Kentucky Oaks Contender: Condo Commando

Pedigree Analysis: Condo Commando

By: Ciara Bowen

Two fillies leading the point standings going into the Kentucky Oaks have nearly identical records. Both have run six times, finishing in the money in five of those starts. The worst either of them has run is fourth, which they both accomplished in their third career starts. For Condo Commando, all five of those on-the-board finishes have been wins – four of which have come in stakes – and she doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

If her record didn’t speak for itself, a simple look at her pedigree should speak volumes about what one could hope to see from the daughter of Tiz Wonderful and Yearly Report.

On the track, Tiz Wonderful was an unbeaten graded stakes-winning juvenile. His record changed at three with a sixth-place finish in the grade two Jim Dandy Stakes and concluded with a second place finish in the More Than Ready Stakes at Belmont Park. He retired with $254,672 in career earnings.

The bay son of Tiznow entered stud in 2009. His 2014 fee at Spendthrift Farm was $7,500, a relative steal considering that from his three crops of racing age at the time he had 117 winners, headlined by graded stakes winners Condo Commando, In Trouble, Scherzinger, My Happy Face, and Big Trouble. Another of his winners, Wonder Gal, is a listed stakes winner who ran third in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenille Fillies.

Prior to the 2015 season, Tiz Wonderful was sold to Korean interests and it was announced that he would stand in that country. His progeny have made $1,270,997 in 2015 alone, and he ranks at 137 on the international sires list.

Tiz Wonderful was bred in Kentucky and is by American hero Tiznow, and out of the Hennessey mare, Evil.

Tiznow, in addition to being one of the world’s top sires, was one of the top horses on the track during his racing career. His first two starts were not as fruitful as one might hope, but any doubt about his talent was wiped out in his third out when he hit the wire eight and a half lengths ahead of his competitors. From there he moved to stakes company, where he never finished off the board again. He retired with eight wins, four seconds, and two thirds from fifteen starts, and career earnings of $6,427,830 as well as the titles of champion three-year-old, champion older male, and Horse of the Year. To this day, he is the only two-time winner of the grade one Breeders` Cup Classic.

Currently, Tiznow is the sire of twelve grade one winners, and six millionaires. In the past seven years, he has made the top 15 North American sires list five times. Collectively, his crops of racing age have earned nearly $62 million dollars. The most outstanding of his progeny include Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed, Folklore, Bear Now, Colonel John, Tizway, Morning Line, Bullsbay, Tough Tiz’s Sis, and Da’ Tara.

When he entered stud in 2002, Tiznow’s stud fee was set at $30,000 – quite the bargain if one looks back on it now. Currently, he stands for $75,000 and ranks at 102 on the international sires list.

Tiznow is by Cee’s Tizzy and out of Cee’s Song, by Seattle Song, a lightly raced group one and grade one winning son of Seattle Slew. In addition to Tiznow, Cee’s Song produced Tizamazing, dam of grade one Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow, and Tizco, dam of grade one Haskell Invitational winner Paynter.

Evil herself never rose above allowance company, though she produced a record of three wins, two seconds, and three thirds from thirteen starts for career earnings of $93,708. She is the dam of four winners from five foals to race. Tiz Wonderful is the only stakes winner she has produced to date.

The bottom part of Condo Commando’s pedigree is strong, as well. Her dam, Yearly Report, is a multiple graded stakes winner whose victories include the grade two Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and the grade two Delaware Oaks. She retired with six wins and two seconds from ten starts and career earnings of $835,900.

Yearly Report’s career high Equibase speed figure was a 117, which says plenty in and of itself. Equibase speed figures, similar to Beyer speed figures, are configured using algorithms that take into account the horse’s actual running time, condition of the track, weight carried, and other factors. It is common for horses running in stakes company to achieve speed figures in the hundreds, while horses in claiming and allowance races typically receive lower speed figures in the eighties and nineties. Tiz Wonderful’s highest Equibase speed figure was 108. To date, Condo Commando’s is a 105.

Yearly Report is by General Meeting, a son of Seattle Slew, and out of the stakes winning mare Fiscal Year.

In addition to Condo Commando, Yearly Report has produced multiple graded stakes-placed stallion Checklist, who was a $400,000 yearling at the famous Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Top and bottom, Condo Commando’s pedigree is lined with talent. The cross of Tiznow with Seattle Slew nicks an A+ for good reason. Horses from the cross have run on all three surfaces, resulting in winners – and stakes winners – on each, with dirt being more dominant over turf and all-weather.

From 110 foals bred on the cross, 66 of racing age have started, resulting in 27 winners for a 56 percent rate, and 9 of those winners have been stakes winners. Combined, they have made $5,892,309. To date, some of the top horses bred on the Tiznow and Seattle Slew cross include Morning Line, Slew’s Tizzy, Norumbega, Tiz Windy, Carinosa, and Tiz Shea D.

Breeding may not be everything in a horse, but in situations such as this one, it’s hard to say that it’s not impressive.

Everything about Condo Commando is grand. She drew away to a twelve length victory in her debut, proving to be much the best in a $75,000 maiden claiming race at Saratoga, and she has hardly put a step in the wrong direction since that day. If she gets a nice break from the gate and likes the surface at Churchill, I’ll be looking for Condo Commando to take command again as they fly beneath the twin spires on the first of May.

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