2021 Leading Freshman Sire of the Year A Revenant

by Larry Thornton

What’s in a name? When we see the word revenant, many of us recall the 2015 movie The Revenant, a film based on the life of frontiersman Hugh Glass starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It is the story of a man severely injured in a bear attack, who is left in the wilderness for dead. He returns to civilization to right the wrong his fellow trappers did by leaving him to die. So, what does the word revenant mean? It is a person that returns from the dead. 

This brings us to A Revenant, a colt born in 2014 bred by Julianna Hawn Holt. He is sired by Mr Jess Perry and out of Thewayouwantmetoo by Mr Eye Opener. He was purchased by the partnership of R. D. Hubbard, Johnny Cope, Rafter W Stables and Butch Southway for $152,000 at the 2015 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. The goal of the partnership was to win the All American Futurity-G1. 

A Revenant had the credentials to reach that illusive feat. He was sent to the track under the guidance of trainer Mike Joiner and jockey Cody Jensen. The path to the All American was on schedule as A Revenant won his trial for the Ruidoso Futurity-G1 and then finished second by a head in the finals. He came back in the Rainbow Futurity-G1, winning his trial and the finals. Then tragedy struck and A Revenant was injured prior to the All American trials. The injury brought an end to his racing career. His race record gave him three wins and a second in four starts with earning $604,800. He was named the 2016 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. 

A Revenant was taken to R. D. Hubbard’s Crystal Springs Farm in Tularosa, New Mexico, to recover from his injury. He started stud duty in 2018 at the 6666 Ranch of Guthrie, Texas, siring two full crops in 2019 and 2020. Then tragedy struck again, and A Revenant was not able to come back from the effects of laminitis. He was put down in August of 2019, bringing what could be considered the end of a bright future for an up-and-coming sire. 

But his story doesn’t end there as A Revenant has come back from the dead, so to speak, with his first crop of runners making him the leading freshman sire of money earners for 2021. He was also the leading 2021 freshman sire of stakes winners and the co-leading 2021 freshman sire of winners with 23. His first runners have earned $1,184,494 with 21 ROM, three stakes winners and five stakes placed runners from his first foal crop. The interesting part is that, fortunately for the industry, the sire capability of A Revenant will go on as the Dunn Ranch of Wynnewood, Oklahoma, purchased his frozen semen and he is still available through modern technology for breeding. 

A Revenant being named the 2021 leading freshman sire is no surprise as we look at his pedigree and the breeding program that bred him. Julianna Hawn Holt, his breeder, has put together a unique breeding program that breeds for quality and not quantity, selecting the highest level of race mares for her broodmare band. The Holt breeding program keeps the number of mares in the broodmare band small with a limit of about 12 mares. Unlike other commercial breeders, they don’t do embryo transfer and that limits the market for the foals produced. A particularly good example of supply and demand. The idea is to get one good baby to sell and that makes the program more economical to operate. 

Bennie Greathouse, the manager for Julianna Hawn Holt’s Cross Triangle Ranch, explained why the mares carry their foals and why they don’t do embryos, “Basically, she sells everything and we think that is helping us at the sales because Mrs. Holt is bringing only one foal and they know that. The next thing is we don’t bring anything back to run. We sell everything. If you have the last bid, she will honor it.” 

Some of the mares that have been in the Cross Triangle Ranch broodmare band over the years include the Quarter Horse racing Champions Corona Chick, Heartswideopen, Stylish Jess BR, Apollitical Time and Higher Fire. They will add the major stakes winners Apollitical Patty and Aint She Tempting in 2022. 

The 2021 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale saw the following yearlings sell that were bred by Julianna Hawn Holt. The sale was topped by a colt named First Texas Flash by First Moonflash that sold for an all-time record of $800,000. His dam is Stylish Jess BR, and he is a full brother to Champion Two Year Old and Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Flash And Roll who was sold as a yearling and then repurchased by Holt and is now a Holt broodmare. One Fearless Eagle by One Famous Eagle sold for $200,000 and his dam is Love Samba, a Holt bred mare that was originally sold and then repurchased to be a Holt broodmare. Gallant Warrior by One Famous Eagle sold for $200,000. His dam is Apollitical Time, the dam of leading sire Apollitical Jess. Big Dream Baby by Apollitical Jess sold for $115,000. She is out of Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Kates Dynasty. One Cool Dude by First Moonflash sold for $105,000. He is out of A Dash Of Sweet Heat, a daughter of Holt’s great broodmare Corona Chick. 

