Interesting Patterns in Cyberknife's Pedigree

It was always in the cards that Gun Runner would develop into a very successful stallion, after all, he was a racehorse of the highest-class, and is by a very successful stallion and from an excellent family. Given his own career arc—promising at 2; among the leaders of his generation at 3, but with 'bridesmaid' tendencies until winning the Clark Handicap (G1) at the end of the year; and Horse of the Year at 4—one would, however, have expected his offspring to take their time in making an impact. As we now know, that wasn't the case, and in fact Gun Runner made a meteoric start with his first juveniles and was represented by six juvenile stakes winners, four graded, including champion 2-year-old filly Echo Zulu and the Hopeful Stakes (G1) scorer Gunite. Gun Runner has maintained the leadership of his sire crop through the first months of 2022, but what is interesting is that while Echo Zulu made a successful return to action in the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), four of the Three Chimneys stallion's five 2022 stakes winners, are new stakes winners. That group, which also includes six new black-type placed horses, are led by a pair of classic prospects in the Withers Stakes (G3) captor Early Voting, and Cyberknife, who became his sire's third winner at the highest level April 2 with a 2 3/4-length tally in the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park. Cyberknife is, perhaps, somewhat more typical of what we might have expected from Gun Runner. While promising from the start of his career, he's been something of a work in progress. He did cross the line first on his debut, a six furlong maiden race at Churchill Downs last September, but was disqualified for bumping. Second in a similar event over 6 1/2 furlongs at the same venue on his second outing, Cyberknife gained his first official victory when scoring by a half-length over a mile at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in late December. He first dipped his toe into stakes company in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) in January, but finished a well-beaten sixth as Call Me Midnight edged Epicenter for the major honors. Dropped back into allowance company for his only other start prior to the Arkansas Derby, Cyberknife still showed signs of greenness when asked for effort, but was good enough to score by three lengths while going 8 1/2 furlongs. Cyberknife is the third foal and second winner for his dam, Awesome Flower. She was a prolific winner, coming out on top in 11 of her 33 starts, and was also versatile, scoring from 5 1/2 to 8 1/2 furlongs, and on dirt, turf and all-weather surfaces. Like Gun Runner, she was also progressive, making significant progress with age. Her first black-type start—which she won—didn't come until her 4-year-old career, and on her 15th outing. Despite that late start in stakes company, she ended up with six black-type victories to her name, and she placed in seven others, including a second in the Sixty Sails Handicap (G3), and thirds in the Chilukki Stakes (G2) and Arlington Matron Stakes (G3). By Travers Stakes (G1) captor Flower Alley, himself sire of I'll Have Another, winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, Awesome Flower is a half sister to a pair of black-type placed horses, and to the dam of the stakes-winning and graded-placed Monday Morning QB. Awesome Flower's dam, Formalities Aside, was a winner at 2 in Canada. She is a half sister to Well Armed, whose successes included the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (G1) and Goodwood Stakes (G1); to Witty, who took the Railbird Stakes (G3), and is dam of graded scorer Bombard; and to the Travers Stakes (G1) third Helsinki, the latter pair by Distorted Humor, the sire of Flower Alley, and thus, bred along similar lines to Awesome Flower. Formalities Aside is also half sister to Life Well Lived, the dam of Maker's Mark 46 Mile (G1T) hero American Patriot and of stakes winner Well Humored (also by Distorted Humor), and another Distorted Humor product, O' Toole, the granddam of five-time graded stakes winning millionaire Mr. Money. Cyberknife's third dam, the Notebook mare Well Dressed, gained a black-type win in the American Holly Stakes at Delaware Park. She comes from a famous Florida family stemming from the Bonnie Heath foundation mare Hail Proudly. She was most notably dam of the Tri Jet pair—Triocala, a multiple stakes winning sprinter, and his sister, Tri Argo, who took the Wistful Handicap at Pimlico Race Course. Mated to Gold Meridian, a well-bred son of Seattle Slew, Tri Argo came up with both Cyberknife's fourth dam, Trithenia, and her sister Tee Kay, who took the Martha Washington Handicap (G3) and produced a true celebrity in Symboli Kris S, twice Horse of the Year in Japan, and a very successful sire there. The family has been in North America since the turn of the last century, when the mare Berriedale, who was out a half sister to the 1885 English Two Thousand Guineas and Derby winner Ayrshire, was imported from England. The descendants of Berriedale have been very successful in the U.S. classics over the years, with the 1923 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over; Whirlaway, who took the Triple Crown in 1941; Damascus, victorious in the 1967 Preakness and Belmont Stakes; the 1982 Belmont Stakes (G1) scorer Conquistador Cielo; and Banshee Breeze, heroine of the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), among them. Cyberknife has some interesting patterns in his pedigree. In direct male line he goes back to Cryptoclearance, who is by Fappiano, a son of Mr. Prospector, and out of a mare by Hoist the Flag, a son of Tom Rolfe. His broodmare sire Flower Alley is a grandson of Forty Niner, who was by Mr. Prospector out of a Tom Rolfe mare, so bred on a similar cross to Cryptoclearance. The combination of Cryptoclearance and Forty Niner has already appeared in 27 stakes winners, 18 of them graded, and they include two other Kentucky Derby-bound horses, in Simplification, winner of the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and third in Saturday's Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa Farms (G1), and the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) and Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G3) captor Epicenter. That duo are both by Not This Time (a son of Giant's Causeway out of Forty Niner line mare), and their dams are both by Candy Ride (ARG). This is a reverse to Gun Runner, who is by Candy Ride out of a Giant's Causeway mare, so Cyberknife, Simplification, and Epicenter all have very similar backgrounds. There is also another pattern to note here: Gun Runner's sire, Candy Ride, is out of a mare by Candy Stripes (a Blushing Groom/Northern Dancer cross), and his broodmare sire, Giant's Causeway, is a Northern Dancer/Blushing Groom cross. Cyberknife's own second dam is by Awesome Again, who is himself a Northern Dancer/Blushing Groom cross. The pedigree also features four Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer crosses.