Deputy Minister is Key to Midnight Bisou/Curlin Mating

Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa president John Sikura was keen to see champion older dirt female Midnight Bisou bred to his prominent sire Curlin  as soon as he knew the mare would be offered at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall mixed sale.

A review of dual Horse of the Year Curlin's top runners reveals why Sikura was so high on the mating. The 16-year-old son of Smart Strike has already sired four graded stakes winners inbred to his broodmare sire, Deputy Minister. Midnight Bisou has Deputy Minister in her pedigree through her sire, Midnight Lute , who also stands at Hill 'n' Dale, through his broodmare sire, Dehere.

"Deputy Minister is a great broodmare sire, and he turns up in the pedigrees of so many elite horses. I don't think it is an accident," Sikura said of the leading North American broodmare sire in 2007.

Curlin's elite runners inbred to Deputy Minister include grade 1 winners Curalina, Keen Ice , and Vino Rosso . Other grade 1 winners by other sires with the same inbreeding include Mind Your Biscuits (by Posse), Nucky (by Ghostzapper ), Shakin It Up  (by Midnight Lute ), and Structor (by Palace Malice ).

As much as pedigree, Sikura also believes successful matings result from other factors.

"There are three or four different nicking services that have different ratings for different reasons and are good as a general tool, but maybe aptitude and strengths of individual horses are more important," he said. "She was sound, tough, and durable. He was sound, tough, and durable. She was versatile. He was versatile. Hopefully, it is a pedigree that will produce a classic horse."

Curlin is the fourth-leading North American sire on BloodHorse's 2020 general sires list through Dec. 3 with progeny earnings of $10,148,145. He's sired 15 black-type winners this year, of which seven are graded/group stakes winners. For his career, Curlin has sired 72 black-type winners, including 34 graded/group winners, and six champions.

Jeff Bloom's Bloom Racing Stable and Chuck and Lori Allen's Allen Racing campaigned Midnight Bisou through her 2-year-old year and May of her sophomore year before taking on Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables as a partner. During her Eclipse Award-winning season in 2019, she won seven consecutive graded stakes and was second only once in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Among her 13 graded stakes wins, five were grade 1s. This year she took on males in the inaugural Saudi Cup and finished second to Maximum Security . She was retired with a 13-6-3 record from 22 starts and earned $7,471,520.

Sikura said he approached Bloom during the November sale about the prospect of breeding Midnight Bisou to Curlin. Bloom and Allen were each interested in adding the 5-year-old mare to their breeding programs, so they offered her at Fasig-Tipton to determine her fair market price. Among others eager to buy her, Allen prevailed in the bidding with a final price of $5 million. Allen later took a tour of Hill 'n' Dale, and on Dec. 3 Midnight Bisou arrived at the Bourbon County farm to start the next phase of her career.

Champion Midinght Bisou arrived today to begin her broodmare career and will visit Champion Curlin! Honored @BloomRacing @JRBloom3 @cmiller_allen @LoriAllenTX have entrusted us with her care! Xalapa home to champions! pic.twitter.com/XbE0JAILCd

— Hill 'n' Dale Farms (@HillnDaleFarm) December 3, 2020

"She walked off the van, the classy queen that she is," Sikura said. "Classy horses seem to adapt to change without getting nervous. She was confident and settled in well. We will hand-walk her and gradually let her down and then put her under lights. When you're working with champions, it makes the job more fulfilling, and the hope is greater that we'll produce a good horse out of a mare of that caliber."