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15.3hh Gray Mare Storm Cat - Dance Smartly, by Danzig Hall of Fame, Broodmare of the Year Click here for SIM site Formerly owned by Ara Davies |
Before her career as possibly the best broodmare we've ever seen, the little gray Rain Dancer was a very nice racehorse in her own right. Regally bred by Storm Cat and out of the champion Danzig mare Dance Smartly, Rain Dancer was one of the "original" horses in the SIM. She debuted in the spring of year one, winning a seven furlong allowance test at Oceanside Racetrack. Bumped up into stakes competition for her second start, she then took the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) in Kentucky before returning to California for a third place finish in Lost Ecstasy's Steward's Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
At three, Rain Dancer defeated a top class field that included Excellent Meeting, Lost Ecstasy and Silverbulletday to win the Fantasy Stakes before entering the Louisville Oaks (G1). She was third there, behind Excellent Meeting and Silverbulletday, then second in the Acorn Stakes (G1) to Lost Ecstasy. She ran into that filly yet again in the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) before closing out her sophomore campaign with a third place finish in Manistique's Steward's Cup Distaff (G1).
Rain Dancer made only two starts at four and won both of them, defeating Excellent Meeting both times in the Lady's Choice (G3) and Beldame Stakes (G1). Brought back at five, she made four starts but never won again, finishing second to Wait A Minute in the Manistique Handicap (G2) and third to Foreigner and A.P. Alert in the Serena's Song Handicap.
She retired with five wins in 14 starts, with three seconds and four thirds. Her actual career earnings are a mystery; it seems they were never fully imported to the "new" SIM. She is listed as having earned $200,000, but that came from only two starts: her two third place finishes in Steward's Cup races. It is easy to assume that she would have without a doubt been a millionaire.
As a broodmare, Rain Dancer was immediately a star, throwing the multimillionaire Cascade from her first mating. But before we start to really dig into the power of her female family, it is necessary to take a look at her sons and three of them in particular.
Rain Dancer's first four sons were nice, but they weren't necessarily anything special. Her first was Indian Dancer, a son of A.P. Indy. The bay gelding never won in twelve tries, but he did manage a bit of fame by finishing third in Elusive Pegasus's Haskell Invitational (G1).
The second son of Rain Dancer was Hurricane Season, a dark bay by Event of the Year. He was the first to really tap the versatile potential of his dam's line, breaking his maiden at six furlongs on the dirt, winning a dirt route allowance, and also winning at a mile and a half on the turf. With three wins in thirteen starts and $108,580 in earnings, he retired to stud and sired a handful of foals, none of which ever won. He was the maternal grandsire of grade one placed Star Child who in turn produced the graded stakes winner Vernal Equinox and the dam of stakes winner Royal Plan.
Rain Dancer's third son was Cyclone, a gray by the brilliant Silver Valor. The snip-nosed colt was very speedy and could carry that up to a mile. At two, he won the Sapling Stakes (G2) at a mile and the Inglewood Juvenile Championship (G3) at 4 1/2 furlongs, as well as finishing second in the Tilt A Whirl Stakes. At three, he won the Hutcheson Stakes (G3) and was second in the Florida Derby (G1) before a try in the Louisville Derby (G1). He didn't like the mile and a quarter and was relegated to 19th in the field of 20. The rest of his career was run in sprints, but he would never win again. He was, however, second in the Phoenix Steward's Cup Sprint (G1) and Dramatic Gold Handicap (G2), as well as third in the Ancient Title Steward's Cup Handicap (G1) and Rapid Bay Stakes (G3). As a sire, he produced the stakes-winning steeplechaser Dreamin Up A Storm. He was also the maternal grandsire of the very talented grade one-winner steeplechase mare Defiant.