The base of the Cross Triangle Ranch breeding program is their great mares, and the selection of stallions is a key part to the success of the program. Greathouse explained how the stallions are selected, “We try to fit the mare with the sire. You have to be selective to what sires you breed to. Personally, I believe if you are going to run one you can breed one way and if you are going to breed to sell you have to breed another way. That means we go to the commercial success of the sire in our selection of stallions.”

He went on to confirm that they look at the pedigree of the stallion and mare to look for breeding patterns, but then he added, “We look at the pedigree of the mare and match that with a sire, but sometimes we get away from that and breed to what’s hot. I think the mare is the biggest part of it, so when you breed them to the top sires you are going to come up with a decent baby.” 

Thewayouwantmetoo, the dam of A Revenant is one of the mares that joined the Holt broodmare band in 2007. This mare is sired by Mr Eye Opener and is out of Hope And Glory by Special Effort and was bred by Carl and Shawnea’ Smith of Jacksboro, Texas. I recently asked Carl how he became interested in racing and breeding. He responded, “I have always had an interest in horses. But my father-in-law Gary Potts and a good friend of mine Jack Powers were into it and they both raced. Jack and I partnered on one. I bought Thewayouwantmetoo’s half-sister Miss Frisco Red, a mare that ran at Trinity Meadows.” Smith went on to tell that he liked what he saw in this filly and so he bought her dam Hope And Glory. He wanted to buy the mare before anybody else found out about her potential as a broodmare. He also bought her weanling colt Glory And Class by Vital Class. They later sold this colt, and he earned his ROM with earnings of $1,185. 

Smith began breeding Hope And Glory and the fifth foal she produced was Thewayouwantmetoo. This mare won the 2004 Rainbow Futurity-G1, and the Smiths recalled that day. Their story also tells of their interest in a variety of horse activities. Shawnea begins this way, “Carl has always studied the horses, whether it be racehorses, cutting horses, roping horses, and he has an eye for conformation, pedigree and a memory that doesn’t quit. I can’t remember a horse we had last year, and Carl can remember from long ago who their sire was and who everybody was. He has always enjoyed and been blessed with what a lot of us don’t see.”

She continued, “He was in the amateur finals at the cutting in Fort Worth when I was at the races with Thewayouwantmetoo when she won the Rainbow.” Carl said, “She called me at the NCHA Summer Spectacular, and she said, ‘It is pouring down rain and I’m going to scratch her,’ and I said, ‘No you’re not.’ She was the only filly in the field, and I said, ‘She is going to kick their butts,’ as we raised her to be a horse and not raised in a stall.” She didn’t just win the race, but she set a New Track Record for 400 yards in a time of :19.209. She came back at three to be a stakes finalist in the Ruidoso Derby-G1 and the Rainbow Derby-G1. She had an overall record of 11 starts with four wins, one second and one third. She earned $327,953 on the track. 

An added note, Carl finished third in the NCHA Summer Spectacular Amateur Derby in 2004. They also owned Third Cutting, winner of $544,986 in the cutting pen. He won events like the 2009 NCHA Super Stakes Open Derby and the 2009 NCHA Summer Spectacular Open Derby. 

Smith retired Thewayouwantmetoo to the broodmare band and she produced two foals for them. They were The Hiway by Mr Jess Perry foaled in 2007, and Thewaywedanced Till3 by Holland Ease foaled in 2008. The Hiway was a stakes placed runner with a third in the 2009 Heritage Place Futurity-G1. He earned $156,284. Thewaywedanced Till3 was sold to Brazil. 

The Smiths sold Thewayouwantmetoo to the Burnett Ranches of Guthrie, Texas, in 2007, and they sold her to Julianna Hawn Holt. The first foal she produced for Holt was Juanita Mi Amor by Mr Jess Perry in 2009. This horse earned her ROM with a 90 speed index with a race record of seven starts with two wins and earnings of $7,415. She was the second of four starters sired by Mr Jess Perry and out of Thewayouwantmetoo. 

The next foal for Thewayouwantmetoo in 2010 was The Magic Dash, a stakes finalist by First Down Dash. He won $90,648 with 16 starts, three wins and four seconds earning his ROM with a speed index of 97. He was a finalist in the 2013 All American Derby-G1, 2014 Remington Park Championship Challenge-G2, 2014 Remington Park Invitational Championship-G1 and 2014 Mr Jet Moore Handicap-G3. 

