Breeders' Cup Legends: Hollywood Wildcat

Hollywood Wildcat (inside) defeats Paseana in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Distaff. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Hollywood Wildcat pulled off a gritty win in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Distaff but that isn’t the only thing that sets her apart. Her second defining Breeders’ Cup moment would come in 2000, when her son War Chant defeated 13 others to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
War Chant’s victory elevated Hollywood Wildcat to a place that at the time only one other mare, the great Personal Ensign, had been: a Breeders’ Cup winner who produced a Breeders’ Cup winner. War Chant in turn would sire a Breeders’ Cup winner himself in Chamberlain Bridge, winner of the 2010 Turf Sprint, to match the three Breeders’ Cup wins the Personal Ensign line achieved when Storm Flag Flying won the 2002 Juvenile Fillies.
Hollywood Wildcat was special from the start. A homebred for owners Irving and Marge Cowan, the Kris S. filly followed up a debut win with two stakes victories and an impressive four-length romp in the Grade 3 Sorority Stakes. An injury in her next start gave her a rest until March of her 3-year-old year.
As a sophomore Hollywood Wildcat couldn’t seem to regain her form. She didn’t find the winner’s circle in her first five starts of the year and was transferred to the barn of Neil Drysdale in Southern California. Hollywood Wildcat found the drier air and new environment to her liking and responded by winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Oaks in her first start for her new trainer. She then reeled off three consecutive stakes victories leading up to the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Hollywood Park.
In the Distaff Hollywood Wildcat would face defending champion Paseana as well as future Hall of Famer Sky Beauty who entered the contest on a five graded stakes win streak. Even with significant challengers, Hollywood Wildcat’s form had been impeccable and bettors made her the 1.20-to-1 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race.
Hollywood Wildcat broke on top but was challenged by longshot Supah Gem heading into the first turn and settled into second. When that rival tired turning for home, Hollywood Wildcat was left to a stirring stretch battle with defending champion Paseana. The two fillies were neck and neck and stride for stride as the finish line grew ever closer. Hollywood Wildcat gained an advantage late, but Paseana would not give in, making a final desperate surge for the wire.
It was not enough and Hollywood Wildcat won by a nose for her fifth consecutive victory, despite jockey Eddie Delahoussaye dropping his whip strides from the wire. The race earned Hollywood Wildcat champion 3-year-old filly honors. 
1993 BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF

As a 4-year-old Hollywood Wildcat captured the Grade 1 Gamely and the Lady’s Secret. She also placed in three other graded stakes but could not duplicate her Distaff effort in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup and wound up sixth. The champion made one start as a 5-year-old, winning the Little Brianne Stakes, before retiring to the breeding shed.
Hollywood Wildcat’s second foal was her best, the aforementioned War Chant. The lightly raced Danzig colt also ran as a homebred for the Cowans, who have managed to come away with two wins from just five Breeders’ Cup horses.
War Chant’s seven-race career resulted in five wins and a second, including tallies in the graded Oak Tree Breeders’ Cup Mile and the San Rafael. As a graded stakes winner on dirt and turf with a beautiful pedigree, War Chant was retired following the 2000 Breeders’ Cup to stand for a fee of $75,000. His progeny include Santa Anita Derby winner Midnight Interlude and millionaires Central Coast and Molto Grande, in addition to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Chamberlain Bridge.
2000 BREEDERS’ CUP MILE

Other foals out of Hollywood Wildcat include group stakes winner Ivan Denisovich and stakes winners Double Cat and Ministers Wild Cat. Each of her 12 foals made it to the races and nine of them were winners with combined earnings of $2.3 million.
Hollywood Wildcat was an impressive racemare with a successful breeding career right out of the gate. With 12 wins, three seconds and three thirds and earnings of $1.4 million from 21 starts, the mare was one of the best of her time. When Chamberlain Bridge won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2010, the Hollywood Wildcat line became one of only two to have a trio of Breeders’ Cup champions, securing her place as a legend of the Breeders’ Cup.