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16.3hh Bay Mare Boston Harbor - Escena, by Strawberry Road Click here for SIM site Formerly owned by n/a |
Salutations made her debut in the colors of Ara Davies very early in year five, winning a four-furlong maiden special weight with ease. She ran into One for the Ages and Surely Special in her next start in the Debutante Stakes (wait, how were those two the same age?) then finished second to Forever Risk in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies to end her juvenile year. At three, she came back to win a six and a half furlong allowance event before finishing third in the Ashland Stakes behind Cascade and One for the Ages.
Salutations garnered her very first stakes victory in the grade two Manistique Handicap at a flat mile, where she defeated A.P. Extreme. Following that impressive effort, she took on males twice in a row, finishing second in the Derby Trial Stakes (G2) and a disappointing eighth in the Metropolitan Mile (G1). Her season ended with a fourth place finish in the Kentucky Cup Distaff (G2).
Up until the time she turned four, Salutations had really never done anything spectacular on the track, and her four-year-old campaign was no less unorthodox. She started the year with a second place finish to Battle's Baby Girl in an allowance. Her second stakes victory came at the expense of Speed's Demon in the Bed O' Roses Handicap (G2) before she finished second in the Manistique Handicap (G2). In her only try on turf, Salutations hated the surface but won on her class, taking a mile allowance in Kentucky. After an extended break, she returned with a third place finish in the Spinster Stakes (G1).
Going to the post in the year seven Steward's Cup Distaff (G1), Salutations was lightly regarded as a longshot. She had a pair of graded stakes victories at a flat mile to her credit and some nice finishes in other graded events but nothing spectacular. That year's Distaff changed all of that. In what was a dazzling performance, Salutations defeated a field that included not only second and third place finishers Sim Goddess and Battle's Baby Girl, but also Really Excellent, One for the Ages, Cascade, Flawless Forever and Fusaichi Storm.
Retired to the breeding shed with a record of six wins in fifteen outs and $1,715,900 in earnings, Salutations can be considered a consummate disappointment. Only one of her eight foals ever earned six figures, that being a daughter of Loki Flame named Sarabi.
However, Salutations's daughters went on to far outstrip their mother in the shed. Sarabi herself produced three horses to earn six figures: the graded stakes winners Fireflysumernites by Gothic Dream ($536,900) and Fightingwithpride by Fighting With Wit ($325,500) and stakes winner Snowbreaksatdawn by Gaze Unwavering ($259,000).
Fireflysumernites, herself, can be found in major pedigrees the world over today. Besides producing multiple graded stakes winner Skipping Stones (Tot Ziens), she also has to her credit Onceuponasummer, a daughter of Midnightconfession who not only performed admirably on the track but also produced the millionaires Comestoanend (Loki Dynasty) and Sun Flare (Magician), as well as multiple graded stakes winner Sun Struck (Astonishing). Comestoanend has herself kept the tradition alive with the likes of millionaire and hot young sire Smoulders (Flames) and the talented Clear As a Bell (Magician).
Onceuponasummer's half sister, Still I'm Dreamin (Loki Dynasty), is beginning to crop up in dirt mile and dirt route pedigrees, with representatives that include multiple graded stakes winner Valentine Star (Stay Awake) and up-and-coming young miler Big Gift (Big Bucks).
The only other daughter to carry on Sarabi's branch of the female family was Snowbreaksatdawn, who go the likes of champion Snowfloatsonbreeze (Oak Park) and stakes winner Snowfallsatdusk (Prefamageps). One of her less accomplished (on the track, at least) daughters was Frozen Heart, a daughter of Strike Deadly who has gone on to produce multiple graded stakes winners Desert Superhorse (Desert Force) and Tales of Epic (Fable), graded stakes winner Poppiholla (Jake), and graded stakes winner and producer Yeah I Am Sexy (Most), whose newly-turned-three-year-old daughter So Matter of Fact (Jake) is currently undefeated in three impressive outs.
Further, several minor stakes winners descend from Salutations's next daughter Whisper in the Air, by Ichi Forever, though none have really made a breakout into major graded stakes company to date. Similar could be said of the rest of her fillies, whose branches of the family have yet to live up to expectations.
Salutations's only other real daughter of note was the unraced Hello and Farewell, by Loki Flame. Through her granddaughter Kentucky Magic, she is represented by the very impressive graded stakes winner Arithmancy (by Prophet), as well as a quick new two-year-old by the name of Prince's Tale (Caldron). She also has a four-year-old son by King Of The Desert named King of Consent who has been making noise on the all weather circuit, winning such races as the All Weather Derby and Derby Dreams Stakes and finishing third against older horses in the Steward's Cup Synthetic Classic at the age of three.
Despite Salutations's initial dislike for the turf, her family has become exceptionally versatile, as displayed through the efforts of such horses as Comestoanend and Smoulders, and the all weather talents Sun Flare, King of Consent, and Sun Struck. This family is still going strong, and will certainly be continuing to make headlines in the future.
Next part of "The Escena Empire" - Silent Starfire >>>