The legendary filly Miesque was one of the best European milers of all time. A daughter of the outstanding stallion Nureyev, Miesque was a Group 1 winner at 2, 3 and 4, and won 12 of 16 starts lifetime, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile twice. She was also a classic winner in two countries over a flat mile, accounting for the English 1,000 Guineas and its French equivalent, and won 10 Group 1 races in total!
Her accomplishments in the breeding shed are equally impressive with FIVE stakes winners, four of them graded, including the incomparable Kingmambo.
Miesque’s last foal was the unraced A.P. Indy colt Judpot (click here to see pedigree). It was recently announced that Judpot would be entering stud in 2009 at Varsfontein Stud in the Western Cape of South Africa in a partnership arrangement, and Alan Cooper, racing manager for the Niarchos family, Judpot’s breeder and owner, was quoted recently saying:
“We always liked Judpot, the last foal of the great Miesque. Henry Cecil had high hopes for him until a knee injury forced his retirement. We are excited that Judpot is standing at Varsfontein and look forward to seeing his progeny. We bred and raced Caesour [a leading sire in South Africa] and are delighted that Judpot joins Varsfontein’s stallion roster, bringing our best bloodlines to South Africa.”
Judpot represents the first stallion venture into South Africa for Flaxman Holdings, and his entry into South Africa is a result of Kitalpha’s success in neighboring Zimbabwe, where he is the current leading sire. Kingmambo’s full brother Kitalpha, who now stands in Kentucky, also had the second-place finisher in the Group 1 Investec Cape Derby at Kenilworth Jan. 31, and on Saturday he had a fresh Group 3 winner at Turffontein when Royal Exit took the SAf-G3 Tommy Hospur Hcp.
South Africa has already had – and lost – a valuable son of A.P. Indy in Camden Park, the sire of champions Jay Peg (also G1 winner in Dubai) and Consensual.
Jay Peg (click here to see pedigree) is out of a daughter of Al Mufti, a Roberto stallion whose dam is Lassie Dear – the dam of Weekend Surprise, A. P. Indy’s dam. Jay Peg, then, is inbred 4×3 to Lassie Dear and 5×4 to Buckpasser – a mating that my old friend Leon Rasmussen would have given two thumbs up!
Varsfontein could not have picked a better horse than Judpot to stand in South Africa.