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Cryptoclearance by Kathleen Jones  Cryptoclearance
Cryptoclearance was foaled in Kentucky from Fappiano's
second crop, the same crop year in which he also sired Tappiano, Lil Fappi, and Pentelicus.
He was consigned into the 1985 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and sold to Philip Teinowitz
for the very respectable price of $190,000, thus confirming that he was a colt of
exceptional appearance.Under the watchful eye of trainer Scotty Schulhofer, Cryptoclearance learned his lessons well and was primed for the Saratoga meet of 1986 where he broke his maiden in easy gate-to-wire fashion by an eye-popping 12¼ lengths. He won the seven furlong maiden event in 1:23 4/5 defeating eventual multiple Graded stakes winner It's Acedemic. He also won at Belmont in his juvenile year, victorious in a mile allowance race defeating future Grade 1 winner Gone West. When Cryptoclearance turned three, his connections wisely determined that if he was going to run a classic distance, his speed needed to be conserved. So, having already been successful as a front-runner and as a stalker, his running style was drastically changed at 3 to that of a closer -- the style which would characterize Cryptoclearance for the remainder of his career. At three, he made five starts in Florida prior to the Kentucky Derby, and placed either first or second in all of them. The best of these showings was in the prestigious G1 Florida Derby. Winning that race was no small feat as he had run extremely wide throughout, including 6 wide on the final turn and 8 wide in the stretch. Although he won by a head, it was a masterful effort which saw him defeat Talinum, Avie's Copy, Bet Twice, and others. Cryptoclearance ran in all three legs of the American Triple Crown, closing through traffic to finish 4th in the Kentucky Derby, 3rd in the Preakness Stakes, and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes. In this series, he defeated Gulch, Leo Castelli, Candi's Gold, Capote, Alysheba, Demons Begone, Avie's Copy, Gone West, and many others. At the age of three he contested the Breeders' Cup Classic at Hollywood Park and ran a creditable 5th of the 12 runners. Of course, he came up from last place. Although he could not reach Ferdinand, Alysheba and the other leaders, he passed such excellent runners as Nostalgia's Star, Gulch, Afleet, and Skywalker. At the age of four, he reappeared better than ever. His first 6 starts that year were all in-the-money efforts, including an 8½ length romp in a Gulfstream Park allowance, and a narrow nose decision in the G1 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Then an unusual experiment was undertaken in May of 1988 which saw him try the turf in the Red Smith Handicap at Belmont Park. Cryptoclearance did not seem to like the surface at all, and was never in the hunt. However, he immediately rebounded to a marvelous 2nd place run in the G2 Nassau County Handicap in his next start, so the turf career was abandoned. That same year he won the G2 Budweiser Hawthorne Gold Cup by 10 lengths, and the G2 Paterson Handicap in one of the fastest ever timings of that race. He competed once again in the Breeders'Cup Classic, and as before, came with a rush to finish 5th. Although failing to overhaul Alysheba and Seeking The Gold, he got the better of Personal Flag, Cutlass Reality, Lively One and Slew City Slew. He was back again at age 5, and in his first start back, aced the G1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. He also won the G1 Widener Handicap that spring, and earned a repeat victory in the Hawthorne Gold Cup that summer. His second-to-last start was in the 1½ mile G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in October of 1989 versus Easy Goer. It was a brave performance on the part of Cryptoclearance who chased winner Easy Goer all the way up the stretch, not letting him get away. It was some 20 lengths back to the other horses. Cryptoclearance bowed out of competition with a final try in the Breeders' Cup Classic. But that race was not meant to be his apparently, for while Sunday Silence and Easy Goer battled for the finish line and the headlines, Cryptoclearance was coming up from last place, to finish -- you guessed it -- 5th in one of the world's greatest races for the third consecutive year. He ended his racing career with the respect and admiration of all horsemen. He was a runner of great durability and consistency. Cryptoclearance got off to a great start at stud, siring Strategic Maneuver in his first crop. This marvelous filly won the G1 Spinaway Stakes, the G1 Matron (by a whopping 12¼ lengths), the G2 Demoiselle Stakes, and the G2 Schuyerville Stakes all at age 2. But she lost out in the voting for championship honors that year as the balloting swung in favor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly winner Phone Chatter. Also from his first crop came Ride The Rails who won the Foolish Pleasure Breeders Cup Stakes at two, and ran second to Holy Bull in the G1 Florida Derby at age 3. Ride the Rails also placed to Dehere and Go For Gin in the G3 Fountain of Youth Stakes. He won or placed in 10 of his 14 lifetime starts prior to being selected by Argentine interests as the first son of Cryptoclearance to take up stud duties. Cryptoclearance's best offspring to date is Champion 3-year-old Victory Gallop, a truly gutsy performer. Placing second in the Kentucky Derby, then second again the Preakness, Victory Gallop eventually prevailed in the Belmont Stakes in what has to be the closest finish ever in that event. His track record shattering victory in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, in which he defeated SILVER CHARM and others, will not be easily forgotten. Other outstanding offspring by Cryptoclearance include: Champion Cryptocloser, Crypto Star, Pinpoint Control, Cryptic Rascal, Traitor, Came Unwound, Laydown, Amos, Ontherightwicket, Acres, and many others. As the years pass, it is very much expected that the daughters of Cryptoclearance will be outstanding producers and will elevate him in the ranks of the leading broodmare sires. The future should be quite bright for Cryptoclearance. His pedigree contains many strengthening and balancing agents which will bring him into demand for mares already related to Northern Dancer and his sons. Cryptoclearance is a son fo the great Fappiano who has sired other great runner/sire combinations like Unbridled, Defensive Play, and Roy. One thing each of these stallions has in common, other than being sired by Fappiano, is that they are all free of Northern Dancer blood. This will be a quality much in demand in the future. His broodmare sire Hoist The Flag has been identified as possessing a large heart. Race record suggests that Cryptoclearance was an inheritor of this x-factor quality. Hoist The Flag is also the broodmare sire of Broad Brush, Personal Flag, Personal Ensign, Sacahuista, Star Standard and others. Cryptoclearance's female line has produced outstanding runners as Middle Brother, Boldnesian, Princessnesian, Alanesian, George Navanod, and Latin American. Just to illustrate that the quality of this family is deep-rooted, if one follows this same family back a great deal further, one would find Belmont and Travers winner Sir Dixon (1888), Travers winner Kentucky (1864) and English Derby and St Leger winner Iroquois (1881). Distance has apparently never troubled this family. As a matter more of trivia than of importance, Cryptoclearance and Defensive Play also share another quality with their sire. They are Pure Breeding Bay stallions. A two-headed coin, so to speak. Having inherited a bay gene from both parents, these stallions will always transmit a bay gene to their offspring, and are therefore incapable of producing a chestnut foal. Other great sires who share this same trait are Danzig, Sadler's Wells, Seattle Slew, Bull Lea, and the immortal St Simon, to name a few. Cryptoclearance has it all - an outstanding race record and production record at stud, dashing good looks, great pedigree, raced long and retired sound. With so much going for him, there are certainly more champions yet to come which will represent him with honor. Pedigree:
(female family # 4) Born: 1984, Kentucky Currently: At stud, Margaux Farm, Midway, Kentucky Racing Record:
Stakes Record: at 2:
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