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PEDIGREE HANDICAPPING APRIL 12, 2008 Update on Relaunch's synthetic influence by Tim Holland Last fall it was noted in this space how well the descendants of the Relaunch line had been performing over artificial surfaces -- a theme that seems worth investigating further after representatives of this line ran first and second in two graded events over the Santa Anita Cushion Track last weekend. While it's admittedly early in the year, it's still notable that Relaunch's name, through being the grandsire of Tiznow and Bertrando and the great-grandsire of Stormy Jack, appears in the sire lines of the pedigrees of three of the top 10 leading all-weather sires by earnings. This total is equaled only by Northern Dancer, whose influence is seen through the top 10 synthetic stallions Giant's Causeway, Stormy Atlantic and Unusual Heat. Relaunch's influence is furthered when one considers that Point Given, who is currently second in the standings, is out of a mare whose damsire is Relaunch. In addition, it should be noted that Cee's Tizzy, a son of Relaunch, is currently ranked 15th and a grandson, Put It Back, is 32nd. An even more dramatic, or telling, illustration of Relaunch's influence on the synthetic surfaces is that of the current top 10 all-weather sires ranked by SPI (Sire Production Index*), four have the stallion's name in their first three generations. An interesting comparison to this is to view the 2008 leading sires by SPI on traditional dirt only and note that the highest ranked sire with Relaunch in his first three generations is City Zip (Carson City), who is out of a mare by Relaunch and is currently ranked 31st. One has to go all the way down to number 75 to find the next, who is Bertrando. The strongest synthetic surface influence of Relaunch is undoubtedly being seen through his grandson Tiznow (Cee's Tizzy), the dual Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner. Tiznow has made a good start to his stallion career with two stakes winners, including Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner and champion two-year-old filly Folklore in his first crop, and finished a respectable 29th in last year's overall Leading Sires list largely through the successes on synthetic surfaces of Bear Now, Tough Tiz's Sis and Slew's Tizzy, who also helped the sire wind up second on the All-Weather Sires by Earnings list. 2008 could be a banner year for Tiznow, who is sitting in second place in the overall leading sires table bested only by last year's champion sire Smart Strike, whose total has been bolstered by the earnings of his lone stakes winner of the year, Curlin. Tiznow's three stakes wins as a sire this year have all come over Santa Anita's Cushion Track, and while more than two-thirds of the stallion's earnings have been collected over artificial tracks, less than one-third of his starters have been over that surface. Tiznow's first stakes winner of the year was Well Armed, who was held in such high regard by his trainer in England, Clive Brittain, he made his debut as a juvenile in a Group 3 event that was won by Horatio Nelson. Well Armed was later pointed for the Kentucky Derby (G1), but never fulfilled the promise that he had shown in training when competing over the turf in England or the dirt in Dubai, and was sent to America last fall with just one win to his name. However, a hint to his future may have been when he broke his maiden at Lingfield in his first start over the Polytrack, a prophesy that was realized when he scored two wins over the similar Cushion Track, including the San Antonio H. (G2) over Heatseeker (Ire) (Giant's Causeway). Well Armed most recently finished a fine third to Curlin in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) and will be a force when returned to synthetic surfaces in America. He has now earned $850,805, which is just $25,000 more than the lifetime earnings of Colonel John, who represented Tiznow in his Santa Anita Derby (G1) victory on Saturday. Trained by Eoin Harty for WinStar Farm, who stand Tiznow at their Lexington, Kentucky, farm, Colonel John has made all six of his starts on synthetic surfaces. After winning two of his four starts as a two-year-old, including the Real Quiet S., the bay made his seasonal debut when winning the Sham S. (G3) under Garrett Gomez. Colonel John will head to Kentucky as the possible third favorite behind Big Brown (Boundary) and Pyro (Pulpit), and he has much going for him. Indeed, Santa Anita Derby winners have a good record in Louisville, Kentucky. He is also seasoned and has tactical speed as well as a strong late kick. However, while he receives some solid dirt influence from his damsire, Turkoman, the obvious question looms as to whether he is a superior runner on synthetic surfaces alone. By running second to Colonel John, Bob Black Jack, being by a son of Bertrando, completed a Relaunch influence exacta. His sire, Stormy Jack, was a consistent and adaptable runner winning eight of his 21 starts, including the Oceanside S. on the turf at Del Mar, and finished second in the Los Angeles H (G3) on the main track. He is the type that one might wonder how successful he may have been given the opportunity to run on the Cushion or Polytrack surfaces. Having, like Colonel John, never raced on dirt before, the same question will be asked about his ability to perform at the same level on the dirt at Churchill Downs. Relaunch's big weekend continued on Sunday when the full sisters Tiz Elemental and Tiz a Blend, by Cee's Tizzy, won the Las Flores H. (G3) and the Valentine Dancer H., respectively. Being out of Grade 3 turf winner Blending Element (Ire) (Great Commotion), who is by a son of Nureyev and out of an Irish River (Fr) mare, as well as Cee's Tizzy being out of a mare by Lyphard, it should be of no surprise that Tiz a Blend has proved a useful grass runner. However, while she did break her maiden on the grass, it is clear that Tiz Elemental is a much better synthetic surface performer, which can be attributed in part to her grandsire Relaunch. Finishing second in the Las Flores H. was Glorified, who had chased Tiz Elemental home in their previous meeting when the pair finished first and second in the Honest Lady S., also over Santa Anita's synthetic surface. Glorified is by another son of Relaunch, Honour and Glory, who has proved himself as a solid sire of dirt performers such as Caressing, the champion two-year-old filly of 2000, and recent UAE Derby (UAE-G2) winner Honour Devil. Honour and Glory is also the sire of the exciting young synthetic sire Put It Back, who finished 2007 in 12th place and is currently in seventh place in the All-Weather Sires by SPI list mainly through his son In Summation, who added this year's El Conejo H. (G3) and Palos Verdes H. (G2) at Santa Anita to his Del Mar Bing Crosby H. (G1) score last summer. As noted earlier, Relaunch's synthetic influence may not be limited to being passed on his male side as evidenced by his being the sire of Point Given's granddam. Indeed, last year's Polytrack victories by Sealy Hill, which included the Woodbine Oaks and the Bourbonette S. (G3), have been followed up by Air Commander scoring a shocking 52-1 victory in the San Fernando S.(G2) and Go Between winning the Sunshine Millions Classic before finishing a fine second in the Santa Anita H. (G1) -- performances that have pinpointed Point Given as a synthetic sire to watch for and have given the slightly disappointing stallion a timely boost. It has been generally accepted that the introduction of synthetic surfaces will bring change to the breeding world with not only the emergence of some sire lines, but also the demise of others. With enough data now being accumulated, it is becoming apparent which lines are falling into each category, and while the Relaunch line is certainly thriving, there are others that are not and they will be the subject of future analysis here.
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