A RUNAWAY stakes winner as a juvenile, and successful at both Group 2 and Group 3 level in 2013, Viztoria kicked off her current campaign with a fourth place finish behind Slade Power in the Group 3 Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh in May, but then disappointed when beating only two home behind Garswood in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in August.
Her third outing of the year came at the Curragh on Sunday, and she gave the impression that she is back to her best with an easy three-length win in the Listed Go Racing In Kildare Waterford Testimonial Stakes over six furlongs.
The four-year-old, who was bred by Airlie Stud, and who was entered in today’s Group 2 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes, is clearly a high-class performer when there is plenty of ease in the ground.
She is one of the fastest daughters of the 10-furlong Group 1 star Oratorio (by Danehill), a now South Africa-based stallion whose list of Group 1 stars features the Italian classic winner Biz The Nurse and the globetrotting multi-millionaire Military Attack.
Indeed, her speed is quite remarkable given that not only was her sire a middle-distance star but her dam’s listed success came over 12 furlongs in Italy.
That mare, Viz (by Darshaan), is a half-sister to the multiple pattern-placed prolific winner Forbearing (by Bering), and to the stakes-placed seven times scorer Dryden House (by Cadeaux Genereux), but the really big names in the family appear under the third generation of the pedigree.
The third dam of Viztoria is the multiple blacktype placed triple winner Bold Example (by Bold Lad USA), and those good efforts including a pair of fourth place finishes in US Grade 1 company, back in the days when fourth did count for blacktype.
She had only five winners from 15 foals, which might sound like a rather disappointing broodmare career, and yet two of the quintet were stakes winners that went on to become the dams of Grade 1 stars at stud, a feat that even one of her unraced daughters achieved.
Highest Regard (by Gallant Romeo) was the multiple stakes-winning dam of the classic-placed dual Grade 1 star, and somewhat successful stallion Awe Inspiring (by Slew O’ Gold), and also of the Grade 2-winning filly Recognizable (by Seattle Slew).
French Charmer (by Le Fabuleux) got her best win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Oaks, and it is she who gave us the brilliant miler Zilzal (by Nureyev), the Group 1 Sussex Stakes and Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes hero of 1989.
She is also responsible for Charmante (by Alydar), who is the stakes-winning ancestor of the German Group 2 scorer Runaway (by Slickly), and of Taras Charmer (by Majestic Light), a one-time winner whose descendants include the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes winner and Canadian juvenile joint-champion Negligee (by Northern Afleet).
The most notable of Bold Example’s unraced daughters is Past Example (by Buckpasser), as it is she who became the dam of the outstanding miler Polish Precedent (by Danzig), who went on to sire a higher number of Group 1 winners than did his relation Zilzal.
Viztoria’s sprinting ability, when coming from a family noted for its mile to 10 furlong horses, makes her an intriguing broodmare prospect, and one who, depending on the sires of her offspring, could potentially produce as many milers as she would sprinters, and possibly even something whose distance preference falls more in line with that of its grandparents.