By father of Align out of the dam Into mischief and Beholder, Mendelssohn retired to breed with a pedigree that sets expectations at the highest level. His career as a stallion may yet emulate Justify and Into Mischief—which, after all, can be said of all but a handful of stallions—but he stepped into the spotlight on July 20 when his daughter Kin’s Concerto had an irresistible finish to win the first Canadian classic of the year, the Woodbine Oaks.
Amazingly, the Woodbine Oaks was actually the first time in five starts that Kin’s Concerto crossed the line in the lead, although it was not her first winning effort. In her first start, she won six furlongs on the all-weather track at Honeysuckle In November, she was runner-up, but found herself in the winner’s circle when the first-place finisher was demoted for obstructing the third-place finisher.
Heading south for the winter, Kin’s Concerto once again showed his finishing ability, taking second place in the 7 1/2 furlong permit/option test on the turf at Gulfstream Parka race won by Maul (winner of the Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3T) and Lake George Stakes (G3T) since). That was Kin’s Concerto’s only start until returning to Woodbine this spring. She started there in May and finished third in a seven-furlong all-weather permit/optional, and then prepared for the Oaks with a second, beaten a head in a similar event over 8 1/2 furlongs on June 22.
Kin’s Concerto Takes the Victory Circle After Woodbine Oaks
Kin’s Concerto has proven effective on both turf and all-weather, and Mendelssohn is even more versatile on all surfaces. Successful in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) on his last start at age 2, he opened his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the all-weather Patton Stakes at Dundalk in Ireland, followed by an outright victory over his rivals in the UAE Derby (G2), where he finished 18 1/2 lengths clear over 9 1/2 furlongs on sand.
Mendelssohn eased into the Kentucky Derby (G1)—his first start on natural dirt—after being sent off early, but then proved beyond doubt that he handled the surface well with a second place in the Travers Stakes (G1) and third places in the Dwyer Stakes (G3) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).
Retired to Ashford Stud, Versailles, Ky., Mendelssohn has been represented by three broodmares in the Northern Hemisphere, including a 2-year-old in 2024, and a look at the current list of top third-crop stallions by earnings shows that he has quietly risen to third place, behind only standout stallions Justify and good magic . He is also the clear leader in the number of individual winners, with 102 of his progeny winning at least one race by 2024, tied for second with current black horses. He has been represented by 10 Northern Hemisphere winners, including joyful who captured the Jessamine Stakes (G2T), and Mendelssohn Baysuccessful this year in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3). He also has three winners, two placed, from two southern hemisphere crops, one Australian-bred and one Chilean.
Mendelssohn at Ashford Stud
Kin’s Concerto is one of four winners for her dam, Kincardine, an unraced daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus, who also appeared as the second winner of Friendly Ghost, the third winner of the Plate Trial Stakes in the Woodbine Oaks side race. Kincardine is a half-sister to Storm Cat’s Canadian Stakes (G2T) winner, Essential Edge. She is also a half-sister to the winners of Rose for Debra of success in the 2023 Caress Stakes (G3T) and 2024 Giant’s Causeway Stakes (G3T); of five-time winner of graded races Tiz a Slam; of Fire Son of Mendelssohn’s sire, Scat Daddy, who won the Bourbon Stakes (G3T) on turf and the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) on dirt, and is now the sire of a promising second-season racehorse; and Ontario Lassie Stakes scorer Ellan Vannin .
Kinkardine’s dam, Rose of Tara, has classic European antecedents as she is Generous, winner of the English and Irish Derby (both G1) and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1), by Flame of Tara, a three-time group winner whose successes include the Coronation Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot. That makes Rose of Tara a half-sister to five stakes winners, notably Salsabil, the mare of five group 1 events, three of them classics, including a win over sires in the Irish Derby (G1), and Marju, who won the St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1), finished second in the Epsom Deby (G1), and later became a classic stallion.
Kin’s Concerto was one of seven winners, two graded, by Mendelssohn from a mare by Mr. Prospector or his son or grandson, and the first of four foals from mares by Fusaichi Pegasus. Mendelssohn’s sire, Scat Daddy, was a Northern Dancer (through Storm Bird)/Mr. Prospector mare, and Scat Daddy’s dam was a Mr. Prospector mare from a mare by another Northern Dancer son, Nijinsky II (bred along a line quite similar to Storm Bird). Fusaichi Pegasus was a cross between Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer, and Kincardine, Kin’s dam, was a cross between Mr. Prospector/Nijinsky II, so she was a parallel to Scat Daddy’s mother, and somewhat the opposite of Scat Daddy himself.
