El Padrino Pedigree Profile - Bossing the Competition

On Sunday, January 29, 2012, El Padrino proved his 12 ¾ length victory over maidens in the slop last year at Belmont Park was no fluke. Breaking sharply from the second position, the flashy Chestnut colt briefly contested the lead before settling back into fourth place along the rail. Changing course to circumvent the rapidly tiring Bartolome, El Padrino swung to the outside and targeted the front runner, Take Charge Indy. The Todd Pletcher trainee showed rapid acceleration through the stretch, flying by Take Charge Indy to beat that rival by an easy two lengths. Take Charge Indy tired slightly, but finished up 13 ¾ lengths in front of the third place horse. El Padrino’s final time for the 1 1/16 miles contest was 1:42.68.

El Padrino, whose name translates from the Spanish word for master or boss, has dominated in two of his four starts, both victories obtained over a sloppy track. The blaze faced colt was second in his debut and a swiftly closing third in the Remsen Stakes (G-3) last year. He was beaten only ¾ a length in each of those starts. El Padrino appears to be a colt who wants to run farther.

EL PADRINO(Pulpit - Enchanted Rock, by Giant's Causeway) is by the nation’s fifth leading

sire. Pulpit, bred by historical Claiborne Farm, won his only start as a two year old. He came back he following year to post an allowance win before making his presence known on the Triple Crown trail. The son of A.P. Indy scored a 1 ½ length win in the1 1/16 mile Fountain Of Youth as the favorite. Three weeks later he was again sent off as the favorite in the Florida Derby, but wound up second, passed by Captain Bodgit in the stretch. Pulpit answered his doubters with an easy 3 ½ length triumph in the Blue Grass Stakes (G-2), contested at 1 1/8 miles. In the 1997 Kentucky Derby, Pulpit battled early with Free House for the lead, but weakened in the stretch. Still, the talented colt finished fourth, beaten about 6 ½ lengths. Unfortunately, the brilliant Pulpit suffered a hind leg injury in the Kentucky Derby and was retired.

Pulpit has evolved into a consistent and respected stallion. With over 20 sons at stud in various parts of the world, Pulpit has built a reputation as a sire of sires. His sons Tapit, Sky Mesa, Stroll and Corinthian are emulating Pulpit at stud in getting solid stakes winners. Despite being a son of Classic Chef-de-Race A. P. Indy, Pulpit infuses more speed than stamina into his offspring. Represented by 51 stakes winners both in the US and internationally, Pulpit has produced only five stakes winners at 1 ¼ miles, and just two of them were successful over the dirt. Out of the five stakes winners that were successful at classic distances, four of them were out of Northern Dancer sire line mares and two, like El Padrino, claimed a son of Storm Cat as their broodmare sire.

El Padrino’s dam Enchanted Rock, was unplaced in her sole start and El Padrino is her first foal. This distaff family is loaded with talented stars and the mares of this distaff line are excellent producers. Enchanted Rock has six half siblings. Two, who are full siblings to each other, Tara Roma and Waldboro, are Grade 2 winners. The aforementioned Tara Roma bore Go For Wand heroine Serra Lake, the multiple Grade 3 winner Cappuccino and an unraced filly named Wiscasset, who produced Salvadore Mile (G-3) winner Coal Play.

Enchanted Rock’s half-sister Flying Passage is the dam of Grade 3 sprinter/miler Soaring Empire and Grade 2 winner Soaring Empire. Another half-sister, Chic Corrine, gave us the stakes winning fillies Somali Lemonade, Rasta Farian and stakes placed Chic Joy. Still another half-sister is the grand-dam of the multiple Grade 1 winning turf router Al Khali.

El Padrino's second dam Chic Shirine won the Grade 1 Ashland. She’s a full sister to the Champion Older Mare Queena, dam of the Grade 1 winning sire Brahms and Grade 2 winner LaReina. El Padrino's third dam Too Chic was a Grade 1 heroine and equaled the Belmont track record of 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.40. To top off this fantastic female family are El Padrino’s fourth and fifth dams Remedia and Monade, who are blue hens (superior females).

El Padrino’s damsire Giant’s Causeway was nicknamed “The Iron Horse,” for his exploits over the English, Irish and French racecourses, Giant’s Causeway came within a flared nostril of winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic in his only start on dirt, racing over a left-handed course in an unfamiliar setting. The 2000 European Horse Of The Year won from a mile to 1 5/16 miles (10.5 furlongs) and placed at the shorter distance of seven furlongs. He competed in ten Group 1 Stakes and was victorious in six of them, including the St. James Palace, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prix de la Salamandre. Giant’s Causeway raced 13 times in two years, winning nine events and placing six times.

Giant’s Causeway has upheld his Iron Horse moniker at stud. He is a son of the world’s most expensive sire Storm Cat out of Maria’s Storm, a Grade 1 winning mare by Rahy. Giant’s Causeway is in demand in both the US and his shuttle country, Australia. He was leading US sire in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, he was recognized as a Classic chef-de-race, which indicates that he passes his stamina to his offspring.

Giant’s Causeway hasn’t yet cracked the top 20 on the Broodmare Sire

list as he’s still a young stallion. As a damsire, he’s represented by six stakes winners. One, the Irish-bred Planteur, has been successful at 1 ¼ miles. Since Giant’s Causeway is noted for contributing stamina to his offspring, it isn’t a stretch to assume that he will do the same as a broodmare sire.

The phenomenal Mr. Prospector is El Padrino’s second damsire. He is also the damsire of Pulpit and is represented in El Padrino’s pedigree as a 3S x 3D cross. Mr. Prospector is a dual Chef –de-race who offers Brilliant speed and Classic stamina.

While it is difficult to ascertain a horse’s conformation from photos that are not conformation shots, it appears that El Padrino is a large, muscular horse with almost a quarter-horsy build. He has an easy to recognize white face and three white socks. El Padrino has filled out since his two year old season, with a thicker neck and powerful hindquarters, yet he has a deep slanted shoulder which helps with his leg extension. El Padrino has a long stride, but appears to paddle with his right foreleg. El Padrino is clearly talented and loves the slop, but he has yet to win over a fast track. He’s mentally mature, will rate for his jockey and has shown athleticism in overcome minor trouble. Although his pedigree is slightly borderline for Classic distances, His running style and talent can overcome this and make him one to watch on the Derby trail.