A pair of third-crop sires sent out the racers who won Saratoga's graded stakes for juveniles last week: the Grade 3 Sanford and the G3 Schuylerville.
Yo Yo Candy (by Danzing Candy) won the Sanford for his second victory from three starts, and the California-bred colt had come into the race following a third-placing in the listed Tremont Stakes at Belmont behind Gold Sweep (Speightstown), who was the odds-on favorite for the Sanford but had stumbled badly at the start, was bumped early, and came six wide in the stretch to finish second by 2 ¼ lengths. Yo Yo Candy did nothing wrong and won nicely.
In the Schuylerville two days before the Sanford, the winner was Becky's Joker (Practical Joke), who was making her career debut. The bay filly broke a bit slowly but stayed in contact with the leaders and came between horses in the stretch to win by 3 1/4 lengths from the Arrogate filly Saratoga Secret, a debut winner in her previous start at Ellis Park. Becky's Joker had been the second-longest shot on the board and paid $44.40 to win.
Her debut success moved Becky's Joker to the top of the class for her sire's third crop of racers at the track, and Practical Joke (Into Mischief) stands second on the list of all third-crop sires, behind only Gun Runner (Candy Ride), who is stoutly ahead of all his contemporaries. Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) is third, with Practical Joke's stud companion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) fourth, and Connect (Curlin) fifth. This group is notably ahead of the rest, with a $1.5 million margin back to the stallion in sixth.
The overall leading earner for Practical Joke this year is G1 Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, and Practical Joke is the leading third-crop sire by number of starters and number of winners; he is tied for first by number of stakes winners with Arrogate (5) and for number of G1 winners (1) with both Arrogate (Arcangelo) and Classic Empire (Angel of Empire).
Practical Joke also has sired more foals than any other North American stallion with third-crop racers; he has 400 foals, according to data from Equineline, including 126 current 2-year-olds.
Obviously, the volume of a stallion's foals provides some potential benefits in lifting him up the list of earnings and recognition, but it also has the potential to backfire if too many of his progeny are not especially talented. Overall, however, more is better, especially for the success of a young stallion in rising up the earnings list.
Of the top 25 stallions by third-crop earnings, only four do not have 100 total foals or more from their first three crops combined. Only four.
Of that quartet, two are based in Maryland: Blofeld (16th place; by Quality Road) stands at Murmur Farm and Holy Boss (19th; Street Boss) is at Anchor & Hope Farm.
The other pair of regional stallions stand at the same farm in Louisiana: Jay Adcock's Red River Farms, and the stallions are Mo Tom (23rd; Uncle Mo) and El Deal (24th; Munnings).
All the other stallions in the top 25 have more than 100 total foals by this point, and the next is perhaps the most telling point: No other third-crop stallion has more than 100 foals, except for those 21 who account for the majority of the top 25 spots on the rankings.
Food for thought?
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.Just as Becky's Joke provided further evidence of the success of Practical Joke and his position within this crop of young sires, where do we find Danzing Candy after his son's Saratoga success?
With 214 foals to date, Danzing Candy stands 18th on the list of third-crop sires from his base at Rancho San Miguel in California. Yo Yo Candy was his sire's second stakes winner and first graded winner. The Sanford Stakes winner is Danzing Candy's leading earner of 2023, as well.
Total volume of foals is clearly a major aid to a young stallion's potential to ascend the rankings and find a significant place at stud. Total foals alone, however, do not make a success, and when breeders and buyers have seen several hundred foals from a sire without notable victories, they beat a hasty retreat.
The inverse of this proposition makes for interesting thought. What are we to make of those young sires who did not benefit from very large numbers of foals yet found a good place on the sire rankings?
The post Bloodlines: Saratoga Stakes Spark Third-Crop Sire Race For Practical Joke, Danzing Candy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