Thewayouwantmetoo then produced Belle Helene, a 2011 filly sired by Valiant Hero. This mare followed in her dam’s footsteps, qualifying for the 2013 Rainbow Futurity-G1. She finished second in a close finish to Ms First Prize Rose. She was also second in the Mr Jess Perry Stakes to Coronado Cartel. It has to be noted that Coronado Cartel and Ms First Prize Rose are full siblings sired by Corona Cartel and out of First Carolina by Mr Jess Perry. This mare earned her racing ROM with 10 starts with three wins and five seconds earning $214,858. 

Luv Supreme by Mr Jess Perry is the 2012 foal out of Thewayouwantmetoo. This mare is a two-time graded stakes placed runner with thirds in the 2014 Golden State Million Futurity-G1 and 2015 West Texas Derby-G3. She was also a finalist in the 2014 Ed Burke Million Futurity-G1. She was an ROM runner with a speed index of 92 and she made 12 starts with four firsts, one second and three thirds, earning $202,143.

The Chosen One, by Walk Thru Fire, was foaled in 2013. She was a non-winner in ten starts with two seconds and two thirds earning $6,924. A Revenant, by Mr Jess Perry, was foaled in 2014, her third foal from this cross. He was followed in 2015 by Holiday Magic by Valiant Hero, and she was a non-starter. One Texas Lady was the next foal in 2016, and she was sired by One Famous Eagle. She has an ROM with a 91 speed index, and she had four starts going unplaced with $1,829 in earnings. Famous Shining Star, foaled in 2018, is a full sister to One Texas Lady. This mare earned her ROM with 94 speed index with 10 starts, three wins and three thirds with earnings of $25,600. She was a stakes finalist in the 2021 Las Damas Handicap-G2. Magic Eagle Lady, foaled in 2019, is another foal sired by One Famous Eagle. She has a racing ROM with just two starts going unplaced. 

Thewayouwantmetoo was sold in 2019 to Neff Hogue Farm LLC of Guthrie, Texas. She was sold along with her 2020 foal Sally Soul Smasher by Mr Jess Perry. This is the last of five Mr Jess Perry foals out of Thewayouwantmetoo. This cross has produced the mare’s stakes winner and two of her three stakes placed runners. All four of the starters have a speed index of above 90. This record indicates that Mr Jess Perry and Thewayouwantmetoo have come together in a nick. A nick that is based on Mr Jess Perry being an outcross for Dash For Cash line mares. 

Mr Jess Perry became an outstanding sire prospect when he won the 1994 Champion Two Year Old and the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt titles after winning four stakes races. He won the Texas Classic Futurity-G1, LQHBA Futurity-RG1, Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile-RG2 and Louisiana Breeder’s Laddie Futurity-RG3. He then won the Texas Classic Derby-G1 at three. He eventually found his way to Burnett Ranches, spending the rest of his life at the Four Sixes. He is now the #3 all-time leading sire of money winners with earnings of over $59 million. 

Mr Jess Perry was brought to the Four Sixes primarily as an outcross on the Dash For Cash line of mares, which are so prevalent in the industry. But he turned out to be an excellent cross on a number of broodmare sire lines. His top runners indicate that with Apollitical Jess (dam by Apollo TB), Matabari (dam by Separatist), One Famous Eagle (dam by Chicks Beduino), Noconi (dam by Dash For Cash), A Revenant (dam by Mr Eye Opener), Miss Racy Jess (dam by Racin Free), Fredricksburg (dam by Dash For Cash), Fredaville (dam by Dash For Cash), Jess Louisiana Blue (dam by Louisiana Slew), Mr Piloto (dam by Splash Bac) and One Sweet Jess (dam by First Down Dash). When we look at these eleven, we see that five are from the Dash For Cash line of mares, three from the Beduino TB line of mares and the rest represent a variety of broodmare sire lines. 

A look at the pedigree of Mr Jess Perry will indicate the kind of blood he brought to the breeding shed. He is sired by Streakin La Jolla by Streakin Six by Easy Six, who was sired by Easy Jet, a son of Jet Deck by Moon Deck, a son of Top Deck TB. The dam of Streakin La Jolla was Bottom’s Up by Raise Your Glass TB by Raise A Native. Bottom’s Up was out of La Jolla by St Bar and La Jolla was out of Top Pretty TB by Top Deck. 

