After the Auction: Pardonmecomingthru

As an avid fan of sales with possible aspirations to become an adviser/bloodstock agent, auctions are one of my favorite topics to write about on Past the Grandstand. This is the second edition in a blog series called "After the Auction" that will feature horses I selected in sales that have found success after the sale. *Note: If an "After the Auction" features a two-year-old, it will also be listed as a "Juvenile Spotlight."

On the very edge of being a top ten selection of mine for the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Texas Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, hip 96 impressed me greatly not only with her bloodlines, but with her efficient furlong move in 10 4/5 seconds in the under tack show prior to the auction. Yet the daughter of Chatain failed to reach her reserve.

Pardonmecomingthru as Hip 96 at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton
Texas Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale
Photo by Terri Cage

She landed in the hands of Caroline Dodwell and was given the name Pardonmecomingthru. Just over a month after passing through the juvenile auction at Lone Star Park, Pardonmecomingthru made her racing debut at that same track. Entered in a five and one-half-furlong maiden special weight over the main track, Pardonmecomingthru was dismissed just as she was at the sale, going off at 16-1.

The bay filly broke well and thundered to the lead shortly after the start over a track labeled as good. She found herself in a speed duel with Final Song, one of three horses at odds of 2-1, posting an initial quarter-mile clocking of 22.73 seconds. Pardonmecomingthru held the lead as the fillies entered the homestretch, with Final Song dropping back as Bluejoy and Miss Goodthing loomed on her outside. Bluejoy began to fade inside the final furlong as Pardonmecomingthru maintained the lead, despite an outside rally from Miss Goodthing. Though Miss Goodthing came within a neck of Pardonmecomingthru at the wire, there was no getting past the daughter of Chatain in that particular race.

Approximately a month later, Pardonmecomingthru contested against stakes company for the first time, going to post in the TTA (Texas Thoroughbred Association) Sales Futurity for fillies, a race that any horse that goes through a Fasig-Tipton Texas Sale or that is an accredited Texas-bred is eligible for. Pardonmecomingthru broke mid-pack and gradually made up ground on the leaders down the backstretch before looming menacingly on the outside as the horses rounded the far turn.

Pardonmecomingthru was making a remarkable rally on the outside, but it was clear that the race belonged to Falling Star, a Will Farish homebred. Pardonmecomingthru held second, crossing the wire 1 ¼ lengths behind Falling Star while proving second best as she finished 2 lengths clear of the third-place finisher.

Pardonmecomingthru finishing second in the TTA Sales Futurity
Photo by Terri Cage

Pardonmecomingthru has clearly proved to be a blessing for Caroline Dodwell in just the two starts she has made and among the reasons the filly is as talented as she is exists in the blend of influential Thoroughbreds throughout her pedigree. She is a member of Chatain’s first crop, of which only three horses have raced so far. However, as a son of successful sire of Forest Wildcat – a son of the great stallion Storm Cat – Chatain could very well go on to become a productive sire.

Forest Wildcat has been a useful sire of sires, yielding the successful studs Beneficial, D’Wildcat, and Wildcat Heir. Having Storm Cat as his grandsire bodes well for Chatain, as the great horse is the grandsire of such lucrative stallions as First Samurai, Henny Hughes, Johannesburg, and Shamardal.

The dam of Pardonmecomingthru is Bridal Tea, a mare who has produced nine winners from ten runners. Among those winners are two black-type victors: Postponed and Bridesmaid. The former won the Peter Pan Stakes (GII) and retired with earnings of $312,332. Bridesmaid finished her career with a bankroll of $149,192, having won the TTA Sales Futurity prior to finishing in the money in three black-type races.

There are plenty of reasons behind Bridal Tea’s success as a broodmare. For one, her sire is Gulch, who is the damsire of such horses as the group one-winning horses Media Puzzle, Refuse to Bend, and Strong Blood. But perhaps the horse that had the most influence on Bridal Tea’s broodmare career is her second dam – Pardonmecomingthru’s third dam. That mare would be the tremendous Terlingua, a result of the mating between the great Secretariat and the Reine De Course mare Crimson Saint.

Terlingua, a multiple graded stakes winner, of course produced the grade one-winning great sire Storm Cat, as well as the multiple graded stakes-winning Chapel of Dreams – who is the dam of Bridal Tea and the granddam of Pardonmecomingthru. Other direct descendants of Terlingua include the group one-winning Crowded House, as well as the multiple graded stakes-winning Juniper Pass. The fourth dam of Pardonmecomingthru, Crimson Saint, is not only the dam of Terlingua, but also the grade one winners Pancho Villa and Royal Academy, the black-type-winning Alydariel, and the black-type-placed horses Border Run and Encino.

Pardonmecomingthru likely will never become a top juvenile filly across the nation, but she could certainly grow into one of the best fillies in Texas. With the athleticism and star-studded pedigree she displays, it would not be astonishing if the bay filly continues her success. And should she not proceed to blossom into a talented racehorse, her pedigree certainly suggests that she could have a successful career as a broodmare.

Pardonmecomingthru
Photo by Terri Cage

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