A couple of weeks ago we looked at the pedigree of the exciting Australian filly Rostova, who added to her laurels at the weekend with a win in the filly division of the Blue Diamond Prelude. This week we’ll consider Real Saga, who remained unbeaten with an impressive score in the colts and geldings division of the Prelude.

Real Saga is a son of Tale of the Cat, who terms of sheer natural ability, may have been the equal of any of Storm Cat’s sons. For a variety of reasons Tale of the Cat’s race record doesn’t really reflect the pure, undiluted, raw talent he possessed. That said he did win five of nine races, including a 5½ lengths victory in the King’s Bishop Stakes (Gr. II at the time he won it) – an effort that is indeliably inscribed on the memories of all who witnessed it – and three of his four defeats were a second in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) at a distance almost certainly beyond his best, and a pair of thirds in the Vosburgh Stakes (gr. I). Perhaps his essence as a runner is better conveyed by the fact that his trainer, John Forbes, told me that he was “afraid to let him really run” and that his jockey, Julie Krone, said that he felt that he was “moving so fast that his legs felt as if they might fly off.”

In the U.S., Tale of the Cat has established himself as a very solid sire. He was the Leading Sire of Two-Year-Olds in 2003, and he’s had 44 stakes winners from his first seven Northern Hemisphere crops. His best runners include Lion Heart, probably the best two-year-old of his crop, winner of the Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) and Hollywood Futurity (gr. I), and a very successful freshman sire in 2008; Tale of Ekati, one of the best three-year-olds of 2008, and winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I) and Cigar Mile (gr. I); the Distaff Handicap (gr. I) winner, My Trusty Cat; Gio Ponti, one of the best American turf three-year-olds of 2008; and other graded scorers Be Gentle, Spellbinder, Falkirk, Scaredee Cat, Whoopi Cat, Feline Story, Artemus Sunrise, Queen ofthe Catsle, Ashley’s Kitty, Catboat, Catcominatcha, Alpha Kitten, and Naval Officer.

Tale of the Cat’s shuttle career started with a single crop sired in New Zealand. That crop produced seven individual stakes winners, headed by Glamour Puss, who took four graded stakes including the Victoria Racing Club Stakes (gr. I) and Goodwood Handicap (gr. I) over sprint distances; four time graded scorer Falkirk; Ascot Vale Stakes (gr. II) heroine Scaredee Cat; and graded winner Mr. Ubiquitous. That early success led to a return, and from his second shuttle crop, foals of 2004-2005 Tale of the Cat came up with three more stakes winners, including graded winners Purrealist and Bantry Bay. The following year yielded current top current New Zealand three-year-old Tell A Tale, who took the 2008 gr. I New Zealand 2,000 Guineas, the first NZ$1,000,000 race contest on the South Island. Real Saga is the first stakes winner from Tale of the Cat’s fourth shuttle crop.

Real Saga is the first foal of his dam, Windy Kate, a very useful runner, who won three times, and took second in the Eliza Park Stakes and Golden Stakes, and fourth in the QTC Sires’ Produce Stakes (gr. I) and QTC T.J. Smith Classic (gr. I). Remarkably, those efforts made Windy Kate the best Southern Hemisphere conceived runner for her sire, Air Express, and one of the best five offspring for that short-lived stallion overall (he did get four stakes winners in his two European crops, including the group one winning filly, Airwave). A top-class miler at three, when took the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1), Italian 2,000 Guineas (gr. II.) and Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (gr. II). By Salse, a son of Topsider (by Northern Dancer), Air Express was out of a three-parts-sister to the dam of Success Express (by a grandson of Prince John, who is also in the pedigree of Salse). Since Windy Kate is out of a mare by Semipalatinsk, she is bred along somewhat similar lines to star filly, Savannah Success (by Success Express out of a mare by Semipalatinsk). Nijinsky II, who features in the broodmare sire line of Air Express and Success Express, is also broodmare sire of Brave Warrior, and when Windy Kate’s dam, Kate Be Good was bred to that horse, the result was Another Warrior, winer of the Moonee Valley Gold Cup (gr. II), Newcastle Cup (gr. III) and BTC Chairmain’s Handicap (gr. III). Until the appearance of Another Warrior and Real Saga, the family had been running on empty, as there are no stakes winners under Real Sagal’s third, fourth or fifth dams. His sixth dam, Foxtrot is out of the noted New Zealand tap-root mare, Volifox, ancestress of a slew of major winners, including Handy Proverb, Shankhill Lass, Ben Lomond, Golden Heights, Cariere, Cronus, Samantha Miss, Envoy, Swell Time and Dancing Lord.

Real Saga is rated A++ by TrueNicks and is one of two stakes winners from only four foals sired by Tale of the Cat out of Topsider line mares. One doesn’t have to go too far to find why Tale of the Cat and Topsider combine so well. Tale of the Cat’s third dam, State, is by Nijinsky II (by Northern Dancer) out of Monarchy (by Princequillo), a sister to Round Table. Thus, she’s bred on very similar lines to Topsider, who is by Northern Dancer out of a mare by Round Table. With Real Saga, the pedigree is actually somewhat more intense. Salse, the grandsire of the dam of Real Saga, is not only by Topsider (a Northern Dancer/Princequillo cross), but is out of a mare by Prince John (by Princequillo), so is a product of the same Northern Dancer/Princequillo cross. Air Express’s dam, Caucasus, is by Nijinsky II out of a mare Princequillo, so is a three-quarters relative to State (who, as we’ve said, is third dam of Tale of the Cat). So in this area of the pedigree we have four versions of the Northern Dancer/Princequillo cross, two involving a brother and sister (Monarchy and Round Table), and to involving three-quarters relatives, State and Caucasus. Four good measure, Tale of the Cat’s grandsire, Storm Bird, is a genetic relative to Nijjnsky II. Adding to the Storm Bird/Nijinsky II combination seems to be a positive for Tale of the Cat, and at least seven of his stakes winners have a Nijinsky II duplication. There probably aren’t many mares by Air Express around to try with Tale of the Cat, and unfortunately Windy Kate herself died not long after producing Real Saga, but it looks as if it certainly wouldn’t hurt to look at him with mares by Success Express.

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