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PEDIGREE HANDICAPPING MARCH 18, 2006 Lemon Drop Kid and Point Given as turf sires by Tim Holland When the three-year-old colt Go Between gave his sire, Point Given, his first stakes winner via last Saturday's Palm Beach S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park, it might have been the emergence of another similarity between this stallion and another, Lemon Drop Kid, who is two years older. Lemon Drop Kid, being by Kingmambo out of a mare by Seattle Slew, from the close family of A.P. Indy (also by Seattle Slew) and Summer Squall, had the pedigree to be a top-class middle distance runner. He won the Futurity S. (G1) at Belmont as a two-year-old, took the Belmont S. (G1) and the Travers S. (G1) at three and was named champion older horse the following year, but Lemon Drop Kid often disappointed in the races that really mattered, although one can concede that some of these sub-par efforts were not without excuses. Indeed, being on the immature side as a two-year-old, he may have been feeling the effects of a fairly strenuous first season of racing when finishing a dull fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). The following spring he was sent on the Triple Crown trail, but was entered in the Kentucky Derby (G1) after just two prep races and finished a non-threatening ninth. After his Belmont and Travers victories, Lemon Drop Kid may have again been over the top at the end of the season when performing poorly in both the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Lemon Drop Kid's four-year-old campaign began with controversy at Gulfstream Park the following March. Heavily favored in the four-horse Widener H.(G3), the colt appeared to have the race under control at the eighth pole until he ducked sharply away from the whip of jockey Jose Santos and interfered with the eventual last-place finisher, Karly's Harley. Inevitably disqualified and placed last in the Widener, Lemon Drop Kid's next race was equally unproductive. Dispatched again as the odds-on favorite in a short allowance field at Aqueduct, he appeared to have the race won until he idled on the lead and managed to only salvage a dead-heat. Trainer Flint Schulhofer blamed Santos for the two poor results and replaced him with Edgar Prado who, after riding him to a third-place finish in the Pimlico Special (G1), advised the addition of blinkers. The equipment change worked well as Lemon Drop Kid won his next four starts, including the Whitney H. (G1) and the Woodward S. (G1), but the long season had again once taken its toll by late fall and he wound out the year with moderate efforts in the same two races as the year before. Sent to stud at Lane's End Farm in 2001, Lemon Drop Kid stood his first season for $100,000, from which 55 two-year-olds of 2004 were produced. He wound up a disappointing 23rd on the Leading First-Crop Sires list of that year, with his leading earner being Winning Season, who won the restricted Raging Fever S and finished third in the Demoiselle S. (G2), both at Aqueduct. One of Lemon Drop Kid's best runners from his first crop was the filly Gemilli, who finished second in the grassy Miss Grillo S. behind the top-class Melhor Ainda (Pulpit) after breaking her maiden on the same surface. Being out of an Alleged mare, who had finished third in the 1994 grassy San Clemente H. (G3), it cannot be considered a surprise that Gemilli took to the grass. With her second dam being by Nureyev, the same could be said for Bear's Kid, who is Lemon Drop Kid's only graded winner so far on the turf (albeit in Canada), and French stakes winner Basemah, whose European Grade 2-placed dam was by Chief's Crown (Danzig). During the past eight months, horseplayers have had the opportunity to reap lucrative rewards in grass races by finding Lemon Drop Kid progeny who owned some turf pedigree on their female side. Indeed, there were two such examples at Saratoga last summer. The Sal Russo-trained filly Perilous Pursuit, who is out of an English Group 3 winner by the turf sprint sire Petardia, broke her maiden in her debut going 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass. Ridden by Jose Santos, Perilous Pursuit "rolled home outside" according to the BRIS chart to win by 2 1/2 lengths at odds of nearly 17-1. Just one week earlier, Kid Carousel, a colt by Lemon Drop Kid out of a full-sister to champion turf horse Paradise Creek and half-sister to Grade 1 grass winners Forbidden Apple and Wild Event, broke his maiden second time out in his turf debut, returning a healthy $36.20. Trained by Flint Schulhofer's son, Randy, Kid Carousel raced one more time at two, finishing unplaced, but with his pedigree should be watched for when he reappears later this spring. As with Lemon Drop Kid in his own racing days, many of his offspring have shown a liking to race fairly close to the early pace, which was the case with Lemon Flower, a four-year-old who broke her maiden in January on the downhill about 6 1/2-furlong turf course at Santa Anita. Lemon Flower, whose dam is a half-sister to Fraise, the 1992 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) winner, stalked the leader before winning her second lifetime start at nearly 6-1. Another good priced maiden winner in January for Lemon Drop Kid is the Todd Pletcher-trained Mercurius, who proved the exception at Gulfstream Park, running-style wise, by winning from far off the pace and paying more than $30. However, Mercurius's pedigree is typical for most of his sire's grass winners since his dam is by the turf influence Danzig. Both Lemon Drop Kid and Point Given received their turf breeding through their sires, who in turn acquired the influence from their dams. For Lemon Drop Kid, it is two-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) winner Miesque (Nureyev), who is also the dam of the successful sire Miesque's Son (Mr. Prospector) and East of the Moon (Private Account), who was the highweight at three in France. Meanwhile, Thunder Gulch, the sire of Point Given, is out of Line of Thunder (Storm Bird), who was second in England's premier test for two-year-old fillies, the Cheveley Park S.