10 Pedigree fun facts: Locked

Feb 20, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year and outstanding young sire, has a bumper crop of 14 sophomores nominated to the 2024 Triple Crown.

The leading Gun Runners on the trail so far are Locked, hero of last fall’s Breeders’ Futurity (G1), and Sierra Leone, who just reiterated his lofty reputation with a victory in the Risen Star (G2). Interestingly, they are bred on the same lines, both being out of Malibu Moon mares. We’ll look at that cross in a future installment on Sierra Leone.

Here are 10 pedigree fun facts for Locked:

1. Gun Runner was third in the Kentucky Derby before reigning as Horse of the Year at four.

Among the prominent three-year-olds of 2016, Gun Runner turned the Risen Star (G2)/Louisiana Derby (G2) double at Fair Grounds and placed third to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby (G1). He was just warming up by that stage. After another score in the Matt Winn (G3), and minor awards in such high-profile events as the Travers (G1), Pennsylvania Derby (G2), and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Gun Runner capped the season by defeating older horses in the Clark (G1) back at Churchill Downs.

That marked the turning point in his career, for Gun Runner would compile a nearly-perfect campaign in 2017 to reign as Horse of the Year. Second to Hall of Famer Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup (G1), Gun Runner was unbeatable upon returning stateside. He rattled off a winning streak including the Stephen Foster H. (G1), Whitney (G1), Woodward (G1), and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), where he gained revenge on Arrogate. Gun Runner extended his skein to five in his grand finale, the 2018 Pegasus World Cup (G1), and retired with earnings of $15,988,500.

2. Gun Runner’s come out blazing as a stallion.

Gun Runner set a North American record for progeny earnings for a first-crop sire in 2021, with his juveniles bankrolling more than $4.2 million. Champion filly Echo Zulu led the charge, along with Gunite, Wicked Halo, and Pappacap.

The momentum continued as his first runners turned three in 2022. Early Voting captured the Preakness (G1), while Cyberknife and Taiba won major Derby preps before finishing one-two in the Haskell (G1). Gun Runner came up with more classic prospects for 2023, most notably Disarm, who was fourth in the Derby and runner-up in the Travers.

3. Gun Runner is by unbeaten Argentine champion Candy Ride.

Gun Runner’s sire, Candy Ride, was a standout himself on two continents. Bred in Argentina, but sporting familiar bloodlines as a descendant of the Mr. Prospector sire line, Candy Ride was an undefeated champion in his homeland. He won a pair of Group 1 races over a metric mile on turf, including the 2002 Gran Premio Joaquin S. de Anchorena (G1) in nearly world-record time.

Exported to the United States, Candy Ride remained perfect while proving himself an elite performer on the dirt as well. His signature win came in the 2003 Pacific Classic (G1), where he beat $5.7 million-earner (and eventual top sire) Medaglia d’Oro in track-record time that still stands at Del Mar.

Candy Ride has transmitted his brilliance and versatility at stud. Aside from Gun Runner, he’s sired champions Shared Belief and Game Winner; unbeaten Mastery, a leading fancy for the 2017 Kentucky Derby until his career was cut short by injury; and current Kentucky Oaks (G1) candidate Candied, who is also nominated to the Triple Crown.

4. Gun Runner’s dam is a Grade 2-winning half-sister to a Horse of the Year.

Gun Runner could be described as a “nephew” of 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam. Gun Runner’s dam (mother), Quiet Giant, is a half-sister to Saint Liam, who captured the Clark, Stephen Foster, Woodward, and Breeders’ Cup Classic 12 years before Gun Runner collected the same trophies. Saint Liam sadly died after just one season at stud, but left a legacy by siring another Horse of the Year, Havre de Grace.

Quiet Giant’s name refers to her parents, Giant’s Causeway and Quiet Dance. Giant’s Causeway earned the nickname of the “Iron Horse,” thanks to his feat of winning five European Group 1 races in the summer of 2000. The greatest son of Storm Cat, Giant’s Causeway transferred his game to dirt in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and just missed to Hall of Famer Tiznow. hat makes Quiet

Quiet Giant lived up to her pedigree on the racetrack, scoring five stakes wins including the 2011 Molly Pitcher (G2) at Monmouth Park. She earned $405,389 while winning seven of 12 career starts.

5. Locked’s dam is by Malibu Moon, sire of 2013 Derby hero Orb.

Locked’s dam, Luna Rosa, is a daughter of the royally-bred Malibu Moon. By Hall of Famer A.P. Indy and out of French Group 1 queen Macoumba, Malibu Moon was a precocious juvenile who broke his maiden going five furlongs. Unfortunately, he never raced again, and we’ll never know what he might have achieved.

