2022 First-Crop Yearling Sires | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dec 6: Bolt d’Oro Has the Lead

A three-horse match race for the 2022 first-crop sire crown is on! The TDN will continue to publish our earnings list on a nightly basis with data streaming in for Northern Hemisphere-born foals from stallions standing in North America.

Note that Japanese earnings are added every Sunday night, and there may be delayed reporting from other countries, which could postpone the final results in a very tight race into early January. We will also be providing a preview of 2-year-olds entered the next day in North America and beyond. Let the final jockeying for position, begin!

Current Earnings Standings through racing of Dec. 6:

1st—Bolt d'Oro, $2,468,708

2nd—Good Magic, $2,446,087

3rd—Justify, $2,281,355

Notable Runners for Wednesday Night, Dec. 7:

Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Spendthrift Farm, $20,000

167 foals of racing age/23 winners/5 black-type winners

5-Turfway, 7:55 p.m. EST, Msw 6f, Moment to Shine, 5-2

$50,000 KEE NOV wnl; $165,000 FTK JUL yrl; $290,000 OBS MAR

2yo

*Entered as the 5-2 morning-line favorite on the all-weather, this filly out of Moment of Speight (Ire) is looking to improve after debuting at Churchill Downs on Nov. 16 where she rallied late to secure third behind runaway winner and first-time starter Dazzling Blue (Into Mischief).

The TDN sire lists contain full-dollar earnings of Northern Hemisphere foals winning anywhere in the world. To view the current standings updated overnight, click here.

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Claiborne’s First-Crop Sires Send Strong Contingent to Keeneland

Following the passing of world-renowned international stallion More Than Ready this summer, four of his sons now stand in Kentucky in the hopes of carrying the torch for their accomplished sire.

Among them, Catholic Boy holds the distinction of earning Grade I victories on two surfaces. After collecting six graded wins over his three-year racing campaign, Catholic Boy launched his stud career at Claiborne Farm in 2020. The farm's Walker Hancock said that the $2.1 million earner, who is out a daughter of productive broodmare sire Bernardini, has all the criteria to replicate his sire's success.

“He has turned into a really gorgeous sire,” Hancock said. “He has the perfect mix of More Than Ready and Bernardini, which I think is appealing to breeders. He really fits the mold of a great stallion and we look for him to continue More Than Ready's legacy.”

The picture of versatility on the racetrack, Catholic Boy won the GIII With Anticipation S. at two in his second career start for Jonathan Thomas and then switched to dirt to take the GII Remsen S. As a sophomore, he tallied turf scores in the GIII Pennine Ridge S. and GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. and got his signature dirt Grade I in the 2018 Runhappy Travers S. He returned to the grass at four to take the GII Dixie S.

Launched at a stud fee of $25,000, Catholic Boy bred over 130 mares in his debut at Claiborne. This year his first crop of yearlings will go through the sales ring, but which surface will they ultimately excel on?

“They're kind of across the board,” Hancock explained. “They're a bit like More Than Ready in that you can get bay and chestnut, big and small. You can look at one Catholic Boy and say that this one looks like it's going to be dirt and then you look at the next one and say this one is going to be turf. He's really providing that versatility through his offspring that we saw him have on the track.”

At the breeding stock sales, Catholic Boy's first weanlings averaged over $60,000. With 20 of 24 sold, five youngsters sold for six figures. The Claiborne sire will be represented by nearly 60 yearlings at the Keeneland September Sale. Within that group, Claiborne will offer two in Book 2. Hancock said the pair is an accurate representation of the versatility Catholic Boy seems to be throwing.

Hip 714, a Catholic Boy colt out of Line (War Front) | Sara Gordon

Hip 638 is a filly out of the winning Speightstown mare Fashion Week. The yearling's second dam is Grade I-placed Theyskens' Theory (Bernardini), a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion Stevie Wonderboy (Stephen Got Even).

