P l e a s a n t C o l o n y
Talk of Pleasant Colony as a true sire of distance
runners become serious in 1992 following
major wins by the stallion's millionaires
St. Jovite
and Pleasant
Tap. The former won the
1 1/2 mile King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-I)
and Budweiser Irish Derby (Ire-I)
on his way to European Horse of
the Year honors. On this side of
the Atlantic, Plesant Tap captured
the 1 1/4 mile Jockey Club Gold
Cup (gr.I) and Suburban H. (gr.I)
and was named Champion older male.
A few weeks after Pleasant Tap was named champion, Pleasant's
Colony son Sir Beaufort won the 1 1/4 mile
Santa Anita Handicap (gr.I) in March
to go over the $1-million mark in
career earnings and become the stallion's
fifth millionaire.
While Colonial Affair's distance ability can be attributed
to the influence of Pleasant Colony,
Nijinsky II, and other key stamina-bearing
ancestors such as Ribot and Northern
Dancer, part of the colt's success
and class can be traced to one of
racing's more prominent nicks, Pleasant
Colony on Northern Dancer. Of Pleasant
Colony's 40 stakes winners, 14 of
them (35%)were produced from Northern
Dancer-line mares. Other added -money
winners bearing that cross include
St.Jovite and his grade II stakes-winning
full brother Lac
Ouimet, plus Dance
Colony, Cherokee Colony, Risen Colony, and Hometown Queen.
Winner of the 1988 Flamingo Stakes (gr.I), Cherokee
Colony and his graded stakes-winning
full sister Risen Colony were produced
from a Nijinsky II daughter, as
was Hometown Queen. Two other stakes
winners bear the Pleasant Colony-Nijinsky
II cross: Colonial U.S. (a Champion in Puerto
Rico) and Vid
Kid (a grade I winner
in Canada). The dams of both added-money
winners were sired by grade I stakes-winning
sons of Nijinsky II. Northern Dancer
also sired the second dam of Pleasant
Colony's stakes-winning offspring
Pleasant Stage (Champion Juvenile
filly in 1991) and Stage
Colony.
(David Schmitz, "The
Blood Horse" 1993)
