Tales from the Crib: Messier

Apr 25, 2022 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Messier’s very name proclaims his Canadian identity, as a tribute to the retired National Hockey League great Mark Messier. But the colt’s heritage runs much deeper, through a half-century of history at Sam-Son Farm. An icon of Canadian racing and breeding, Sam-Son is phasing out its operations, and Messier could festoon its legacy with a garland of roses.
Founded by the late Ernie Samuel in 1972, Sam-Son Farm and its horses have earned 88 Sovereign Awards and furnished 12 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Both Samuel and his daughter, the late Tammy Samuel-Balaz, have been enshrined in the Hall as “Builders.”
Yet Sam-Son’s influence far transcends the Canadian border. Dance Smartly became a dual of Hall of Famer, ensconced in the National Museum of Racing’s pantheon in Saratoga Springs as well as in her homeland. The greatest of Sam-Son’s five Queen’s Plate winners, Dance Smartly swept Canada’s Triple Crown over males and clinched an Eclipse Award in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). Two fellow homebreds would win Eclipse Awards as champion turf male, Sky Classic (1992) and Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) hero Chief Bearhart (1997).
Dance Smartly’s half-brother Smart Strike, a Grade 1 winner in his limited racing career, became a leading U.S. sire from his Kentucky base. Siring Hall of Famer Curlin along with such champions as Lookin at Lucky and English Channel, Smart Strike is also the broodmare sire of 2009 Kentucky Derby (G1) stunner Mine That Bird.
Messier, himself out of a Smart Strike mare, represents the fifth generation of his family bred by Sam-Son. His dam, Checkered Past, is a granddaughter of Canadian champion Catch the Ring, who won the first two fillies’ classics and finished second when going for the triple. Catch the Ring produced another Sovereign Award winner, champion two-year-old filly Catch the Thrill. Catch the Ring’s dam, Radiant Ring, won or placed in 20 stakes, including a pair of trophies at Keeneland and a third in the 1991 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1).
Checkered Past added to the family’s laurels by capturing the Trillium S. at Woodbine twice, in 2014-15. Trainer Malcolm Pierce and jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva both said that she needed two turns. A hard-charging runner-up in her stakes debut in the seven-furlong Jammed Lovely S., Checkered Past enjoyed the added ground of the 1 1/16-mile Trillium. She was capable of showing speed, but most effective from just off the pace, as in her stakes victories.

After retiring with a record of five wins and six placings from 15 starts, and a bankroll of $334,284, Checkered Past earned visits to high-profile Kentucky stallions. Her first two foals, both fillies, did not race – Troubles No Mo (by Uncle Mo) and Checkered Empire (by Empire Maker). 

But her ensuing date with Empire Maker, the 2003 Belmont (G1) star, sire of Hall of Famer Royal Delta and grandsire of Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, produced Messier. 

Her colt was foaled on March 24, 2019, at Sam-Son’s Milton, Ontario, nursery, managed by Dave Whitford. The baby accompanied his dam to the Bluegrass when she was bred back, but mother and son soon returned to their Canadian home. There he spent his babyhood through the weaning stage.

In the fall, the weanlings shipped to Sam-Son’s Ocala, Florida, division, where they grew up under the watchful eye of racing manager Tom Zwiesler. Messier is pictured here (on the right) with his buddies. 

In years past, the colt would have learned the ropes at the training center on the Ocala property. With the decision of the Samuel and Balaz families to begin dispersing their bloodstock, he was among the elite of the Sam-Son crop slated for sale. 

Although the bay wouldn’t be named Messier until his current connections purchased him as a yearling, the youngster was a natural leader from the start.

“He was always a standout,” said Zwiesler, who was able to observe the colts well because he put them in the field right behind his house.

“He was the Alpha in the paddock. If two of them were fighting, he would go over and put an end to it.

“He was always the leader from day one, always the dominant one. 

“If six of them were lying down, he’d stand up in the middle of them, keeping guard over everything.”

His leadership went hand in hand with his big physique, good mind, and kind nature. 
“A very smart, intelligent horse. He was a pleasure to be around,” Zwiesler noted.
“He was a kind horse, but at the same time, he was the leader.”
When offered at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, he accordingly attracted attention from plenty of would-be buyers. Notable among them was bloodstock guru Donato Lanni, who was scouting out prospects for the ownership consortium led by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables – dubbed “The Avengers.” Lanni and trainer Bob Baffert were spotted gazing at the Empire Maker-Checkered Past colt in his stall on the sales grounds, at night, in a sign of their serious intent. 

Lanni secured the colt for $470,000 on behalf of the powerhouse partners. Just a couple of weeks later, SF’s Tom Ryan revealed the name chosen for the new recruit, decorating his tweet with the Canadian flag emoji and #Moose for Messier’s nickname.

Given that his pedigree is all about improvement with maturity and distance, it wasn’t a shock that Messier lost first time out sprinting five furlongs at Los Alamitos in June. He’d been training forwardly, so bettors made him the 1-2 favorite in his unveiling. Messier ran with great promise in defeat, altering course in the stretch and rolling late to come up a length short in second.

Not seen again until Oct. 22 at Santa Anita, Messier chased the pace before demolishing the six-furlong maiden by 6 1/2 lengths. He made it two in a row in the Bob Hope (G3) at Del Mar, driving from last in a four-horse field to win going away by daylight. Back to the scene of his debut for the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), Messier was upended as the 1-2 favorite. He was more aggressive arguing the early pace, never got a breather in his first try at 1 1/16 miles, and yielded grudgingly to Slow Down Andy.

The blinkers came off, and John Velazquez climbed on, when Messier returned to action in the Feb. 6 Robert B. Lewis (G3), and he responded with a blowout. Leading throughout in his comfort zone, the 3-5 shot ran away by 15 lengths.

By the time of the April 9 Santa Anita Derby (G1), Messier was transferred from the suspended Baffert to Tim Yakteen. Now he was eligible to earn points toward the Kentucky Derby, and he took the opportunity to book his spot in the starting gate with a fine runner-up effort. Messier had the harder task of keeping close tabs on frontrunning favorite Forbidden Kingdom, and once he won that battle, he lost the war when perfect-trip stablemate Taiba ran him down. Even so, Messier recorded a career-best 108 Brisnet Speed rating. A different race dynamic at Churchill Downs could put him in the winner’s circle.

Messier might not sport the famed red and gold silks of his Sam-Son home, but he still carries its legacy, along with the hopes of his countrymen. Only two Canadian-breds have won the Kentucky Derby – breed-shaping sire Northern Dancer (1964) and Sunny’s Halo (1983). Sam-Son would go out with an appropriately historic flourish by adding one of their own to the tally. 

“It’s very exciting, in what would be our last year of racing, to have this quality of animal representing them,” Zwiesler summed up. “It’s quite special for them and for all of Canada.”

Photos courtesy of Tom Zwiesler

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