“We've had buyers come to the farm over the last two weeks and every single one of them seem to really like her,” Hancock said of the filly. “She has a real presence about her. She's a really pretty individual and she looks like she'll hopefully be one of Catholic Boy's highest-priced yearlings.”

Hip 714 is a colt out of the winning War Front mare Line, who hails from a long line of Claiborne-bred broodmares. Line's dam Wend (Pulpit) was a three-time graded winner on grass.

“It looks like he'll have a little turf influence in his athletic abilities,” Hancock explained. “We're really pleased with how he has progressed. He has really blossomed with sales prep and I think buyers will be pleased with what they see.”

As the son of a War Front mare, this colt is a result of the matings that Claiborne envisioned when they brought Catholic Boy to the farm with the hope of supporting broodmares by their flagbearing sire.

“One of our draws with Catholic Boy was that we have a lot of War Front mares and More Than Ready crosses really well with Danzig,” Hancock noted. “[The cross] has had a ton of success in Australia especially and I think we'll see it more and more here in America hopefully in the next couple of years. It's a good cross because some of the War Front mares aren't the biggest and leggiest, but Catholic Boy is really providing the kind of size and leg they might need.”

Claiborne will showcase yearlings by a second first-crop sire at Keeneland September with Demarchelier, who has over a dozen youngsters cataloged for the auction.

A regally-bred son of Dubawi–and the only stallion in Kentucky by the globally-successful Darley sire–Demarchelier was a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut for Peter Brant and Chad Brown in his lone juvenile start. At three, he defeated allowance company on the Keeneland turf and then showed an impressive turn of foot to take the GIII Pennine Ridge S. After incurring a career-ending injury in his next start, he retired to Claiborne.

Demarchelier strikes a pose | Sara Gordon

Hancock said their team was not sure how the talented bay would be received by the market with his short-but-impeccable turf resume, but he shared that they were thrilled with how breeders responded to the new stallion, who has stood for a fee of $5,000 in his first three years at stud.

“Demarchelier bred 102 mares in his first crop, which we were more than happy with,” Hancock said. “[Despite] being a horse that was just three for three and with a very European pedigree, he really wasn't that hard of a sell thanks to Dubawi doing so well as an international sire. Peter Brant supported him heavily and he always told us that the horse had a ton of ability.”

While Catholic Boy seems to be throwing an array of types with his progeny, Hancock said that Demarchelier is definitely stamping his offspring.

“Every single one of them looks exactly like him. They're not the biggest, but they're really good movers. They look like they're going to be very turfy. If you've seen Dubawi, Demarchelier has a lot of his characteristics. Obviously Dubawi's sons are really excelling in Europe and we expect Demarchelier to do that here too. We have a lot of really good breeders behind the horse and I think when they hit the racetrack this time next year, they'll speak for themselves.”

For more TDN Features on first-crop yearling sires, click here.

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Airdrie Sire Duo Sends First Crop to Keeneland September

The Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie Stud consignment will be bustling in just a few weeks at the Keeneland September Sale as an assembly of over 60 yearlings bred and raised at the landmark Midway farm prepare to go through the ring. The majority of these youngsters represent the dozen-strong stallion roster at Airdrie, which includes two sires that are represented by their first crop of yearlings this year in Grade I-winning millionaires Preservationist (Arch – Flying Dixie, by Dixieland Band) and Divisidero (Kitten's Joy – Madame du Lac, by Lemon Drop Kid).

Airdrie will showcase 14 yearlings by the stallion duo at Keeneland, starting with the consignment's first horse to go through the ring in Book 1. Hip 179, a Preservationist colt out of Brereton C. Jones homebred Church By the Sea (Harlan's Holiday), reflects the caliber of broodmare that Airdrie chose to back these young sires.

“This colt is from a family that everyone knows well,” said Airdrie Stud's Director of Sales Jocelyn Brooks. “Not only has Church By the Sea produced multiple graded stakes winners herself, but her family goes back to MGSW Cairo Memories (Cairo Prince) and GI Blue Grass winner Zandon (Upstart). This colt is what you want to see in a Book 1 horse. He's big and strong, beautiful and athletic, and he has a really nice way of going. We're excited about bringing him over to the sale.”

