It was quite a weekend for the Danzig. First of all, Danzig himself was represented by 200th stakes winner when Olympic captured the Mataji Stakes at Calder. And a review of stakes activity around the world shows that an awful lot of Danzig-line horses were keen to get in on the act, with no less than 15 other Danzig-line horses winning black type events.
Five of these took group or grade I events, headlined by Duke of Marmalade (rated A+ by TrueNicks), who was successful in the biggest race of the weekend, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (gr. I) at Ascot. A son of Danzig's great son Danehill, Duke of Marmalade is out of a Kingmambo mare who is a three-parts-sister to Lemon Drop Kid. Across the Irish Sea, Sunday saw Danehill Dancer's son Mastercraftsman (out of the U.S.-bred Black Tie Affair mare Starlight Dreams, and rated B+), vaulted to favoritism for the 2009 Two Thousand Guineas (gr. I) with a decisive win in the Phoenix Stakes (gr. I).
In South Africa, Danzig grandsons Orpen (by Lure) and National Emblem (by National Assembly) were represented by by Premier's Champion Stakes (gr. I) victor Rocks Off, and the Champions Cup (gr. I) victor Buy and Sell (TrueNicks rated A).
Meanwhile in the U.S., Belong to Me's (TrueNicks, SRO) daughter Forever Together (rated A) gained a first graded triumph by taking the Diana Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga.
There was also a very intriguingly patterned group II winner from the male line in the shape of Lui Rei, Italian-bred winner of the Prix Robert-Papin (gr. II). By the little-know Green Desert horse Reinaldo, Lui Rei, who is out of the High Estate mare My Luigia, is rated B by TrueNicks. What particularly fascinates us about the pedigree of Lui Rei, however, is that her grandsire, Green Desert, is a Northern Dancer/Sir Gaylord cross, as is Lui Rey's granddam, Luigia Abbadia, with the Sir Gaylord crosses coming through the similarly-bred Sir Ivor and Drone. For good measure, Reinaldo brings in another cross of Sir Ivor.