By: Alan Porter

“Strong Mandate is a brilliant juvenile grade one winner with a classic pedigree.  Winner of the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) by one of the widest margin in that race’s fabled history, Strong Mandate is by Horse of the Year Tiznow, an exceptional sire of classic distance performers on the dirt. His dam, Clear Mandate, one of the most important daughters of two-time Champion Sire Deputy Minister, is a three-time grade one winner who has already produced a grade one siring son.”

Strong Mandate is half-brother to a graded stakes winning son of Storm Cat, and Tiznow sired Champion Two-Year-Old Folklore out of a Storm Cat mare. In addition to Storm Cat himself, there are also Tiznow line stakes winners out of mares by Tabasco Cat, Forest Wildcat (sire of Wildcat Heir and D’Wildcat) and Hennessy (sire of Johannesburg and Henny Hughes, and grandsire of Scat Daddy). Strong Mandate should also cross well with Storm Cat through Tale of the Cat (sire of Lion Heart), Giant’s Causeway (sire of First Samurai), Stormy Atlantic, Stormin Fever, Forestry, Storm Boot, Storm Creek, Sea of Secrets,  Menifee (by Harlan, also the sire of Harlan’s Holiday), Bernstein, Freud, Bluegrass Cat, Yankee Gentleman, Pure Prize and Catienus.

Storm Cat is a grandson of Northern Dancer, and Tiznow and his sons have also excelled with the Northern Dancer line through Dixieland Band. Tiznow has graded stakes winners from mares by Dixieland Band with graded stakes winners out of mares by Dixieland Band himself, and his son, Dixie Brass, and a stakes winner and grade one performer out of a mare by Dixie Union. This also suggests trying mares by Citidancer (and his son, Disco Rico) and Hook and Ladder. From the Danzig branch of Northern Dancer, Tiznow sired multiple grade one winner Tizway out of a mare by Dayjur, and there is also a Tiznow line stakes winner out of a mare by Ascot Knight, suggesting trying daughters of such as Belong to Me, Boundary, Langfuhr, Pine Bluff, War Chant, Exchange Rate, War Front and Hard Spun.

Strong Mandate is half-brother to a stakes winner and grade one sire by A.P. Indy, and Tiznow and his sons have crossed well over both A.P. Indy, and other branches of his sire line, that of Seattle Slew. There are four stakes winners, three graded, by Tiznow out of A.P. Indy mares, among them grade one winner Morning Line, and there is also a stakes winner by a son of Tiznow out of a mare by A.P. Indy son, Pulpit. This suggests mares by sons of Pulpit (such as Tapit, Sky Mesa and Stroll), as well as daughters of the similarly-bred Malibu Moon, Mineshaft, Congrats and Flatter, with other sources of A.P. Indy including Bernardini, Jump Start (bred on the same cross as the dam of Tizway), Majestic Warrior, Stephen Got Even, Aptitude and Old Trieste (who should fit well here, as should his son, Silver Train). There is also a grade one winner by a son of Tiznow out of a mare by Seattle Slew son, General Meeting, and a graded stakes winner by Tiznow out of a mare by Slewpy. We might also test this strain through mares by Avenue of Flags (broodmare sire of a Tiznow line stakes winner), Boston Harbor (who gives an interesting pedigree here), Slew City Slew and Vindication.

Seattle Slew is a Bold Ruler (by Nasrullah) line horse, and Tiznow is also sire of Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed, who is out of a mare by Notebook (from the Raja Baba branch of Bold Ruler). From the Caro branch of the Nasrullah line, Tiznow has sired Canadian Champion Bear Now (out of a mare by In Excess, the sire of Indian Charlie) and there is a graded stakes winner by a son of Tiznow out of a mare by Siberian Summer, by Siberian Express, the sire of In Excess). Bold Ruler though Secretariat appears to be a strain that works very well with Tiznow, appearing in 11 of his graded stakes winners.

Tiznow sired grade one winner Gemologist out of a mare by Mr. Prospector himself, and Tiznow and his sons have worked well with a number of other branches of that line, with grade one winners out of mares by Woodman and Lord Carson, graded stakes winners from daughters of Mr. Greeley, Grand Slam, Pentelicus and Smart Strike, and stakes winners out of mares by Seeking the Gold (sire of Mutakddim, Petionville, and Cape Town), Unbridled’s Song, West By West, Unbridled Jet and Polish Pro. Lord Carson is by Carson City, a horse who has been very positive influence for Tiznow, and who is also available through City Zip (giving a double of Relaunch, the grandsire of Tiznow), Cuvee, Five Star Day and Good and Tough. Mr. Greeley, Grand Slam and West By West are all by Gone West he can also be introduced through Elusive Quality, Speightstown, and Proud Citizen. Pentelicus is a three-quarters brother to Unbridled, and Unbridled’s Song and Unbridled Jet are sons of that horse, while Unbridled’s sire, Fappiano, is sire of the second dam of Tiznow’s Champion Folklore. Unbridled’s Song sources including Dunkirk, Even The Score, First Defence, Old Fashioned, Rockport Harbor, Half Ours and Songandaprayer. Unbridled could also be brought in through Empire Maker, Broken Vow and Grindstone (sire of Birdstone). Other Fappiano sources are Quiet American, Cryptoclearance (sire of Victory Gallop; grandsire of Candy Ride), Rubiano (whose granddam is a sister to Relaunch, the grandsire of Tiznow) and Roy. Mr. Prospector is by Raise a Native, and Tiznow has also sired grade one winner, Colonel John, out of a mare by Turkoman, from the Alydar, branch of the Raise a Native line. Alydar is less likely to be found in the broodmare sire line, but he can be found elsewhere in the pedigrees of several good Tiznow runners – in all he is in the pedigree of five of TIznow’s grade one winners – and his presence is definitely a positive.