Curlin the Link Between Himika, Desert Gate

Curlin has been long established as one of the premier, if not the premier, North American sire of classic distance dirt runners. What he has not generally been associated with is precocious speed. He is sire of a champion 2-year-old male in Good Magic, who didn't break his maiden until capturing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), but that horse is one of only two juvenile grade 1 winners to represent Curlin, and prior to this year, from 13 crops of 2-year-olds, he had only been represented by three juvenile graded winners at less than seven furlongs. With that in mind, it might come as something of a surprise that the veteran Hill 'n' Dale resident provides the link between the winners of Del Mar's weekend juvenile sprint graded stakes scorers Himika and Desert Gate. He actually appears as the sire of Himika, a $900,000 yearling who followed up a six-length debut victory, with a comfortable 4 1/4 lengths triumph in the Sorrento Stakes (G3). One doesn't have to ponder Himika's pedigree long to find from whence her speed might have originated. She's the first foal of her dam, Motivated Seller. A daughter of Into Mischief, Motivated Seller won her first two starts at 3, a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park and an allowance at Belmont Park, then missed by a neck in the Fort Springs Stakes, all three events at six furlongs. Off the board in the La Brea Stakes (G1) at the end of the year, Motivated Seller returned the following summer to take third in a Saratoga allowance/optional claiming event, then end her career with a victory in a 5 1/2 furlongs allowance/optional claiming test at the same venue, a race in which she set a new track record. There is far more stamina in the pedigree of Motivated Seller's dam, Coup, winner of the Hilltop Stakes over 8 1/2 furlongs on turf at Pimlico Race Course. She is by Belmont Stakes (G1) captor Empire Maker out of French Lady, a winner over 10 furlongs and runner-up in the Australian Oaks (G1T). Although foaled in New Zealand, French Lady has a United States pedigree on her dam's side, as she's out of La Tebaldi, a North American-born daughter of Cure the Blues who won three races in Italy. La Tebaldi was half sister to stakes winner Cat Affair (granddam of Mr. Hinx, a stakes winner who took second in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1); to Zamindarling, the dam of stakes winner Nikki My Darling; and to Thiscatsforcaryl, dam of stakes winner Be Like Mike, and granddam of Argentine graded winner The Cat Is Out. Surprisingly, given the duo's preeminence among the commercial population, Himika is one of only three starters by Curlin out of daughters of Into Mischief. The pedigree is unusual in the current era for being free of duplications at five generations, although ultimately Curlin is a Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer cross, and Motivated Seller is a Northern Dancer/Mr. Prospector cross. In the pedigree of Desert Gate—who cruised home 8 3/4 lengths clear in the Best Pal Stakes (G3) for his second win in as many starts—Curlin appears as the broodmare sire. His dam, Theogony, was a more typical Curlin product, winning the Belle Mahone Stakes at Woodbine over 8 1/2 furlongs, and the 12-furlong Rags to Riches Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park, which she took by eight lengths. Sold for $500,000 carrying a Quality Road colt at the 2018 Keeneland November Sales, she made four subsequent trips through the broodmare auctions, the most recent being the 2024 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where, barren to Medaglia d'Oro, she fetched just $3,000. The reason for the precipitous decline in value becomes clear when one examines her produce record. Prior to Desert Gate, she'd produced four foals, three of which have not started, and one whose best performance to date is a runner-up effort in $12,500 maiden claiming event at Laurel Park. Theogony also has a Medaglia d'Oro yearling entered in the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Despite the depressing record of his siblings, Desert Gate realized $125,000 as a 2023 Keeneland November weanling, $100,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling, and $260,000 at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company March 2-Year-Old in Training Sale. Theogony's dam, Upcoming Story, is a Tale of the Cat daughter who twice earned graded stakes placings. Upcoming Story is out of Old Star, a multiple graded stakes winner in Argentina and runner in the Carrera de las Estrellas Sprint (G1), the Argentine equivalent of a Breeders' Cup event. Old Star also appears as the granddam of the Gran Premio Jorge de Atucha (G1) captor, Ooty (by Dabster, a son of Curlin, so bred on similar lines to Theogony). Old Star, a daughter of Southern Halo, is half sister to graded stakes winner Old Style and to Orobena, dam of graded stakes winners Orix, Offshore, and Orange Juice (by Old Style's sire, Southern Halo) and granddam of graded winner Divon (also by Southern Halo). Desert Gate is a member of the third crop of the War Front horse, Omaha Beach, who stands at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington. Winner of the Arkansas Derby (G1), Malibu Stakes (G1), Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1), and Rebel Stakes (G2), Omaha Beach was the leading second-crop sire of 2024 and is currently the leading third-crop sire. He is now sire of 23 stakes winners, also including Kopion—winner of four graded events, including the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) and La Brea Stakes (G1); the Natalma Stakes (G1T) victress And One More Time, and other graded winners Kehoe Beach and Caitlinhergrtness. Unlike Himika, Desert Gate has a very obvious pedigree pattern, as Omaha Beach's dam is bred on a Mr. Prospector/Deputy Minister cross, and Curlin is by a son of Mr. Prospector out of a Deputy Minister mare.