WHO'S THAT CAT

2009 BAY/BROWN STALLION
TALE OF THE CAT - CLAIRE FRASER (by Gone West)

A horse with strong line-breeding patterns from a prolific international family, Who's That Cat has plenty to offer when mated with the right mares.

With his closest cross being 3 X 3 Mr Prospector the influence of that great stallion must be noted. I would not avoid further strains as he is a proven line-breeding subject but I would rather seek out strains of his family which is well represented in this part of the world.

Mr Prospector combines extremely well with Seattle Slew whose fifth dam - the wonderful mare Myrtlewood - is Mr Prospector's fourth dam. Tale Of The Cat and Seattle Slew have combined in the pedigrees of 38 stakes winners.

Who's That Cat's next closest cross is 4 X 4 the legendary Secretariat who combines exceptionally well with his half-brother Sir Gaylord who is so easily found in this part of the world as grandsire of SIR TRISTRAM.

Members of the LONHRO branch of the Sir Tristram line are of particular interest as his second dam sire First Consul is a great grandson of the wonderful mare Grey Flight whose son What  A Pleasure is the grandsire of Tale of The Cat's grandam Narrate. Strains of Grey Flight - a proven high class line-breeding subject can also be found easily in Australia.

Who's That Cat's sire Tale Of The Cat and dam sire Gone West hail from the same family - both descendants of the great mare Aloe, also ancestress of Sir Tristram's dam sire Round Table; another reason why that sire line is good for him.

The family of Who's That Cat's grandsire Storm Cat is also worth line-breeding to; that stallion and his close relation ROYAL ACADEMY (son of Storm Cat's grandam Crimson Saint) combining in the pedigrees of 36 stakes winners.

Royal Academy is easy to find in Australia such as through FASTNET ROCK who has sired three Gr.1 winners and seven other stakes winners out of mares with Storm Cat.

The influence of Who's That Cat's own family is also worth tapping into and can be achieved with...

• AL ASEEL (his sixth dam Russ-Marie is Who's That Cat's fifth dam)
• BRAVE WARRIOR (his fourth dam is Russ-Marie)
• DANZIG (his dam's great grandsire Fighting Fox is out of Who's That Cat's seventh dam Marguerite... noting that Fighting Fox's brother Gallant Fox appears in the pedigree of Storm Cat's sire Storm Bird)
• DE SHAMEKH (his sixth dam is Russ-Marie)
• GENEROUS (his grandam Margarethen is Who's That Cat's fourth dam)
• KING CHARLEMAGNE (Russ-Marie is his fourth dam)
• SHOW A HEART (by Brave Warrior)
• SPICY FACT (Russ-Marie is his fourth dam)
• TOORAK TOFF (by Show A Heart)
• TSIGANE (Margarethen is his fourth dam)

Canadian Oaks winner Flaming Page is a high class line-breeding subject who appears in Who's That Cat's pedigree via her grandson Nijinsky II - Tale Of The Cat's third dam sire. he combines very well with his 3/4 brother THE MINSTREL.

Stallions carrying multiple strains of Northern Dancer (Tale Of The Cat is 4 X 5) tend to appreciate further crosses of that legendary stallion's family - easily found via DANEHILL, MACHIAVELLIAN (sire of STRET CRY) and HALO.

Strains of the influential matriarch Plucky Liege should also be sort noting that Who's That Cat has her sons Bull Dog, Sir Gallahad III, Bois Roussel and Admiral Drake. Further strains of each of those stallions are desirable.

Kentucky Oaks winner Lalun - dam of Never Bend whose son Riverman is Who's That Cat's second dam sire - is one of the great modern day line-breeding subjects;  Never Bend combining extremely well with his half-brother Bold Reason who is most easily found as the dam sire of SADLER'S WELLS and FAIRY KING (sire of ENCOSTA DE LAGO).

Another good mare worthy of duplication is Riverman's dam River Lady, also third dam of ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.

Who's That Cat's pedigree is strongly influenced by the prolific stallion Nasrullah (seven strains) and he also has his close relation Royal Charger. The more of this Mumtaz Begum branch of the prolific Mumtaz Mahal family the better.

Tale Of The Cat has also fared particularly well with daughters of UNBRIDLED'S SONG (34 winners from 42 runners including six stakes winners) and CENTAINE (13 winners from 16 runners including two stakes winners) whilst mares by Who's That Cat's dam sire Gone West have fared well with EXCEED AND EXCEL (13 winners from 17 starters including three stakes winners), MEDAGLIA D'ORO (15 winners from 20 runners including three stakes winners), MONTJEU (23 winners from 28 runners including two Gr.1 winners and a dual Group winner), RED RANSOM (8 winners from 10 runners including two stakes winners) and UNBRIDLED'S SONG (13 winners from 17 runners including three stakes winners).

Take note that Red Ransom and Unbridled's Song mares have done well with both Tale Of The Cat and Gone West.

written by Kristen Manning - Pedigree Analyst