THE six-year-old Tuttipaesi, bred by Eithne Hamilton who has had a long association with the family, recently added the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes to her curriculum vitae and boosted her career earnings to a few dollars short of $500,000.

The daughter of Clodovil is out of the unraced Acatenango mare Ruby Ridge who was bred by Gainsborough Stud Management but acquired at a later stage by Eithne. The attraction was obvious as Eithne had purchased Ruby Ridge’s dam Desert Frolic and with her bred a number of good horses, notably Dubai Prince, Jakarta Jade and Cadre.

Tuttipaesi, trained by Bill Mott after a spell with Graham Motion, was sold as a foal through Rathasker Stud to Paula Flannery for €18,000 at Goffs November Sale in 2010. Reoffered in the Tattersalls October Sale from Egmont Stud she was bought by bloodstock agent Marco Bozzi for 12,000gns. She went to Italy where she won two listed races before moving to the USA to continue her career.

Ruby Ridge is a half-sister to seven winners and her dam, Desert Frolic, had a colt last year by Born To Sea at the great age of 22. Desert Frolic’s winning offspring include the dual Group 3 winner Dubai Prince, by Shamardal, the €200,000 foal Cadre who is a stakes-placed son of King’s Best, and the listed-placed Jakarta Jade. One of the most interesting of her progeny was Mojave, a 200,000gns breeze-up graduate who won two of his three starts but died at three. He was thought likely to be a Group 1 horse by his trainer.

Desert Frolic is a half-sister to the Champion Stakes winner Storming Home and he was twice a Grade 1 winner in the USA. He is also a Group 1 sire and he famously was disqualified after winning the Arlington Million. One of Desert Frolic’s half-sisters is the unraced Darshaan mare Sandrella, the dam of Glencadam Gold, a Group 1 winning son of Refuse To Bend who captured the Metropolitan Handicap in Australia.

Mark Johnston is now training a two-year-old own-brother to Tuttipaesi which he gave 45,000gns for last year. Given the way his juveniles are already running this year it might not be long before the pedigree gets a further boost.