Uncovering the Secrets of Coal Battle: Fascinating Pedigree Insights!

Jan 11, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Supporters of Seattle Slew have no fewer than six reasons to champion Coal Battle – that’s the number of times the 1977 Triple Crown icon is featured in his lineage!

Both of Coal Battle’s progenitors, Coal Front and Wolfblade, showcase three generations of Seattle Slew. Coal Front is descended from the lineage of “Slew’s” most illustrious son, A.P. Indy, who also plays a role elsewhere in his family tree alongside a daughter of Slew. Wolfblade’s heritage consists of two additional Slew stallions, Avenue of Flags and the champion Capote, as well as a Kentucky Oaks (G1) victor related to Slew.

Similar to Slew, both Coal Front and Coal Battle exhibit a dark bay coat.

Here are some intriguing facts about Coal Battle’s lineage:

Sire Coal Front exhibits inbreeding to A.P. Indy.

Hall of Famer and leading sire A.P. Indy, the champion of the 1992 Belmont (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), features prominently as a great-grandsire of Coal Front, appearing twice in the line. In fact, both the sire and dam of Coal Front are by stallions of the A.P. Indy line.

Coal Front is a descendant of millionaire Stay Thirsty, who gained fame for clinching the 2011 Travers (G1) and narrowly missing out in the Belmont. Stay Thirsty is sired by A.P. Indy’s progeny Bernardini, the champion three-year-old colt of 2006, who accomplished victories in the Preakness (G1), Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

The dam of Coal Front, Miner’s Secret, is out of A.P. Indy’s son Mineshaft, who was honored as Horse of the Year in 2003. Mineshaft secured seven stakes wins during that championship season, most notably the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Pimlico Special H. (G1), Suburban H. (G1), and the Woodward (G1).

Miner’s Secret is also inbred to Seattle Slew, who appears as an ancestor on the other side of her lineage, serving again as the sire of her maternal grandmother, Hire a Brain.

Coal Front’s notable ancestress placed in the Kentucky Oaks.

Hire a Brain originates from Grenzen, a multiple Grade 2 winner at Santa Anita and runner-up in the 1978 Kentucky Oaks. Grenzen proved to be a remarkable broodmare, generating $2.1 million earner Twilight Agenda and producing daughters which supplied high-level performers worldwide.

The most distinguished grandchildren of Grenzen include Go and Go, who famously traveled from Ireland to excel in the 1990 Belmont; Refuse to Bend, whose four Group 1 championships include Britain’s prestigious 2000 Guineas (G1) in 2003; and Media Puzzle, victor of Australia’s legendary Melbourne Cup (G1) in 2002. Additionally, her descendants include Hong Kong-based globetrotter Rich Tapestry, who triumphed in the 2014 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1).

Coal Front was a remarkably competitive racer.

Despite expectations that Coal Front would inherit stamina suitable for classic distances, the $1.8 million earner excelled as a sprinter/miler.

The Todd Pletcher trainee secured three graded stakes in the sprint category – the Amsterdam (G2) at Saratoga and Parx’s Gallant Bob (G3) as a three-year-old in 2017, followed by the 2018 Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream Park – in addition to a trio of stakes close to a mile in 2019.

Coal Front demonstrated tenacity while contending for several of those trophies. Recapturing the lead after being overtaken in the Gallant Bob and also in the Parx Dirt Mile, he withstood an early challenge to prevail in the 1 1/16-mile Razorback H. (G3) at Oaklawn Park. Coal Front was also required to exhibit determination during his richest success, the $1.5 million Godolphin Mile (G2) on the Dubai World Cup card at Meydan, where he relentlessly pursued the defending champion Heavy Metal to win decisively by three-quarters of a length.

Coal Battle’s dam is sired by Breeders’ Cup champion Midshipman.

Coal Battle is the progeny of the robust West Virginia-bred Wolfblade, who won or placed in 23 of 39 career starts while competing mainly in her…

home state. Yet her ancestry was more akin to Kentucky.