The consignment has eight additional Preservationist yearlings cataloged including Hip 1067, a colt out of Lifetime Memory (Istan) from the family of Grade II winner Speaktomeofsummer (Summer Front).

“He comes from another favorite family here on the farm,” Brooks explained. “He's a stunning physical and is another big, strong colt. He's powerful looking, but is still very fluid moving. We think he'll be very popular with his physical and his really nice family that we've had for all these years.”

A $485,000 yearling himself, Preservationist made six trips to the winner's circle for Centennial Farms and trainer Jimmy Jerkens, with headline victories in the GI Woodward S. and the GII Suburban H. Despite Preservationist's success as an older horse, Brooks said that Airdrie was initially drawn to the bay because of the speed he showed early in his career.

“Our big conversation that we've had with breeders–and actually what we found out when we were looking to bring him to stud–is that he was very precocious,” Brooks noted. “As a 2-year-old, he was the best-training horse in the barn, as they said. When he broke his maiden going six furlongs in 1.09:01 and ran a 3 ½ Ragozin number, you say, 'I'm thinking of the horse that won the Woodward and the Suburban. I didn't realize that he had that speed.' So not only was he a Grade I winner going long, but he also had the speed that everyone is after.”

Preservationist colt out of Church by the Sea selling in Book 1 at Keeneland September | Matt Wooley – EquiSport Photos

A homebred for Emory A. Hamilton, the son of Arch boasts a pedigree that contains a number of influential broodmares like Too Chic and Courtly Dee.

“Preservationist's pedigree, top and bottom, is one of the best that you'll find with those Middlebrook Farm and King Ranch families that go back for generations of top-quality horses,” Brooks said. “His pedigree has been a huge draw for breeders.”

Brooks explained that based on the first few Preservationist crops on the ground at Airdrie and the additional yearlings they have had a chance to look at, the stallion is passing on some of his best qualities.

“Preservationist is a big, powerful, strong horse, but he's still very athletic,” she said. “We've been really excited about his foals. They are all nice physicals and definitely are very athletic. A lot of them look like him in having that good bone and nice size.”

Preservationist, who has stood for a fee of $10,000 in his first three years at Airdrie, had 26 progeny go through the ring as weanlings including an $85,000 Airdrie-consigned colt out Limitless (Discreet Cat). Brooks said their team was happy with the results from the weanlings that Airdrie sent through the ring.

“They sold very well and went to the right buyers–people who have a wonderful eye and who we respect their opinion,” she said. “We always say that the Airdrie pinhook is the best angle because we brought them over to the sale as weanlings to show off how much we love our Preservationists and hopefully they show up and do even better in September. When [buyers] see the individual physicals, with his pedigree on top of everything, we think that he's going to have a really strong sale.”

Preservationist has 36 progeny cataloged for the Keeneland September Sale while his studmate and fellow first-crop yearling sire Divisidero will be represented by nine yearlings.

Divisidero gets back-to-back wins in the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. | Coady

Airdrie's consignment includes Hip 2689, a Divisidero colt out of MSW Keep Crossing (Istan).

“This colt is a good example of a Divisidero because they really do favor him,” Brooks said. “They definitely have his balance, build, and fluid movement and hopefully they have his speed. This colt is just a lovely horse. He's been really easy to be around and he looks like 'Divisidero 2.0.'”

Another Airdrie stallion with an impressive pedigree, Divisidero hails from the family of breed-shaping stallions Northern Dancer, Halo and Danehill.

“He's from a female family that you don't get the chance to breed to very often,” Brooks said. “It's just a fantastic pedigree and we're really lucky to have that here on the farm. He's a beautiful horse. He's very well put together and he definitely looks like a horse that would be a very fast turf horse.”

