Tale of Ekati

Alan Porter – A graded stakes winner over Champion Sprinter Kodiak Kowboy at two, Tale of Ekati captured three graded stakes, including the Wood Memorial (gr. I) and Cigar Mile (gr. I), at three.

Tale of Ekati is by Tale of the Cat, a Champion Sire of Two-Year-Olds by Storm Cat. His dam is by the breed-shaping Sunday Silence out of grade one winner Maplejinsky, and is half-sister to Champion Sky Beauty. This is also the immediate family of Champion Sprinters Dayjur and Gold Beauty, and grade one winners Pine Island, Point of Entry and Pleasant Home.

Tale of Ekati is the product of a Tale of the Cat/Hail to Reason cross, and crossing back over certain branches of the Hail to Reason line looks well worthwhile. The Stop the Music branch of Hail to Reason has done very well under Storm Cat – including Tale of the Cat – and also combines well with Halo, who is here through Sunday Silence. Sources of Stop the Music include Cure the Blues (and his sons American Chance and Take Me Out) and Temperence Hill. The Robertobranch of Hail to Reason has proved to be a particularly strong foil for Tale of the Cat and his sons, notably through Red Ransom, Silver Hawk (sire of Hawkster),Kris S. (including through Arch and Prized) and Dynaformer, with other possibilities including Robellino, Major Impact and Repriced. Although they are not likely to be frequently found in male line of potential broodmare sires, Tale of Ekati might also benefit from mares carrying Sir Ivor and Drone, who both descend from Turn-to, the sire of Hail to Reason.

Tale of the Cat has sired grade one winner My Trusty Cat out of a mare by Private Account, from the Damascus line, and Private Account can be brought in through Private Terms (sire of Afternoon Deelites), Corporate Report, Personal Flag, Secret Hello and Unaccounted For (who is potentially particularly interesting). There are also two Tale of the Cat line stakes winners out of mares by Time For a Change (sire of Fly So Free and Time Bandit). Other Damascusstrains to consider are Gilded Time, Crusader Sword, Eastern Echo, Ogygian, Skip Away and Skip Trial.

Tale of Ekati is inbred to Mr. Prospector through two daughter, but there are more than 50 stakes winners, by stallions that are inbred to Mr. Prospector, and have another strain of Mr. Prospector in the dam. The broad cross of Tale of the Cat and his sons with Mr. Prospector line mares has not been outstanding in general, but certain branches have been effective. The most notable have been Fappiano through Quiet American and Unbridled’s Song (who is broodmare sire of three Tale of the Cat stakes winners) and Forty Niner (including through Coronado’s Quest, Tactical Advantage and Roar). Unbridled’s Song could be brought in through Political Force, Songandaprayer, Even The Score, Eurosilver, Old Fashioned, Rockport Harbor, and Half Ours and Buddha (both giving inbreeding toStorm Cat). Other sources of Forty Niner include Distored Humor, End Sweep, Trippi, Gold Case, Banker’s Gold and Gold Fever. There are also Tale of the Cat line stakes winners out of mares by Carson City (whose sons including City Zip, Five Star Day, Lord Casron, Pollard’s Vision, Good and Tough and Flying Chevron), Afleet (sire of Northern Afleet and grandsire of Afleet Alex), Gulch and his son, Thunder Gulch (sire of Point Given), Woodman (sire of Hansel andTimber Country), Miswaki (sire of Black Tie Affair and Formal Gold).

Mr. Prospector is a son of Raise a Native, and Tale of the Cat is sire of an Eclipse Award winning Champion from the Alydar branch of Raise a Native, and this line could be introduced through Turkoman, Strike the Gold, Alysheba, Benchmark, Criminal Type, Dare and Go, Easy Goer, Saratoga Six, Jeblar and Wheaton(giving inbreeding to the dam of Storm Cat). Still with the Raise a Native line, Tale of the Cat has a stakes winner out of a mare by Affirmed (sire of Champion Sky Beauty of the granddam of Tale of Ekati), and a stakes winner out of a mare by Our Native (both by Exclusive Native), and in general Storm Cat has done well with mares by Maria’s Mon (from the Majestic Prince branch of Raise a Native).

