Page 78 - July 2015

racing foals include Talent Show, winner of $507,038; Top Bid, winner of $300,355; Air Pilot, winner of $275,916; My Portrait, winner of $261,275; Editorialist, winner of $227,660; and Decathlon, winner of $269,530.
When you look at the race record of Top Bid, you see that he was right in the mix in
his two-year-old races. He was third in the Hopeful Stakes, the Sanford Stakes and the Saratoga Special - all major two year old races. Later in his career, he would become the USA Champion Steeplechaser that set course records. He set a new track record at Belmont in the Bushwick Hurdle going 17 furlongs in 3:56.3.
Decathlon is another horse that is inter- esting from the pedigree stand-point. He was out of the mare Dog Blessed. This mare was sired by *Bull Dog (the sire of Spotted Bull) and she was out of Blessed Again by Blue Larkspur. Dog Blessed was the dam of Bless Pat when she was bred to Pavot. When Bless Pat was bred to Olympia, she produced Little Blessing, the third dam of Star Of Goshen. Star Of Goshen was the dam of Pioneerof The Nile.
Olympia would play a role as a broodmare sire for the Hooper breeding program. We see that in how he shows up in the pedigree of Zetta Jet, the third dam of American Pharoah. Zetta Jet was sired by Tri Jet, who is a son of Jester by Tom Fool and out of Haze by Olympia. He was Hooper bred.
Tom Fool was a major stakes winner of at least 17 stakes races. He was the 1952 Champion Two Year Old and the 1953 Horse of the Year, Champion Sprinter and Champion Handicap Horse. He won stakes from one mile to 10 furlongs, including
the Suburban Handicap and the Whitney Handicap when it was a mile and a quarter. Tom Fool was the sire of Buckpasser, whom we found in Empire Maker’s pedigree.
Tri Jet raced 46 times for Fred Hooper. He won 17 starts and was winning at the
age of five. His biggest win was the 1974 Whitney Handicap. He set a track record going the mile and an eighth in 1:47. Tri Jet sired the winners of $26,921,164. One of the top runners for Tri Jet was Copelan. This stallion won five important stakes at two, including the Champagne Stakes, Futurity Stakes, Sanford Stakes, and Hollywood Prevue Stakes. Copelan was sired by Tri Jet and out of Susan’s Girl, Hooper’s great mare.
Copelan was double bred Olympia, as his dam Susan’s Girl was out of Quaze. Quaze was out of Heavenly Sun by Olympia. This gives Copelan a breeding pattern of 3 X
4 to Olympia, and this introduces us to a common breeding pattern in the Hooper- bred horses. Hooper’s million dollar winners Precisionist (3 X 4) and Diplomatic Jet (4 X 4 X 5) were both linebred to Olympia.
The dam of Zetta Jet was Queen Zetta. This mare was sired by Crozier. Crozier was bred and raced by Hooper and would start in 34 races, with 10 wins, 12 seconds and 3 thirds. He won the Washington Park Futurity, setting a new track record going the 6.5 furlongs in 1:15.1, and he won the Derby Trial with a new track record going the 8 furlongs in 1:34.3. He was second
on the “road to the Kentucky Derby” in
the Fountain of Youth, Flamingo Derby, and Florida Derby - all major preps for the Derby. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness. He raced to the age of five, just like the Hooper-bred Tri Jet, and won the mile and quarter Santa Anita Handicap at five. The sire of Crozier was My Babu and he was out of Miss Olympia by Olympia.
The dam of Queen Zetta was Miami Mood by Greek Game. Miami Mood was a stakes winner for her breeder Fred Hooper. She would win only six of her 34 starts, but
two of the wins were the Jazmine Stakes and Four Winds Handicap. Her sire Greek Game was bred by Hooper. Greek Game won the Arlington Futurity and the Washington
Park Futurity, earning $275,120. His sire was Olympia. Thus, we have another cross to Olympia in the pedigree of the mare Zetta Jet. The addition of this last cross to Olympia gives American Pharoah a breeding pattern of 6 X 6 X 7 X 7 to Olympia.
The multiple crosses to Olympia bring into focus the great Hyperion and his influ- ence on the pedigree of American Pharoah. Olympia is sired by *Heliopolis by Hyperion. When we expand the American Pharoah pedigree out to nine generations, we find at least 18 crosses to Hyperion. Hyperion was bred in England by Lord Derby.
Hyperion was raced by Lord Derby, with 13 starts, nine wins, one second and two thirds. Among his wins were the Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes - both British Classics similar to the American Triple Crown races.
Hyperion was sired by Gainsborough and he was sired by Bayardo, who was sired by Bay Ronald. His dam was Galicia by Galopin. The dam of Gainsborough was Rosedrop by St. Frusquin, who was sired by St. Simon. St. Simon was sired by Galopin. The dam of Hyperion was the great mare Selene. She was sired by Chaucer by St. Simon. This gives us
a breeding pattern of 4 X 3 to St. Simon and a breeding pattern of 4 X 5 X 4 to Galopin.
The dam of Chaucer was Canterbury Pilgrim. She was sired by Tristan and
out of Pilgrimage. The dam of Selene
was Serenissima by Minoru. The dam of Serensissima was Gondolette by Loved One, who was a son of Pilgrimage. This gives Selene a breeding pattern of 3 X 4 to Pilgrimage.
Here is the significance of Selene in the scheme of things: she was the dam of Sickle, who is the great grandsire of Native Dancer. She is the dam of Pharamond II, who is the sire of Menow, who is the sire of Tom Fool. Tom Fool sired both Buckpasser and Jester, the sire of Tri Jet in the pedigree of American Pharoah.
Some of the great sons of Hyperion would include Heliopolis, Khaled and Alibhai, and we have found them in the pedigree of American Pharoah. Khaled is familiar to Quarter Horse people through his son New Policy, who is the sire of Reb’s Policy, sire of the legendary Town Policy.
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photo by NYRA
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76 SPEEDHORSE, July 2015
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