This feature provides a capsule look at three horses who are heating up on the Triple Crown trail and three horses whose chances for the 2024 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve are not quite as strong as they were a few weeks ago. In this fifth edition of this blog for the 2024 run for the roses, the focus is on the key Derby prep races from the last two weeks of racing on the Triple Crown trail.
Author: News
Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Watercress Farm
The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Rob Tribbett, General Manager of Fred Hertrich's Watercress Farm.
Comic City (8, City Zip–Comic Marvel, by Distorted Humor) will be bred to Olympiad.
Comic City is a City Zip mare from a top Juddmonte family. Olympiad is the total package. He is a beautiful horse by a top sire, he was a Saratoga 2-year-old old winner himself over some fantastic horses, then showed the ability to consistently dominant at the top levels at four.
Dance Awhile (6, Curlin–Dance Quietly, by A.P. Indy) will be bred to Not this Time.
This is a young Curlin mare from a terrific family. Not This Time is off to an amazing start at stud, the team at Taylor Made has done a great job getting him mares, and his performance is incredible. He is an ideal sire for a young mare that we have high hopes for.
Delightof the Nile (5, Pioneerof the Nile–Delightfully, by Indian Charlie) will be bred to Liam's Map.
This is a filly we bred and recently bought back. She is a beautiful filly out of a favorite mare of ours. Sometimes matings don't have to be too hard. She is a half-sister to the very talented Dr Ardito that we bred, a New York stakes winner and graded-placed son of Liam's Map. We have had great success with Liam's Map, breeding Grade I winner Juju's Map, and we love him to get a mare started.
Desert Tempest (4, American Pharoah–Stormy B, by Cherokee Run) will be bred to Twirling Candy.
Another new mare to the fold, this is a young American Pharoah who displayed some ability on the track. We have been very fortunate with Twirling Candy, breeding a pair of Grade I winners by him. She is from a family that has shown the ability to consistently get stakes horses, and Twirling Candy is the best sire in Kentucky to get your mare going.
Giant Win (13, Giant's Causeway–Win's Fair Lady, by Dehere) will be bred to Good Magic.
Giant Win is the dam of Grade I winner Pinehurst, by one of our favorite broodmare sires, Giant's Causeway. Good Magic is a sire we have been a supporter of since the beginning. We love the speed and determination that his foals exhibit. They always show up and love their job. This is a great type-to-type mating that hopefully produces another Grade I-winning 2-year-old.
Laughing Matters (9, Medaglia d'Oro–Hearty Laugh, by Distorted Humor) will be bred to Mage.
Another homebred mare, she is the dam of the super impressive Saratoga MSW winner last year Sugar Hi, and then sold a More Than Ready colt for $310,000 last September. Mage's performance in the spring of his 3-year-old year was super impressive, he was willing to fight every fight and not back down. When I went to see him, I was blown away. We really love his sire and Mage is a great version of his father.
More Respect (14, More Than Ready–Search and Seizure, by War Chant) will be bred to Constitution.
She is the dam of multiple graded-placed High Opinion from one of our favorite families. We have been involved with Constitution since he went to stud and have so much respect for what he has accomplished. He has demonstrated what great stallions do–improve their mares and sire winners at various distances and surfaces.
Nagambie (11, Flatter–Charming N Lovable, by Horse Chestnut {SAf}) will be bred to Uncle Mo.
The dam of Juju's Map visits Uncle Mo this year. He keeps producing at the top level and we are excited for a colt or filly from her by Uncle Mo. She sold a really impressive Not This Time last year and has a Gun Runner we are really excited about for 2024.
Tulira's Star (12, Congrats–Tulira, by General Assembly) will be bred to Forte.
Tulira's Star is a graded-stakes placed filly in Saratoga, and has already produced the good Mullikin, a son of Violence. We are excited about breeding to Forte, his 2- and 3-year-old form was very impressive and he is a great individual.
Zero to Sixty (7, American Pharoah–Cat Moves, by Tale of the Cat) will be bred to McKinzie.
Zero to Sixty is a young mare for us, she was a super impressive Saratoga first-time out winner herself, going short on the turf, and she is out of the sprint Grade I-winning Cat Moves. We are breeding her to McKinzie, who is a sire we were in love with from the beginning. Similar to the mare, he is out of a top-class speed mare himself, as his dam won the Alicibiades. Everything we are hearing from Ocala gives us a lot of confidence in the horse.
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First Mares in Foal for New Stallion Recruits at Haras de Bonneval
The two newcomers to the stallions ranks at Haras de Bonneval, Vadeni (Fr) and Erevann (Fr), have both had their first mares scanned in foal, the operation announced on Wednesday.
Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and carrying the colours of the Aga Khan, Vadeni was among the leading three-year-olds in Europe in 2022 when his wins included the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly and G1 Eclipse S. at Sandown. He also filled the runner-up spot behind Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on his final start of the campaign.