Now let’s look at the dam side of Mr Jess Perry’s pedigree. Scoopie Fein is the dam of Mr Jess Perry. This mare earned $15,807 winning six races with three seconds and four thirds in 20 trips to the post. She was the dam of eight foals with seven starters and six ROM. She had one stakes winner in Mr Jess Perry and four stakes placed, including Scoopie Dash, who was second in the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile Stakes. Scoopie Cash was another stakes placed runner with a second in the LQHBA Juvenile Fillies Division. The other stakes placed runners out of Scoopie Fein were: Sinn N Saint, who was second in the Bay Meadows 870 Championship; and Crimson Scoop, second in the Trinity Meadows Valentine Futurity. 

The sire of Scoopie Fein was Sinn Fein, winner of the Jet Deck Stakes with 13 total starts and five wins, three seconds and two thirds earning $51,088. The sire of Sinn Fein was Three Ohs, winner of the 1968 All American Futurity-G1. The sire of Three Ohs was Three Chicks by Three Bars TB. Three Chicks was out of Chicado V by Chicaro Bill. The dam of Sinn Fein was Vansarita Too, who won $15,563 with seven wins in 19 starts including winning the Magic Empire Fall Futurity and the Chicago QH Derby. She was the dam of 12 foals with earnings of $183,408. Sinn Fein was her only stakes winner. The sire of Vansarita Too was Vandy and she was out of Garretts Miss Pawhuska by Leo. This makes her the full sister to: World Champion Vandy’s Flash; Vanetta Dee, a four-time Champion including three times as the Champion Aged Mare; and two-time Champion Gelding Vannevar. 

Legs La Scoop is the dam of Scoopie Fein. She was the winner of $2,265 with one win in 21 starts, including six seconds and four thirds with one second place finish in the Midway Downs Winter Derby. She was the dam of 11 starters with nine ROM and only one stakes placed foal. Her foals earned $85,704. Her stakes placed runner is Colleen Sinn with a third in the 1979 Early Bird Futurity. Legs La Scoop has four more stakes finalists in Much A Man, Oh Black Magic, Scoopie Fein and La Paint. 

Legs La Scoop was sired by Scooper Chick, a horse that has an interesting tie to Mr Jess Perry and the 400-yard distance. Scooper Chick won four stakes races, including the Josie’s Bar Handicap, Autumn Championship, Southern California Stakes and King City Stakes. On Dec. 14, 1963, Scooper Chick ran 400 yards in an allowance race at Los Alamitos Race Course in a time of :19.880 for a then New World Record. He defeated Anna Dial, the 1963 Champion Racing Three-Year-Old Filly and 1964 Champion Aged Mare, and Dariman, the 1963 Champion Gelding and Champion Aged Gelding. In that race, Dariman set a New World Record for a gelding in a time of :19.94. 

I find this is an interesting record that appears to have an affinity for the 400-yard races. Here is more, as Mr Jess Perry set two New Track Records both at 400 yards - once at Sam Houston in the Texas Classic Futurity-G1 in a time of :19.66, and the other at Delta Downs in the LQHBA Laddie Futurity-RG1 in a time of :19.97. Then we add Rainbow Futurity winners Streakin Six in 1979 and Special Effort in 1981. Special Effort won the race in :19.97. Three Oh’s won his All American Futurity when it was run at 400 yards. Three Chicks, the sire of Three Oh’s won the 1962 Josie’s Bar Handicap at 400 yards. Rocket Wrangler won his All American Futurity and the Rainbow Futurity when both races were run at 400 yards. Thewayouwantmetoo won the Rainbow Futurity at 400 yards in a record time of :19.209. A Revenant won his Rainbow Futurity at 400 yards in a time of :19.708. 

The sire of Scooper Chick is Triple Chick by Three Bars TB, and Triple Chick is out of Chicado V. Triple Chick is a full brother to Three Chicks, the sire of Three Ohs, and so this gives Scoopie Fein a breeding pattern of 3x3 to the full brothers. It also gives her a 4x4 breeding pattern to Chicado V and that is an example of inbreeding to superior families. The dam of Scooper Chick is Scoop Bam by War Bam TB by War Glory by Man O’War. The dam of Legs La Scoop, by Scooper Chick, was Le Ferne by Quicksilver King.

Hope And Glory & A Second Nick

The first foal of Hope And Glory, the second dam of A Revenant, produced for the Smiths was A High Hope by On A High. This race winner earned his ROM and $1,500. Her next foal was Ryons Special Effort, a gelding by Ronas Ryon. He earned his ROM with a 107 speed index and became stakes placed with a third in the 2000 Texas Classic Derby-G1, a second in the 2001 Rocky Mountain Championship plus making the finals of the All American Derby-G1. 

