Thursday, Chris McGrath covered the first half of the Kentucky stallions with first weanlings. Click here to read about Omaha Beach, Vino Rosso, Mitole, Audible, Catholic Boy and Yoshida. Part II appears below.
Unusually enough, this intake includes a third Grade I winner on both dirt and grass in WORLD OF TROUBLE (Kantharos–Meets Expectations by Valid Expectations), held at $15,000 by Hill ‘n’ Dale. This was an unusually efficient machine for the chaotic environment of the sprint division. His only defeat in his final eight starts measured by the neck of champion Stormy Liberal (Stormy Atlantic) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint–when clocking the highest sophomore Beyer of the year. Though the GI Jaipur S. unfortunately proved to be his final bow, the scorch-marks have probably still to grow out of the turf after fractions of :21.99, :43.85 and 1:06.37.
He has an unsurprisingly brisk pedigree, out of a half-sister to one of his sire’s earlier stars in Bucchero, a fast and hardy stakes performer five seasons running and himself adaptable in terms of racing surface. World Of Trouble started with 107 mares and you’d expect somebody, somewhere, to hit a home run at the 2-year-old sales.
In contrast with all these switch-hitters, CATALINA CRUISER (Union Rags–Sea Gull by Mineshaft) offers an unadulterated dirt profile at Lane’s End, where he is given a tempting trim from $20,000 to $15,000 after covering 148 mares–the kind of number seldom exceeded at another farm that tends to resist market inundation.
There were times when this horse looked a genuine monster and, if needing maturity before drawing out the full capacity loaded into his brawn, nor did he mess around once getting going. He won over six furlongs on debut before clocking a 107 Beyer next time and then stretched out to take his first couple of Grade IIs by an aggregate 14 lengths. If his overall body of work was compressed (nine lifetime starts), its execution was remarkably purposeful (seven wins, six triple-digit Beyers, five Grade IIs). When he resumed at five, accordingly, he set a stakes record of 1:14.85 over 6.5 furlongs in the GII True North S.
Catalina Cruiser is a beast of a horse, a $370,000 KEESEP yearling, and I love that his half-brother Eagle (Candy Ride {Arg}) was also such a set-your-clock talent in graded stakes across four seasons. Their fourth dam is the Grade I-placed mother of Mt. Livermore (Blushing Groom {Fr}) and the pedigree is saturated with speed-carrying influences: Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, Seattle Slew and Secretariat all recur top and bottom, yet all back far enough to accommodate farther inbreeding. There’s something appealingly old-school about this big, bad, dirt bruiser, brimming with tractable energy, and he looks among the most attractive value of the intake at his new fee.
Our pick, when they were launched, was a pretty similar type in PRESERVATIONIST (Arch–Flying Dixie by Dixieland Band), who maintains a fee of $10,000 at Airdrie after managing a three-figure debut book. He may not be champion freshman, any more than was Blame (now doing so well in the cause of their sire). But anyone persisting in the quaint scheme of actually trying to breed a runner will be salivating: sire and dam both trace to King Ranch royalty, in Courtly Dee and Too Chic respectively, and the “stairwell” through his fourth generation doesn’t have a single creaking step.
If a slow burn, in terms of maturity, Preservationist was always fleet on the track and set a 3 1/2 Ragozin breaking his maiden at six furlongs. And he finished up as one of the best in the land, routing Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) by 4 1/2 lengths in the GII Suburban S. before sealing his Grade I in the Woodward S., beating the likes of Yoshida (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), whose good run signalled an admirable late bloom of his own.
Regardless, this is one of those cases where a horse only has to establish a basic competence for elite company to justify breeders in enthusiastically drilling such aristocratic seams. He is the 18th graded stakes winner under his first three dams, and looks the part too: he was a $475,000 KEESEP yearling, and we know his sire didn’t always get the commercial traction he merited.