Vadeni is set to receive 10 mares from the Aga Khan Studs in his debut season, including Candara (Fr) (Barathea {Ire}), the dam of the Group 1-placed Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), as well as the Group 1 winners Ridasiyna (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and Shareta (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}).
G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Erevann is also set to receive 10 mares from the homebred broodmare band, including the G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Daryakana (Fr) (Selkirk), already the dam of the G1 Prix Ganay winner Dariyan (Fr), who has moved from Haras de Bonneval to Haras du Mont Goubert for 2024.
Over in Ireland, Capital Stud announced on Wednesday that new recruits Castle Star (Ire) and Authorized (Ire) have also had their first mares confirmed in foal.
“We're delighted with how Castle Star has been received and he is proving exceptionally fertile,” Capital Stud's Ger O'Neill said of the G3 Marble Hill S. winner.
“Fast sons of Starspangledbanner at stud are a scarce commodity and one of the few others there has been, The Wow Signal, only sired a handful of foals but managed to get a Classic winner in Coeursamba among them. We're very excited about Castle Star, providing access to the Danehill line which is becoming more and more scarce, and we think he offers tremendous value standing at €5,000.”
Derby winner Authorized–who is perhaps best known as the sire of Tiger Roll (Ire), one of the most famous jumps horses of the modern era–is also reported to have taken everything in his stride as he stands his first season at Capital Stud in 2024, having arrived from Turkey in January.
O'Neill added, “Authorized has settled in great here at Capital Stud. He's a very quiet horse and is lovely to deal with. We had been told he's slow in the shed, and it's taking him about an hour to cover one mare, but he's doing it well. He's getting his mares in foal, that's the most important thing.”
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Exceed And Excel Retires After ‘Journey of Excellence’
Former Australian champion sire and influential shuttle stallion Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), described as “an amazing horse from day dot”, has been retired from stud duties by Darley at the age of 23.
The announcement came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the sprinter's victory in the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington. After that win for owners Nick Moraitis and Alan Osburg, he was bought by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum as a stallion prospect and made one final start for Tim Martin in the July Cup in the UK. Exceed And Excel was crowned champion sprinter in Australia in 2003/04, with seven wins from 11 career starts, six of which came at Group level, including the G2 Todman S.
Since those days he has compiled a comprehensive record at stud both in his native Australia and during shuttle stints at both Dalham Hall Stud in England and Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
“We priced him at A$50,000 in his first season (at stud) and that was aggressive back then. He was immediately very popular, he covered a really good book first year and they sold very well,” said Darley Australia's Head of Stallions Alastair Pulford.
“His first crop was absolutely outstanding so he really announced himself as a stallion immediately. Exceedingly Good won the first two-year-old race of the season at Flemington and we thought, 'We're in business here'.
“A few months later he quinellaed both the divisions of the Blue Diamond Preludes. He got the Blue Diamond winner in his second crop, Reward For Effort, who went on to a career at stud himself.
“His sixth crop was an exceptional crop; we sent a lot of high-class mares of our own to him that year. The level of mares he was getting was high and that crop included the Golden Slipper winner Overreach, Guelph and Sidestep.”
One of the few reverse shuttlers to properly make a mark in Europe, Exceed And Excel's northern hemisphere Group/Grade 1 winners include Margot Did (GB), Excelebration (Ire), Outstrip (GB) and Mischief Magic (Ire). Most recently he was represented by a British Classic winner when the homebred Mawj (Ire) won last year's 1,000 Guineas for Godolphin and Saeed Bin Suroor. He is also the broodmare sire of Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and, through Outstrip, features as the grandsire of Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip (Fr).
Bred by the Ascot Breeding Partnership, Exceed And Excel is a son of Patrona (Lomond) and was bought for A$375,000 at the 2002 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
As he embarks on his retirement he is the sire of 18 Group/Grade 1 winners worldwide and is the only Australian-bred horse to have sired more than 200 stakes winners.The elite group of seven stallions to have achieved that feat is completed by his own sire Danehill, Sadler's Wells, Galileo (Ire), Dubawi (Ire), More Than Ready and Deep Impact (Jpn).
Along with the aforementioned Anthony Van Dyck, Exceed And Excel's record as a broodmare sire in Europe is extended by the Group 1 winners Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). His sons remaining at stud in Ireland include Cotai Glory (GB), Bungle Inthejungle (GB) and Kuroshio (Aus).
Godolphin Australia's bloodstock manager Jason Walsh also paid tribute to the horse. He said, “He's been the most reliable source of early speed for so many seasons in both hemispheres, and his effect on the breed, and certainly on our organisation, globally has been profound.
“The other thing that makes him remarkable is the number of seasons he would have shuttled consecutively, just amazing.”
“He's been a pleasure to have around, from a personality perspective he's a true gentleman and has been a statesman in our stallion complex for so long. He's got some outstanding young stock coming through from some of our best-performed young mares.”
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