Yet Malibu Moon has offered a hint by becoming a successful stallion. Sire of the 2013 Kentucky Derby hero Orb, who also placed in the Belmont (G1) and Travers, Malibu Moon is also responsible for champion Declan’s Moon and such prominent Derby trail veterans as Gormley (2017) and Magnum Moon (2018).

Malibu Moon is likewise exerting an influence as a sire of broodmares. Among the notables out of Malibu Moon mares are champion Stellar Wind; millionaire half-brothers Girvin and Midnight Bourbon, both Derby participants in 2017 and 2021, respectively; and the aforementioned Sierra Leone.

6. Luna Rosa is a half-sister to two major stakes winners.

Luna Rosa’s older half-sisters, Gabby’s Golden Gal and Always a Princess, were among the leaders of their generation on the racetrack.

Gabby’s Golden Gal routed the 2009 Sunland Park Oaks by 13 lengths, but after a distant sixth behind Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks, she found her niche going shorter. Next time in the Acorn (G1), Gabby’s Golden Gal defeated Justwhistledixie (who later became the dam of New Year’s Day and Mohaymen), and she added the 2010 Santa Monica (G1) to her resume.

Always a Princess was runner-up in the 2009 Oak Leaf (now known as the Chandelier) (G1) to future champion Blind Luck. After a belated start to her sophomore season, Always a Princess captured the 2010 Indiana Oaks (G2), and at four, she had the opportunity to renew rivalry with Blind Luck. Always a Princess turned the tables on her old foe in the 2011 El Encino (G2) and La Canada (G2).

Luna Rosa, Gabby’s Golden Gal, and Always a Princess were all produced by British-bred Gabriellina Giof. Competing exclusively on turf in her 26-race career, she won stakes on two continents, the 2000 Criterium Femminile in Italy and the 2001 Manhattan Beach S. at old Hollywood Park.

7. Gabriellina Giof’s sire is a French champion miler for the Aga Khan.

Gabriellina Giof is by Ashkalani, one of the classic-winning champions produced by the century-long breeding enterprise of the Aga Khan and his forebears. Ashkalani ranked as France’s highweight three-year-old miler of 1996. His signature victories came in the French classic Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1) as well as the Prix du Moulin (G1), both at the expense of Spinning World, who would go on to win the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

Ashkalani is himself by a Poulains/Moulin winner in Soviet Star, who landed a total of five Group 1s in his career from six furlongs to a mile. Perhaps his most memorable triumph was the 1988 Moulin, where he just foiled the great Miesque.

8. Gabriellina Giof’s maternal grandfather was a one-time Kentucky Derby favorite.

Gabriellina Giof is out of a mare by Cure the Blues, who at one stage became the early favorite for the 1981 Derby. From the same female line as 1973 Triple Crown legend Secretariat, Cure the Blues was unbeaten through his first six starts. But the bubble burst when he lost the Gotham (G2) and Wood Memorial (G1), and Cure the Blues ended up 15th behind Pleasant Colony at Churchill Downs.

Cure the Blues has factored, via his daughters, in the pedigrees of Rachel Alexandra and successful sire Cross Traffic.

9. Locked’s ancestor Naskra placed third in the Belmont and fourth in the Derby.

A further ancestor who pops up in the female line, Naskra, was on the Triple Crown trail in 1970. In a lengthy career of 63 starts, Naskra won only seven times, including the 1970 Everglades S., but he racked up 11 stakes placings. He garnered minor awards in the Belmont, Fountain of Youth, and Blue Grass, and checked in fourth in that year’s Kentucky Derby.

Naskra left a more enduring legacy at stud, siring the likes of Star de Naskra and Olympio, and Naskra’s daughters have produced Canadian Hall of Famer Mobil and $4.7 million-earner Perfect Drift. Indeed, daughters of Naskra have made signal contributions, also appearing in the ancestry of Maria’s Mon, Lion Heart, and Wet Paint, to name a few.

10. Locked traces to the same female line as Ruthless.

Following the maternal line far back into the mists of time, Locked belongs to the family labeled number 32. One of its most celebrated members is Ruthless, heroine of the inaugural Belmont in 1867 as well as the Travers.

Locked’s side of the family diverged from that of Ruthless in mid-19th century Ireland. His branch spent about a century in South America before his fifth dam, *Cantadora III (foaled in 1970), was imported to the United States, and her descendants continued the traveling theme.