by Alan Porter - Jersey Town is a grade one winning miler by the red-hot sire and
Champion Sprinter Speightstown, out of the brilliant three-time
grade one winner Jersey Girl.
Jersey Town appeals as a very exciting prospect for mares from
the Deputy Minister branch of the Northern Dancer line. Not
only has his sire enjoyed outstanding success with mares from
this line, but his broodmare sire, Belong to Me, is out of a mare by
Exclusive Native, who comes from the immediate family of Deputy
Minister. Speightstown’s Travers Stakes (gr. I) hero Golden Ticket
is out of a mare by Deputy Minister himself. He has grade one
winning millionaire Haynesfield from a daughter of Tejabo, and
stakes winners out of a mares by Silver Deputy and his son, Archers
Bay, French Deputy and War Deputy. Other candidates from the
Deputy Minister line include Awesome Again, Dehere, Deputy
Commander, Forest Camp, Salt Lake, Touch Gold, Graeme Hall,
Ghostzapper and Posse.
Speightstown has also enjoyed success when crossed over mares
descending from Northern Dancer through the closely related
Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells. Speightstown’s group one winner
Lord Shanakill is out of a mare by Nureyev son, Theatrical, with
other sources of that line including Atticus, Spinning World
and Stravinsky. From a mare by Sadler’s Wells son, El Prado,
Speightstown has sired the prolific stakes winner Essence Hit
Man, and this suggests trying mares by Medaglia d’Oro, Kitten’s
Joy and Artie Schiller. There is also a multiple stakes winner by
Speightstown out of a mare by Louis Quatorze (a son of Sovereign Dancer). Speightstown is out of a mare by Storm Cat, but has
already sired two stakes winners, including the brilliantly-fast
Bridgetown (dam by Tabasco Cat) out of Storm Cat line mares,
inviting daughters of such as Giant’s Causeway, Forest Wildcat,
Forestry, Hennessy – and his son, Johannesburg – Stormy Atlantic,
Stormin Fever, Tale of the Cat, Harlan’s Holiday, Bernstein
Mountain Cat, Tactical Cat and Sir Cat. The Gone West line has
done well with mares descending from Northern Dancer through
Dixieland Band (sire of Dixie Union), and it could also be interesting
to introduce Nijinsky II through Royal Academy, a close relative to
Storm Cat, and himself broodmare sire of a group one winner by a
son of Gone West.
Speightstown is unusual for a Gone West line stallion in that he
is beginning to forge a strong affinity for mares from the Seattle
Slew. He has two stakes winners, one graded out of mares by A.
P. Indy. Jersey Town is from a family that has worked well with
A.P. Indy son, Pulpit, and that strain could also be introduced
through Tapit and Sky Mesa, while other sources of A.P. Indy
include Malibu Moon, Mineshaft, Bernardini, Old Trieste and Jump
Start. Speightstown has also sired stakes winners out of mares
descending from Seattle Slew through Capote (sire of Boston
Harbor and Mayakovsky) and Houston, and he also has graded
winner Sum of the Parts out of a mare by Slew’s Royalty.
Out of mares from the Turn-to line, Speightstown has sired the
grade one winning Poseidon’s Warrior from a daughter of Smarten.
From the Hail to Reason branch of Turn-to, Speightstown has a
stakes winner out of a mare by Saint Ballado (by Halo) sire of Saint
Liam, Captain Bodgit, Sweetsouthernsaint and Yankee Victor, and a brother to Devil’s Bag (sire of Devil His Due). Speightstown has
also enjoyed success with the Roberto branch of Hail to Reason,
siring stakes winners out of mares by Red Ransom and Prized (by
Kris S., also sire of Arch, Rock Hard Ten and You and I), encouraging
trying mares by other sons of Roberto such as Dynaformer, Silver
Hawk and Lear Fan.
Speightstown is sire of a stakes winner out of a mare by Relaunch
and another by that horse’s son, Honour and Glory, which would
suggest mares by other stallions from that line, such as daughters
of Skywalker, Bertrando, Officer, Cee’s Tizzy and Tiznow. Jersey
Town carries In Reality – the sire of Relaunch – through Valid
Appeal, but it could be worth duplicating that horse through Valid
Wager (a brother to the granddam of Jersey Town) and Valid
Expectations (a three-quarters brother to the granddam of Jersey
Town).
Out of mares from the Blushing Groom line, Speightstown has
stakes winners out of mares by Peaks and Valleys and his sire Mt.
Livermore (also sire of Orientate and Housebuster), and a stakes
winner out of a mare Rainbow Quest, a horse bred on similar line
to Rahy.
Speightstown’s graded winner Despite The Odds is out of a mare
by Cozzene (sire of Alphabet Soup and Mizzen Mast), which also
invites trying Cozzene’s sire Caro through In Excess and Indian
Charlie, who are both broodmare sires of Gone West line stakes
winners.
Speightstown also has the very fast multiple graded stakes winner
Munnings out of a mare by Holy Bull. Out of mares from the Ribot line he is sire of grade one
winner Mona de Momma from a daughter of Linkage (by Hoist
the Flag), and he has a stakes winner out of a mare by Colonial
Affair (by Pleasant Colony, sire of Pleasantly Perfect, who looks
particularly interesting here, and Pleasant Tap), and his English
group winning two-year-old, Bapak Chinta is out of a mare by
Maria’ s Mon.