Including His Gray/roan Line
BALTIMORE, Md.—Winchell Thoroughbreds’ breeding program, one of America’s most successful breed-to-race operations, will be represented in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course. However, it won’t be represented by Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up and probable Preakness favorite Epicenter, whom Ron Winchell purchased for $260,000 as a yearling from Bowling Green, Ky., breeder Westwind Farms. Rather it’s Creative Minister, a Derby Day allowance winner for trainer Kenny McPeek and majority owners Paul Fireman’s Fern Circle Stables and Greg Back.
Winchell Thoroughbreds did not breed Creative Minister; but it did breed the colt’s dam, Tamboz, a daughter of the Winchell-raced stallion Tapit and Deputy Minister mare Winning Call (whose only win in four starts came as a 4-year-old maiden before retiring with earnings of $10,400.) As an aside, Winning Call was trained by a young horseman named Steve Asmussen, who then was getting the Winchell second string to run in the Southwest and Midwest.
Born in 2006, Tamboz was in Tapit’s first crop, before he established himself as the super-sire he is today – and well before Tamboz’s full brother Tapizar won the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
Tamboz fetched $29,000 as a yearling at auction and would seem to have been well sold. She went on to win only 1 of 21 races and $38,530 while racing mostly in claiming races at Charles Town and Colonial Downs. However, she has passed on the right genes to her offspring. All eight of Tamboz’ foals to race are winners, five of them stakes-placed.
Tamboz traces to the mare who started the Winchell breeding empire: Carols Christmas, a swaybacked but speedy filly claimed in 1981 for $25,000 by Verne Winchell. Carols Christmas might have been conformationally challenged, but she went on to produce Grade 1 winner (and Preakness fourth-place finisher) Olympio and Grade 2 winner Call Now. Her daughters proved better broodmares than racehorses, producing major winners Cuvee, Bien Nicole, Wild Wonder, Fun House, Early Flyer and Will He Shine. Fun House is the dam of champion Untapable, Winchell’s 2014 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner, and $1.7 million-earner Paddy O’Prado.
“We were pretty cautious about not letting go much of that family,” said David Fiske, the Winchell family’s long-time bloodstock and farm manager. “Obviously, we sold a few that we didn’t regret, and we kept many that we did. The whole family was ‘don’t give up on them just because they didn’t run.’ … We kept as many as we could, and greatly benefited over the years.”
Creative Minister comes by his gray/roan (the official Jockey Club color designation) coat honestly. Gray and roan can be difficult to distinguish between, the difference being the often very subtle red hairs in a roan – hence they were grouped together instead of being two separate official colors of Thoroughbreds.
Creative Minister is a son of 2012 Preakness third-place finisher Creative Cause, himself gray/roan and whose dam, Dream of Summer, was gray/roan, as was her dad, Siberian Summer, and his dad (Siberian Express), granddad Caro, great granddad Fortino II and great-great granddad Grey Sovereign, a foal of 1948.
On Creative Minister’s female side: Tamboz and Tapit are both gray/roans. Tapit’s mom was the gray/roan Tap Your Heels, whose mom, grandma, great grandma and great great grandma were – yes – gray/roan.
Creative Minister is scheduled to van to Baltimore on Tuesday, McPeek said.
Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Photo of Creative Minister by Coady Photography
