Thomas Lind-Holm was elated when Custom delivered her trademark strong finish in her Breeders Crown elimination last week, narrowly missing out on a win, but qualifying comfortably for the $664,550 USD Grade 1 final for three-year-old filly trotters on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Eldorado Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio.
On Saturday, the Walner-Goldy Mary FR filly can write herself into the history books like so many from her illustrious maternal family, and her Danish owner is hopeful of a good result.
“I feel she’s on an upward curve, while I feel that isn’t necessarily true for everybody else in that field. I just wish for a little racing luck,” said Lind-Holm, adding, “In the Hambletonian Oaks, for example, Custom had no racing room and was trapped behind horses. That can happen since she lacks early speed and simply isn’t fast off the gate.”
Lind-Holm has had great success as a breeder in both Sweden and his native Denmark, often crossing French and American bloodlines. With that in mind, his purchase of Custom made a lot of sense.
“Indeed, her pedigree was a big reason for me, with Walner as a sire and an excellent French maternal family,” he said. “In fact, I feel Custom may be a little underrated since she has a French dam. To me, that is a mistake. I understand Americans aren’t familiar with the bloodlines, but I don’t understand why they don’t show more respect for the French stallions and mares as they’ve proven themselves in North America.”
If Custom wins on Saturday, she’ll be the second winner of the Breeders Crown for three-year-old trotting fillies with French blood in her pedigree; the 2007 winner Southwind Serena being the first as her sire, Varenne, had some French blood on his maternal side. Looking at all Breeders Crown finals, other winners with French blood in their pedigree include Joviality S, Ecurie D DK, Bold Eagle, Commander Crowe, Market Share and Brigham Dream – and, of course, Varenne, who was so spectacular he’s worthy of being mentioned twice.
Custom does not merely represent a French maternal family, however. She hails from the most successful maternal family in France over the last two decades. Oddly enough, her maternal family also represents one of the finest and most legendary mares in U.S. trotting history.
Confused? Let’s dive into the maternal pedigree.
Looking at the sires along the maternal line, there's Ready Cash, Coktail Jet, And Arifant and Florestan, so it's clear some of the very best stallions have been used. However, let’s look at the maternal line itself: Custom’s dam, Goldy Mary FR (by Ready Cash), was a good mare with a second place in a Group 2 race at Vincennes to her name. Not always steady on her feet, she had speed, something that a personal best of 1:54.2 at Vincennes underscores. Her maternal great-grandam, however, was something else.
Mara Bourbon had inherited the strength and toughness of her sire, And Arifant, and used it to win four Group 1 races, including one under saddle, and an additional 10 Group 2 races in Europe. Lacking gate speed, Mara Bourbon just used good old-fashioned strength and willpower to wear her opponents down. In the Prix Louis Jariel at Vincennes in 2005, for example, she had to trot three-wide almost the whole race but just kept going and in the end won handily against some of the best in her crop. She lacked the raw speed of some of her opponents, a reason all of her 16 career wins came over distances longer than a mile, and occasionally she made breaks, but Mara Bourbon firing on all cylinders was a terrifying proposition.
But Mara Bourbon wasn’t the only one in her family who knew a thing or two about winning big races. Her younger sister, Qualita Bourbon, a daughter of Love You, won 21 of 31 lifetime starts and is described as one of the best young mares France has ever produced. Unfortunately, her career ended early, as she was bred at five.
These two sisters, who amassed more than three million euros between them, were both exceptional. Their brother, Sam Bourbon, second in the European Championship for three-year-olds in 2009, was also a very good trotter. Still, there is, pun intended, a much stronger Bourbon to be found in the family. Their older sister, Kamera Bourbon, herself a good trotter with nine career wins, is a grandam of a certain Face Time Bourbon, one of the best trotters in French history and at 10 already firmly established as the best sire in the country and possibly in Europe.
Toss in current European star Epic Kronos, a four-time Group 1 winner, Mara Bourbon’s son Follow You, a Group 2 winner, and Kamera’s daughter Scala Bourbon, and it’s easy to see how Custom represents some of the very best bloodlines French trotting has to offer.
For this reason, Mara Bourbon’s dam Etta Extra (by Florestan) is also considered one of the best, if not the very best, broodmares in French history. Etta Extra was nothing special on the track, but her owner, famed breeder Rainier Engelke, had purchased her at a yearling auction specifically for her broodmare potential – and for good reason: she was an impeccably bred granddaughter of 1977 Elitlopp winner Dimitria, another excellent racing mare.
This maternal family is not really French, though. It arrived in Europe when mare Anna Maloney, hailing from White Plains, New York, was sold to Belgium in 1921 and then taken to France. Anna Maloney was lighting fast and timed in 2:06-1/2 at Toledo in 1919, but had, to put it mildly, questionable manners on the track. There was no questioning the ability, but Anna Maloney was both capricious and a bit temperamental and was known for her on-track antics – so much the media even referred to her as the “loose-brained Anna Maloney.”
When bred to the French stallion Passeport, however, she produced four mares who won races today designated as Group 1 or 2. One of these was the fast Heroine B, the fifth dam of Dimitria. The best of these four, though, was the double Prix d’Amerique winner Amazone B, who often overcame big handicaps using the raw speed inherited from her dam and the strength and willpower – sounds familiar? – inherited from her sire. And yes, she also inherited a pinch of the loose-brained antics: a few times Amazone B just gave up and quit mid-race despite her driver’s insistent urging.
Another of Anna Maloney’s daughters, by the way, also produced the 1943 Prix d’Amerique-winner Nebuleuse V, further documenting how this is a maternal family which has produced big winners throughout trotting history.
And it goes further back as Anna Maloney’s speed has a clear and well-known source: her third dam is none other than the legendary Nancy Hanks, who lowered the absolute world record three times in 1892 and became the world’s first 2:05 trotter.
Now, 134 years later, Custom can be the first trotter from Nancy Hank’s maternal line to win a Breeders Crown final. Nothing would please Lind-Holm more, although he’s just as keen to see what happens in the final for the three-year-old trotters.
“Jesper Hansen, who has the ‘Wynn’ breeding in Denmark, and I bought Crysti Dream when she was carrying Diabolic Hill, and then sold him at the auction,” he said, adding, “Imagine if both him and Custom wins? That would be truly special.”
He doesn’t own Crysti Dream anymore, but has her two-year-old son, Nassir Dust, already a Group 2 winner in Europe. Lind-Holm’s U.S. breeding operation is limited to Golden Rain S, a daughter of the incomparable Mystical Sunshine, winner of the Breeders Crown Mare Trot both in 2006 and 2007, in foal to Muscle Hill.
And maybe Custom will join Lind-Holm’s broodmare band? The Dane is unsure.
“I really don’t know, actually,” he said. “She’s eligible for all the big four-year-old races in Sweden, but there are also racing options for her in the States. And, of course, she’s also got solid broodmare potential. But she may not even be mine anymore come next week: she’s selling at the Selected Sales online auction on Sunday. Both her and Busy Miss Lissy are actually listed in that auction, so we’ll see what happens.”
Scioto Downs will host all four Breeders Crown championships for two-year-olds on Friday, Oct. 23 with the remaining eight finals to follow on Saturday. First-race post time both nights is 6 p.m. Friday night’s action will be aired on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) from 8-11 p.m. and Saturday’s on FOX Sports 2 (FS2) 7-10:30 p.m.
(Breeders Crown)