Tranquility
15hh Bay Mare
Unbridled - Rain Dancer, by Storm Cat
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Formerly owned by Ara Davies
In terms of race talent, Rain Dancer's second daughter was nothing to write home about. In fact, she is probably little remembered until one really gets to looking. Tranquility's part in the Rain Dancer dynasty, however, doesn't quite match her diminutive stature.
The little bay daughter of Unbridled was born with high hopes resting on her petite shoulders. However, in her first year of racing, she had only managed two fourths and a sixth in three outs at sprint distances. Things didn't improve much in her first two starts at three, though she did finish third in a one mile allowance race. Dropped back again into maiden company, she was second to finish her sophomore year. First out at four, Tranquility finally broke her maiden at Flamingo Park, then promptly finished sixth in an allowance and was retired.
As a broodmare, Tranquility started down the same disappointing road as she had when she began racing. In fact, her highest earning foal was Palace of Smiles, a gelded son of Tremendous, who won the Claiming Crown Iron Horse and Carousel Stakes.
At this point, you may be wondering why it's worth speaking of Tranquility at all when her half siblings did so much more. The answer is simply a single daughter, a gray Fighting With Wit mare, named Tears For Fears.
Tears For Fears took three starts to break her maiden, then finished fourth in the UAE Oaks before being retired to the breeding shed. Her first foal was a strapping gray son of Wheelaway named Popa Wheely.
Popa Wheely was a nice racehorse. He won his first two starts, defeating Kiddo in the Storm and Silence Stakes in the process, then finished second to Been Worthwhile in the Grey Breeders' Cup Stakes (G3) and second again in the Oceanside Futurity. Interestingly enough, he ran second to Lost in a Two Year Old Sprint Elimination Race before finishing nowhere in the actual Championship. It took him some time to get back on track, but he won the Albany Stakes over Desert Crusader at three, and went on to take a handful of other stakes, including the North State Handicap, Whirlaway Handicap, and Flyaway Handicap (all G3). Very versatile, he was also grade one placed at a mile and at a mile and a sixteenth. He retired with seven wins in 23 starts and earnings of $650,280.
Popa Wheely's full sister, however, is where our tale really begins. Auntie Wheely won only once in her 19-start career, however she was second or third in nine stakes, all but two of them graded. In the breeding shed, her first foal by Chart, Wheelyoffthechart, was nothing special. However, the latent class of the Rain Dancer female family shone through in her second, a son of Herkemayah.
Wheely a Class Act won eight times in thirteen starts and displayed rather remarkable versatility for his era. He won his first two starts, both stakes, at six furlongs, including the Rivera Stakes (G2) in 1:10.01, then won the Chicago Futurity (G2) at a mile. He tried a route in the Steward's Cup Juvenile and the Sunshine Park Derby with fifth place finishes, then returned to a mile and was nearly unstoppable.
From week six of year 25 to the Steward's Cup Dirt Mile of year 26, Wheely a Class Act made eight starts, winning five. These included a gutsy victory over Jury Conviction in the Steward's Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and victories in the Rosita Cup (G1 - twice) and Seattle Mile (G1). He was second to Jury Conviction in the Seattle Mile (G1) of year 25, third in the Desert Mile (G1) and fourth, albeit with a 79 speed figure, in his final start in the Steward's Cup. All in all, he retired with a record of 13-8-1-1 and $1,773,000 in earnings.
Wheely a Class Act is doing pretty well for himself as a stallion, too. His son, Firestrike the Sky, just won the Desert Mile (G1) and became his sire's first millionaire and he has a handful of talented three-year-olds, including multiple graded stakes winner Wheely Great Party and multiple stakes winner Wheely a Star Act. For a horse whose oldest foals are six, he has very few in number at only 85, with 77 runners and 42 winners. For a $30,000 stallion in a division that is becoming more competitive by the minute, he is doing quite well for himself.
Auntie Wheely's foals have continued that run of success since, as well. Wheely Awake came along two years later, and the eight-year-old Awake As I Am gelding is still in training. In fact, in his final start at the age of seven, he ran a speed figure of 82 to win the Aquarius Cup. He has seven wins in 23 starts, including victories in the mile and a half Movie Marathon Stakes (G2), mile and a quarter In Excelsis Stakes (G3), and mile and a sixteenth Prize of Mexico (G3) and has earned just over $650,000.
Wheely the Best, a son of Born the Best, retired in the middle of last season with seven wins in 24 starts and $630,000 in earnings. Another very versatile horse, he was a grade one winner at a flat mile at two and later won the Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile (G1) at 11 furlongs, as well as the Denali Derby (G2) at 12.
Bred to Throne next, Auntie Wheely produced the very talented Thrown a Wheel, a chestnut filly that really was a route specialist. She didn't break her maiden until week 12 in a route in her fourth start, but then won two straight stakes races before running admirably against older fillies in week 5 of her three-year-old year. She won three more graded events in a row after that: the Mustang Park Oaks (G3), Wilmington Oaks (G2), and San Jorge Classic (G2) before finishing third in Sparkle Factor's Steward's Cup Distaff (G1). At four, she went four for five, winning the Waterfalls Stakes (G1), Manistique Stakes (G1), Trap Stakes (G2) and Rampage Handicap (G2) and finishing second in the Set Them Free Handicap (G1) behind a freakishly good performance by Zany Antics. She wasn't quite the same, but still good, at five, finishing second twice and third once in graded company before being retired. All in all, the little chestnut filly won ten times in 19 starts and earned $1,142,400. Her first foal is a yearling by Lookin At Lucky.
Auntie Wheely's second to last foal, Wheely the Bomb, has had an up and down career. He blew away the competition in his second start at a flat mile, ran into Maelstrom in the Don't Hesitate Stakes (G3), won the Bubbly Stakes (G1) and was second in the Steward's Cup Juvenile (G1) at two. He was second in his only Derby prep at three, then finished nowhere in the Louisville Derby (G1) before heading out to try older horses. In his final two starts as a sophomore, he won the Peace Maker Stakes (G2) and Fraternity Cup (G2). He got off to a rocky start at four, running a speed figure of 80 to only finish fifth in the Elusive Pegasus Handicap (G1) and third with a 75 in the Suburbia Handicap (G2). Two starts later, he was back in the winner's circle in the Peace Maker Stakes (G2). This year, he has won the Big Easy Handicap (G2) and finished second to Spartan in the Baltimore Special (G1).
Auntie Wheely's final foal is the East daughter Adah. In a crop of freakishly talented fillies, Adah has never been worse than third in eleven starts so far. She won last year's Steward's Cup Distaff (G1), New Jersey Distaff (G2) and Las Californias Stakes (G2) and finished second in New Year's Present's Louisville Oaks (G1) in which all of the top seven finishers ran speed figures of 100. This year, she has been second twice, once to Valiantly in the Rampage Handicap (G2) and once to All Is Well in the Set Them Free Handicap (G1).
It is almost inexplicable how, three generations down the line, the class of a family can suddenly crop up in a branch that seems almost hopeless, but such is the quality of the Rain Dancer dynasty.