Spirit of St Louis Carries On Bromans' Breeding Legacy

Chester and the late Mary Broman have been a dominant force in New York breeding for almost three decades. They have been voted leading breeders in New York eight times, with nearly 50 stakes winners emanating from their Chestertown Farm in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. Twelve of those have been New York-bred champions, nine are graded winners, and of them four grade 1. Of all their stakes winners, it's a fair bet that few gave the Bromans greater satisfaction than Bar of Gold, who took them to the winner's enclosure at the 2017 Breeders' Cup World Championships after a last-gasp victory in the Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). That race was the 25th of the 5-year-old mare's career, and she'd previously shown considerable versatility, breaking her maiden over 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt at 2; winning the 8 1/2-furlong Empire Distaff Handicap by 18 lengths in the slop; taking the Critical Eye Stakes over a mile on dirt; and winning the Yaddo Stakes at 8 1/2 furlongs on turf. In her prep for the Breeders' Cup, she ran off the board in the nine-furlong Spinster Stakes (G1), although in her start before that, she missed by just a length in the 6 1/2-furlong Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes (G2), and she'd also taken second in the seven-furlong Test Stakes (G1) earlier in her career. Oddly enough, Bar of Gold had only really traveled to Del Mar to accompany her better-fancied fellow Broman-bred Filly and Mare Sprint contender Highway Star, but proved good enough to benefit from a rail trip and a pace meltdown to cause a 66-1 upset. She's subsequently produced two winners, led by the With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) winner Coinage, who is her first foal. The latest top-class runner to represent the Bromans as breeders is Bar of Gold's younger brother, Spirit of St Louis, who at the weekend delivered a late run to capture the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T). This was the 14th start of the 6-year-old's career, and he's won 10 of them, with three seconds, with his only unplaced run being a fifth, but beaten just 2 1/2 lengths, in the Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. He did win, by 8 1/2 lengths, on dirt on his debut, but after a second on dirt in his next outing, all the rest of his starts have come on the sward. He's captured two runnings of the Mohawk Stakes, as well as the Ashley T. Cole Stakes, Hudson Valley Stakes, and Kingston Stakes against his fellow New York-breds, and the listed Danger's Hour Stakes against open company, and he's also the course-record holder for a mile on turf in 1:33.57 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The family of Bar of Gold and Spirit of St Louis entered the Chestertown broodmare band with the purchase of her granddam, Confidently, for $1 million at the 2000 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. An unraced daughter of Storm Cat, Confidently has as her fourth dam the Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Rich and Rare, who was champion 2-year-old filly for 1957 in England. Imported to the United States, Rich and Rare produced the Golden Poppy Handicap scorer Bad Seed, who is the third dam of Confidently, and through another route Rich and Rare also appears as third dam of champion Canadian 3-year-old filly Gandria. Confidently's second dam, the Grenfall mare Sown, won twice and is half sister to Pirate's Bounty, a minor stakes winner who sired grade 1 winners Pirate's Revenge and Private Persuasion, and also appears as broodmare sire of 2008 Belmont Stakes (G1) victor Da' Tara. Sown is notably granddam of 2013 champion 2-year-old colt Shared Belief, and also dam of Key Phrase, who numbered the Santa Monica Handicap (G1) among her quartet of stakes triumphs. To Storm Cat, Key Phrase produced not only Confidently but also the stakes winner Yankee Gentleman, now best known as the broodmare sire of 2015 American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah; Zing, the dam of graded winner Half Ours; and Key of Sea, granddam of 2024 stakes winner and multiple graded placed Casalu. At the time of her purchase, Confidently was carrying a Mr. Prospector filly named Project Liberty, who never ran and has produced just two minor winners. Indeed, it wasn't until Confidently's seventh foal that the investment paid a serious dividend, in the shape of the Lemon Drop Kid daughter Khancord Kid. She broke her maiden at 2, and at 3 added a Gulfstream Park allowance and the Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3T). It's a pair of matings—seven years apart—with Medaglia d'Oro that produced Bar of Gold and Spirit of St Louis. Darley Stallions' veteran—he is now 26 years old—has sired 184 stakes winners, 97 of them graded. Spirit of St Louis is his 28th grade 1 scorer, the others including Horse of the Year and champion 2- and 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra; Songbird, a champion filly at 2 and 3; Vancouver, champion 2-year-old male in Australia; Passion For Gold, champion 2-year-old colt in France; Wonder Gadot, Horse of the Year and champion filly at 2 and 3 in Canada; Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty; and other such well-known performers as Bolt d'Oro, Plum Pretty, Higher Power, Marketing Mix, and Mshawish. Incidentally, Chester Broman currently has a very promising grandson of Medaglia d'Oro in the Violence colt Sand Devil, a 3-year-old who has won his only two starts to date, scoring by four lengths on his debut in December, then adding a 12 1/2-length tally in a New York-bred allowance/optional claiming event early in January. Spirit of St Louis represents a version of the prolific Sadler's Wells/Kingmambo cross (which also produced group 1 winner Lochte by Medaglia d'Oro out of a Kingmambo mare) and includes the three-quarter brothers Sadler's Wells and Nureyev. Other versions of the cross have produced nine other group or grade 1 winners, including a pair of Epsom Derby (G1) winners in Camelot, who also won the Irish Derby (G1), and Ruler of the World.