LANE OF DAVID FIRING LINE

We would guess the skepticism about Line of David’s prospects primarily stemmed from the fact he ended his career by running 18th of 20 in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and that his sire, Lion Heart, had recently been dispatched to Turkey from Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. Neither of these caveats, however, really holds water when it came to disqualifying Line of David as a potentially successful sire. A look at Line of David’s race-record suggests that he, despite a relatively brief career, had plenty of talent. He apparently failed to come to grips with the all-weather surfaces in Southern California in his first three starts, two as a juvenile, but when switched to the turf early at 3, he captured in succession, a maiden and an entry-level allowance, both over a mile at Santa Anita. Next time out, and making his debut on the dirt in the Arkansas Derby (gr. I), Line of David zipped through an opening quarter in :22.65 and a half in :46.26, before digging deep to hold on by a pair of necks from Super Saver  —winner of the Kentucky Derby—and grade I winner Dublin  .

As far as Lion Heart was concerned, he was almost certainly the best 2-year-old of his crop, and at 3 his credits included a victory in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I) and a second in the Kentucky Derby. And if he didn’t achieve a level of commercial success for him to be retained by Ashford, Lion Heart’s record as a sire is by no means an embarrassing one. From five Northern Hemisphere crops, he’s been represented by 34 stakes winners, and in addition to Line of David, they include Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. IT) victor Dangerous Midge, grade I winner Tom's Tribute, and 14 other graded winners including Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured   and undefeated juvenile star Kantharos  .

We also liked the fact that Line of David’s granddam, Kentucky Lill, was closely related to Mr. Prospector (by Mr. Prospector’s sire, Raise a Native out of a daughter of Mr. P’s dam, Gold Digger), making him a natural to cross with mares carrying that strain. On a more esoteric front, it was also notable that he and Mr. P owned particularly strong linebreeding to the great foundation mare Frizette.

We can certainly say that Line of David is off to a promising start to his stud career—he is near the top of the 2015 second-crop sire list. So far he has been represented by two stakes winners: Firing Line and Cross the Line (winner of the California Derby and second in the El Camino Real Derby, gr. III).

It’s Firing Line that has been the real standout for his sire, and he had the opportunity to step out March 22 from the imposing shadow of Dortmund, who had narrowly defeated him in the Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) and Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. III). In the absence of his nemesis, starting as the 1-5 favorite for the Sunland Derby (gr. III), Firing Line was on or near the lead through sharp fractions and then romped home under a hand-ride for a 14 1/4-length victory. Firing Line’s time for the nine furlongs set a track record of 1:47.39.

Firing Line is the fourth foal and second winner for his dam, Sister Girl Blues, a daughter of the unraced Red Ransom horse Hold for Gold. Sister Girl Blues was purchased for $25,000 as a barren mare at the 2011 Keeneland January sale by the late Eamon Cleary, for his Clearsky Farms (now run by Eamon’s sons, Eamonn and Bernard). Sister Girl Blues had never won a stakes but showed well above average ability, finishing second to Adoration in the Hollywood Breeders’ Cup Oaks (gr. II) in only her second outing, and later taking runner-up spot to Azeri in the Vanity Handicap (gr. I). Sister Girl Blues is a half sister to the Dwyer Stakes (gr. II) winner Mint Lane, and both her second and third dams produced minor stakes winners. The family doesn’t become really illustrious, however, until we reach Sister Girl Blues’ fourth dam, the Canadian Oaks winner and Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, Kamar.



The decision that Sister Girl Blues would be a good mate for Line of David wasn’t a difficult one. Line of David’s grandsire, Tale of the Cat  , had crossed well with Sister Girl Blues’ grandsire, Red Ransom, getting four stakes winners, two group or graded, and Lion Heart had also done well with mares from the male line of Red Ransom’s sire, Roberto.



Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/91168/pedigree-analysis-firing-line#ixzz3Y3rL65lQ