Wolfblade’s father, Godolphin competitor Midshipman, secured an Eclipse Award with a lead-running triumph in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Midshipman marked his third generation as a Breeders’ Cup victor. He followed in the footsteps of his own father, 1995 Juvenile champion Unbridled’s Song, who is a descendant of the 1990 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic legend Unbridled.

Midshipman also plays a significant role in the ancestry of two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Golden Pal. Bred from Midshipman’s elite offspring Lady Shipman, Golden Pal triumphed in the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) and subsequently outpaced older competitors in the 2021 Turf Sprint (G1). One might say that Golden Pal was avenging Lady Shipman’s defeat in the 2015 Turf Sprint at Keeneland, where she lost by a head.

Midshipman descends from a noteworthy granddaughter of Seattle Slew.

Midshipman’s dam, Fleet Lady, was one of the distinguished California-bred horses for Golden Eagle Farm. Sired by Seattle Slew’s offspring Avenue of Flags (who also produced famed sprint siblings California Flag and Cambiocorsa), Fleet Lady was granted victory in the 1998 El Encino (G2) through disqualification. However, she solidified that outcome by returning to claim the rematch in the La Canada (G2) convincingly.

Fleet Lady transitioned into a prosperous broodmare even before the arrival of Midshipman. Her initial foal, Fast Cookie, earned the title in the 2003 Cotillion H. (G2) and has lineage that includes $3.9 million earner Frosted.

Coal Battle’s lineage includes Maria’s Mon, father of two Derby champions.

Wolfblade’s dam, Venice Queen, is sired by Latent Heat, a Juddmonte homebred whose most notable victory came in the seven-furlong Malibu (G1) in 2006. Nevertheless, Latent Heat’s sire, Maria’s Mon, is more widely recognized as part of the elite group of stallions behind two Kentucky Derby winners.

Maria’s Mon, the champion two-year-old colt of 1995, forfeited his own opportunity on the Triple Crown journey due to an injury. Yet he found some degree of vicarious fulfillment through his sons, Derby champions Monarchos (2001) and Super Saver (2010).

Additionally, Latent Heat provides one of the Slew crosses as well, through his maternal lineage. His mother, multiple Grade 2 victor True Flare, is by Capote, a champion son of Slew who clinched the 1986 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Coal Battle’s ancestor Cape Town is the progenitor of an Oaks victory.

Venice Queen is also a descendant of a mare by Cape Town, a participant in the 1998 Triple Crown trail. Cape Town, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G3) and Holy Bull (G3), was awarded the Florida Derby (G1) after disqualification. His subsequent efforts included a third in the Blue Grass (G2) and a fifth finish behind rivals Real Quiet and Victory Gallop in the Kentucky Derby.

Cape Town offers another channel of Slew’s influence. He is from Slew’s 1990 Kentucky Oaks-winning daughter Seaside Attraction. Cape Town’s name reflects his status as an Overbrook Farm homebred, as he was produced by the influential Mr. Prospector stallion Seeking the Gold.

Coal Battle descends from a lineage responsible for six Derby victories.

Coal Battle’s great-great grandmother (fourth dam) in the direct maternal lineage, Palliser Bay, was a tenacious competitor on the Mid-Atlantic circuit. Like her sire, the whimsically-named Frosty the Snowman, Palliser Bay achieved her most significant accomplishments on turf, notably winning the 1997 Gallorette H. (G3) at Pimlico.

Tracing back further along the maternal trail, Coal Battle’s eighth dam is Tempted, the champion handicap mare of 1959. If that name sounds familiar, you may recall the stakes race named in her honor at Aqueduct. The feature race for two-year-old fillies serves as a precursor to the Demoiselle (G2).

Tempted is directly descended from Maiden, who triumphed against the males in the 1865 Travers. Maiden became the mother of Hall of Famer Parole, a renowned figure in both the U.S. and Britain, with an impressive 138 career starts.

Exploring deeper into the pedigree, Coal Battle is part of the lineage classified as 4-r, which has yielded Kentucky Derby victors for over a century. Mystik Dan (2024) recently added to this family’s tally, bringing the total to six, following a lineage that includes Halma (1895), Manuel (1899), Donau (1910), the ill-fated Black Gold (1924) (from an even more distant branch of the lineage), and Monarchos.