We also know that the legacy of Arch is well worth preserving-making his last heir pretty aptly named. In fact, he sets a pretty fundamental challenge to all breeders. If you want to conserve the breed’s genetic family silver, while hopefully putting winners on your mare’s page at a sensible price, then Preservationist is a sire you have to consider. It’s a free country, of course, and you’re welcome to turn your back. If you do, however, you must at least admit to yourself what you’re prepared to throw away in the hope of making a faster buck. But look again at that pedigree and ask yourself whether any other $10,000 stallion could surprise you less, if siring a Classic winner?
His Airdrie buddy DIVISIDERO (Kitten’s Joy–Madame Du Lac by Lemon Drop Kid) is also backed up by a royal family, tracing to Cosmah/Almahmoud. This is obviously as potent as blood gets, uniting breed-shapers Halo and Northern Dancer and Danehill, albeit with a strong flavor of chlorophyll, not just through Kitten’s Joy, but also Nashwan and Sadler’s Wells–European titans responsible for Divisidero’s second and third dams.
Divisidero parlayed this inheritance into five consecutive seasons of graded stakes success, accumulating $1.6 million and 13 triple-digit Beyers. While his longevity attests to his durability and consistency, he also landed running: he won three of his first four, within 16 weeks of starting, his finishing kick earning a track record at Belmont as well as a Grade II on Derby day; that set him up to return and win the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the same card each of the next two years, meanwhile beaten barely a length in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile.
People talk a good game about responding to the expansion of the turf/synthetics program in North America, but not many had the wit to see how much horse they were being offered here for $7,500. Maybe a trim to $5,000 will help to concentrate minds, because Divisidero has every right to sire an elite turf runner. Just run your eye down the four mares behind his dam’s grandparents: Miesque, Lassie Dear, Height Of Fashion and an unraced daughter of Cosmah and Round Table. That’s just one duchess after another. Needless to say, in an era when only deserving mares could get to top-class stallions, all were suitably paired as well. In other words, whatever filters through can only be the good stuff.
ENTICED (Medaglia d’Oro–It’s Tricky by Mineshaft) represents an El Prado line that has achieved a lot more commercial traction, being adaptable to dirt–on which surface, indeed, his dam won three Grade Is. Having disappeared after an anonymous run in the 2018 GI Kentucky Derby, and unfortunately failed to reward perseverance at four, he was something of a forgotten horse by the time he returned to his native farm, Jonabell, last spring. Nonetheless 148 mares kept the faith at $10,000, driven by his juvenile accomplishments (third in the GI Champagne S. before winning the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S.) and a physique that quite strongly echoes his glamorous sire. A clip to $7,500 should keep him in the game.
FLAMEAWAY (Scat Daddy–Vulcan Rose by Fusaichi Pegasus) finished just in front of Enticed when likewise a longshot in the Derby and never really lived up to his earlier defeat of Catholic Boy and Vino Rosso in the 2018 GIII Sam F. Davis S. But precocity will cover a multitude of sins, and it’s amazing how far you can get if you win sprinting in May and proceed to stakes success at the Spa. Like, this far: 183 mares at $7,500 in his first season at Darby Dan (a fee he duly retains).
In fairness, Flameaway demonstrated the versatility associated with his sire as a winner on three surfaces; won stakes at two, three and four; and, a $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, can point to European queen Flame Of Tara (Ire) (Artaius) as his third dam.
It was always obvious that MAXIMUS MISCHIEF (Into Mischief–Reina Maria by Songandaprayer) would have them lining down the street at Spendthrift at the same fee. For here, alongside the farm’s elite recruits, was a luminous commercial prospect priced to serve the kind of clientele who had helped to launch his sire, himself now far beyond the reach of most. Sure enough, he received 196 into the harem.
Never having resurfaced after his first defeat, in the GII Holy Bull, Maximus Mischief left breeders to concentrate on a trailblazing, three-for-three campaign at two, by an aggregate 17 lengths, crowned in the GII Remsen S. Consecutive Beyers of 94, 98 and 97 qualified him as the fastest of the crop, and also as the fastest juvenile by his sire–whose early mares we know, as a rule, to have brought limited pages. As such, it’s a rare bonus to for Maximus Mischief’s dam to be a half-sister to Secret Compass (Discreet Cat), a Grade I winner at two. And he has physical presence, too, with rather more length and size than tends to be associated with a sire who certainly imparted his copyright brilliance.
