||
Naughty Gal, ridden by Luis Saez, wins the G3 Adirondack
Unlike the situation with his sons, which are not well represented with stakes winners in the male line, the daughters of Unbridled’s Song are treasures as producers. It is also noteworthy that daughters of the sons of Unbridled’s Song are making a mark.
Among those representing Unbridled’s Song in the broodmare sire line over the weekend, the Grade 3 Troy Stakes at Saratoga went to Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who is out of Lady Shipman (Midshipman); the Lure Stakes, also at Saratoga, went to Dynadrive (Temple City), who is out of Harbingerofthings (Rockport Harbor); the Incredible Revenge Stakes at Monmouth went to Bay Storm (Kantharos), who is out of Stormy Regatta (Midshipman); the Indiana First Lady Stakes went to Climber (Divining Rod), who is out of Gazeley (First Defence); and the Searching Stakes at Laurel went to Music Amore (Mshawish), who is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Rhapsody Queen.
Five stakes winners in a weekend is a pretty good haul, and these are not the only ones out there. Would any of them, however, have greater promise than Naughty Gal?
At Saratoga in the G3 Adirondack Stakes, Naughty Gal (by Into Mischief) won by 2 ½ lengths as the race favorite. A winner of her maiden in her second start at Churchill Downs on July 4, Naughty Gal now has won two of her three starts.
The only difference between the latter and the five stakes winners above is that Naughty Gal’s broodmare sire is a full brother to Unbridled’s Song named Spanish Steps, and Naughty Gal is the first graded winner out of a Spanish Steps mare.
Bred in Florida by Loren Nichols, Naughty Gal is out of Conway Two Step, who was a stakes winner at two in the Brave Raj Stakes and twice stakes-placed at three, earning $102,605. Nichols bought Conway Two Step for $11,000 as a broodmare prospect at the OBS winter sale in January 2013.
To date, the mare has produced five winners from seven to race, including Naughty Gal’s full brother Good Clean Fun, who was a $475,000 yearling at the 2018 Saratoga select sale. Nichols sold the Adirondack winner as a weanling at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale for $200,000; the filly was bought back for $240,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale and then sold at the OBS March auction of juveniles in training earlier this year for $350,000 to Holy Cow Stables, which races the Adirondack winner.
Naughty Gal is the sixth filly in succession to win stakes for this female family, extending back to fifth dam Distonia, a Uruguayan-bred filly foaled in 1964 who won the Premio Carlos Zuluaga in Venezuela. Imported to race in the States, Distonia produced Ruddy Belle Handicap winner Distant Voyage (Admiral’s Voyage), who produced Starfire Voyage (Fire Dancer), winner of the Discovery Stakes at Tampa and the dam of multiple stakes winner Nancy’s Glitter (Glitterman).
The latter was a smashing 2-year-old stakes winner, taking the laurels in the My Dear Girl, Susan’s Girl, and Desert Vixen stakes among her five victories as a juvenile, when she earned just shy of a half-million. As a producer, Nancy’s Glitter had only one stakes winner, Conway Two Step, but she also produced a pair of stakes-placed racers, including Glittering Tax (Artax), the dam of three stakes winners. Among those, Glittering Tax foaled G1 winner Miss Temple City and G3 winner Pricedtoperfection, both by Temple City (Dynaformer).
Now a third granddaughter of Nancy’s Glitter has become a graded stakes winner. Since producing Naughty Gal, Conway Two Step has a yearling filly by Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy) and a filly of 2022 by Omaha Beach (War Front). The mare was bred back to Practical Joke (Into Mischief) for 2023.
Naughty Gal is the 112th stakes winner and 52nd graded winner for Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday), who represents the most vibrant branch of Storm Cat in contemporary breeding.
