Pedigree Insights: Samraat

GOTHAM S.-GIII, $500,000, AQU, 3-1, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44 2/5, ft. 
1–SAMRAAT, 123, c, 3, by Noble Causeway 
     1st Dam: Little Indian Girl, by Indian Charlie 
     2nd Dam: Brighter Than Gold, by Light Idea 
     3rd Dam: Princess Born, by Brent’s Prince 
O-My Meadowview Farm; B-My Meadowview LLC 
(NY); T-Richard A Violette Jr; J-Jose L Ortiz. 
$300,000. Lifetime Record: 5-5-0-0, $583,200. *1/2 
to Original Fate (Grand Slam), SP-Jpn, $793,248. 
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the brisnet.com chart or the brisnet.com PPs. VIDEO.
    Back in 2005, trainer Nick Zito was pretty determined to record his first victory in the Florida Derby, having previously missed the target with two colts–Strike The Gold and Go For Gin–which were to win the Kentucky Derby. This time he was double handed, with the Fountain of Youth winner High Fly and the promising Noble Causeway. The latter had already given every indication that he was going to prove worthy of his seven-figure yearling price. Runner-up to the future Blue Grass S. winner Bandini on his sophomore debut, Noble Causeway had then registered two victories over    Gulfstream Park’s mile and an eighth, achieving a 96 Beyer in his second win. 
    The Zito pair proved dominant, with Noble Causeway following High Fly home at a distance of a length and a half. Despite this fine effort he ultimately failed to win a stakes race, but his combination of very useful form and a million-dollar pedigree was sufficient to earn him a place at stud, starting out at a fee of $4,000 in Kentucky. 
Noble Causeway also had the distinction of being Giant’s Causeway’s first Grade I performer out of a Seeking The Gold mare. It didn’t take long for the Giant’s Causeway-Seeking The Gold alliance to become a celebrated nick. The 2003 crop by the Ashford stallion contained Carriage Trail (GI Spinster S. in 2008), plus the stakes-winning filly Scholastic Giant, and another Grade I winner–the 2009 Ruffian H. heroine Swift Temper–emerged from the next crop. Further evidence as to the merit of this cross was added when Cowboy Cal became a multiple graded winner in 2008 and 2009 and when Internallyflawless took the GI Del Mar Oaks in 2009. 
    At this stage, Giant’s Causeway was siring a very eye-catching 11% stakes winners from daughters of Seeking The Gold. This success ensured that Giant’s Causeway now has 102 foals of racing age out of Seeking The Gold mares, which is his largest total, by quite some way with any individual broodmare sire. As nicks tend to become less successful as breeders jump on the bandwagon–sometimes with less suitable mares–it is no surprise that the figure now stands no higher than 6 per cent. However, Noble Causeway has now restored some of its lustre by siring Samraat. This tough colt kept his unbeaten record intact when he carried co-top weight to victory in the GIII Gotham S. 
    Trainer Rick Violette Jr can be forgiven for thinking that he has a suitable contender for the Kentucky Derby. His three-time stakes winner has yet to venture further than a mile and a sixteenth–the distance of his victories in the GIII Withers S. and the Gotham–but everything about Samraat suggests he will benefit from a stiffer test of stamina. Bearing in mind that Giant’s Causeway and Seeking The Gold were both Grade I winners over a mile and a quarter, it was to be expected that the Giant’s Causeway-Seeking The Gold cross would impart some stamina. Sure enough, Carriage Trail, Cowboy Cal, Internallyflawless and Swift Temper were all graded winners over 1 1/8 miles or more and Noble Causeway also tackled a mile and a quarter, as might be expected of a grandson of the Alabama S. winner Classy Cathy. 
    Of course, Samraat’s winning sequence adds to the run of success being enjoyed by Giant’s Causeway’s stallion sons. It will be interesting to see whether Noble Causeway, now resident at Sequel Stallions in New York, can follow Shamardal, Footstepsinthesand, Intense Focus and First Samurai as the fifth son to sire a northern hemisphere Grade I winner. 
    Samraat’s broodmare sire, Indian Charlie, is also awaiting his first Grade I winner in this particular role. It shouldn’t be a long wait, as there were plenty of good fillies among Indian Charlie’s best winners (they accounted for three of his five Grade I winners). Samraat’s dam Little Indian Girl gained her only success over a route, so obviously inherited some of the stamina which brought Indian Charlie a victory in the Santa Anita Derby and third place in the Kentucky Derby. 
Little Indian Girl has proved her worth as a broodmare, Samraat being her four black-type performer. She also has the distinction of being a half-sister to that tough mare Nonsuch Bay. This daughter of Mr Greeley won the GI Mother Goose S.
    Their dam Brighter Than Gold was carrying the future Mother Goose winner when she was sold in Florida in January 1999 for only $40,000. Her price was a reflection of an unexceptional racing record–two wins from 35 starts–and a workmanlike pedigree. Brighter Than Gold’s sire, Light Idea, retired to stud in Ohio largely on the strength of his pedigree, after he had won three very small races. His handful of stakes winners included Brighter Than Gold’s sister Light’s Question, who won three stakes races over a mile and a sixteenth as a juvenile. This female line is hardly packed with household names, and the next four dams are daughters of Brent’s Prince, Amber Morn, The Pincher and Escadru.