11 Pedigree fun facts: Dash Attack

Jan 28, 2022 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Although Dash Attack became the newest of trainer Ken McPeek’s 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1) hopefuls, their relationship goes back much further. 
Unlike stablemates Smile Happy, Rattle N Roll, and Tiz the Bomb, who were all purchased at auction, Dash Attack was bred by McPeek’s Magdalena Racing along with Catalyst Stable. He grew up on the trainer’s farm in the Bluegrass, and now races for a partnership including his co-breeders. 
Here are Dash Attack’s pedigree fun facts:
1. Dash Attack is by Munnings, also the sire of Jack Christopher, the impressive Champagne (G1) winner who was scratched as the favorite in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Munnings, himself the Champagne runner-up in 2008, ended up excelling in sprints. After romps in the 2009 Woody Stephens (G2) and Tom Fool H. (G2), he tried 1 1/8 miles in the Haskell (G1) and placed third to Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra and champion Summer Bird.

2. Munnings is a son of Speightstown, the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) champion and influential sire. By the Mr. Prospector stallion Gone West, Speightstown is a half-brother to 2017 Blue Grass (G2) winner Irap. Their dam, the Storm Cat mare Silken Cat, was Canada’s champion two-year-old filly of 1995. Silken Cat also factors as the ancestress of Dubai Group 1 scorer Capezzano and promising sophomore Early Voting, who could emerge as a Kentucky Derby hopeful in the Withers (G3).

3. Munnings hails from a deep female line tracing to blue hen *La Troienne. His dam is a daughter of Hall of Famer Holy Bull and Grade 1 heroine La Gueriere, who herself produced Grade 1 winner Icon Project and Grade 2 victor Lasting Approval. La Gueriere is in turn by the brilliant Argentine champion turned multiple U.S. Grade 1 star Lord at War, and out of a Secretariat half-sister to all-time European great Allez France.

4. Munnings’ pedigree sports three crosses of Secretariat. Sire Speightstown is inbred to the 1973 Triple Crown legend, who appears as the broodmare sire of both Gone West and Storm Cat. Munnings receives another strain of Secretariat as described on his dam’s side. 

5. Dash Attack’s dam, Cerce Cay, is by the admirable Triple Crown trail veteran Hard Spun. Second in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, third in the Preakness (G1), and fourth in the Belmont (G1), Hard Spun earned his signature win when shortening up in the King’s Bishop (now the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial) (G1) at Saratoga. But Hard Spun successfully stretched out again to take the Kentucky Cup Classic (G2), and concluded his career with a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

6. Hard Spun is a scion of the Northern Dancer male line via Danzig. Transmitting his own remarkable versatility at stud, Hard Spun has sired reigning Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West, champion three-year-old filly Questing, marathoners, and major turf campaigners. Hard Spun is already making an impact as a broodmare sire, with juvenile champion and 2018 Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic a prominent case in point. 

7. Cerce Cay is a half-sister to multiple stakes winners Song of Navarone and Celluloid Hero as well as Grade 3-placed Reel Legend. Song of Navarone bankrolled $757,858 while winning or placing in a total of 13 stakes, including a third in the 2009 San Diego H. (G2), and setting two track records in New Mexico (at Zia Park and Sunland). Celluloid Hero, who made 54 career starts, won or placed in eight stakes and set an Arlington track record. 

8. Cerce Cay’s dam, Timely Legend, is closely related to multiple Grade 3-winning turf sprinter Sandtrap. Timely Legend is by Navarone, who fell into obscurity at stud despite being a Grade 1-winning son of French champion Irish River. Sandtrap, by Irish River himself, is a half to Timely Legend’s dam, Turf Legend. Both Sandtrap and Turf Legend are out of the stakes-winning Nureyev mare Timely Reserve. 
9. Turf Legend is by Irish champion juvenile Woodman. A Mr. Prospector blueblood, Woodman sired champions on dirt and turf the world over, from Hansel (the 1991 Preakness and Belmont hero) and Timber Country (the 1995 Preakness victor) to European celebrities Hawk Wing and Bosra Sham and Japan’s Hishi Akebono.
10. Dash Attack’s female line traces to champion Friar’s Carse, regarded as the top two-year-old filly of 1925. Friar’s Carse has left a terrific legacy through her son War Relic, who is responsible for keeping the sire line of Man o’ War extant. But Friar’s Carse’s influence also continues through her daughters, including War Relic’s full sister War Kilt. The 1945 Demoiselle winner, War Kilt is the ancestress of champion Roving Boy, 2010 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) hero Kinsale King, and Dash Attack. 
11. This is the family labeled 1-o, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of its Derby winner, Morvich (1922), this year. Morvich descends from a different branch, however, from Friar’s Carse. Their common ancestress, the British mare Wire (foaled in 1811), was one of the siblings of Epsom Derby winners Whalebone and Whisker, all by Waxy out of Penelope.

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