The Way You Want Me was the next runner and the first cross for Hope And Glory with Mr Eye Opener. This mare earned her ROM with a speed index of 100 and earnings of $102,929. She was three times stakes placed with thirds in the 2000 Rainbow Futurity-G1, 2001 Ruidoso Derby-G1 and 2002 New Mexico Distaff Challenge-G3. She is the dam of two stakes winners in Brimmies Alli Bi B as the winner of the TQHA Sale Futurity-RG1, and A Fitting Way, winner of the Blink Of An Eye Handicap and the Heritage Place Juvenile Invitational. The next foal out of Hope And Glory is Illegal High by Illegal Runaway who was unraced. 

Then came Thewayyouwantmetoo by Mr Eye Opener, and she was followed by unraced Jess Hope by Mr Jess Perry. Jess Hope is the dam of Jessaspecialeffort by Mr Eye Opener. This filly is ROM and a stakes winner in Mexico in the Campeon de Campeones Classic-G3. She was also second in the Chirina Glorys Classic. Crush is another Mr Eye Opener foal out of Hope And Glory. He is unraced due to injury. Leaving Hope by Leaving Memories was the next foal out of Hope And Glory. This stallion is unraced. Hope and Glory went back to the court of Mr Eye Opener to produce Hesa Eye Opener in 2006. He made the finals in five stakes races, including a win in the 2008 Campeonato Juvenile and a second in the 2009 Mexico Derby Challenge. This gelding has 11 official starts with two wins, three seconds and three thirds earning $48,553 and an ROM with a speed index of 102. 

Shawneas Hope was born in 2008 to a mating between Hope And Glory and Brimmerton. She earned her ROM and $3,180 in earnings. She was retired from racing with an injury. Her foals include Hay Train, a 1D barrel racing money winner that has been a heeling horse in team roping that is sired by Third Cutting. Shawneas Hope has had one foal go to the track and that was Ill Try by Lota PYC, an ROM runner and winner of one start in six races earning $14,904. 

The last two foals out of Hope And Glory are Ocean Glory and Pastor Les, both by Oceans Runaway. Ocean Glory was raced in Mexico, and she was a finalist in the Premio A Bit Of Corona Futurity. Pastor Les is unraced according to AQHA records. 

Hope And Glory was the dam of 15 foals with nine starters, eight ROM, two stakes winners, two stakes placed runners and two stakes finalists that have earned $583,964.50. Mr Eye Opener sired four foals with three starters out of Hope And Glory. The three starters from this cross account for the two stakes winners and one of her stakes placed runners out of Hope And Glory. These three runners have earned $497,435. 

Mr Eye Opener had 15 starts, winning nine races, with one second and four thirds earning $202,978. He won the 1992 West Texas Futurity-G1, 1992 Speedhorse Gold & Silver Cup Sprint Futurity, and finished second in the Rainbow Futurity and third in the Kansas Futurity. Mr Eye Opener sired 1,501 starters that earned 1,160 racing ROM. His foals have earned $28,282,046. This includes 95 stakes winners. including Eyesa Special, who earned $1,394,911 as the winner of the 2000 All American Futurity-G1 and 2000 Texas Classic Futurity-G1. He was the Champion Two Year Old and the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. Mr Eye Opener was sired by Dash For Cash and out of Bedawee by Beduino TB. 

In our conversation, Carl referenced Eyesa Special because of his pedigree and what he saw in the potential of the Mr Eye Opener/Special Effort cross. Eyesa Special was sired by Mr Eye Opener and out of Miss O Toole by Special Effort. Here are some more examples that reinforce his thoughts on the Mr Eye Opener/Special Effort cross—Eye Opening Episode si 113, winner of the 2002 West Texas Futurity-G1; Eye Am The Best si 106, winner of the Kansas Futurity-G2; Logical Favorite si 96, winner of the Kansas Jackpot Prep Futurity-G3; Eyegotitgoinon si 100, winner of the Easy Jet Stakes-G3; Wranglers And Ropers si 99, winner of the 2003 North Dakota Park Maturity; and stakes placed runner Bat Shunatona si 114, who was second in the 2001 Bob Moore Memorial Stakes. 

