Copper Bullet

Alan Porter

A graded stakes winner, Copper Bullet is by the prolific stakes sire, More Than Ready, out of an Unbridled’s Song mare from a European classic family. 

The cross of More Than Ready with mares from the Danzig branch of Northern Dancer has been an astonishingly prolific one, with no less than 78 stakes winners. The outstanding version of the cross has been with mares from the Danehill line (represented by North Light) in North America, but several other branches have met with notable success. There is a champion out of a mare by Anabaa, a grade one winner out of a mare by Lure (sire of Orpen) and graded winners from mares by Belong to Me, Langfuhr (sire of Lawyer Ron), War Chant and Pine Bluff, as well as stakes winners from daughters of Polish Numbers and U S Ranger. Mares by War Front (sire of Declaration of War), Hard Spun and Exchange Rate.

The cross of More Than Ready and his sons with mares from the Storm Cat branch of Northern Dancer has produced 26 stakes winners, including classic winner Swiss Skydiver out of a mare by Johannesburg (sire of Scat Daddy, and a son of Hennessy, also sire of Henny Hughes and Cactus Ridge) as well as grade one winner Rushing Fall out of a mare by Forestry  (sire of Discreet Cat and Shackleford, who would give inbreeding to Unbridled), and grade one winners Verrazano and Say The Word out of mares by Giant’s Causeway (sire of First Samurai, Eskendereya and Creative Cause) and graded winners out of mares by Tale of the Cat (sire of Lion Heart, grandsire of Kantharos) and stakes winners out of mares by Forest Wildcat (sire of Wildcat Heir), Stormy Atlantic, Storm Boot, Cat Thief, Sea of Secrets, Sir Cat and Tactical Cat.

More Than Ready is sire of a Champion Two-Year-Old out of a mare from the Sadler’s Wells line, and Copper Bullet, who carries Sadler’s Wells’ three-quarters brother, Nureyev, should work well with this line. On this cross there is a grade one winner out of a mare by King of Kings. The cross with mares by Fort Wood, sire of Horse Chestnut, has been very successful, and there is also a stakes winner out of a mare by Warrior’s Reward, a son of Medaglia d’Oro (by El Prado, also sire of Kitten’s Joy and Artie Schiller). Other possible Sadler’s Wells line broodmare sires include Powerscourt and Perfect Soul, and from the Galileo branch, Magician and Cape Blanco.

More Than Ready and sons have enjoyed success with a wide range of Mr. Prospector line mares. From the Gone West branch he has Champion Sprinter Roy H out of a mare by Elusive Quality (sire of Quality Road and Smarty Jones), graded stakes winners out of mares by Grand Slam, Mr. Greeley, Came Home and Zafonic and a stakes winner out of a mare by Speightstown (sire of Munnings).

More Than Ready has a grade one winner out of a mare by a son of Seeking the Gold, and a son has a stakes winner out of a mare by Dubawi, a grandson of that horses, which suggests daughters of Petionville, Mutakddim and Cape Town. More Than Ready grade one winner and classic sire, Daredevil, is out of a mare by Forty Niner, and out mares by Forty Niner sons, he has two stakes winners, one graded, out of mares by Distorted Humor (sire of Maclean’s Music, Jimmy Creed, Flower Alley, Drosselmeyer, Any Given Saturday and Sharp Humor) and stakes winners out of mares by Gold Fever and Jules. Forty Niner is also sire of End Sweep (also sire of Trippi), Coronado’s Quest, Twining, Roar and Gold Case.

There is a grade one winner by a son of More Than Ready out of a mare by King Best, a son of Kingmambo, and there are also More Than Ready stakes winners from mares by Kingmambo himself, and his son, Lemon Drop Kid. There are three stakes, two graded, out of mares by Street Cry, sire of Street Sense.  From mares by son of Gulch, there is a graded winners out of a mare by De Niro and a stakes winner out of mare by Thunder Gulch, and there are also graded stakes winners out of mares by Fusaichi Pegasus and Miswaki, and stakes winners out of mares by Not For Love, Distant View and Jade Hunter. Copper Bullet is out of a mare by Unbridled’s Song, from the Fappiano branch of Mr. Prospector, and could cross well over other Fappiano line mares, including through Quiet American (grandsire of Midnight Lute), the broodmare sire of a More Than Ready grade one winner, and Candy Ride (sire of Twirling Candy).

The More Than Ready cross with mares from the A.P. Indy line has produced eight stakes winners, including grade one winners out of mares by Bernardini (sire of To Honor and Serve and Stay Thirsty), Old Trieste and Congrats (a brother to Flatter), and two stakes winners out of mares by Pulpit (sire of Tapit, Sky Mesa and Stroll). This would also suggest mares by such as Mineshaft (sire of Discreetly Mine and Dialed In), Malibu Moon and Jump Start.

More Than Ready has done well with mares from the Caro line. This includes a graded winner out of a mare by Mizzen Mast and a stakes winner out of a mare by that horse’s sire, Cozzene (also sire of Alphabet Soup). There is also a graded stakes winner out of a mare by Indian Charlie, a son of In Excess. In Excess is also is also sire of Rocky Bar, Notional and Bring the Heat and Indian Charlie is sire of Uncle Mo, Adios Charlie, Bwana Charlie, Liaison and Cinco Charlie. More Than Ready has also sired a stakes winner out of a mare by Caro son, With Approval (sire of Lasting Approval). 

More Than Ready has three stakes winners, including graded scorers Tom’s Ready and Magic Broomstick, out of mares by Broad Brush, which also encourages trying mares by Include.