The family of unraced Whimsical Aire has been a “gold mine” for the Konecny family ever since the late John and his wife Doris Konecny – who now lives in Southern California – purchased the daughter of state champion Silky Steel in 1983.
The 1990 broodmare of the year would produce a dozen winners from 18 foals during her long career at the then Konecnys’ Enumclaw-based Czech-Mate Farm. Tops among them were her three stakes-winning daughters: champion Mahaska, dam of champion Quizzical and granddam of champion Enumclaw Girl; Zashrany, whose only two foals were both stakes winners; and Taj Aire, who would be named Washington broodmare of the year in 2003. At the time of her title, Taj Aire, a daughter of the Seattle Slew stallion Taj Alriyadh, had produced three stakes winners: Washington champion turf horse Handyman Bill, Grade 3 stakes winner Elusive Diva, and $314,895 earner R. Baggio. Since then, she added two stakes-placed daughters and in 2008 foaled the Speightstown colt Tropics.
Tropics has gone through the auction ring three times: first as a weanling for $280,000; next as a yearling for $700,000 (the highest price among the 59 Speightstown yearlings selling in 2009); and finally in 2011 he went through the Tattersalls horses in training sale for $4,185.
Last year, as a five-year-old, the now gelding became Taj Aire’s fourth stakes winner when he won the Hopeful Stakes at Newmarket in August and then added a 3 1/2-length tally in the Group 3 Bengough Stakes at Ascot in October for owner/trainer Dean Ivory.
In his fifth start of the year, Tropics faced a dozen other sprinters in the prestigious Darley July Cup, a six-furlong Group 1 race held at Newmarket on July 12, and defeated all but Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1) (in which Tropics had run ninth) victor Slade Power. Ridden by Robert Winston, the notes from the chart say that 66-to-one Tropics “raced far side, always prominent, ridden and every chance over one furlong out, stayed on same pace well inside final furlong. Second of seven in group.”
In his three seasons of racing, Tropics has made 18 starts, with a record of 6-4-1 and has earnings of $385,087.
