Pedigree Analysis: Frosted

Volumes have been written regarding inbreeding to Northern Dancer and to Mr. Prospector, but we read far less about duplications of the horse that completes the triumvirate of principal modern North American sires lines, Seattle Slew. Part of that is a function of chronology: Northern Dancer was born in 1961, and the first grade I winner with him duplicated in the pedigree was probably California star Nasr El Arab, a foal of 1985; Mr. Prospector was born nine years later, and the first grade I winner with him doubled in the pedigree was the Spinaway Stakes (gr. I) winner in 1993, Strategic Maneuver.

Of course, inbreeding to Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector was also facilitated by the fact the duo were the pre-eminent sires of sires of their eras, their plethora of stallion sons ensuring that significant duplications were going to occur sooner than later. (Mr. Prospector also helped his cause by becoming an important broodmare sire, the one area in which it might be said that Northern Dancer underperformed).

Seattle Slew was a foal of 1974 and retired to stud 14 years after Northern Dancer, and four years after Mr. Prospector. And despite undoubtedly being a great sire, he was nowhere near as prolific a sire of sires as that pair, with only A.P. Indy extending a significant branch of the sire line. Seattle Slew has also exerted a limited influence as a broodmare sire of sires—his most notable in that role would be Lemon Drop Kid  , out of a half sister to A.P. Indy, and Stormy Atlantic  —further reducing opportunities to inbreed to him.

As a consequence, while the number of stakes winners inbred to Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector top the 1,000 mark by my count, there are less than 150 stakes winners with a duplication of Seattle Slew, 46 of them graded. Since duplicating Seattle Slew at the higher end of the commercial scale with any frequency has been more or less dependent on waiting for sons or grandsons of A.P. Indy or stallions out of mares by sons of Seattle Slew (which would include Tiznow  , Dixie Union, and Super Saver  ) crossing over mares carrying other sources, inbreeding to Seattle Slew has been slower to take off.

The first grade I winner to carry a double of Seattle Slew, Tiznow’s son, Well Armed, wasn’t born until 2003, and we had to wait until Tiznow’s 2007 crop before the second grade I winner with that inbreeding, Morning Line  , came along. Business has steadily picked up, however, and when we come to current 3-year-olds with Seattle Slew inbreeding, we find at least 29 stakes winners, eight of them graded, including the grade I winners Condo Commando, Competitive Edge, and Frosted.

Frosted, who took his earnings to more than $2 million with a convincing victory Sept. 19 in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II), is a particularly interesting example, as he is a son of Tapit  , the first sire from the Seattle Slew line to benefit consistently from inbreeding to Seattle Slew.

In addition to Frosted, grade I winner Constitution and graded scorers Concord Point  , Headache, Touching Beauty, and Noisy Feet carry the same inbreeding. Concord Point, who is out of a mare by Boston Harbor (by Capote), and was the first son of Tapit to stud, already has two stakes winners with a third cross of Seattle Slew. Golden Barows is out of a mare by Capote grandson Mayakovsky, and Touching Beauty and Noisy Feet are out of mares by Seattle Slew’s Ikari. Ocean Crest, whose dam is by Seattle Slew, is broodmare sire of one of Concord Point’s stakes winners, and he is also the sire of Constitution’s second dam. Headache is another with Capote, that horse appearing as sire of his second dam.

Frosted is out of the Deputy Minister mare Fast Cookie, which means he follows Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) winner Tapizar   as the second Tapit stakes winner from 15 starters on that cross. Like her son, Fast Cookie landed a valuable prize at Parx (then Philadelphia Park), winning the Cotillion Handicap (gr. II). The distaff strain of Seattle Slew comes into the pedigree via Fast Cookie’s dam, the El Encino and La Canada stakes (both gr. II) winner Fleet Lady, who is by Seattle Slew’s son Avenue of Flags. Fleet Lady is also dam of champion 2-year-old male Midshipman  , and to complete the circle we’ll note that three of his first-crop stakes winners—Naval Command, the speedy Lady Shipman, and the Riskaverse and Little Silver stakes winner Stormy Regatta—also feature a double of Seattle Slew.