One of the most important mares in the second half of the 20th century is Best in Show. The 1965 foal is currently ancestress of more than 250 stakes winners, 56 of them group or grade 1, including such performers as Arcangelo , Idiomatic, Rags to Riches, Almond Eye, and Redoute's Choice, to name a few.
The latest standout from the family is Bullard, a 2-year-old son of Gun Runner who romped by 4 3/4 lengths in the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) Nov. 17. A half brother to the multiple stakes winner Mundaye Call, Bullard is out of Reve d'Amour, a half sister to graded winner Can The Man and a daughter of the European group winning and group 1-placed performer Smolensk. In turn, Smolensk is out of Best in Show's Kentucky Oaks (G1)-winning granddaughter Blush With Pride.
On the same day that Bullard staked his claim to be considered a classic prospect for 2025, but an ocean away, two notable races were captured by horses from a male line founded by a grandson of Best in Show. Sunday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong featured the local preps for December's Hong Kong International meet, and impressive victories by Ka Ying Rising in the Jockey Club Sprint (G2) and Romantic Warrior in the Jockey Club Cup (G2) clearly demonstrated that they will present a formidable obstacle to the ambitions of any overseas invaders.
Both are from branches of the Northern Dancer line that comes down through Try My Best, who was by Northern Dancer out of Best in Show's Buckpasser daughter Sex Appeal. Born in 1975, Try My Best preceded his far more celebrated brother, El Gran Senor, by six years. El Gran Senor was a genuinely great racehorse, a champion in Europe at 2 and 3, and winner of seven of eight starts, his sole defeat coming in a photo finish for the Epsom Derby (G1), where it's arguable that he suffered from an overconfident ride. Although nowhere near as talented as his younger sibling, Try My Best did go 3-for-3 at 2, with victories in the Larkspur Stakes (G3) and Dewhurst Stakes (G1) earning him a title of champion 2-Year-Old in England and Ireland. He captured the Vauxhall Trial Stakes (G3) on his debut at 3, but flopped in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1)—a race that ended his career.
At stud, both El Gran Senor and Try My Best suffered from fertility problems. El Gran Senor proved much the better of the pair, with 54 stakes winners, 34 group or graded, and 12 group/grade 1 winners from 414 foals, but was unable to extend his male line into the 21st century. Try My Best was represented by 390 foals in 15 crops. Twenty-nine of these won stakes, but only two captured group 1 or grade 1 contests.
One of that group 1-winning duo was Last Tycoon, fast enough to break the course record for five furlongs at Royal Ascot in the 1984 King's Stand Stakes (G1) and capable of carrying his speed well enough to take the inaugural Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) the same year. Standing in Ireland, Australia—where he was Leading Sire—and Japan, he has left two currently enduring sire lines in the Antipodes. The short-lived Iglesia left a very good stallion in Written Tycoon, and New Zealand Horse of the Year O'Reilly has been a multiple Leading Sire in New Zealand. It's O'Reilly's son Shamexpress, a grade 1-winning sprinter in Australia, who features as sire of Ka Ying Rising.
A New Zealand-bred 4-year-old, Ka Ying Rising, who took the Jockey Club Sprint by 3 1/4 lengths while covering the six furlongs in 1:07.43, was winning for the eighth time in 10 starts. He's won seven straight races since his last defeat, a second in a Feb. 12 handicap. While Ka Ying Rising will be looking for a first group 1 success next out, Romantic Warrior, who cruised by 4 1/2 lengths in the Jockey Club Cup, has been an established world-class racehorse for some time. Winner of 16 of 21 starts, he's achieved no less than eight of his victories in grade 1 events, and in addition to six races at that level in Hong Kong, he took the Cox Plate (G1) in Australia last year, and the Yasuda Kinen (G1) in Japan this term.
Irish-bred Romantic Warrior descends from Try My Best through that horse's son Waajib. Some way short of the talent level of Last Tycoon, Waajib also was later to mature, with wins in a group 3 at 4, and the Queen Anne Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot and another group 3 test at 5. Overall a modest sire, Waajib did, however, get one horse capable of extending his line. That was Royal Applause, who after capturing the Coventry Stakes (G3), the Gimcrack Stakes (G2), and the Middle Park Stakes (G1) as a juvenile, lost form at 3 only to rebound at 4 to an earn an official ranking of top older sprinter on the International Classification, and as Champion Older Sprinter in Europe.
Rather interestingly, Royal Applause was by a Northern Dancer line stallion out of a mare by a stallion with a Bold Ruler/Princequillo combination. That's a similar formula to Storm Cat, a horse with whom Royal Applause has combined in the pedigree of 35 stakes winners.
Romantic Warrior is by Royal Applause's son Acclamation, a group 3-winning and group 1-placed sprinter. Acclamation, who was recently retired from stud duty, at age 25, was a very successful speed sire with 68 stakes winners, 32 group or graded. Most importantly, his sons Dark Angel (who is represented at stud in the United States by Raging Bull , who has his first runners in 2025) and Mehmas have established themselves as two of the best sires of sprinters and milers at stud in Europe.
Dark Angel and Mehmas are bred on an identical cross, both out of mares by Machiavellian. Romantic Warrior is a product of a version of the same cross, as he's out of a mare by Street Cry, making him one of six stakes winners from 22 starters by Acclamation out of mares by sons of Machiavellian. Somewhat remarkably, Ka Ying Rising is bred on an extended version of the same cross, as his dam is by Per Incanto, a son of Street Cry.
