Thoroughbred Pedigree Analysis: Far Right

By: Ciara Bowen

Far right, the ridgling son of Notional and Zindi has done little wrong in his path to the Kentucky Derby, making many fans from Oaklawn glad to see one of their winter-based trainers hitting the big stage.

Far Right was sold at the 2013 January Keeneland Horses of All Ages sale for a meager $2,500 – a bargain, really, considering that he has made $625,766 from nine starts to date – and hit the track as a two-year-old the next year. His first start came as a four a half furlong outing on Keeneland’s all-weather surface in which he finished second after unseating his rider and running off during the post parade. His second race held much the same outcome as the first, with a second place finish to Cinco Charlie, who recently won the William Walker Stakes.

Following that race, Far Right was privately purchased by Harry Rosenblum.

In his third out, under new trainer Ron Moquett and with Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the saddle, Far Right figured out what the game is about and drew off for a five length win. From there he made the jump from maiden special weight to graded stakes in the grade two Futurity Stakes at Belmont and finished fourth, but his connections’ faith in him didn’t waiver.

His other two starts as a two-year-old, the Street Sense Stakes and the grade three Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes, resulted in third place finishes. After a brief break from the afternoon starting gate, Far Right hit the three-year-old stage with an easy win in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park and followed that with an impressive closing win over a sloppy track in the grade three Southwest Stakes. No one had a chance of catching American Pharoah in the grade one Arkansas Derby, but in his typical tough fashion, Far Right hung in for second over Mr. Z.

The Southwest victory easily put Far Right at the top of Notional’s performers list, as the stallion’s handful of stakes winners have taken their victories in listed stakes.

Notional, a son of multiple graded stakes winner In Excess and Truly Blessed, is a multiple graded stakes winner himself with victories in the grade two San Rafael Stakes and grade three Risen Star Stakes and Salvator Mile Handicap. A notable competitor on the 2007 Kentucky Derby trail, he was forced to miss the race and the rest of his three-year-old season following an injury. He returned for six starts as an older horse with only one win, and entered the breeding shed in 2009 with a record of four wins, one second, and two thirds from twelve starts and career earnings of $733,240.

In 2014 he moved to Rockin’ Z Ranch in Beggs, Oklahoma, where he stands for $2,000.

Notional currently ranks 74^th on the northern hemisphere stallion list, first on the Oklahoma sire list, and second on the southwest stallion list.

Far Right’s dam, Zindi, was unraced, but comes from a family of nice horses. Her sire, Vindication, was unbeaten at two and was expected to play a leading role in the quest for the 2003 Kentucky Derby. Instead, the son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew suffered a career-ending injury before he could make his three-year-old debut.

Vindication died at the young age of eight, leaving behind only five crops. Though the numbers are few, they have yielded quality horses in Broadway’s Alibi, runner up in the 2012 Kentucky Oaks and Dust and Diamonds, runner up in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Also of note are Free Judgement, Maimonides, Vocalized, and Wyomia.

Notional and Zindi only nick a C together, which some breeders would shy away from but that others take interest in. The top horses to come from the cross of the In Excess and Seattle Slew lines are graded stakes winners By the Moon and Far Right, and listed stakes winners Star Harbour, Gibson, and Googles McCoy.

In addition to Far Right, Zindi has produced two other foals.

The oldest, Just Heatin Up, is a 2011 filly by Heatseeker. She sold for $12,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February Mixed Sale in 2012 and was sold again at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, bringing a lower price of $4,700. With six starts to date, she has hit the board once in her sole victory and has earned $10,676. Absent since November, she recently returned to the worktab with a three furlong breeze at Charles Town.

The other, Ransom Kitty, is a 2014 filly by Regal Ransom.

Through the maternal line, Far Right and 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome share a fifth dam: Princess Ribot.

In 1972, Princess Ribot was bred to Chieftain, a multiple stakes winning son of Bold Ruler. The resulting foal was 1977 champion older mare Cascapedia. From 19 starts, Cascapedia retired with ten wins, four seconds, and two thirds and career earnings of $324,921. The mare was a multiple graded stakes winner, and though she ran at a variety of tracks, it is interesting to note that all of her graded stakes wins came at the now-closed Hollywood Park.

Cascapedia made the transition from racehorse to broodmare with 15 foals to her name at the time of her death. One of those, stakes placed In Hope, later produced Inspired Hope. Though not a stakes horse, Inspired Hope hit the board in three of her five starts and as a broodmare produced Zindi.

The same year that Cascapedia raced to her Eclipse award, Princess Ribot gave birth to a filly by the unraced stallion Vaguely Noble. The filly, later named La Belle Fleur, never raced but settled into life as a broodmare. Her 1984 filly was Chase the Dream, who later produced Chase It Down. Chase It Down, in turn, produced Love the Chase.

Love the Chase, who made only $7,020 in her six races, would go on to foal California Chrome.

The connections of every horse in the Kentucky Derby all hope for the same thing: winning it. Only one horse can emerge victorious, and the best horse doesn’t always win. With 20 horses in the field, the trip that everyone gets is very important, and post position can play an important role in a horse’s trip. Far Right has the guts and the blood to take him to the winners’ circle, but presently, his connections are probably glad that he’s not named Far Left.

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