Whatever happens with the top guns of the intake, you can be sure the guys at Spendthrift won’t lose their flair for this type. A fee like this, for a horse like this, was always going to generate a stampede. If he gets the odd bullet at the 2-year-old sales, people will soon be talking about the freshman’s championship, and, if they turn out to be right, Maximus Mischief will be passing a lot of these going the other way on the stairs. It feels a little cynical to buy into such a self-fulfilling cycle, but with that monster book behind him there’s an air of inevitability about this horse.
The fifth newcomer at Spendthrift last winter was COAL FRONT (Stay Thirsty–Miner’s Secret by Mineshaft), who covered 89 mares at $5,000. He’s an arresting physical, as a $575,000 OBSAPR 2-year-old, and a miler who clocked his briskest numbers sprinting. Nonetheless the right mares should draw out that speed through a second turn: both his parents share A.P. Indy as a grandsire, while his third dam is by A.P. Indy’s sire Seattle Slew. He’s a looker, too.
The others comprising this bottom tier of the Kentucky market share a grass orientation. Claiborne lives up to its best traditions in importing a precious European sire-line through DEMARCHELIER (GB) (Dubawi (Ire)–Loveisallyouneed (Ire) by Sadler’s Wells), who sailed through his maiden, allowance and graded stakes debut before breaking down in the GI Belmont Derby. Actually he represents a pretty rare blend even in Europe, his family having served Ballydoyle so well–three full sisters of the unraced dam were at least placed in Classics–while Dubawi has been vital to the Maktoums’ cause, increasingly now as a sire of sires as well. Demarchelier mustered 102 mares for his first season, which looks pretty purposeful in this corner of the market, so he’s a very interesting experiment.
HEART TO HEART (English Channel–Ask The Question by Silver Deputy) is yet another to keep us interested in the always imaginative Crestwood roster. What a template for any end-user: over $2 million banked through 15 wins in 41 starts across seven (!) campaigns, embracing 11 graded stakes wins and 18 triple-digit Beyers. And to think this winner of consecutive Grade Is at the age of seven had started out as a summer juvenile winning by eight lengths at 5.5 furlongs!
We know his sire to be under-rated, but his first two dams bring in glorious influences (respectively by Deputy Minister’s son Silver Deputy and Caro’s son Cozzene), while the second is also a sibling to a Grade I winner. If only bigger farms thought like this one, the breed would be heading in a much healthier direction.
LOST TREASURE (War Front-Wading {Ire} by Montjeu {Ire}) represents a succulent blend of Northern Dancer’s most potent blood in Europe, apparently drawing more on his sire’s speed than the Classic stamina of the family that gave us Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire). He got within a length of stunning Europe’s fastest sprinters at 100-1 in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, but never really followed through on that run. It’s now up to the reliable enterprise of Hill ‘n’ Dale to prevent him also slipping through the net in his second career.
Another confined to a small debut book was QURBAAN (Speightstown–Flip Flop {Fr} by Zieten). After starting his career in Europe, he found the American theater rather more to his liking with a couple of Grade II wins and multiple Grade I placings. Whatever he lacks in quantity will doubtless be redressed in quality at Shadwell.
CHRIS MCGRATH’S VALUE PODIUM:
Gold: Maximus Mischief ($7,500, Spendthrift)
Big first book spells potential freshman honors and all the momentum that entails.
Silver: Preservationist ($10,000, Airdrie)
May need longer than Maximus Mischief, but given the chance he has the bloodlines to breed champions.
Bronze: Omaha Beach ($35,000, Spendthrift)
Really, the gold standard: fairly priced fairly starting out, and even easier to stick with him now.
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