The Thoroughbred Horse Owners and Breeders Association will honor the national award winners at its awards banquet on September 7 at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington. Five national winners were announced ahead of time, and BloodHorse Daily will provide information about these winners throughout the week.
Today we’ll be looking at Dance Card, the mare who will be recognized as TOBA Breeding Mare of the Year.
Boasting a Horse of the Year title as well as an additional ranked tournament winner in 2023 has helped Godolphin Jump Card won the Thoroughbred Horse Owners and Breeders Association’s Mare of the Year award.
Leading the pack for the 2023 winning mare will be Cody’s Wish who won Grade 1s at the Metropolitan Handicap, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Churchill Downs Stakes, as well as Grade 2 points at the Vosburgh Stakes to win the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and the Older Men’s Dirt Horse Championship.
“She is very special to us,” said Godolphin USA breeding director Michael Banahan. “Obviously this is a very meaningful award for us and it is the first time we have had a mare honored like this since Cara Rafaela (mother of classic winner Bernardini).”
A homebred for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin, Cody’s Wish, son of Curlin began his stallion career at Darley near Lexington, where he stood for $75,000 in the 2024 season. Prior to his 2023 Horse of the Year campaign, he won the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Forego Stakes (G1). He finished with five career Grade 1 wins.
Also raising his Dance Card in 2023 is 7-year-old Mark Breen Confirmed via Gold Medal who won the Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2). Bred by Godolphin in Kentucky, Endorsed initially raced as a home horse before being sold privately to Breen. He has shown his durability on the track, posting a 7-8-5 record and earning $970,133 from 36 career starts. The two-time stakes winner won the 2024 season for $5,000 at Northview Stallion Station near Chesapeake City, Md.
On the track, Dance Card had an impressive 3-year-old season in 2012 for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, headlined by wins in the Gazelle Stakes (G1) and Belle Cherie Stakes. At age 4, the daughter of Tapit added places in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) and Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2).
Despite not having a long racing career, Dance Card has shown her outstanding talent in the biggest races. Banahan said that as a breeding mare, her physique suited a number of stallions and after a slow start, she hit her stride and then peaked with Cody’s Wish.
Bred in Kentucky by Bruce McMillin, Dance Card is out of Editor’s Note’s mare Tempting Note, who also produced Tapit’s Temptation a sibling of Dance Card, who won a pair of ranked stakes.
Dance Card currently has a 2 year old mare by Street Sense named Spirit of Hope, a 1 year old mare by Gunman as well as a Curlin weanling mare.
