Memories in the Making

by Jessica Martini 
The talented Winter Memories (El Prado {Ire}) won a legion of fans, as well as two Grade I events, with her electric burst of acceleration on the racetrack. Racing in the colors of Darby Dan’s Phillips Racing Partnership and the product of a long line of Darby Dan runners, the flashy gray mare will be represented by her first foal (hip 65) when her weanling colt by Street Cry (Ire) goes through the sales ring at Monday’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. 

“He was a beautiful foal right at birth,” said Darby Dan owner John Phillips. “He’s going through some growth stages, but they always do.” 

The chestnut colt is by the late Street Cry (Machiavellian), who is also the sire of GI Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and super mare Zenyatta. 

“I love the cross,” Phillips said. “It’s a wonderful cross and I am sure people who are into pedigrees will really appreciate all that is involved in the intricacies of that mating. Of course, it’s very sad that Street Cry is gone, because he was capable of producing horses like Zenyatta who thrilled everyone. The intention was to get a colt and bring it to the market. We’ve had luck so far.” 

Darby Dan’s association with the weanling’s family goes back four generations, but Phillips said the colt’s sale makes sense for the operation. 

“Actually, I am a sentimentalist,” he admitted. “But our program is largely to sell colts. Had it been a filly, it would have never seen the sales grounds. But that was sort of our intention all along and it’s pretty much our program at this point. So, is it hard to sell him? Yes, because Winter Memories, like her own mother, is really a sweet horse. If she would step on you, she would apologize. And for that reason, this foal has been handled a lot and received a lot of attention and now it’s off he goes to college. But he’ll be fine. That family has strong constitution. We’ll be ok.” 

Winter Memories, who won the 2011 GI Garden City S. and 2012 GI Diana S., is a daughter of Memories of Silver (Silver Hawk), who won the 1996 GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge S. and the 1997 GI Beverly D. S. 

In addition to being talented racehorses, Phillips has seen another common denominator through the generations. 

“They stamp themselves pretty well,” Phillips said of the family. “As much in attitude as anything. They are kind horses. It is interesting that the temperament seems to carry with them as much as anything else. I can’t say that about all the families that we have had over the many years.” 

He continued, “People always talk about conformation when they talk about ‘This sire stamps this’ and ‘This sire stamps that’ or ‘This family is high headed or has great hind quarters.’ But the interesting thing to me is temperament–and maybe I’m sensitive to that because of the historically hot heads that Ribot and His Majesty, in particular, tended to throw. This particular family is very even tempered, very coachable. And you can handle them really well, so they learn very quickly and they are very trusting. Interestingly, that has never effected their competitive edge. I could probably put my daughter up on Winter Memories or Memories of Silver to this day and not have a worry. They are really kind horses. You go out there and they’ll play with you and nuzzle you.” 

Phillips added with a laugh, “Now there are other families, I wouldn’t do that with. [Phillips Racing’s 1999 champion turf mare] Soaring Softly, forget it, she’d kill you. But that particular family is very kind.” 

Phillips did not hesitate when asked for a favorite race from Winter Memories’ career. 

“No doubt,” he said. “Her win in the Garden City (video) was unbelievable and I would put it up there with the top 10 performances I’ve ever seen. My whole family was at the track that day and, at the eighth pole, I was wondering how I was going to explain why we were last. She literally had no place to go and, like her mother, Memories of Silver, she had an incredibly tenacious burst of speed. Both the burst of speed and the tenaciousness of it were a combined quality. Her last eighth of a mile was :10 2/5. You don’t see horses do that very often, not in Grade I competition–get free and just explode. For me… breathtaking is an understatement. I couldn’t believe it. I think that is why Winter Memories became such a popular horse.” 

The weanling is not the only member of the family scheduled to sell at the Fasig November auction. Graded-stakes winner La Cloche (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to Winter Memories, sells as hip 97. 

“Now that one does break my heart, but we’ll survive,” Phillips admitted. “I hate to let our families go–those are old Darby Dan families. I’m a horrible businessman in that regard because that one will bother me, it just does.” 
La Cloche won the 2012 GIII Athenia S. and was second in the 2010 GIII Pucker Up S. She produced a filly by Tapit this spring and sells in foal to the Gainesway stallion. 

“She was always the second sister,” Phillips said. “Everyone paid attention to Winter Memories because she was so dominating and flashy. And yet, La Cloche was consistent, tried hard every time. She was a very legitimate, nice horse that people would love to have in their barn when they choose a graded stakes winner. And I am really going to hate to see her go. She’ll be a great broodmare. She’ll never be of higher value, but the reality is she will be a great broodmare. I know I’m going to be sitting here–if God lets me live 10 more years–and saying, I hated to do that.” 
Letting La Cloche go is the right business decision, Phillips explained. 

“I’ve got to be realistic,” he said. “We are very blessed to have a lot of that family. And we have a beautiful Tapit filly out of La Cloche which will never see the sale ground and Winter Memories is obviously very young and Memories of Silver is in foal to Medaglia d’Oro. We are blessed with a lot of that family. And while in terms of horses, I don’t think you can ever have too much gold, I have to be realistic about keeping the families going and trying to keep the best odds I can. So somebody is going to buy a tremendously nice broodmare that will be wonderful for years to come.”