Sonrisa - f. Divisidero x Majestic Smile (Majesticperfection)

 

• Majesticperfection was a brilliant sprinter who has produced G1 winners such as Lovely Maria and Bell’s the One; his presence should bring more speed and precocity to this pedigree

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• Kitten’s Joy’s sire, El Prado, produced two G1 winners out of mares by Majestic Smile’s damsire Silver Hawk, and Divisidero’s damsire Lemon Drop Kid produced two graded stakes winners in only 12 starters out of mares carrying Silver Hawk

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• Divisidero and Majesticperfection are both linebred to their own female families (2d and 14c, respectively), which share the same “L” mitochondrial haplogroup; Majestic Smile is linebred to her “G2a” mitochondrial haplotype via her second damsire, Saratoga Six

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• Kitten’s Joy has produced multiple talented horses from the genetic family of Sonrisa, including some of his best - graded stakes winner Have At It shares his 5th dam with Sonrisa, and millionaires Roaring Lion and Real Solution are from a different Lowe branch of this same mitochondrial haplotype “G2a”

 

Divisidero is a stallion whose offspring we're very excited about, especially with the success of freshman stallion Oscar Performance, a fellow son of Kitten’s Joy. Up until now, sons of Kitten’s Joy have been uninspiring as stallions, but Oscar Performance is set to change that and Divisidero will be right on his proverbial heels with his first two-year-olds racing next year.

 

Unlike Oscar Performance, a G1 winner at age two, Divisidero didn’t begin his career until age three, but he was a two-time stakes winner that year, including a victory in the G2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs. He would only improve with age, as a stakes winner every year from three to seven. His biggest wins came at ages four and five, when he won Churchill’s G1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic in back-to-back years. We think his foals are going to be sturdy and consistent, even if they aren’t necessarily precocious. 

 

On pedigree, Divisidero is a fascinating example of linebreeding. Both he and his sire, Kitten’s Joy, are members of Lowe family 2d, tracing back to the 1910 mare Fly By Night, the 8th dam of Kitten’s Joy and 10th dam of Divisidero. Divisidero’s 5th dam, Cosmah, is best known as the dam of the excellent stallion Halo, and is herself a half-sister to the dam of Northern Dancer, the sire of Sadler’s Wells, who Divisidero is inbred to 3x4. Thus, Divisidero has Fly By Night 10x9x11x10 in his pedigree. 

 

Additionally, Divisidero shows linebreeding to family 20 via his sire’s damsire Lear Fan and his damsire’s sire Kingmambo. Their most common recent ancestor is very distant - you have to go all the way back to 1751 to find the mare they both trace to, - but this is still linebreeding to two individuals from the same mitochondrial family. 

 

Our filly is out of a mare by Majesticperfection, a brilliant sprinter by Harlan’s Holiday who was a bit of a disappointment at stud and sold to Uruguay in 2018 despite getting talented fillies such as 2015 Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria and later G1 winner Bell’s the One. His daughters have been likewise lackluster in the breeding shed, with only 44 winners and two stakes winners from 80 starters. However, we're hopeful that his presence can help bring a little more speed and precocity to Sonrisa. 

 

Like Divisidero, Majesticperfection was linebred to his tail-female line via his second damsire, Inverness Drive, whose 7th dam is the 9th dam of Majesticperfection. Both Majesticperfection’s family 14c and Divisidero’s family 2d are from the “L” mtDNA haplogroup. 

 

Majestic Smile herself was unremarkable as a racehorse, unable to win in 6 attempts against maiden special weight company, but she is a ¾ sister to graded stakes winner Silver Reunion (by Majesticperfection’s sire Harlan’s Holiday) and stakes placed Her Star (also by Harlan’s Holiday). Silver Reunion has produced a graded stakes winner, a listed stakes winner, and a graded stakes placed winner. 

 

As a broodmare, Majestic Smile has yet to produce a winner. Her first foal to race, a gelding by Summer Front (the sire of Silver Reunion’s G2 winner Speaktomeofsummer) sold for $280k as a yearling to Jay Em Ess Stables but did not hit the board in seven starts in Maiden Special Weight company. She has a three-year-old filly by Bal a Bali that is unplaced in two starts against maiden claiming company in Kentucky. 

 

TrueNicks rates this mating a “D” based on the cross of the El Prado sireline with the Harlan sireline. There have been 62% winners and 4% stakes winners bred on this cross, compared to slightly better numbers on both sides of the pedigree when combined with other sirelines - the El Prado sireline produces 63% winners, the Harlan broodmare sireline produces 67% winners, and both produce 5% stakes winners. 

 

Checking with G1 Goldmine, which searches the entire top and bottom of a pedigree when checking a cross instead of restricting it to sirelines, shows us that there is some precedent for success here, albeit primarily when looking at Sonrisa’s second damsire Silver Hawk and not her immediate damsire line. While Speaktomeofsummer is the only stakes winner in 41 starters (2.44%) bred on the cross of El Prado (the damsire of Summer Front) with Harlan’s Holiday, and Kitten’s Joy has never produced a stakes winner in 32 starters out of mares carrying Silver Hawk, his sire El Prado produced 2 G1 winners out of Silver Hawk mares. On another positive note, Divisidero’s damsire Lemon Drop Kid produced two graded stakes winners out of a Silver Hawk mare named Dreams, which was 16.67% of the starters bred on the cross of Lemon Drop Kid/Silver Hawk since 2011. 

 

Sonrisa, as a member of Lowe family 9, is from the unique “G” haplogroup, which is only found in families 9 (and its branches) and A1. Her third damsire, Saratoga Six, is a member of family 9f and thus creates linebreeding to her female family. Notably, Divisidero’s sire Kitten’s Joy produced graded stakes winner Have At It from family 9 - Have At It’s 5th dam is a mare called Tropic Star, who is the 5th dam of Sonrisa. Kitten’s Joy has also produced two millionaires from family 9f - 2018 Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion and multiple G1 winner Real Solution. I love the fact that there has been success combining Kitten’s Joy with a relatively close member of this female family, as well as with this mitochondrial family more broadly, and that gives me hope for this filly despite what could be interpreted as a lack of appeal on paper at first glance.