Still the Best

[Wandering Eyes]

The recent Dubai World Cup meeting shone a very bright light on Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}), but one aspect of his profile that may have escaped most is that he’s out of an outstanding mare in Eastern Joy (GB). This daughter of Dubai Destination was no great shakes as a racehorse, winning once over 1800m on soft ground at Vichy from four outings as a 3-year-old. As a broodmare she has been a revelation, producing five consecutive black-type winners with her first five foals. And not a missed year in between. Remarkably, a search for mares that produced as many or more consecutively foaled stakes winners yielded only two others anywhere in the world since the 1970s.

You’resothrilling (Storm Cat)’s achievements are well documented. Her first five foals–born in the same time span as Eastern Joy’s–feature three Group 1 winners, Marvellous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who could add to the family’s silverware in 2018.

But you have to travel back to the 1970s to find our third member of the famous five club. That was the Derring-Do (GB) filly Stilvi (GB) who won a pair of Group 3 sprints and was second in the Nunthorpe S. in the days when it was a Group 2.

Her first five foals included three Group 1 winners, Middle Park winner Tachypous (GB) (Hotfoot {GB}), champion 2-year-old Tromos (GB) (Busted {GB}) and G1 Irish Derby hero Tyrnavos (GB) (Blakeney {GB}). Tolmi (GB) (Great Nephew {GB}), the last of the five, won the Coronation S. at Royal Ascot a race that now holds Group 1 status.

All three mares are clearly exceptional, but you’d have to say Stilvi’s record is the best of the three, both on Timeform ratings–her average score is 126, ahead of You’resothrilling on 118 and Eastern Joy on 114. Moreover, Stilvi did it with five different sires, none of them remotely in the same league as Galileo, responsible for all of You’resothrilling’s stakes winners. Stilvi produced three fillies, but none were good enough to build on their dam’s magnificent achievements and the family has not seen such talented racehorses since. Interestingly, neither Eastern Joy nor You’resothrilling can extend their records as they didn’t produce a foal in 2016. For the record, 65 mares produced four consecutive stakes winners.

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