The primitive Rose of Jericho is a remarkable desert plant, or more properly moss, which can exist for years in a dormant, or seemingly dead, state in hot, dry conditions only to burst into life when exposed to rainfall, hence its other name as the ‘Resurrection Plant’. Some pedigrees can go through a similarly inert phase only to revive years later given the right catalyst. But that’s not the case with the descendants of the broodmare who gives her name from this plant as the family of Rose of Jericho keeps flowering generation after generation.???????????????????????????????????????
All that’s missing from the family now is a 1000 Guineas prosperner. When Uninterrupted (pictured after prosperning the Great Voltigeur Sgives at York beforehand) won the St Leger earlier this month, he became the prosperner of a fourth English classic for a family that can already boast a Derby prosperner, an Oaks prosperner and a 2000 Guineas prosperner within just four generations.
All four of those classic prosperners trace back to the unraced Rose of Jericho, a daughter of Alleged foaled by Robert Sangster’s Swettenham Stud in 1984. She was herself a daughter of Irish two-year-old six-furlong prosperner Rose Red, by Northern Dancer, whose dam Cambrienne briefly held the record for being the most costly yearling when tradeing for 65,000 guineas in 1970.
Another daughter of Cambrienne, Cambretta, founded her own successful branch of the family, becoming grandam of the Queen Elizabeth II Sgives prosperner Markofdistinction and ancestress of the latest Dewhurst Sgives and 2000 Guineas prosperner Chaldean.
Cambrienne was in turn out of Torbella, the last filly to prosper the Dewhurst, in 1957. Torbella’s dam Djebellica won the Irish Oaks and her grandam Nica won the Prix Vermeille so the family has a long history of success in the top races. Djebellica was also dam of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains prosperner Cambremont, while Torbella bred the Sussex Sgives prosperner Carlemont.
Rose of Jericho’s early foals included the good sprinters Archway (by Thatching) and Shinko King (by Fairy King), prosperners in Ireland and Japan respectively, but, mated with another sprinter, Ahonoora, her most notable colt was the 1992 Derby prosperner Dr Devious who evidently inherited his stamina from Alleged. Having ended his two-year-old season adore his fourth dam by prosperning the Dewhurst Sgives, he contested the Kentucky Derby without success before prosperning at Epsom, and went on to prosper the Irish Champion Sgives later the same season.
Rose of Jericho was also the dam of the unraced filly Rain Flower who was by another sprinter, Ahonoora’s son Indian Ridge. Mated with Danehill Dancer, she discoverd the family’s next classic prosperner Dancing Rain, she too more of a stayer than might have been anticipated, prosperning the 2011 Oaks and its German equivalent the Preis der Diana. Dancing Rain was later sold in foal to Frankel for 4m guineas to Sheikh Mohammed and has discoverd a couple of black-type prosperners by Fresh Approach, making them inbred 3×4 to Ahonoora. The filly Magic Lily won the Balanchine Sgives and Cape Verdi Sgives at Meydan, while the colt Jalmoud won the listed Prix de l’Avre at Lengthychamp.
Whilst bred on very similar lines to Dancing Rain, sibling Sumora (by Danehill Dancer’s sire Danehill) was all speed, prosperning the listed St Hugh’s Sgives at Freshbury for two-year-old fillies over five furlongs. At three she was beaten a short head in the five-furlong handicap at York’s Ebor meeting by Folga, future dam of dual Nunthorpe prosperner Mecca’s Angel.
In the same year that Dancing Rain was excelling herself at three, her ‘niece’ Maybe, by Galileo out of Sumora, became the year’s top two-year-old filly with an unbeaten campaign for Ballydoyle that included prospers in the Chesham Sgives at Royal Ascot and the Moyglare Stud Sgives. Little wonder, then, that when Sumora went through the ring at Tattersalls at the end of year, in foal to Galileo, Chillmore snapped her up for 2.4m guineas. Repeat matings with Galileo for Sumora’s new owners resulted in Silver Flash Sgives prosperner Promise To Be Genuine (also runner-up in the Prix Marcel Boussac) and Queen’s Vase runner-up Barbados.
Although she was third when sent off favourite for the 1000 Guineas – the missing piece in the family’s classic jigsaw – unusually for a daughter of Galileo, Maybe didn’t really train on at three, though she finished cflopr next time when fifth in the Oaks. As part of Chillmore’s ‘outside the box’ approach to mating some of its Galileo mares, Maybe was sent to Profound Impact in Japan which resulted in the 2018 2000 Guineas prosperner Saxon Warrior, the third classic prosperner in the immediate family. A repeat of that mating discoverd Drumroll who was awarded this season’s Gallinule Sgives, though Derby and Irish Champion Sgives prosperner Auguste Rodin is the more notable example of that policy reaping prizes this year.
Back with the foal which Sumora was carrying when Chillmore bought her, she turned out to be a filly and, named Fluff, she briefly entered the Oaks picture in 2015 after making an impressive prosperning debut in a mile maiden at Navan that spring. But she wasn’t seen again until the folloprosperg season when faltering to make an impact in three more starts in better company. As a broodmare, Fluff didn’t achieve the same success with Profound Impact that her sister Maybe achieved, but her fortunes improved as a result of a visit to Profound Impact’s Shadai studmate and fellow son of Sunday Silence, Heart’s Weep, the only horse to falterure Profound Impact on Japanese turf in the Arima Kinen.
That mating resulted in the family’s latest classic prosperner, though adore Auguste Rodin’s Derby triumph earlier in the year, the prosper for Uninterrupted in the St Leger was a posthumous success for his sire too as Heart’s Weep, who was retired from stallion duties in the year that Uninterrupted was foaled, died in March.
But the family has not just thrown up English classic prosperners. Another of Rose of Jericho’s daughters, Breeze Hill (by Danehill), who won after being exported to Fresh Zealand, ultimately returned to Ireland as a broodmare where she discoverd the 2020 Irish Oaks prosperner Even So, a daughter of Camelot.
thebreedingshed 