(Eng-G1). Thunder Gulch's second dam is the outstanding 1980 co-champion three-year-old filly in England and Ireland, Shoot a Line (GB) (High Line), who also displayed tremendous stamina to be second in the 2 1/2-mile Ascot Gold Cup (Eng-G1). On the racetrack, the Bob Baffert-trained Point Given was undoubtedly the more consistent of the two with a record of 9-3-0 from 13 starts in two seasons, while after three years of racing and 24 starts Lemon Drop Kid was 10-3-3. However, while Point Given won six Grade 1 races, Lemon Drop Kid was only one behind with five. Their three highest BRIS Speed ratings were an identical 114, 110 and 109. Just as Lemon Drop Kid had done two years earlier, Point Given finished second in his debut before making his second start a winning one. Shipped to the East for his third start, he won the Kentucky Cup Juvenile (G3), finished second in both the Champagne S. (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile before returning to California where he ended the year by taking the Hollywood Futurity (G1). Freshened after his victory at Hollywood Park, Point Given easily won his first two starts of the year, the San Felipe S. (G2) and the Santa Anita Derby (G1), resulting in him being made the heavy favorite for the Kentucky Derby. By Baffert's own admission, Point Given did not get enough out of his two preps to be seasoned enough for this unique race, just like Lemon Drop Kid. Point Given still ran a creditable race to finish fifth and went on to prove his superiority in his division by winning the remaining two legs of the Triple Crown as well as the Haskell Invitational H. (G1) and the Travers before being retired. Standing his first season at Three Chimneys Farm for $125,000, Point Given's first crop of yearlings sold for a $143,066 average, but one year later his average dropped to $66,527, a strong indication that buyers recognized the lack of precocity in the offspring. This was indeed evident since, of Point Given's 57 two-year-olds of 2005, just 17 raced in their first season. However, much worse was the fact that of these, only two managed to win and the stallion finished a poor 33rd in the Leading First-Crop Sires list with his highest earner being Great Point at $38,254. The future for Point Given has started to look much more promising in the first 2 1/2 months of this year. In mid-January, the well regarded Point Determined, who had been purchased by Bob and Beverly Lewis for $750,000 as a two-year-old in training, started to live up to expectations by impressively breaking his maiden at Santa Anita. Just two weeks after his next race, a second-place finish in a Santa Anita allowance, trainer Baffert sent the colt north to Golden Gate Fields for more experience in an allowance/optional claimer. After breaking a step slow, Point Determined went on to win more in hand than the official margin of 1 1/2 lengths may suggest. A strong showing in his next scheduled start, Saturday's San Felipe, will put him firmly in the Kentucky Derby picture. Another son of Point Given on the Derby trail is Great Point, who was purchased as a yearling for $450,000 by Robert Lapenta and is trained by Nick Zito. After a promising first race of the year in the Holy Bull S. (G3) when he was a fast finishing second to Barbaro (Dynaformer), Great Point disappointed in the Fountain of Youth (G2) when his chances were compromised by starting from the post 1 and being checked on the first turn. Like many of Point Given's offspring, Great Point often has difficulty leaving the gate, does not own any tactical speed and seems to always run into trouble during the running of the race. Indeed, included in the comments in the BRIS charts for Great Point's last five races are "bumped start," "broke in air," "stumbled early," "traffic turn" and "checked first turn." Meanwhile the comments for Point Determined's last two races include "bobbled start" and "broke slow," and Point of Impact, another Baffert-trained son of Point Given, has the comments "off slow," "blew first turn" and "lugged in" in the comments of his three lifetime starts. To further this point, Claremont, a Tom Amoss-trained daughter of Point Given who showed plenty of promise when breaking her maiden first time out at Arlington Park last summer before being stakes-placed at Ellis Park, earned the comments "swerved start" and "bumped rival start" for two of her three starts. While many of these problems in running can be attributed to "greenness" or inexperience, one has to wonder how long it is going to take Point Given's offspring to mature, since some of the previously mentioned are three-year-olds that have had quite a few races and are handled by some of the best horsemen in the nation. While Great Point, Point Determined and Point of Impact have limited turf pedigree on their female side, one that is bred for the grass is Go Between, being out of Mediation (Ire) (Caerleon), who was a stakes winner in Ireland before arriving in America and placing second on the turf in the Jenny Wiley S. (G3) at Keeneland. Trained by Bill Mott, Go Between recorded a second and two third-place finishes as a two-year-old, including a third in the off-the-turf Pilgrim S, before breaking his maiden at Gulfstream Park in February. Stepped up in class in the Palm Beach, the chestnut colt made a strong run in the stretch to gain command before holding off the challenge of Up an Octave (Brahms) and posting a neck victory. As the first stakes try on the turf for any of Point Given's offspring, Go Between's win was certainly encouraging, similar to the one for Lemon Drop Kid when his daughter Gemilli was his first representative in a turf stake. As we have seen, Lemon Drop Kid and Point Given have much in common. They were both multiple Grade 1 winners on the main track, each well bred with high-class turf influence coming from their male side. While both were precocious enough to win Grade 1 races as two-year-olds, they improved with age and distance and it is this trait they are passing to their offspring. With less emphasis on early speed and precociousness, it is fair to state that the turf should suit late developing runners and handicappers who have missed some of Lemon Drop Kid's first-time turf winners may want to key an eye out for Point Given's runners on the turf this summer.
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