Jane Henning of Pedigree Dynamics offers her thoughts on an Irish Oaks winner that has become a remarkable producer and is now emerging as a great candidate for line breeding.
A modest name which appears in a multitude of modern pedigrees is Helen Street (GB). Bred in England in 1982 by Lord Weinstock and later purchased by Sheikh Mohammed, she was second in a Group 2 as a juvenile, earning her the title of Second Top Filly on the 1984 English 2YO Free Handicap. She hit her peak as a three-year-old, winning the Group 1 Irish Oaks and the Group 3 Prix du Calvados and was named Joint Third Top Filly on the English Free Handicap. Helen Street raced in England, Ireland, France and the United States.
As a broodmare, she is famously the dam of STREET CRY, winner of the UAE World Cup amongst his many achievements on the track, which culminated in stakes earnings of over US$5million – remarkable in the early 2000’s.
Street Cry was the standout of her 13 foals (11 to race), with the nearest in race form being the Listed winner HISTORIAN.
It was Street Cry and the achievements of her female descendants at stud that posthumously earned her the title of Reine de Course (Queen of the Turf) – a moniker bestowed on mares which have consistently influenced the breed for better and which, when inbred to, can strengthen a pedigree.
At time of writing, Helen Street is the tail female ancestress of 22 stakes winners including five Group 1 winners led by her grandson SHAMARDAL, winner of four Group 1 races.
Group winning stallions and other racehorses directly tracing to Helen Street worldwide include STREET CRY, SHAMARDAL, VICTOR LUDORUM, TERRITORIES, SOS GENIA (all Group 1 winners), THRONUM, CYTHERA, PAXIMADIA, OSIPENKO, GEOFFREY CHAUCER, WED, CAITLINHERGRTNESS, MAGNA GRAECIA, GRAIKOS and SYMBOL OF STRENGTH. Recent Queensland Listed winner COSMIC FIRE (by Cosmic Force) is another direct descendant!
Breeding Patterns
By Troy (by Petingo) out of Waterway (by Riverman), Helen Street is linebred to Fair Trial 4m x 5m and his close relations Royal Charger on her 5th remove and Nasrullah 5f x 4m, all tracing to LADY JOSEPHINE.
Helen Street is a taproot mare of the PARAFFIN (1-l) family (1870). Key members of this family related further back than Helen Street include SKY HIGH, TUDOR MELODY, ROI HERODE, RINGMASTER, ROYAL STEP, HEROIC, CICERO, PANORAMA, PRINCE PALATINE, ST JAMES, AHONOORA, MUMMY’S PET, LADAS, HAWAII, ADMIRAL’S WALK, WHISTLER, BEND OR, CASE ACE, DARLING BOY, DIGNITAS, SPEAK JOHN, CON BRIO, SPOILED LAD, MAGPIE, BOLD REASONING and NEVER SAY DIE.
To give an idea of the enduring importance of the PARAFFIN family (excluding Helen Street’s branch), more recent representatives of this line include VANDEEK, VAR, DUBIOUS, PARIAH, PENTIRE, KENMARE, ZEDITAVE, IDEAL PLANET, ARCH SCULPTOR, BELLOTTO, RORY’S JESTER, ANABAA, SPECTRUM, SHIRLEY HEIGHTS, ZOFFANY, GOLD CARAT, SEQUALO and SHEPHERD’S FIELD.
Inbreeding or close linebreeding to Helen Street is still in its relative infancy, with judicious breeders avoiding the duplication of any ancestor until he or she is sitting at least three generations back in a mating. The earliest stakes winner inbred to Helen Street was born in 2012.
Stakes winning tail female descendants of Helen Street who are inbred to her are Group 1 winner VICTOR LUDORUM (by Shamardal) 3f x 3f; Listed winner SHAMTEE (by Shamardal) 3f x 3f; and Group 3 placegetter SYMBOL OF STRENGTH (by Kodiac), whose dam Symbol of Love (by Shamardal) is inbred to her 3f x 4f.
Other stakes winners with inbreeding to Helen Street created in their matings are Group 2 winner LUCIDA (by Shamardal) 3f x 3m; Group 3 winner ROYAL CHAMPION (by Shamardal) 3f x 3m; NORTH ENGLAND (by Farnan) 4m x 5f; SHOCKING LUCK (by Shocking) 3m x 4f; ROMANTIC SONG (by Shamardal) 3f x 3m; SPIRIT OF GAYLARD (by Puissance De Lune) 4f x 3m; and ELPHINSTONE (by Street Boss) 3m x 4f.
All of the ten stakes winners listed in the above two paragraphs have SHAMARDAL as one of the two descendants of Helen Street involved. Seven of them also involve STREET CRY, while the other three have Helen Street on their tail female line.
In particular, when duplicating Helen Street, STREET CRY has the highest level of compatibility with SHAMARDAL. He is a son of Machiavellian, creating a sex balanced duplication when meeting up with Shamardal’s dam Helsinki, a daughter of Machiavellian.
Sires carrying Street Cry over mares carrying Shamardal have produced an excellent 10.34% stakes winners to runners to-date – three from only 29 runners. To equate this with the performances of established stallions, Snitzel has an overall 10.72% stakes winners-to-runners ratio and I Am Invincible has a 9.33% stakes winners-to-runners ratio.
Interestingly, sires carrying Shamardal over mares carrying Street Cry (the reverse) has produced 5.56% stakes winners to runners, at this stage.
Stallions currently at stud in Australia who carry Helen Street include ANAMOE, BROADSIDING, CYLINDER, DAUMIER, DOULL, FARNAN, FIRST SETTLER, HALLOWED CROWN, HANSEATIC, LUCKY VEGA, MOVE TO STRIKE, PINATUBO, PRIDE OF DUBAI, STREET BOSS, TRAFFIC WARDEN and VICTOR LUDORUM.
Broodmares which carry Street Cry via their sires include those by PRIDE OF DUBAI, PER INCANTO, SHOCKING, STREET BOSS, STREET SENSE, SANDBAR, HALLOWED CROWN, CARLTON HOUSE, WAR DECREE and in future, daughters of FARNAN, HANSEATIC, ANAMOE, BROADSIDING, TRAFFIC WARDEN and DAUMIER.
Broodmares carrying Shamardal via their sires include those by BELARDO, BLUE POINT, CAPTAIN SONADOR, CRACKERJACK KING, GHIBELLINES, GINGERBREAD MAN, LOPE DE VEGA, LUCKY VEGA, PUISSANCE DE LUNE and SHAMOLINE WARRIOR, while daughters of DOULL, MOVE TO STRIKE, PINATUBO and VICTOR LUDORUM have their broodmare careers ahead of them.
With a host of broodmares coming through carrying Helen Street, there will be ample opportunity to put inbreeding to this female powerhouse into practice and build on the already excellent results emerging from reinforcing her influence. - written by Jane Henning
