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PEDIGREE HANDICAPPING FEBRUARY 7, 2009 Under the radar turf sire Najran by Tim Holland A glance at Najran's pedigree and race record would not immediately lead one to imagine that the gray son of Runaway Groom would be a successful turf sire, but that impression is being proved wrong with four of the young sire's leading earners making the bulk of their earnings on the grass. After being purchased by Buckram Oak Farm for $100,000 at the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Najran was put in training with Kathleen O'Connell in Florida. The colt made his first three starts for O'Connell, which included a maiden win at Calder early in his three-year-old season, before being transferred to Nick Zito, who would handle him for the rest of his career. Najran won his first four starts for his new trainer, including a 9 1/4-length romp going a muddy seven furlongs in the Perryville S. at Keeneland. However, his best performances would come as a four-year-old, most notably when he went wire-to-wire in the Westchester H. (G3) at Belmont Park and set a new world record time for a mile in 1:32 1/5. After two subpar efforts, perhaps feeling the effects of that record-breaking performance, Najran regained his form with a second-place finish in the seven furlong Forego H.(G1), passed only by that year's champion sprinter, Aldebaran, after setting fast fractions. In his next start, Keeneland's Phoenix S. (G3), Najran's winning performance from just off the pace in 1:08 1/5 hinted that six furlongs was his best trip, and he surely would have been a serious contender in that year's Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) had he not been forced to retire with an injury. Sent to stud at Hopewell Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, Najran sired 75 foals in his first crop born in 2005. These included Sky Cape, who was bred and trained by Kristin Mulhall, and broke his maiden at first asking at Hollywood in May of his juvenile year. That was the chestnut colt's lone win of the year but he rounded out the season with a good second to the useful Yankee Bravo (Yankee Gentleman) when making his second start on the grass in the Eddie Logan S. at Santa Anita. This race may have convinced Mulhall that Sky Cape was best suited to the turf as he made his next seven starts on that surface. Four of those seven races resulted in victories, including a surprise win in the La Jolla H. (G2) at Del Mar in August. Also from Najran's first crop is Muny, who is presently the sire's second leading earner but perhaps the most promising. Muny did not make his first start until June of last year when he finished fourth in a maiden at Hollywood. After winning his next start on the Polytrack at Del Mar, Muny was tried on the turf, resulting in an allowance/optional claiming win followed by a victory in the very competitive Oak Tree Derby (G2). Those two wire-to-wire wins were followed by a theft attempt in the Hollywood Derby (G1) but, while he battled bravely after leading in the stretch, Muny found the competition at the 10-furlong trip too tough. He wound up fifth, beaten under two lengths in possibly the strongest three-year-old turf race of the year in North America. Both Sky Cape and Muny have very little turf influence on their damside but the same cannot be said for Najran's fourth highest earner, the filly Wasted Tears. Out of a mare by the grass runner Greinton (GB), Wasted Tears is a half-sister to Almost Certain (Favorite Trick) and Wishingitwas (Sandpit [Brz]), who were both stakes-placed on the turf, so it is not surprising that all four of her wins have come on the lawn while clearly her worst efforts have been on the main track. Similar to Sky Cape and Muny, Wasted Tears is comfortable being forwardly placed in the early stages of her races, but she has also shown the ability to successfully rate far off the pace as she showed in possibly her best effort, when closing from far back to be second in the La Senorita S. at Retama. While Najran's pedigree does not immediately look turf orientated, there are some grass influences present. Indeed, his sire, Runaway Groom, is by Blushing Groom, who is among the strongest influences, and while Runaway Groom is also responsible for Grade 1 dirt winners Cherokee Run, Wekiva Springs and The Groom is Red, he is also responsible for Down The Aisle, who won the United Nations H. (G1) on the turf. Other decent grass runners by Runaway Groom include Grade 2 hero Runaway Dancer, multiple Grade 3 queen Careless Heiress and Grade 3 victress Fortunate Damsel. Najran's dam is by Capote and his granddam is by Conquistador Cielo, neither of whom suggest turf, but his third dam is by a son of another leading grass influence, Nijinsky II, and it is worth noting that Najran's dam is a half-sister to Hypnotist (Favorite Trick), whose biggest win came in the Dave Feldman S. on the turf at Gulfstream. So far Najran has sired 24 individuals who have made at least one start on the grass. Those 24 have collectively made 75 starts, 16 of which have resulted in wins -- a very high 21-percent win rate -- and for handicappers a win bet on each would have produced an 18-percent profit.
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