Riva Ridge was by First Landing out of Iberia, by Heliopolis out of War East, by Easton out of Warrior Lass, by Man o’ War. The female family of Warrior Lass is the subject of today’s post.
Listed below are all stakes winners among sales foals of 2003-2007 tracing to Warrior Lass in the female line. I trust that the format is familiar to you by now. Discussion starts after the list.
Stakes Winners, Sales Foals of 2003-2007, Warrior Lass in Tail Female
Name Price RR Generation
Dover Dere 03Y80,000 577 6th, Marching Home
Cherokee Run—Moss, Woodman
English Channel 03Y50,000 8,219 7th, Marching Home
Smart Strike—Belva, Theatrical
Mighty Cahill 03W6,200 262 7th, Marching Home
Cahill Road—Bates Monarch, Bates Motel
Diplomat Lady 04Y120,000 1,253 6th, Lasso
Forestry—Playcaller, Saratoga Six
Retribution 04T30,000 525 7th, Marching Home
Rob n’ Gin—Adonara, Strawberry Road
Tap It Light 05Y5,000 468 8th, Marching Home
General Meeting—Popular Opinion, Half a Year
Gangbuster 06Y22,000 457 7th, Lasso
Langfuhr—Foxcaller, Beau Genius
Dream Play 07Y150,000 588 6th, Lasso
Hennessy—Playcaller, Saratoga Six
Mary’s Follies 07Y40,000 839 8th, Marching Home
More Than Ready—Catch the Queen, Miswaki
Warrior Lass was a 1926 filly by Man o’ War out of Sweetheart, by Ultimus. Sweetheart was a stakes winner and produced two stakes winners, including Case Ace (broodmare sire of Raise a Native).
Warrior Lass started six times, all at two, with one win, one second, and earnings of $900. At stud she produced 15 foals, 13 starters, and ten winners, including 1939 Metropolitan Handicap winner Knickerbocker (a 1936 colt by Teddy).
Before Riva Ridge came along Warrior Lass was mainly known as the second dam of 1944 Belmont Stakes winner Bounding Home, a 1941 colt by Espino out of Marching Home, by John P. Grier out of Warrior Lass.
A foal of 1932, Marching Home was much better than an empty stall. Over four seasons of racing she compiled a record of 65-13-8-10 for earnings of $12,080. Those Depression-era earnings were good enough for an SSI of 2.27 (1.00 being average).
Marching Home produced 11 foals, all starters, nine winners, and three stakes winners (all by Espino): Romping Home (1939 filly), Breezing Home (1940 gelding), and the aforementioned Bounding Home (1941 colt). It is interesting that she produced her three stakes winners in three consecutive years. Six of the nine stakes winners listed above trace from Marching Home.
The other three stakes winners listed above (the half-siblings Diplomat Lady and Dream Play and Gangbuster) trace from Lasso. A 1940 filly by John P. Grier out of Warrior Lass, Lasso was an unraced full sister to Marching Home.
Riva Ridge descends from neither of these two sources but from War East, a 1947 filly by Easton. War East raced only at two and posted a record of 12-1-1-1 for earnings of $2,625. She produced 15 foals, 13 starters, and ten winners, including stakes winner Dos Equis (1962 colt by Poona II).
War East was also the dam of Iberia, the dam of Riva Ridge, Hydrologist, and Potomac, as chronicled in the post on Riva Ridge. So the family of Warrior Lass was considerably better than an empty stall.
I found 292 foals among these sales foals of 2003-2007 tracing to Warrior Lass in the female line. They ranged from the sixth through the tenth generation (sixth though tenth dams). Notice that the stakes winners ranged from the sixth through eighth generations (sixth through eighth dams).
These 292 foals sold for a gross of $13,393,631, an average of $45,869 (compared to the overall average of $54,140), and a maverage of 162.04 (compared to the overall maverage of 163.11). So they sold for prices slightly below average and therefore their racing results should have been slightly below average as well.
In fact their racing results were well above average but for an obvious reason. Nine of these 292 foals were stakes winners (3.08%, compared to the overall figure of 3.36%). Those nine stakes winners were a pretty good group collectively though, averaging 1,465 Performance Points apiece (compared to the overall average of 603).
So taking both quantity and quality of stakes winners into account, these 292 foals had a PPI (result) of 2.23, way above their Price Index of 0.99. They were a very good group.
“The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.” Here comes the small print.
The obvious reason this group was so good is English Channel and his 8,219 Performance Points (more than 62% of the total of 13,188 for all nine stakes winners). Without English Channel this group has a PPI (result) of 0.84, much more closely in line with their Price Index of 0.99.
The other eight stakes winners averaged 621 Performance Points apiece (slightly higher than the overall average of 603). If English Channel were an average stakes winner, say with 621 Performance Points, this group would have a PPI (result) of 0.95, almost right in line with its Price Index of 0.99. That is another way of looking at it.
As I commented in my post on the Iltis Female Line, “If the female family in question produces one or more truly outstanding stakes winners, its results may very well be above average. If the female family in question does not produce one or more truly outstanding stakes winners (as is the case here with Iltis and sales foals of 2003-2007), its results are going to be BELOW average.”
Warrior Lass is an excellent example of a female family that has good results thanks to one particularly good stakes winner, in this case English Channel. Without English Channel, however, the results for the female family of Warrior Lass are pretty ordinary and right in line with its prices.
