A dark bay mare grazes peacefully at the beautiful Dell Ridge Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. She lifts her head for a moment, revealing her unmistakable face. One can only wonder if she knows how important she is, how highly regarded she is to breeders all over the world. She puts her head back down and continues to graze while her foal hammers down a record $3,000,000 at Keeneland.
That mare is Serena’s Cat, a name that many honor. She was born at Hill N' Dale Farms in 2003 with a head turning pedigree. She was out of Serena’s Tune (Mr.Prospector), a stakes winning daughter of the legendary mare Serena’s Song. Her sire, Storm Cat, has produced horses such as Giant's Causeway and is the grandsire of horses such as Pioneerof The Nile. Serena’s Cat’s pedigree is one to be reckoned with.
That pedigree provoked Dell Ridge Farm to purchase Serena’s Cat for $1.4 million at Keeneland November Sale in 2003. The farm raced her twelve times between 2005 and 2007: she brought home four victories and two seconds. It became clear that she would be more valuable as a broodmare than she was a racehorse, so the mare was retired.
Serena’s Cat gave birth to her first foal in 2010, a colt by Unbridled's Song who would later be named Noble Tune. He oozes quality, boasting substance and strong hindquarters. Noble Tune ran seven times, winning four times (including two graded stakes wins). He also managed to grab a second place finish in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. It was amazing that Serena’s Cat’s first foal was doing such big things, so it was no surprise that her next foal garnered some excitement.
[Video: Watch Noble Tune's promotional stallion video]
Serena’s Cat was one of just twenty-five mares to have a foal from the great A.P. Indy's final crop. The Mr. Prospector in Serena’s Cat was expected to pair well with A.P. Indy and that it did. The colt was named Honor Code and went on to win six of eleven races, earning over $2.5 million. He is only the ninth horse in history to win both the Gr.1 Met Mile and Gr.1 Whitney Stakes in the same year and was extremely consistent throughout his career. Breeders are hoping for Honor Code to pass both A.P. Indy and Serena’s Cat’s legacy down to his foals.
The following year, Serena’s Cat gave birth to a bay filly by Bernardini. The filly was named Lady Serena. Lady Serena hasn’t done anything exceptional on the racetrack, but was able to win two races and finish third in a stakes race nonetheless.
Next came Morse Code by Tapit, a bay gelding that is still running today. Morse Code recently finished fourth in the Turf Paradise Handicap.
Her 2014 foal was a filly by Tapit, later named Serena's Harmony, who sold for a record $3 million as a weanling.
[Video: Watch the filly by Tapit sell for $3 million at the 2014 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale]
In 2015, Serena’s Cat gave birth to Declarationofpeace by Tapit. Declarationofpeace was bought for $2.6 million as a weanling. He won the Juvenile Turf Sprint Stakes at Del Mar in 2017 and spent quite a bit of time racing in Europe. He recently ran at Santa Anita, finishing ninth in the Lure Stakes in October of 2019.
Seclusive, a colt by Tapit, was born in 2016 and sold for $1.05 million as a weanling. He is still trying to break his maiden, recently finishing fourth in a Maiden Special Weight at Tampa Bay.
Serena's Cat foaled another colt by Tapit in 2017. This colt, later named Centrifuge, brought in $700,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. He has yet to race.
It is clear that Serena’s Cat is a very successful and noteworthy producer. Back home at Dell Ridge Farm she acts as if she knows it. When asked about her disposition, Dell Ridge Farm lovingly stated that she is, “definitely large and in charge, she knows what she wants and how to get it. Isn’t really one that wants to be fussed over. She’s a queen and she knows it”.
The daily routine for Serena’s Cat is quite ordinary for other broodmares. She awakens at 6 a.m. and is fed breakfast. From 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. it is time for her absolute favorite activity: she is turned out with her best friends Violent Beauty and Tamboz. For the rest of the night, she relaxes in her cozy stall, munching on her dinner and occasionally snatching up some molasses German horse muffins, her favorite treat.
As a mother, Dell Ridge Farm says that, “she is a very sweet mom, loves her babies dearly and is kind and sweet to them. She doesn’t over discipline them like some mares do. She raises a lovely, strong, confident foal every time”.
“We are definitely honored to have such an amazing broodmare. She’s got so much class it’s obvious to anyone that sees her even if they don’t know much about horses. She definitely stands out from the crowd.”
[Video: Watch Serena's Cat's most well-known foal, Honor Code, win the 2015 Whitney Stakes]
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