Although Tale of the Cat is a Northern Dancer line horse, he and his sons have enjoyed success when bred back over mares from the Northern Dancer line. Tale of Ekati, with another cross of Northern Dancer’s family through Halo, should be particularly well suited by additional Northern Dancer. From the Vice Regent, branch there is a stakes winner out of a mare by that horse, as well as from mares by his sons Regal Intention and Deputy Minister, as well as the Deputy Minister sons French Deputy and Salt Lake, with other sources of Deputy Minister that appeal including Silver Deputy, Dehere (who is particularly attractive here), Touch Gold, Awesome Humor and Forest Camp. The cross of Tale of the Cat and his sons over mares descending from Danzig has produced nine stakes winners, including from daughter of Pine Bluff (who gives inbreeding to Halo), Anabaa, Polish Navy (sire of Sea Hero and Ghazi), Eagle Eyed, Boundary andHonor Grades. Such as Belong to Me, Langfuhr and Polish Numbers, could also be considered, while Dayjur, a close relative to the granddam of Tale of Ekati, is potentially interesting. The Chief’s Crown branch (available through Concerto and Bellamy Road) might also work well. Tale of Ekati is linebred to Northern Dancer’s son, Nijinsky II, but bringing in another branch of the line could prove worthwhile, with representatives that have worked under Tale of the Cat includingRoyal Academy (a close relative to Storm Cat), Sword Dance, Green Dancer (sire of Greinton) and Shadeed (sire of Alydeed). It would also be worth considering Sky Classic and Strawberry Road.

Tale of the Cat has two stakes winners out of mares descending from Northern Dancer through Topsider, as well as stakes winners from mares descending fromSadler’s Wells and Nureyev, who are from the same family as Topsider. Sadler’s Wells might work particularly well through El Prado (sire of Medaglia d’Oro,Kitten’s Joy and Artie Schiller) and Perfect Soul (a parallel Northern Dancer/Storm Cat cross to Storm Cat). Tale of the Cat has a grade one winner out of a mare by Peintre Celebre, a son of Nureyev, a strain that could also be introduced via Atticus (bred on the same cross as Storm Cat), Theatrical, Spinning Worldand Fasliyev. There is also a Tale of the Cat stakes winner out of a mare by Dixieland Band (sire of Dixie Union, Dixie Heat, Dixie Brass, Citidancer and Dixieland Heat), stakes winners out of mares descending from the brothers El Gran Senor and Try My Best, and although he would not often be found in the male-line of the present broodmare population, the strain of The Minstrel, would work very well here.

Storm Cat and his sons have done very well with mares from the Bold Ruckus line, at Tale of the Cat and a son both have graded winners out of mares by Beau Genius, suggesting mares by such as Bold Executive, Highland Ruckus, Kiridashi and Katahaula County. Bold Ruckus is a son of Boldnesian, also the grandsire of Seattle Slew. The Seattle Slew strain has not been the strongest for Tale of the Cat himself, but he does have a stakes winner out of a mare by Seattle Slew(broodmare sire of a grade one winner by a son of Tale of the Cat); a grade one winner out of a mare by Capote (also broodmare sire of a grade one winner by a son of Tale of the Cat) and a stakes winner out of a mare by that horse’s son, Boston Harbor. Tale of the Cat’s dam is a sister to the dam of Pulpit, who is bySeattle Slew’s sire, A.P. Indy, and as Tale of the Cat has a graded placed horse out of mare by A.P. Indy and a stakes placed horse out of a mare by Pulpit, this line could be worth experimenting with.

Tale of the Cat and his sons have a good strike-rate with mares from the In Reality line, with stakes winners out of mares by Valid Appeal (sire of Successful Appeal, Valid Wager and Valid Expectations), and Honour and Glory and Waquoit (from the Relaunch branch, which can also be found through Skywalker,Bertrando, Officer, Cee’s Tizzy and Tiznow). There are also Tale of the Cat line stakes winners out of mares by In Excess and his son Indian Charlie; Pleasant Tapand his sire Pleasant Colony (sire of Pleasantly Perfect); and Lord At War.