Big Beyer for Big Brown
– Big Brown’s Florida Derby final time of 1:48.16 earns a 106 Beyer speed figure, the best we’ve seen of any two-turn prep race this season.
– There’s nothing unusual about two offspring of one sire winning on the same day, but how often does that happen to a broodmare? Both Chelokee and Salute the Sarge, half-brothers out of Dixie Ghost, won on Saturday in their first races off lengthy layoffs. At Gulfstream, making his first start since winning the G3 Northern Dancer at Churchill in June 2007, Chelokee surged through a spot on the rail in the stretch to take race five, a one-mile optional claimer. Across the country, Salute the Sarge, making his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, showed a nice kick rallying in the stretch to win the San Miguel Stakes at Santa Anita. Dixie Ghost is by sprinter Silver Ghost, out of the Dixieland Band mare Mississippi Dixie, and winner of the G3 Just a Game Handicap. Of her four foals to race, all are winners, three of graded stakes. Up close the family is solid, with plenty of blacktype, but what’s interesting is that Dixie Ghost’s second dam, Nashima, is 4×5 to Mumtaz Mahal, one of the most influential 20th century broodmares. That’s a fine family to descend from, especially for potential sires.
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