February 14 - Seeking Gabrielle
Remember her from last week? You wanted to hear a story, so here's a story . . .
Seeking Gabrielle is the dam of Kentucky Derby Winner Nyquist.
Nyquist is by one of the top sires, Uncle Mo. Seeking Gabrielle was bred to Uncle Mo his first year at stud. Now, over time we forget stuff . . . does anybody remember when Uncle Mo went to stud that the perception was that Uncle Mo was not going to produce horses capable of getting the classic distance of 1-1/4 or more because the word was his sire, Indian Charlie, didn't produce stamina the way he produced speed? Ah, but Uncle Mo's dam line is filled with some big strong distance horses like Arch by Kiss S by Roberto. Still, the knock was - couldn't produce the distance horse.
Nyquist single handedly squashed that myth in the first foal crop by taking down the 2016 Kentucky Derby.
Ah, but how did we get there and how did we get here?
Seeking Gabrielle was offered in the sales ring in foal to Uncle Mo, carrying Nyquist. She did not sell. She came back through the sale a year later with her colt being the hip before her in the sales ring. He was a big stunning looking horse and sold well. Then, mom came through the ring and went for less than expected. She was bought by Hinkle Farms to become part of their broodmare band.
A couple of years go by and the 3 year old Nyquist wins the Derby, his Daddy's myth is busted and mom because a super star. I guess Tom Hinkle has a reputation among other breeders as being lucky and the comment was that Tom did it again.
Since going to Hinkle Farm, Seeking Gabrielle's offspring has brought in over $6 million and she's not done yet.
The rest of the story: well, I knew who Tom Hinkle was and he says he knew who I was before Susan and I bought Tom's house, but he mentioned at the closing that he had a horse he wanted me to paint. (I hear that sort of thing a lot and have learned not to get excited.) Several months passed by and Tom called and told me who it was he wanted painted. You know, something really happens when you see a horse. You can read that they are chestnut, or somebody can tell you a horse is good looking, but when you see it for yourself, words never leave the impression on you or the imprint on your brain as what passed through your eyes. Seeking Gabrielle has one of the most beautiful coats, but she was almost a two-tone chestnut. Her front half was almost copper in color and her back half was almost bronze. I know sunlight does things to a horse's coat. In this case, I did not question what the cause was but instead, I just enjoyed the sight of a beautiful horse that had a great body and had produced a Kentucky Derby winner.
Seeking Gabrielle is one of those mares whose own racing career was modest but whose place in the breeding world turned out to be enormous. She was foaled in 2007, a daughter of the speedy stallion Forestry out of the mare Seeking Regina, who herself had won the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga before becoming a successful broodmare. Seeking Gabrielle raced as a three year old in 2010 under trainer Eric J. Guillot, picking up a sprint win on the dirt around six furlongs, mostly down at Fair Grounds and Louisiana Downs.
Although her racing record was a quiet one, her pedigree page caught the eye of breeders. Seeking Gabrielle was a half sister to Seeking An Alibi, who sold as a yearling for $1.6 million, and to graded stakes winner Seeking the Sky. That family had produced quality runners for years, and breeders bet that Seeking Gabrielle would be a useful broodmare. After her racing days ended, she headed to the breeding shed where the next chapter of her story would be written.
The defining moment of her career came when she was bred to the young sire Uncle Mo. The resulting foal was Nyquist, a chestnut colt who would go on to do astonishing things on the racetrack. Racing for Reddam Racing and trainer Doug O'Neill, Nyquist went unbeaten at age two, captured the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and was crowned the 2015 Eclipse Award Champion 2-Year-Old Male. The next spring he rolled to victory in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, putting his dam Seeking Gabrielle into thoroughbred history forever.
Seeking Gabrielle has continued to produce runners since, including her son Still Dreaming by Flatter and her daughter Gabriellestoblame by Blame. None have matched the brilliance of Nyquist, but the mare has firmly cemented her name in the family of Kentucky Derby winners. Seeking Gabrielle is remembered today not for what she did on the track, but for the champion son she gave to the sport, the kind of broodmare whose value can be measured in the horses she helped bring into the world.
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