The Party is at Darley
A strikingly correct horse, Desert Party at just fifteen months old, left a lasting impression on Darley bloodstock advisor John Ferguson at Keeneland. At the time, Street Cry had already sired a Breeders’ Cup and Kentucky Derby winner from just one complete crop to race. The tall, athletic charmer with a big expressive walk was hammered down in the third session at $425,000 on behalf of Hidden Brook, with Paul Pompa, Jr. serving as agent. "Sometimes you like to have the opportunity to see them six months later, how they act on the racetrack, how they move at their faster paces," Ferguson said. "He was one of those."
With sights set on the February Fasig-Tipton Sale, Desert Party was educated under-saddle at Scanlon Training Center in Williston, northwest of Ocala. At the sale, Desert Party glided through his one-furlong preview over Calder’s sandy strip in :10 2/5. Ferguson did indeed take notice. He took the bidding to $2.1 million to acquire the naturally gifted colt. It was highest price of any sale juvenile in 2008. “He moved beautifully on the racetrack,” commented Ferguson.
Consignor David Scanlon told Blood-Horse magazine, “We thought he was one of our top prospects coming into the sale. He’s by the right sire, and he has the size and the scope. He’s a great physical specimen, and after we got going on the track with him, we knew he really had some talent. Another great thing about him is he has no quirks. He is the most laid-back horse, cool and calm. He’s been a joy to work around.”
Desert Party joined the Eoin Harty division of the Darley Stable. By June, the precocious talent was named a TDN Rising Star in his career debut. He stepped out at first asking to mark the first win for Street Cry’s North American third-crop. Racing in a four-and-a-half furlong, maiden special weight dash, Desert Party broke from the 11 stall into a full field of newcomers - all angled towards the fast approaching turn at Arlington Park. Smartly placed in fifth, the colt traveled well around the bend and responded professionally to jockey Renee Douglas’ mild urging. Neither the synthetic course, nor the post proved to be an obstacle; he drew off to a three and a three-quarter length victory in a time of 51.97 seconds. His rider barely lowered his chest towards the saddle.
Just a month later, Harty entered Desert Party in the six furlong G2 Sanford at Saratoga. Partnered with jockey Edgar Prado, the pair was last after a half mile. He called on his colt to accelerate through a keyhole at the top of the stretch. Although, his rivals tried to pin him to the fence, he bravely skimmed the rail over a sealed track, muddied by summer rain. Once straightened in midstretch, Desert Party pulled another gear and sailed ahead to a three and a quarter-length victory over Officer Ipod and Vineyard Haven. Prado said. "He was very responsive. He came running out of the gate and relaxed beautifully. When I pressed the pedal again, he was there for me. Harty remarked, “This colt’s biggest asset is his turn of foot.”
Desert Party finished his two-year-old season with a rating of 114 on the Experimental Free Handicap - equal to Munnings and Capt. Candyman Can; and a nomination for an Eclipse award.
At their winter quarters at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, Godolphin’s Desert Party and stablemate Regal Ransom finished one-two for conditioner Saeed bin Suroor in the seven-furlong Ford Flex Trophy and again in the G3 UAE 2000 Guineas. Desert Party relished the added distance. At a mile around a one-bend turn, through steady progression he hit the front a furlong from home and drew clear by four and three-quarter lengths in absolute domination over a respectable field that included the top NARC rated two-year-old of 2008 Vineyard Haven, winner of the G1 Hopeful and G1 Champagne.
In the $2 million G2 UAE Derby, Regal Ransom held off 1-5 favorite Desert Party by a half-length in a major upset. In perfect stalking position throughout, Desert Party was only a half-length down at the two furlong pole. With Frankie Dettori aboard, he shaded :24 coming home, with his final eighth in :12 1/5. The track, wet from a week of heavy rains, was speed-favoring, as evidenced by front-running victories by Well Armed and Two-Step Salsa on the same card in the World Cup and the Goldophin Mile. In a gallant surge, Desert Party was the only dirt closer the whole night to make up any ground late on the night and he finished 15 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher Soy Libriano.
Off this valiant effort, Desert Party showed the class needed to become a legitimate Derby contender. “The Kentucky Derby only comes once in their life and we (decided) to give him a chance,” bin Suroor said. “The horse is doing really well so it is worth a try. You need a horse with class, speed - everything.”
Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford added, “The most important thing is his frame of mind. He is really professional.”
While in Kentucky, Desert Party was catching everyone’s eye. He looked great, worked sharp up to the race, and went about his business - handling everything like the consummate pro. He was forwardly placed through swift early fractions in the race, but lacked his usual fire down the stretch. Longshot Mine that Bird drew away to win on the soggy surface. It was determined after the race that Desert Party needed surgery to remove an ankle chip in his left foreleg and he was put on the shelf for the remainder of the year.
At four, he returned to action at Dubai’s state-of-the-art Meydan Racecourse and won at a mile in the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal over the Tapeta footing. Embarking on another US campaign, his hand-ridden daylight victory in the seven-furlong Don Levine Memorial Handicap at Philidelphia Park sadly proved to be his last. While on target for the G1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, a soft tissue injury was detected and ultimately a new career was decided upon due to the time needed for recovery.
Bred in Kentucky by David Smith and Steve Sinatra, Desert Party is a son of Tabasco Cat’s Sage Cat, who also produced Stakes winner Elliecat – a six time winner. The first four dams were all owned by their breeder David P. Reynolds, the chairman of the infamous Reynolds Metals Company - founded in 1919 in Louisville, Kentucky by his father Richard S. Reynolds, Sr. In a direct line, the mares trace directly to Cleopatra, the amazingly gritty champion who finished second to Man O’ War in the Hopeful S. She also set two track records at three, won the CC American Oaks, and was runner-up to the mighty Exterminator in the Saratoga Cup. Sage Cat’s pedigree holds a double to Calumet Farm’s Two-Year-Old Champion Barbizon and the blue-hen Somethingroyal - through half-brothers Secretariat and Sir Gaylord. Much closer, Desert Party shares blood with G2 winner Good and Tough who raced second at high weight to Yes It's True in the G1 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.
Reynolds bred Barbicue Sauce, the daughter of Sauce Boat, to Storm Cat in a foal share partnership agreement with William T. Young’s Overbrook Farm. The resulting colt, Desert Party’s broodmare sire Tabasco Cat, captured the last two legs of the Triple Crown ahead of Derby winner Go For Gin and ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. However, by year’s end, the Eclipse voting went in favor of Horse of the Year Holy Bull as outstanding three-year-old.
Desert Party is a Graded Stakes Winner at two, three and four – something that no other son or daughter of Street Cry has achieved. The high class performer brings a record of six wins from ten starts and earnings of $928,467. He joins Affirmed, Kelly Kip and Executioner as the only winners of the Sanford in the last forty years to have gone on to be Graded Stakes winners at three and four. The race has however been won by a number of successful sires, namely Tom Fool, Exclusive Native, Hail to Reason, Secretariat, Copelan, Forty Niner, Maria’s Mon, and More than Ready.
Darley's chief operating officer Olly Tait said, "This is a horse we felt was headed for grade one success. Physically, he is a fantastic individual and we're very excited to have him join our roster."