Of the boys, The Rocket, a son of The Natural, came next. He was a milestone in Rain Dancer's broodmare career simply because he was her first male millionaire. The Rocket was brilliant enough at two to win the Tri Star Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs and the Grey Breeders' Cup Stakes (G2) at a mile. At three, he was winless in four starts but finished second in the Queen's Derby (G1), Lexington Stakes (G2) and Tropical Derby (G2). In three starts at the age of four, he won the Fayette Handicap (G3) and Texas Mile (G2), as well as finishing second in Inspired Star's world record Metropolitan Mile (G1). He raced for two more seasons afterwards, making six more starts and finishing on the board in all of them: second in the Metropolitan Mile (G1), California Cup Classic (G2), Oaklawn Park Handicap (G2), and Texas Mile (G2) and third in the Sunshine Park and Clark Handicaps (both G2). As a sire, The Rocket sired nine winners.
It almost seemed that Rain Dancer would never produce a truly great son at that point. However, her career as a broodmare was far from over, and she had yet to meet Symbol. Bred to the immortal black terror, Rain Dancer produced a big, dark bay colt aptly named Conduit.
Conduit should need no introduction. He was undefeated in his seventeen race career, only once ever racing outside of stakes competition. At two, he tore up the track, winning sprint races such as the Storm And Silence Stakes and Inglewood Juvenile Championship (both G3), at a flat mile in the In Reality Stakes (G3) and going a route in the Remsen Stakes (G1). At three, he opened the year with two brilliant wins in Derby preps: the Battle Cry Stakes (G3) and Flamingo Stakes (G2). Why he never went on to Louisville is anyone's guess, but he won all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown anyway. He reaffirmed his devastating speed in winning the Malibu Stakes (G1) to close out the year. As a four-year-old, he completed the Strub series, winning the San Fernando (G2) and Strub Stakes (G1) with ease before heading east to take the Baltimore Special (G1), Priceless Forever Stakes (G2), and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). Beneath the Twin Spires, Conduit met a field of eleven others, including Loki Masterpiece, Walkover, El Rival Decade, and Gaze Unwavering for his final career start in the Steward's Cup Classic. Ara's big dark bay didn't disappoint: he romped by two and a half lengths.
The Champion Older Male, Horse of the Year, and future Hall of Famer didn't disappoint as a sire, either. In fact, his foals gave him numbers in the stud book that will never be matched. He sired a staggering 93.2% winners, 43.2% stakes winners, and had average earnings per runner of over $700,000.
His twenty-five millionaires include the great Atlas, Fog City, Loki Dynasty, Feature Attraction, Tejano Tribute, Le Dauphin Noir, Tot Ziens, Majesty, It's Okay to Live, Map, Lookit, Pendant, Worlds An Audience, Unconquered, Enjoy Every Moment, and Tackle. He is the broodmare sire of 172 stakes winners, including 39 millionaires to date. Conduit daughters have produced the likes of Bragging Rights, Chretiens, Sword Bearer, Andre, Greatest, Start Of The End, Sparkle Factor, Same Old Plot, Oversized Heart, Promise Not to Cry, Knot, and Well Traveled, among too many other wickedly talented horses to name. His influence spreads from dirt sprinters in the likes of A Map to Heaven and Steal It, to all weather routers like Annihilating and Astonishing, to a ridiculous number of dirt and turf routers.
Conduit's sons made names for themselves as sires, as well, especially Loki Dynasty and Feature Attraction. Collectively, Conduit sons have sired to date 411 stakes winners, including 51 millionaires, to date. And Conduit's grandchildren? Well, you get the idea.
There would never be another horse quite like Conduit, but his younger brother Canoe, a chestnut son of Contest, gave it his best shot. In his debut at two, he was jokingly referred to as being equipped with "Conduit's superpowers". The little red horse drew away by 7 1/2 lengths in only a 4 1/2 furlong race but broke down shortly after the wire. Unfortunately, he would never race again. However, he did stand stud and while he was not as good as his older brother, he was certainly nice enough.
Canoe sired three millionaires: Accolade, Jet Ski and Kudos. Jet Ski was certainly one of the better horses that the SIM has seen, winning the American Triple Crown, being named Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Horse of the Year and later entering the Hall of Fame. He was also a horse that could run within a length of his cousin Atlas. Interestingly enough, not only was Jet Ski a paternal grandson of Rain Dancer, he was also a maternal great grandson through his dam Kayak. As a sire, he got nine millionaires, including Fighter Jet and the tri-surface/steeplechase wonder Colorado (yep, he's a maternal grandson of Rain Dancer).
