By Sid Fernando

You know how dominant a sire line is when even the lesser members of the line, along with the well-raced representatives, come up with high-class racehorses, and that’s been the story of the 2010 classic-prep season for several sons and grandsons of sire of sires Storm Cat of various racing class. Eskendereya, subject of a previous post here, is by Storm Cat’s best-raced son Giant’s Causeway — also his sire’s best son at stud. But how about the unheralded Cat Dreams, sire of Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis winner Caracortado? This past extended weekend, dating from Super Thursday at Meydan, saw three more Storm Cat-line sires of mixed racing class throw up classic candidates: G1 winner Harlan’s Holiday with Mendip; G3 winner Bernstein with Make Music for Me; and allowance winner Tribal Rule with Alphie’s Bet.

The latter two, Alphie’s Bet and Make Music for Me, are trained in California by the very sharp Ms. Alexis Barba and won stakes at Santa Anita Saturday. Make Music for Me spent most of his 2-year-old season chasing Lookin At Lucky in G1 races as a maiden and is multiple G1-placed with enough Graded earnings to make the Derby as it is. What he did accomplish  Saturday in the Pasadena Stakes – on turf — was to win a race for the first time! Equipped with blinkers Saturday, Make Music for Me was closer to the pace than he normally has been and had less ground to make up in the stretch on the one-male race. He won impressively and goes next in the G1 Santa Anita Derby.

Make Music for Me’s sire is Bernstein, who is good here and better in Argentina, where he’s a leading sire. In fact, he’s the sire of the last Argentine Derby winner, Storm Chispazo. The Argentine Derby — the Nacional — is contested on dirt at Palermo over 2500 meters (more than 12f).  Bernstein stands at Castleton Lyon in Lexington, Ky., for $25,000. He was a multiple G3 winner at 2 and 3 in Ireland and altogether won 4 of 8 starts.

Alphie’s Bet won the G3 Sham on the all weather over 1 1/8 miles. Now a winner of 2 of 5 starts, Alphie’s Bet paid a compliment to Caracortado by winning the Sham; on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, the colt had been 2nd to the Robert B. Lewis winner in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes. Alphie’s Bet is by the California-based Tribal Rule, who won 2 of 4 starts but no stakes. He didn’t make his first start until he was 4, then at 5 won both of his two starts impressively: a 6f maiden special at Del Mar in 1:08.82 by 8 lengths, and an allowance at the same track and distance in 1:09.09 by 5 lengths. Obviously plagued by soundness problems, the horse made only one other start, at 6. He stands for $6,000 at River Edge Farm in Buellton, Ca., and is the sire of 13 SWs, including the G1 winner and one-time classics prospect Georgie Boy.

Harlan's Holiday

Mendip won the Listed Al Bastakiya at Meydan Thursday and is undefeated in 3 starts and is probably Godolphin’s best Kentucky Derby prospect to date. He is by the Airdrie Stud sire Harlan’s Holiday, a grandson of Storm Cat. An accomplished racehorse, Harlan’s Holiday won 9 of 22 starts and earned $3.6 million. He was a multiple G1 winner, too, accounting for the Florida Derby and Blue Grass Stakes at 3 and the Donn Handicap at 4. At stud, he has sired 13 SWs through three crops, including G1 winner Into Mischief and G3 winner Dennis of Cork, who was 3rd in the Kentucky Derby in 2008. Harlan’s Holiday stands for $25,000 and is one of the leading sires of his crop.