A Sire for All Seasons!

By Jack Werk

One of the stallions I recommend on a regular basis is Ashford Stud’s Tale of the Cat. At $30,000, he offers a whole lotta bang for the buck! He proved it again yesterday when his 5-year-old daughter Cat by the Tale (click here to view pedigree) became a SW and GSW for the first time when she won the G2 San Gorgonio on turf at Santa Anita.

Coolmore's Tale of the Cat

That makes it 63 SWs for the son of Storm Cat, whose offspring seem to do a bit of everything. They win at 2, 3, and as older runners, they win on dirt, turf, and synthetics, they win short and long, and they win in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres!

There’s a trend I’ve noticed with Tale of the Cat. It’s his ability to get turf runners in the US – an important dimension to this multi-dimensional stallion. Obviously, he’s been doing it in Australia, but Cat by the Tale’s win in the San Gorgonio marks another major turf stakes victory for her sire, whose son Gio Ponti will most likely win the Eclipse Award as top turf horse of 2009. Gio Ponti (click here to view pedigree) has earned $3,153,800 and is 16-9-4-0 with victories in four G1s on turf in 2009! They are the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap, the Man O’ War, the Arlington Million, and the Frank E. Kilroe Mile. And let’s not forget that Gio Ponti (also a 5-year-old like Cat by the Tale) was 2nd in the BC Classic to Zenyatta!

Gio Ponte - 4-Time G1 Winner in 2009

On New Year’s Day, Friday, Tale of the Cat’s 3-year-old son Cat Park (click here to view pedigree) was 3rd in the G3 Tropical Park Derby at Calder on the turf. Last year when he was 2, Cat Park was also 3rd in the Grand Canyon Handicap at Churchill Downs on turf.

In the last month, Tale of the Cat also had the 5-year-old turf SW Taletobetold (click here to view pedigree), a mare who’s won $469,550 to date. Taletobetold won the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa over 5f, Cat Park was placed in the Tropical Park Derby at 9f, Cat by the Tale won the San Gorgonio at 9f and Gio Ponti won the Man O’ War at 11f – which just shows you that Tale of the Cat’s SWs can win over a range of distances.

As a racehorse, Tale of the Cat was really known as a sprinter by virtue of winning the G2 King’s Bishop at 7f – believe it or not his only stakes win. But the stallion’s record was 9-5-1-2 with $360,900 in earnings. He was 3rd twice in the G1 Vosburgh, a sprint, but he was 2nd in the G1 Whitney at 9f to Awesome Again, too. And, in case you forgot, he also won an allowance race at 8f on turf at Saratoga in 1:34.95!

If you happen to examine the pedigrees of these four Tale of the Cat stakes horses, you’ll note that there’s quite a bit of turf in all of them. Cat by the Tale is out of an Irish-bred mare by Indian Ridge who won a G3 at 2 in Ireland! Gio Ponti is out of a mare by stamina influence Alydar whose dam was bred and raced in Argentina and in the US on turf and dirt. Cat Park’s 3rd dam is British-bred Creaking Board, a SW on turf and the dam of Crowd Pleaser, a turf SW. Taletobetold is out of a Miswaki mare who is out of a Le Fabuleux from a family of turf SWs!

This turf trend I’ve noticed just goes to prove how versatile and talented Tale of the Cat is as a stallion, because don’t forget he’s got his share of major winners on the dirt, too. These dirt runners include horses like G1 winners Lion Heart, My Trusty Cat, Cat Moves, and Tale of Ekati, who enters stud in 2010 at Darby Dan Farm.

This breakdown of his 55 unrestricted SWs really tells the story: 25 have won on the dirt, 23 have won on the turf, and 7 have won on the synthetics. And, 7 of the 55 are G1 winners. Tale of the Cat is a stallion that offers breeders versatility with a touch of class in a big way!

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