Blackbeard
In several ways Blackbeard emulated his sire No Nay Never, who made an impressive debut as early as April 26 and won his first three starts, notably the Gr.1 Prix Morny. Blackbeard made his mark even earlier and he was scoring for the third time in as many starts when running out an impressive all-the-way winner of the Gr.3 Marble Hill S. on May 21. After being caught in the last stride of the Gr.2 Railway S., he reeled off decisive victories in the Gr.2 Prix Robert Papin, Gr.1 Prix Morny and Gr.1 Middle Park S. to improve his career figures to six wins and a short-head second from eight starts. Blackbeard represents an unbroken sequence of seven generations of Gr.1 2yo winners from his male line.
Blackbeard is out of a mare by GREEN DESERT’s grandson Born to Sea. GREEN DESERT’s son INVINCIBLE SPIRIT sired the dam of No Nay Never’s fast Gr.2 winner Trillium, while another son of GREEN DESERT sired the dam of Gr.2 2yo winner Aesop’s Fable. No Nay Never has a 7f Gr.3 winner out of a mare by SEA THE STARS (a three-parts-brother to Blackbeard’s broodmare sire BORN TO SEA). No Nay Never has an impressive 20% BTWs from 20 foals out of mares by OASIS DREAM, including Gr.2 2yo winners Array and Les Pavots. OASIS DREAM also sired the dams of Caravaggio’s Gr.1 winner Whitebeam and El Kabeir’s fast daughter Azure Blue, while Sioux Nation, another of Scat Daddy’s sons, has several good winners inbred 3x3 to OASIS DREAM, including Group winners Sydneyarms Chelsea and Ocean Quest.
Blackbeard would suit grand-daughters of GREEN DESERT. Mares by sons of INVINCIBLE SPIRIT, such as KINGMAN and LAWMAN, would create 4x3 to INVINCIBLE SPIRIT, a sire of more than 70 Group winners. Blackbeard could be an ideal means of injecting precocity into the daughters of SEA THE STARS. This creates 5x4 to GREEN DESERT and 4x3 to the great mare Urban Sea.
No Nay Never’s multiple Gr.1-winning filly Alcohol Free is out of a grand-daughter of Danzig, by HARD SPUN. He is also working very well with mares by sons of DANEHILL. In addition to Ten Sovereigns, out of an EXCEED AND EXCEL mare, he has black-type winners out of daughters of HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR, KODIAC, ROCK OF GIBRALTAR (Gr.2 scorer Land Force), FASTNET ROCK (Gr.2 winner Truly Enchanting), DANSILI, ORATORIO and CATCHER IN THE RYE. Mares by CAMACHO and CLODOVIL would also reinforce Blackbeard’s speed, as would daughters of CHOISIR, STARSPANGLEDBANNER, ZOFFANY, BATED BREATH and DANDY MAN. HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR is also the broodmare sire of Caravaggio’s outstanding daughter Porta Fortuna.
Although No Nay Never has two lines of MR PROSPECTOR, this outstanding American stallion will be no closer than the fifth generation of Blackbeard’s offspring. No Nay Never is thriving with mares with MR PROSPECTOR blood. The Gr.2-winning siblings Arizona and Nay Lady Nay have a dam by ENGLISH CHANNEL, a son of SMART STRIKE. Two more of his Gr.2 winners, including the 2yo Zain Claudette, are out of daughters of SPEIGHTSTOWN and CHESTER HOUSE. Two sons of DUBAWI have sired black-type performers from Blackbeard’s family.
Gr.1-winning brothers Little Big Bear and Whistlejacket are among No Nay Never’s four foals out of BERING mares.
Blackbeard should do well with mares by FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND, SHAMARDAL, LOPE DE VEGA and BLUE POINT. It was LOPE DE VEGA who sired the dual Gr.3 winner Max Vega from Blackbeard’s family.
The SADLER’S WELLS line is sure to provide Blackbeard with some good winners. No Nay Never’s Gr.2-winners Shadn and Visualisation have dams by SADLER’S WELLS, who also sired the dam of Justify’s Gr.1-winning daughter Opera Singer. No Nay Never also has five 2yo BTWs among his runners out of GALILEO mares. Justify’s numerous Group performers out of GALILEO mares include the top-class City of Troy. Sons of Scat Daddy have BTWs out of daughters of FRANKEL, TEOFILO and SIXTIES ICON. Mares by HIGH CHAPARRAL have produced three Group winners (12%) to No Nay Never and Ten Sovereigns already has a Listed winner out of one.
The SHIRLEY HEIGHTS male line has quickly made its mark with No Nay Never. The smart siblings Wichita and Bubbling have a dam by DASHING BLADE, while the Group winning 2yos Meditate and Midnight Mile respectively have a dam by DALAKHANI and a 2nd dam by DARSHAAN.
Mares from the quick-maturing ROYAL APPLAUSE line should help Blackbeard pass on his considerable juvenile ability. No Nay Never’s very useful sprinter Royal Commando has a dam by ACCLAMATION, while ROYAL APPLAUSE sired the 2nd dam of Gr.2 winner Trillium. Daughters of DARK ANGEL, MEHMAS and EQUIANO would also suit.
No Nay Never has a Gr.3 winner out of an INDIAN RIDGE mare and his Group winners Wichita, Bubbling, Land Force and Love Locket all have 2nd dams by INDIAN RIDGE.
BLUSHING GROOM’s sons RAINBOW QUEST, NASHWAN and RAHY collectively sired the 2nd dams of five of No Nay Never’s black-type winners.