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Line of David

Lion Heart - Emma's Dilemma
by Capote
2007, ch - Entered Stud: 2011
Fee: $7,500
Stands and Nurses

Nominated to: Breeders' Cup, KTDF


G1 winner from the direct family of Mr. Prospector

Line of David
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  • Tough and gritty G1 winner of the $1 million Arkansas Derby, defeating next-out Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and other G1 winners Dublin & Noble's Promise.
  • Beat more G1 winners than such previous Arkansas Derby champions as Curlin, Lawyer Ron, Afleet Alex, Smarty Jones, etc.
  • His Arkansas Derby triumph came in his first start on dirt, setting blazing fractions of :22.65, :46.26, 1:10.75 and 1:36.52 before kicking on to win in 1:49.37 for 1 1/8 miles.
  • Winner of three straight races as a 3-year-old at a mile and beyond, on dirt and turf, at Santa Anita and Oaklawn.
  • Precocious & productive sire line: By Lion Heart, the Leading Freshman Sire of 2008 by Stakes Horses - more than Medaglia d'Oro (fee: $100,000), Tapit ($50,000), Speightstown ($35,000), Birdstone ($30,000) and Candy Ride ($25,000). Second in Earnings only to Tapit.

Line of David News

Thursday, June 24, 2010
Line of David, Grade 1 winner of this year's $1 million Arkansas Derby, has been retired and will stand at B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm for the 2011 breeding season...

Line of David Pedigree

Dosage Profile: DP = 7-1-8-0-0 (16) DI = 3.00 CD = 0.94
courtesy of Pedigree Query
LION HEART (USA)
ch. 2001
TALE OF THE CAT (USA)
dkb/br. 1994
STORM CAT (USA)
br. 1983
STORM BIRD (CAN) b. 1978
TERLINGUA (USA) ch. 1976
YARN (USA)
b. 1987
MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]
NARRATE (USA) dkb/br. 1980 *
SATIN SUNRISE (USA)
b. 1990
MR. LEADER (USA)
b. 1966
HAIL TO REASON (USA) br. 1958 [C]
JOLIE DEJA (USA) b. 1954
LOGIC (USA)
ch. 1979
NASKRA (USA) b. 1967
BACTU REASON (USA) b. 1974
EMMA'S DILEMMA (USA)
b. 2000
CAPOTE (USA)
br. 1984
SEATTLE SLEW (USA)
dkb/br. 1974 [BC]
BOLD REASONING (USA) dkb/br. 1968
MY CHARMER (USA) b. 1969 *
TOO BALD (USA)*
dkb/br. 1964
BALD EAGLE (USA) b. 1955
HIDDEN TALENT (USA) b. 1956 *
KENTUCKY LILL (USA)
ch. 1986
RAISE A NATIVE (USA)
ch. 1961 [B]
NATIVE DANCER (USA) gr. 1950 [IC]
RAISE YOU (USA) ch. 1946 *
LILLIAN RUSSELL (USA)
ch. 1977
PRINCE JOHN (USA) ch. 1953 [C]
GOLD DIGGER (USA) b. 1962

Alan Porter Breeding Analysis for Line of David

Line of David is a grade one winner of 3 consecutive races, $662,000, 8-9 furlongs, at 3 years, including the Arkansas Derby (gr. I).

Line of David is by Lion Heart, grade one winner of 5 races, $1,390,800, including the Hollywood Futurity (gr. I), Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I), Hollywood Prevue Stakes (gr. III), Long Branch Breeders’ Cup Stakes (gr. III), second Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I), etc. With his first two crops, Lion Heart has already sired 12 stakes winners, including grade one winner Line of David and graded winners Azul Leon, Soul Warrior, Heart Ashley, Pretty Prolific, Silent Valor, etc.

Line of David is out of the winning and multiple stakes-producing Emma’s Dilemma, a half-sister to stakes winner Lil’s Boy. His granddam, Kentucky Lil, is a three-parts-sister to Champion Sire Mr. Prospector. Kentucky Lil is also a half-sister to the dams of graded stakes winner and multiple grade one sire Slew Gin Fizz, and multiple graded winner Igotrhythm.

