If ever a filly was bred for success in male dominated American classics company it is Rags To Riches, the first female to win the Belmont Stakes since 1905. Not only is she a half-sister to 2006 Belmont winner Jazil, as well as a daughter of Belmont winner A.P. Indy (pictured), but also her dam, Better Than Honour, is one of only eight mares to have produced multiple classics (Triple Crown race) winners.
Weekend Surprise, a stakes-winning daughter of Secretariat and the dam of A.P Indy, is the only other mare to have produced multiple classics winners in modern times. She is also the dam of Summer Squall, winner of the 1990 Preakness Stakes and sire of Charismatic, winner of the 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. A.P. Indy, leading North American sire in 2006 with a stud fee of $300,000, had his first classic winner in Bernardini, who claimed the 2006 Preakness Stakes.
In light of previous postings regarding foaling order (May 10 and 26; June 4 and 10), it is interesting to note that Jazil and Rags To Riches were Better Than Honour’s third and fourth foals. Summer Squall, by Storm Bird, was the first foal of Weekend Surprise, and A.P. Indy, by undefeated Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew, was her third foal.
William Farish III, of Houston, TX, adds another interesting twist to the 2007 Belmont Stakes. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm, where Queen Elizabeth stayed during her recent trip to Lexington during Kentucky Derby weekend, stands the sires of the top three finishers of the Belmont. A. P. Indy, Smart Strike and Pleasant Tap are the sires, respectively, of winner Rags To Riches; runner-up Curlin; and third-placed Tiago. In addition, Lane’s End stallion Came Home sired fifth-placed finisher CP West.
Farish enjoyed his first Triple Crown sweep as a breeder in 1999, when Charismatic won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and Lemon Drop Kid, sired by Kingmambo, won the Belmont Stakes.
In the past 20 years, Lane’s End has either raised and/or sold six Belmont Stakes winners: Bet Twice (1987); A.P. Indy (1992); Thunder Gulch (1995); Lemon Drop Kind (1999); Jazil (2006); and Rags to Riches (2007). Both Jazil and Rags To Riches were bred by Skara Glen Stables and born at Lane’s End, which sold Rags To Riches on behalf of the breeder for $1.9 million, in the 2005 Keeneland Yearling Sale. Lane’s End also consigned Better Than Honour, to the 2004 Keeneland November sale, where she sold for $2 million.
A close friend of both former and current presidents Bush, Farish, whose grandfather founded Humble (Standard) Oil and was a business partner of George H. Bush’s father, Prescott Bush, has individually or in partnership bred more than 200 stakes winners.