In the same crop as Jet Ski was a little chestnut colt named Accolade. He was undefeated in four starts when he entered the Louisville Derby only to fall short of Jet Ski in Louisville. He then just barely missed in two thrilling duels in the Baltimore Crown and Long Island Classic that brought back shades of the rivalry of Affirmed and Alydar. He did once best Jet Ski, finishing second in the Steward's Cup Classic where Jet Ski was third. He wasn't quite as nice of a sire - his top earner never cracked $500,000 - but he still got 67.2% winners and a very nice 14.1% stakes winners. His full sister Kudos, a very talented race mare, is probably best known as the dam of Tremendous Machine.
Canoe was the maternal grandsire of 18 stakes winners, many of those through his daughter Glide, including the $5 million horse Fog City (a son of Conduit) and World Traveler (a daughter of Atlas).
Canute came along two years later for Rain Dancer. Another diminutive chestnut, Canute was a son of the great Battle Cry. At two, he won four of five, including a powerful victory in the Steward's Cup Juvenile (G1), as well as the Futurity Stakes and Kentucky Cup Juvenile (both G2). He won his prep in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G1), but could only manage eighth in Loki Dynasty's Louisville Derby. He bounced back well enough to win the Jim Dandy (G2) before finishing second in the Super Derby (G1) to Chinese Bandit. He only made one start at four and finished second to For What Its Worth in the Star Player Stakes.
At stud, Canute sired two millionaires, both sons, and both rather influential themselves. The first was Kiddo, out of the immortal Cadeauje, a winner of nine races, including the Travers Stakes (G1). At stud, Kiddo sired 83 winners from 118 runners, including Lowered Head, Thirty One Lengths, Where, and Embellish. Recently, his four-year-old son Bond James Bond has been making noise on the all weather circuit, winning five in a row.
The second was the multiple grade one winning Duke, out of Crown. Duke is memorable simply because he is the sire of the gutsy, talented, and wildly popular Marmaduke.
The little, stripe-faced gray Comet was Rain Dancer's final son. The son of Satelite would extend the influence of Rain Dancer far into the realms of sprinting for good. On the track, Comet won his first three races, including a dead heat with Saturn in the Onwardsilvercharm Stakes in week one. At three, he opened the year with two second place finishes: to Villain in the Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Sprint and Adjust the Lens in the Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Sprint. He then won two graded races, taking the Harry Henson over Always Will and the Matt Winn over Runtoapremont. He was third in a tough field in the Chicago Breeders' Cup Sprint (G2), then fourth in his only turf start in the Miami Turf Sprint (G2).
In his final season at four, Comet was brilliant in his first out, winning the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) over I'llbethereforyou and Emstruelybusy. He was a nose and a head away from taking the Palos Verdes Handicap (G2) behind Runtoapremont and Saturn, then second to Always Will in the Bing Crosby Handicap (G1). His final victory came over the latter rival in the Smile Handicap (G2) before he closed out his career off the board in the Steward's Cup Sprint. All in all, Comet won seven of 14, with three seconds, and two thirds and $865,000 in earnings.
As a stallion, Comet never sired a millionaire, but that hardly matters for the likes of him. In total, he sired 418 winners that crossed the wire first a collective 1215 times. His winners percentage was almost 92%, with average earnings per runner over $70,000 and almost 22% stakes winners. Three hundred and eighty-two of Comet's winners were on dirt, 45 on all weather, 19 over the hurdles, and one on turf.
Comet's real influence seems to be as a broodmare sire. To date, his daughters have produced 145 stakes winners, including multimillionaire Betterbetdabestbet, champion millionaires Sweet Disposition and Votum, millionaire Passer, and champion Snowplay.
It is nearly impossible to say what the SIM would be like without the sons of Rain Dancer. A duller place, to be sure, and the breed itself would possibly be a good bit less developed. Despite the far-reaching effects that Rain Dancer's sons had on the breed, however, her daughters were possibly even more influential. Each of them will be covered separately in this series-within-a-series on the Rain Dancer dynasty.
Next part of "The Rain Dancer Dynasty" - Cascade >>>