Line of David stems from the most brilliant branch of the Storm Cat sire line. Sire Lion Heart was an undefeated juvenile and the most spectacular two-year-old of his crop, winning the Hollywood Prevue Stakes (gr. III) in 1:20.63, then adding a 3½-length win in the Hollywood Futurity (gr. I). Lion Heart trained on at three to win the Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I) and run second in both the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Blue Grass S. (gr. I). Line of David’s grandsire, Tale of the Cat – quite possibly the fastest son of Storm Cat – produced an unforgettable performance to take the King’s Bishop Stakes (gr. II) at Saratoga by 5½ lengths in 1:21.71. Champion Juvenile Sire with his second crop to race, Tale of the Cat is now the sire of 67 stakes winners, 30 graded winners, and seven grade one winners.

Brilliance is also evident in the distaff side of Line of David’s pedigree. His dam is by Seattle Slew’s only U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old son, Capote. Like Tale of the Cat, Capote was also Champion Juvenile Sire; thus both of Line of David’s grandsires have earned that distinction. Line of David’s second dam, Kentucky Lil, is by Champion Two-Year-Old Raise a Native, and is a three-parts-sister to the breed-shaping stallion Mr. Prospector, one of the most important sires of the second half of the 20th century. Kentucky Lil is also a half-sister to Slew Princess (by Seattle Slew, and therefore closely related to the dam of Line of David), whose son Slew Gin Fizz has been an outstanding grade one sire in Argentina. The third dam,

Lillian Russell, is a stakes winner by Prince John (sire of two U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colts), and is from the same Myrtlewood branch of the famed Frizette family that produced not only Mr. Prospector, but also Seattle Slew.

Line of David’s own career reflected the brilliance of his heritage. He led throughout in each of his victories, and in the $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby (gr. I) he produced a remarkable performance that demonstrated not only exceptional speed, but also extreme courage and will-to-win. After setting fractions of :22.65, :46.26, and 1:10.75, Line of David dug deep to turn back the challenges of Super Saver – winner of the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) in his next start – and grade one winner Dublin, with the beaten field also including grade one winner Noble’s Promise, stakes winner Uh Oh Bango, and Norfolk Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Pulsion.

Line of David has an intriguing pedigree from the standpoint of his prospects as a stallion. He is a four generation outcross for Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer (meaning his foals will be free of Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer for four generations on the sire’s side of the pedigree). In addition, his own pedigree is an outcross at five generations, but is backed by powerful linebreeding to the family of the renowned tap-root mare Frizette.

The nearest linebreeding in Line of David’s pedigree is to Gold Digger, who is from the Myrtlewood branch of the Frizette family, and who appears 5 x 4 through the three-parts-brother and sister Mr. Prospector and Kentucky Lil (Line of David’s second dam). Line Heart’s dam is by Mr. Leader, who is out of a mare by Djeddah (inbred to the Frizette family), and she has Mr. Leader and his three-quarter relative, Bold Reason (also out of a Djeddah mare) 1 x 3 in her pedigree.

Overall, Lion Heart’s pedigree has several elements in common with Distorted Humor, a Mr. Prospector line stallion whose dam is a Northern Dancer/Mr. Leader cross (as is Lion Heart). There are also pedigree similarities to the background of Medaglia d’Oro, a grandson of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer over Bold Reason, Hail to Reason/ Djeddah cross, like Mr. Leader), with a broodmare sire who brings in additional Frizette (and from the same branch of the Frizette family that is supplied by Line of David’s broodmare sire).

The distaff side of Line of David’s pedigree compliments this background. Broodmare sire Capote is by Seattle Slew, who is from the same Myrtlewood branch of Frizette as Mr. Prospector, and whose granddam is inbred to Frizette. Capote adds a third cross of this

important strain, and as we have noted, Line of David also traces directly to the Myrtlewood branch of Frizette through Gold Digger, the dam of Mr. Prospector.

Line of David's Race and (Stakes) Record

Age Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Earnings
2 2 0 0 1 $5,800
3 5 3 0 0 $656,200
Totals 7 3 0 1 $662,000


Racing Highlights


Won at 3

Wire to wire winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, defeating three G1 winners including eventual Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.







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