He emerged as a classic prospect at Tampa Bay Downs, where he garnered the Sam F. Davis (G3), and he pulled a 14-1 upset in the Blue Grass (G1) (then held over Keeneland’s old Polytrack). 

General Quarters was unplaced in the Derby and Preakness, but developed into a capable older horse. His other major victory came in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) on Derby Day 2010. 

Although he was by the solid sire Sky Mesa, from the line of Seattle Slew and A.P. Indy, and out of a well-related mare by Unbridled’s Song, General Quarters did not gain traction at stud. Mia Torri was one of his best performers, a list topped by 2018 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) scorer Signalman. 

Mia Torri is out of Flip the Stone, by Birdstone, best known for catching Triple Crown-seeking Smarty Jones in the final strides of the 2004 Belmont. Birdstone might have been a 36-1 shot that day, but he was no one-hit wonder. The Marylou Whitney homebred had captured the 2003 Champagne (G1), and he would go on to win the Travers.

By Unbridled’s 1996 Kentucky Derby-winning son Grindstone, Birdstone sired 2009 Derby shocker Mine That Bird. He also got that year’s divisional champion, Summer Bird, who emulated sire Birdstone by turning the Belmont/Travers double.

10. Ancestor Aaron’s Concorde is from the family of Derby winner Street Sense.

Flip the Stone’s dam, Flippy Diane, won the 1999 Maryland Million Distaff at Laurel. In so doing, she became one of just four stakes winners sired by the obscure Aaron’s Concorde, himself a minor stakes scorer at the Meadowlands.

Aaron’s Concorde is a son of Super Concorde, a Kentucky-bred who became a champion two-year-old in France. Super Concorde is by the same sire as Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew – both sons of Bold Reasoning. Aaron’s Concorde also has famous relatives on his dam’s side, hailing from the family of the aforementioned Derby star Street Sense. 

11. Ancestor North Sea beat Onion and made history for female jockey Robyn Smith. 

Flippy Diane is out of a mare by North Sea, who was ridden to a landmark victory by jockey Robyn Smith in the 1973 Paumonok H. (G3) at Aqueduct. That was the biggest win up to that time for a female rider, and the successful team came right back to add the Westchester H. (G2). Smith later gained fame for marraying Fred Astaire. 

The Paumonok became noteworthy for another reason, in hindsight. North Sea beat Onion, future upsetter of Triple Crown legend Secretariat in the Whitney (G2). In 1972, North Sea defeated another rival known for a major upset – Bee Bee Bee, who upstaged Riva Ridge in the Preakness. 

A Maryland homebred for Alfred G. Vanderbilt, North Sea mirrored the same cross that produced Northern Dancer. Both are by Nearctic and out of a mare by Vanderbilt’s all-time great Native Dancer.

12. Two Phil’s descends from champion War Plumage, ancestress of Barbaro.

Tracing the female line further, Two Phil’s descends from champion War Plumage, who is also the ancestress of 2006 Kentucky Derby hero Barbaro. 

War Plumage broke her maiden in the 1939 Coaching Club American Oaks, added the Alabama, and shared the champion three-year-old filly title. By beating males in the 1940 Washington Park H., she reigned alone as the champion older female. 

Interestingly, this is the same family, numbered 16-h, responsible for Hard Spun and Chateaugay. They do not trace to War Plumage herself, but to her granddam, British import Tuscan Red (foaled 1912). She in turn descends from Ornament, full sister to unbeaten English Triple Crown legend Ormonde, and dam of four-time classic winner Sceptre.