Beale’s foresight pays dividend

THE Irish National Stud is listed as the breeder of the recent Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes winner California Angel, just the second stakes winner for California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) who now stands at Arrow Stud in Japan. Twice a winner and placed from her first three starts, she has earned a place in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf in two weeks’ time. What a story it would be if she ran and won.

In fairness, the Irish National Stud only owned the filly’s dam Sea Mona (Tiz Wonderful) for a couple of weeks before California Angel was born, and there must have been some initial disappointment when the filly was sold as a foal for $5,000, making no dent on the dam’s purchase price of $60,000. Incredibly, when California Angel was breezed she sold for only $5,500, in spite of being a full-sister to a winning two-year-old. She has now earned $213,700.

Cathal Beale decided to leave Sea Mona in the USA to be covered by Distorted Humor (Forty Niner) and, back in Tully, she produced a filly. She sold at this year’s Orby Sale for €72,000 and was purchased by Niall Brennan. Perhaps the purchaser had some inside or local knowledge about California Angel’s ability. If he did, then he has been justified.

Star foal

This year Sea Mona produced what has been described by Beale as one of the stud’s star foals of 2021 by Invincible Spirit (Green Desert), and she in foal to Phoenix Of Spain (Lope De Vega). This is a pedigree that has consistently produced stakes winners, and California Angel’s recent Grade 2 victory means that her first six dams have all bred at least one stakes winner. That is quite a rare feat to achieve.

Sea Mona was a winner and stakes-placed at two, and she is one of five winners, two of them stakes winners, from the Johannesburg (Hennessy) mare Justaspell. Though she did not win, Justaspell had seven winning siblings, two of them at stakes level, and they are out of the winner Lovethespell (Capote). That mare is a full-sister to a stakes winner and stakes producer.

From the family of Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and champion sire Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled), this is a family that keeps on giving. Now that Sea Mona has made such a bright start at stud, there is reason to believe that her success story has only just begun.