The Legend of Oatsee Grows

With the explosive victory of first-time starter, Eblouissante, last week, her dam, Vertigineux, has been receiving accolades left and right of late as the most prized broodmare in all the land. That honor may be well deserved for the 2008 broodmare of the year, but on the other hand, there may be another mare in the Bluegrass with even a bigger claim to fame. This past week reminds me what a truly great producer the Unbridled mare Oatsee has proven to be. The 15-year-old chestnut mare enjoyed yet another stakes win yesterday when her five-year-old daughter, Afleeting Lady (Afleet Alex) romped home to an easy win in the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs.

It marked the biggest win of her twenty race career, but came as no surprise. Afleeting Lady is a mare on a roll, with three authoritative stakes wins, at three different tracks, in her last three starts. For her dam, Oatsee, (right) it was just business as usual. Six days earlier, her promising three-year-old son, Stephanoatsee (A.P. Indy) may not have returned a winner in Grade 3 Discovery, but his third place finish continued a trend upwards for the colt who had become a stakes winner in his previous start at Delaware Park. Not to be forgotten, of course, is her most recognizable offspring, Shackleford (Forestry). Today’s Grade 1 Clark Handicap offers the 2011 Preakness and 2012 Met Mile winner one last chance to add to an already impressive career. Whether or not Shackleford (above) can win today, Oatsee is having an even better season than last year when she was named Broodmare of the Year.

Oatsee, out of the Lear Fan mare, With Every Wish, was only a decent runner, but has produced far more talent than she ever demonstrated on the racetrack. She finished her racing career 2-for-21, with earnings of $106,945, and was stakes placed in three seasons of competition. Purchased as a broodmare in January of 2006, Oatsee quickly paid dividends to her owners.

Later that summer, her second foal, Baghdaria (Royal Academy) won several stakes including the Indiana and Iowa Oaks, and her third foal, Lady Joanne (Orientate) finished the year off with a grade 2 victory in the Golden Rod Stakes. Lady Joanne would go on to become a grade 1 winner the following year with a big win in the prestigious Alabama Stakes. In the span of two years, the value of the young broodmare skyrocketed.

Oatsee was purchased by Leonard Reggio’s My Meadowview Farm for $1,550,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, and now with the class displayed by her three current runners, that price tag would seem to be a bargain. Look for more to come soon from the great broodmare, Oatsee. She has an unraced juvenile colt by Johannesburg, named Dare Me, currently residing in the Graham Motion barn, and has a weanling filly by Indian Charlie.

No disrespect intended to Vertigineux, but it’s hard to imagine a better broodmare in America right now than the Unbridled mare, Oatsee.