Relentless Pasadoble finds another two to tango on centre stage

Nureyev, Sir Tristram and Mendez are just three of the outstanding names associated with one-time BBA director Sir Philip Payne-Gallwey, but he may well have taken equal pleasure in the purchase of Pasadoble – a relatively cheap filly who became the source of a tremendous line that was to the fore again last week through Permian and Alpha Centauri.

Pasadoble was born in 1979, during an era of soaring values in the bloodstock market, yet cost just $45,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton. Bred by Don Manning in Kentucky, out of a half-sister to French champion Comtesse De Loir, she was a daughter of the Graustark stallion Prove Out, who had joined trainer Allen Jerkens’ famous band of 'giant killers' when turning over Secretariat in the 1973 Woodward Stakes.

Prove Out later had an undistinguished stud career at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky, and ended his days in Texas. Initially, moreover, Pasadoble made only a modest contribution to her sire's record. Sent to Francois Boutin, she won four races as a three-year-old for Stavros Niarchos including a pair of Listed events, the 1982 Prix de Liancourt and Prix de la Calonne. She was also employed on several occasions to set the pace for her stablemate River Lady, notably when that filly landed the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.