The dam of Hope And Glory is Tonya Jay Bar by Rocket Wrangler and Tonya Jay Bar is out of Jay Bar Miss by Jayhawker Bar. She made 16 starts with seven wins, one second and three thirds earning $51,980. She won the 1979 Kansas Bred Futurity at Gateway Downs, and was third in the 1980 Buttons And Bows Stakes. Her big paycheck came in the 1979 Kansas Futurity-G1 with a fourth place finish. Tonya Jay Bar produced 12 foals with eight starters/ROM and one stakes winner in Fast And Racy by Masked Native. This mare won three stakes races, including the New Mexico State Fair Futurity-G3, Santa Fe Downs Futurity and Helen Mathison Handicap. She was third in two more stakes, and the interesting part of this record is that all of her stakes wins and stakes place finishes were at 400 yards. 

The Foals 

The first A Revenant foal to bring attention to her sire was Revenant Moon, winner of the 2021 Oklahoma Futurity-G2. She was named the 2021 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. This filly is out of Sochi Moon by FDD Dynasty, and Sochi Moon is out of Nagano Moon, the dam of leading sire First Moonflash. When we look at the pedigree of this filly, we see that she carries a breeding pattern of 4x4x6x5 to Dash For Cash, and a breeding pattern of 5x5 to Beduino TB. This gives us a double cross to the Dash For Cash/Beduino cross. We also see that we have a “return the blood” of this cross back into Revenant Moon where we see linebreeding to this cross coming to the foal by way of the sire’s dam Thewayouwantmetoo. She also has a breeding pattern of 5x5x5x7x6 to Rocket Wrangler. 

Sippin Hayden was the leading money earner from this first crop of foals by A Revenant. He was third in the 2021 All American Futurity-G1 after winning his trial. He also won his trial for the Rainbow Futurity but didn’t qualify. His dam is Entrust, a mare sired by the Thoroughbred Regulate and Entrust is out of Effortless Again by Special Effort. This gives us a breeding pattern of 4x3 to Special Effort. Then we add Streakin La Jolla to the mix with his dam being Bottoms Up by Raise Your Glass TB, and we get a breeding pattern of 5x5x4 to Raise Your Glass and we see a 5x5x5 breeding pattern to Rocket Wrangler.

Double Duty is another stakes placed runner from this crop that was third in the Rainbow Futurity. She carries a complete outcross with her dam Backyard Lane TB by Devon Lane by Storm Cat. Backyard Lane  is out of Indicate by AP Indy. Storm Cat and AP Indy have been highly successful as sires and are often found in the pedigree of today’s horse such as Triple Crown winner Justify. The interesting part is that Storm Cat was out of Terlingua by Secretariat and AP Indy is out of Weekend Surprise by Secretariat. Thus, we see linebreeding to Secretariat through his two best daughters. 

Lil Longmire is the second stakes winner sired by A Revenant. She was first in the Pocatello Downs Juvenile Challenge. She is out of Dee Zired by Carters Cartel. This horse has a breeding pattern of 4x6x5 to Dash For Cash, a breeding pattern of 5x6x5x5 to Beduino TB, a 5x5x7x6 breeding pattern to Rocket Wrangler, and a breeding pattern of 5x5x6 to Raise Your Glass TB. Again, we see the blood of Dash For Cash and Beduino through the return the blood theory. 

The third stakes winner for A Revenant is Radar. This horse won the Crush The Curve Futurity. His dam is Snow In My Corona by the Thoroughbred Snowbound and he is sired by Meadowlake and out of Gray Tab by Zulu Tom. The dam of Snow In My Corona is Love My Corona by Corona Cartel and Love My Corona is out of Streakin Love by Streakin Six and Streakin Love is out of Old Love Of Mine by Dash For Cash. The breeding patterns we see in his pedigree are Streakin Six with a 4x4 cross, Dash For Cash at 4x6x5, Beduino TB at 5x6, and 5x5x7x6 to Rocket Wrangler. All these breeding patterns, except for Streakin Six, set up the return the blood theory with linebreeding to these individuals with the foal being linebred through the sire’s dam and the dam of the foal. 

Eye Live For Candy was second in the Alex Picov Memorial Futurity. Her dam Eyesa Candy Maker was sired by Eyesa Special by Mr Eye Opener. So, this gives the pedigree a 3x3 breeding pattern to Mr Eye Opener. It also shows a linebreeding to the Mr Eye Opener/Special Effort cross. This then tells us that we have a breeding pattern of 5x5x5 to Raise Your Glass, the sire of both Special Effort and Bottom’s Up who appear in this pedigree. 

It is sad that A Revenant has lived up to the definition of the word revenant. But he has definitely come back into the picture as the 2021 Leading Freshman Sire.