It’s not every day one comes across a mare who is three-quarters sister to her own sire. That, however, is the case with Catch My Fancy , a daughter of Yes It’s True who is out of a half-sister to the dam of Yes It’s True, and thus owns a pedigree where three of her four grandparents also appear in the pedigree of her sire.
That intense inbreeding proved to be of no detriment to Catch My Fancy either as a runner or producer. At the track, she captured the Barretts Debutante Stakes at Fairplex Park, and the Fairfield Stakes at Solano, both black-type events. At stud Catch My Fancy produced a pair of stakes winners in Dubini , successful in the Laurel Dash, and runner-up in four other black-type events, including the Turf Monster Stakes (G3), and What a Catch , who took the Rockville Centre Stakes at Belmont Park.
More important in the long term, however, have been a pair of fillies by Malibu Moon out of Catch My Fancy, Catch the Moon and Clarendon Fancy . The Malibu Moon—Catch My Fancy mating results in pedigree that is more of an outcross than Catch My Fancy, but it certainly also has its share of interesting patterns. To start with, Malibu Moon is by A.P. Indy, whose third dam, Gay Missile, is a half-sister to Raja Baba, the grandsire of Yes It’s True. Then, A.P. Indy’s sire, Seattle Slew, is out of a mare by Poker, a three-quarters brother to Royal Ascot, whose son, Prince of Ascot, appears twice in the pedigree of Catch My Fancy, as sire of Monique Rene (granddam of both Yes It’s True and Catch My Fancy), and for good measure, the mating also means Mr. Prospector appears 3×3 and Bold Ruler 6x5x5.
Neither Catch the Moon nor Clarendon Fancy ever ran (although a brother, Fancy Malibu, was exported to Russia, where he captured the Rostov-on-Don Two Thousand Guineas). As a broodmare, however, Catch My Fancy has proved to be exceptional, with four graded stakes winners from her first four foals: Girvin , successful in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), Louisiana Derby (G2), and Risen Star Stakes (G2), and now a very successful young sire; Midnight Bourbon, who earned more than $3.5 million and whose record includes a win in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) and seconds in the Preakness Stakes (G1), Travers Stakes (G1), and Pennsylvania Derby (G1); Cocked and Loaded , winner of the Iroquois and Tremont Stakes; and Pirate’s Punch , who took the Salvator Mile Stakes (G3).
Girvin was one of four graded stakes winners from Catch My Fancy’s first four foals
Clarendon Fancy, foaled three years after Catch the Moon, hasn’t quite matched her older sister’s tempo. She did start her stud career with the 2016 filly Quiet Company , a daughter of Temple City who earned black-type with a third in the Jameela Stakes, but she didn’t produce another foal until the 2020 Bolt d’Oro filly Spirit and Fire , unplaced in two starts to date. However, judging by her performance in Sunday’s Adirondack Stakes (G3), Clarendon Fancy may have now come up with her own star in Brightwork .
A $95,000 Fasig-Tipton November weanling, Brightwork already owns a 3-for-3 record. She took a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland by three lengths in April, and followed up by outdueling odds-on favorite V V’s Dream to take the Debutante Stakes at Ellis Park by half a length. In the Adirondack she made further progress, drawing off by five lengths from seven rivals who included not only Becky’s Joker , successful in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on her debut, but also several wide-margin maiden special weight winners. On the basis of the style of her victory, and the Equibase Speed Figure of 86 awarded for this effort, Brightwork shapes like a filly who should be a major player in the top races for her division.
Brightwork is from the fourth crop of the Uncle Mo horse Outwork . Although he was precocious enough to score over 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs in the April of his 2-year-old season, that start proved to be Outwork’s only appearance as a juvenile. He reappeared to make four starts at 3, taking an allowance test and the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) before suffering a career-ending injury in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Retired to WinStar Farm, Versailles, Ky., Outwork has sired 10 stakes winners in his three previous crops, including Leave No Trace , who defeated 2022 divisional champion Wonder Wheel in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) and finished second to her in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
We began by mentioning the close inbreeding in Catch My Fancy’s pedigree. It is the target of that inbreeding, her granddam Monique Rene, who appears 3×2, that marks the elevation of the recent family from a regional status. Monique Rene, who was bred in Louisiana, proved herself a very tough and capable performer there, winning 29 of 45 starts, 15 of them in black-type races, nearly all at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and Louisiana Downs. Monique Rene’s family arrived in Louisiana from Colorado, where her dam, Party Date, a winner of 14 of 69 starts, was foaled. The next three dams—Pardon My Speed, Dancing Date, and Beauing—originated in California at the Ellsworth Ranch of Rex Ellsworth, who is best known as the breeder of Swaps.
In addition to Walk Away Rene—the branch that leads to Brightwork—Monique Rene also produced the graded stakes winner Prince of The Mt., and she additionally appears as granddam of Canadian champion 3-Year-Old Colt Kiss A Native; the Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1) captor Silver Max; the previously mentioned Yes It’s True, successful in five graded stakes, including the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G1). She is ancestress of several other stakes winners, including the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) scorer Shancelot .
The female line goes back to a native North American tap-root, known as “Janus Mare Number One.” The branch that stems from Monique Rene’s ancestress Balloon—herself an outstanding performer—has produced notables such as Ben Brush, winner of 1896 Kentucky Derby; Regret, renowned as first filly winner of the Kentucky Derby (1915); Counterpoint, Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year and champion 3-Year-Old Colt for 1951; Gato del Sol, who took the Kentucky Derby in 1982; and Silver Buck, whose son Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was champion 3-Year-Old Male of 1997. Monique Rene herself descends from The Belle, a sister to Raybelle, the third dam of legendary “Old Bones” Exterminator, Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year in 1922.
