Caufield on Carpe Diem

TAMPA BAY DERBY-GII, $350,000, TAM, 3-7, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43 3/5, ft. 
1–CARPE DIEM, 122, c, 3, by Giant’s Causeway 
     1st Dam: Rebridled Dreams (SW & GSP, $134,663), by Unbridled’s Song 
     2nd Dam: Key Cents, by Corridor Key 
     3rd Dam: Centimeter, by Aloma’s Ruler 
($550,000 yrl ’13 KEESEP; $1,600,000 2yo ‘14 OBSMAR). O-WinStar 
Farm LLC & Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Coffeepot Stable (KY); 
T-Todd A Pletcher; J-John R Velazquez. $210,000. Lifetime Record: 
GISW, 4-3-1-0, $919,800. *1/2 to Doncaster Rover (War Chant), MSW 
& MGSP, $349,932; J. B.’s Thunder (Thunder Gulch), GISW, 
$280,130. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the 
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 
Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. 
 
“And the winner is…” is a phrase we hear a lot at this time of year, including in some pretty esoteric categories of the movie industry. So forgive me for introducing a new award–for the best broodmare daughter of Unbridled’s Song. And the winner is [irritating pause of at least 30 seconds]…Rebridled Dreams. 

This mare, a member of Unbridled’s Song’s third crop, was conceived at a fee of $40,000 and was sold for $70,000 as a yearling in Texas, so she wasn’t a prime contender for this honor, especially as she won nothing more important than Hawthorne’s Money Penny S., which carried a first prize of less than $26,000. She also managed a third place at Grade II level, but she was beaten nearly 10 lengths on that occasion, so her achievements pale in comparison with those of some of Unbridled’s Song’s best daughters, such as the Grade I winners Unbridled Elaine, Octave, Splended Blended, Magnificent Song and Marylebone. 

Admittedly, Rebridled Dreams has the advantage of having had more foals than some of her more celebrated paternal half-sisters, but none of them can match her record, at least so far (Unbridled Elaine has a Grade II winner in Etched and a Grade III winner in Out of Bounds). Rebridled Dreams made a fine start to her broodmare career, with her son Doncaster Rover. This War Chant colt enjoyed listed success in three consecutive seasons as a very useful sprinter in Britain, earning a Timeform rating of 114. 

Of course War Chant wasn’t a runaway success as a stallion, and Thunder Gulch was heading for a comparatively quiet second half of his career when Rebridled Dreams visited him in 2007. However, the daughter of Unbridled’s Song produced another good son, with J.B.’s Thunder easily winning the GI Futurity S. at Keeneland. 

This early success earned Rebridled Dreams access to some more fashionable stallions, her last five mates being Malibu Moon, Giant’s Causeway, Distorted Humor, Malibu Moon again and Speightstown. Her Giant’s Causeway colt first drew attention to himself when he realised $1.6 million as a 2-year-old at Ocala and a few months later her Distorted Humor colt drew a bid of $525,000 from Spendthrift at Keeneland in September. 

Of course, the Giant’s Causeway colt is none other than Carpe Diem, who boosted his earnings to more than $900,000 with his fine display in the GII Tampa Bay Derby. Because his past performances included a Grade I success in the Futurity S. at two, he had to give weight to his seven opponents at Tampa Bay Downs, but that didn’t stop him winning very decisively. 

The colt was part of an excellent weekend for Unbridled’s Song’s broodmare daughters, as others were represented by El Kabeir, who gave seven pounds and a beating to his rivals in the GIII Gotham S.; Singing Kitty, who took the China Doll S. at Santa Anita; and Kentuckian, who gained “TDN Rising Star” status with a facile debut success at Golden Gate Fields. Two other 3-year-olds–Lismore and Senor Grits–were third at graded level. 

Carpe Diem and his half-brother J.B.’s Thunder already rank alongside General Quarters, Rolling Fog, The Lumber Guy and Unbridled Comma as one of the Grade I winners produced by Unbridled’s Song’s broodmare daughters. It comes as no surprise that these daughters owe quite a lot of their success to stallions from the Storm Cat male line. Unbridled’s Song sired one of his first Grade I winners, the Florida Derby winner Buddha, from a Storm Cat mare and he ended up siring 171 foals from daughters of Storm Cat, including Magnificent Song, Half Ours, Noble Tune and Noonmark. 
Carpe Diem has yet to tackle more than 1 1/16 miles and he was fast enough to score over 5 1/2 furlongs on his debut, so will he continue to shine brightly as the distances lengthen? It must be in his favour that he is by Giant’s Causeway, whose C.V. included three major victories at around a mile and a quarter in Europe, plus a sterling effort against Tiznow in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. 

Since then Giant’s Causeway has imparted a degree of stamina to the likes of Shamardal (G1 Prix du Jockey-Club), Imagining (GI Man o’War S.), Frost Giant (GI Suburban H.), Heatseeker (GI Santa Anita H.) and Rite of Passage (G1 Ascot Gold Cup), plus such as Red Giant, Dalkala, Await the Dawn, Penelopa, Tableaux, Swift Temper, Hold Me Back, Fairbanks, Red Rifle and Giants Play. All of these Grade I or Grade II winners won over a mile and a quarter or more in graded company. Encouragingly, one of them–Hold Me Back–is another with a dam by Unbridled’s Song. This cross’s other stakes winner, Marylebone’s daughter Bow Bells, won over a mile and an eighth. 

Rekindled Dreams was suited by 1 1/16 miles. Although Unbridled’s Song hasn’t been as strong an influence for stamina as Giant’s Causeway, he did sire a handful of top winners over a mile and a quarter, including Will Take Charge, Octave and Political Force. 

Carpe Diem’s second dam, the New York-bred Key Cents, won a couple of stakes races over sprint distances as a 5-year-old. Her sire, the Danzig horse Corridor Key, gave the impression he wasn’t short of stamina as a 3-year-old in England, but his subsequent successes in California were gained over a mile or a mile and an eighth. The next dam, Centimeter, was by Aloma’s Ruler, winner of the 1982 GI Preakness S., so my verdict is that Carpe Diem will have no trouble with a mile and an eighth and he is in with a good chance of getting a mile and a quarter–provided he doesn’t deplete his energy by repeating his antics before the start at Tampa Bay.