Arguably the world’s greatest turf race is taking place this weekend alongside nine other Group Ones. But the universe, well the racing-aware universe at least, will come to a complete stand-still at 3.05pm on Sunday not for all of that, but for just one mare.
Her extraordinary list of accomplishments which includes eleven Group One wins, two Arcs and a record three King George’s, simply cannot illustrate the adoration and respect that she has commanded globally in five years on the racecourse.
Cherished is an understatement and in essence, Enable is all anyone can ever dream of witnessing in an athlete. Gratitude is all we can offer to Prince Khalid Abdullah for sacrificing one further year of her breeding career to attempt a feat which may never be witnessed in our lifetimes again.
Enable has beaconed us along through this otherwise disheartening 2020 towards her, hopefully, history-writing swansong this Sunday.
Although to many already immortal, the record third Arc win would solidify that status for Enable after her narrow defeat to the villain Waldgeist in last year’s event.
So, before she retires and departs from the forefront of our minds until her progeny begin to emerge, is there any more we can learn and dissect from Enable and her pedigree?
In the majority of cases, pedigrees are discussed in reference to what horse of merit a particular individual is somehow related to. In Enable’s case she is the individual of merit. Such merit that every possible distant relative in years to come will be referred to as “from the family of Enable”.
Which is saying something because her female family is far from deficient in other notable individuals.
Briefly, Enable’s Listed winning dam Concentric is a full-sister to Dance Routine who won a Group Two in France as well as placing second in the French Oaks. She in turn is the dam of the globetrotting, five-time Group One winner Flintshire, whom until surpassing his achievements, Enable would have been referred as being related to.
Dance Routine is also the grandam of the dual Group Two winners Projected and Headman. While both her and Concentric are three-part-sisters to dual Group Three winner Apsis.
Enable’s third dam Bourbon Girl who placed in the Irish, Epsom and Yorkshire Oaks also produced the dam of Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Spanish Moon, who is the sire of Willie Mullins’ Grade One winning mare, Laurina.
None of those relatives merit any further discussion when the star of the family for generations and generations is Enable herself. If there is anyone better than her distantly related, they are too far back to have any contribution.
Interestingly though, within four generations of Enable’s female family there are 27 Stakes winners. Ten of those are directly by Sadler’s Wells or a son or grandson of his. While a further nine are out of his daughters or granddaughters.
Enable’s specific cross which is of course one of close inbreeding to Sadler’s Wells was discussed in this column back in July. And the piece culminated with the appreciation that Sadler’s Wells has transformed this particular family. Much to the same extent with which he transformed the European breeding industry.
He gave us a son that surpassed even his own feats as a sire in Galileo, and now through close duplication of his genes in a family which he has had a major impact, one of the greatest mares, in fact greatest racehorses within the history books.
The individual whose contribution to the make-up of Enable that is often neglected when credit is being dished out, is actually her sire Nathaniel.
He of course won the King George and Sandown Eclipse Stakes as well as the King Edward at Royal Ascot, and at stud has developed a particularly strong bias towards parting those successful genes onto his daughters.
Nine of his eleven Group winners are fillies led by Enable, with fellow Group One winners God Given and Channel as well.
The sire is often the first thing looked at when a horse succeeds. He takes the majority of credit with little notice taken of the female family contribution. But in Nathaniel’s case here, he is a grandson of Sadler’s Wells through Galileo and the eye cannot help but be drawn to the inbreeding where credit is (perhaps unfairly) given.
Enable will undoubtedly inspire many to repeat her dosage of close inbreeding to Sadler’s Wells or his sons, or even such close inbreeding in general. She is a cross rarely tried and also one that may never succeed again.
Aside from that, it is heartening to see that such a monumentally significant racehorse can come from a family that is not as significant as herself. All the true greats don't have to come from an Urban Sea type family.
But mentioning that great 1993 Arc winner who features in the close pedigrees of eight of Sunday’s contenders, leads us on to the prospect of what sort of progeny and dynasties Enable could create.
Who will she visit?
Dubawi, Wootton Bassett, Kingman and No Nay Never are just a few of the high-profile individuals free of Sadler's Wells blood for her out-cross.
One cannot help but look towards her career that lies ahead. But there is an abundance of time for that.
Let’s savour the Frankie and Enable love story one last time and keep in mind that
"A Champion is someone who is remembered, a legend is one who is never forgotten".
