Pedigree fun facts: 2026 Bashford Manor

Jun 27, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Hey Tuff Guy romps on debut at Churchill Downs

Bashford Manor favorite Hey Tuff Guy is from the first crop of superstar Life Is Good (Photo by Coady Media)

Breeders’ Cup star Life Is Good, onetime favorite for the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1), and Early Voting, the 2022 Preakness (G1) winner, are among the young sires with first-crop juveniles in Sunday’s Bashford Manor S. at Churchill Downs.

Life Is Good was knocked off the Derby trail by an injury, but the son of perennial leading sire Into Mischief returned to fulfill his potential. An earner of more than $4.5 million, Life Is Good captured five Grade 1 races including the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Now Life Is Good is a promising freshman sire who sends out Hey Tuff Guy, the 9-5 morning line favorite, in the Bashford Manor. Purchased at OBS in March for $120,000, Hey Tuff Guy is out of the accomplished sprinter Hotshot Anna. Her signature wins came in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Presque Isle Downs Masters (G2) as well as the 2018 Chicago H. (G3) in track-record time at old Arlington Park. Hotshot Anna, who retired just shy of millionaire status, is by the Tapit stallion Trappe Shot.

One of Life Is Good’s old rivals on the racetrack, 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go, has a contender in Captain Luke. Knicks Go bankrolled more than $9.2 million, with his highlights including the 2020 Dirt Mile and the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Making his career finale as the defending champion in the 2022 Pegasus World Cup (G1), Knicks Go was dethroned by Life Is Good.

Their rivalry extends to the next generation, as Knicks Go’s son Captain Luke will try to gain vicarious revenge by beating Life Is Good’s son, Hey Tuff Guy. Captain Luke, a $210,000 Keeneland September yearling, is out of a mare by successful sire Quality Road.

Early Voting was among the headliners from the sensational first crop sired by Hall of Famer Gun Runner. The winner of the 2022 Withers (G3) and near-misser in the Wood Memorial (G2), Early Voting pointed for the Preakness, where he upset champion Epicenter.

Early Voting’s hopeful on Sunday, He Is No Lie, sold for $150,000 at OBS in March. He Is No Lie is out of a mare by Hold Me Back, a 2009 Kentucky Derby competitor by “Iron Horse” Giant’s Causeway. He Is No Lie’s pedigree doubles down on Giant’s Causeway, who also factors as the maternal grandfather of Gun Runner.

Tigrado represents another freshman sire, the speedy Nashville, who blitzed to a six-furlong track record at Keeneland in the 2020 Perryville S. Nashville is by champion sprinter Speightstown (interestingly a close maternal relative of Early Voting). Nashville’s maternal grandmother is a full sister to 2005 Derby shocker Giacomo.

Tigrado’s mother, Dancensing, is by Hall of Famer Tiznow, still the only two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Dancensing is a half-sister to multiple Grade 2-winning millionaire Good Samaritan, a versatile performer effective on both turf and dirt.

Both of Sargent Bilko’s parents are by A.P. Indy-line sires. He is by unbeaten Army Mule, who unfortunately never raced again after his romp in the 2018 Carter H. (G1). Army Mule is by A.P. Indy’s son Friesan Fire, a tough-trip 18th as the favorite in the 2009 Derby. Sargent Bilko’s mother is by the Tapit stallion Tapizar, the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner. Tapizar is best known for siring two-time Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) champion Monomoy Girl, heroine of the 2018 Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Sargent Bilko hails from the same female line as $8.4 million-earner White Abarrio, who renews rivalry with Derby-winning Horse of the Year Sovereignty in Saturday’s Stephen Foster (G1). White Abarrio floored Sovereignty last time out in the Oaklawn H. (G2). Another family member, Eclatant, just won last weekend’s Chicago, now a fixture at Churchill.

Tolstoy is by Tapit’s son Frosted, the fourth-placer in the 2015 Derby and runner-up in the Belmont (G1) to Triple Crown sweeper American Pharoah. Frosted scored his most spectacular victory in the 2016 Metropolitan H. (G1) at Belmont, where he drew off by 14 1/4 lengths. Retired with more than $3.9 million in earnings, Frosted has become a solid sire. One of his stakes performers, Glacial, was third in the 2021 Bashford Manor when it held Grade 3 status.

Tolstoy’s mother is by champion turf horse Flintshire, a multiple Group 1 star on the international stage before settling stateside. Twice runner-up in Europe’s fall championship, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), Flintshire was also second in the 2014 and 2016 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).

Tolstoy descends from the all-star Juddmonte family responsible for Empire Maker, the runner-up as the favorite in the 2003 Derby who rebounded in the Belmont. Tolstoy’s great-grandmother, Honest Lady, missed by a half-length to newly-minted Hall of Famer Kona Gold in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill.

Blessed Flyer recently sold for $270,000 on Fasig-Tipton’s digital platform. He’s by Dialed In, who was eighth as the favorite in the 2011 Derby. Himself a son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Dialed In has sired $5.5 million-earner Gunnevera. Blessed Flyer is out of a mare by Overanalyze, a 2013 Derby participant.

Interestingly, both Blessed Flyer’s sire and maternal grandfather have had offspring place in this race. Dialed In’s son Verb was third in 2019, and Overanalyze’s son Overanalyzer filled the same spot in 2018.

Call Me Micky J. is by Grade 1-winning miler Sharp Azteca, whose sire, Freud, is a full brother to Giant’s Causeway. The “Iron Horse” himself appears elsewhere in the maternal half of Call Me Micky J.’s pedigree, giving him inbreeding to Storm Cat and Mariah’s Storm, the parents of Freud and Giant’s Causeway.

Call Me Micky J.’s mother is by Exchange Rate, an also-ran in the 2000 Derby who sired 2011 Bashford Manor victor Exfactor. Call Me Micky J. comes from the family of New Money Honey, victress of the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), and fellow millionaire Any Given Saturday, a competitor in the 2007 Derby.

Super Saiyajin is by Uncle Mo’s son Modernist, who was on the Triple Crown trail for a time in 2020, and out of a mare by the Into Mischief stallion Can the Man.

  • Ticket Info

    Sign up for race updates and more

FOLLOW FOR UPDATES AND EXCLUSIVES

Missed something? Catch up on past Kentucky Derby news

Book Your Premium Experience

For Premium tickets, give us a call at 5026364447