Campaigned by Gunpowder Farms, the son of Kitten's Joy was a debut winner early in his sophomore year and went on to claim the GII American Turf S. on the Kentucky Derby undercard in his third career start. The turf specialist claimed at least one graded stakes win every year over his five seasons on the track, including back-to-back scores in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S.

“We always joke about telling people to go back and watch his race on Derby Day because any one of them would work, either his first stakes win or one of his two Grade I wins,” Brooks said. “He raced against some of the best turf horses that there have been in recent years and he had an incredible turn of foot. People are excited by his explosive speed, for sure. Everyone wants that in their sire.”

To help fight the ongoing battle for a fair shake in the commercial market for young turf sires, Airdrie Stud has thrown whole-hearted support to Divisidero to get his stud career off to a fast start.

“We have bred 15 to 20 mares to Divisidero every year that he has been here,” Brooks shared. “We really believe in this horse. We love his pedigree, we love what he did on the track and we love him physically. His foals have followed in his footsteps in that they're very similar to him. They have his build and they look like very fast horses and very good-moving horses.”

With the recent loss of Kitten's Joy, who passed away in July this year, Divisidero is one of just a handful of young stallions standing in the U.S. with the opportunity to carry on the perennial leading stallion's legacy.

“With the loss of Kitten's Joy, who will never be replaced, it's nice to have such a well-bred son of his that was so accomplished on the racetrack standing here at Airdrie,” Brooks said. “Hopefully he will have an opportunity to fill a tiny bit of the footsteps that Kitten's Joy left behind.”

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First-Crop Yearling Previews: Omaha Beach

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out past editions of our series here.

Omaha Beach (War Front–Charming, by Seeking the Gold) set the bar high for this year's class of first-crop yearlings stallions at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where five of his progeny sold and averaged $236,000. His top lot, a Spendthrift-bred daughter of Grade III winner Gas Station Sushi (Into Mischief), brought $410,000 and was the highest-priced filly by any sire at the one-day auction.

“When we went out to Fasig July, we were extremely happy with what we were seeing,” Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker reported. “It was fun for us to watch them. They were nice-sized horses–not overly big, but very correct with good bodies.”

Toothaker explained how he thinks of Omaha Beach as the first horse Spendthrift took a big swing for when they began seeking out some of the most in-demand stallion prospects in recent years. He remembers visiting the Fox Hill Farms-campaigned colt in the days between his nine-length maiden-breaking score and his victory over juvenile champion Game Winner in the GII Rebel S.

“When Richard Mandella told me that Omaha Beach was the best horse he'd ever had in his barn, it didn't take long to get back here and say that we needed to figure out a way to get this thing done,” Toothaker recalled. “With the amount of ability that this horse had to go along with his great looks and pedigree, Omaha Beach was just the entire package.”

The winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and morning-line favorite for the 2019 Kentucky Derby was sidelined before his Derby bid due to an entrapped epiglottis, but returned later in his sophomore season to defeat Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., run second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and cap off his career with an easy victory in the GI Malibu S.

Launched at a stud fee of $45,000, Omaha Beach bred 215 mares in each of his first two seasons at stud. Toothaker said that the initial demand for the regally-bred son of War Front was unprecedented in Spendthrift's history.

Mill Ridge Farm's Saratoga-bound Omaha Beach colt out of Savannah Sky | Sara Gordon

“We've never had a horse have 600 requests for seasons in his first year,” Toothaker explained. “I don't know that we've ever had a horse get that kind of book to get them started. With the type of mares that he got in his first year, there's no telling what this first crop can do because the potential is crazy.”

Omaha Beach's first crop was in demand as weanlings, with 19 of 24 selling to average $112,736 and stamp their sire as the number one freshman stallion by weanling average. His top-selling weanling, a colt out of stakes producer North Freeway (Jump Start), sold for $200,000.

At next week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Omaha Beach will be represented by six yearlings. The first to go through the ring will be Hip 36, a filly out of Peter Blum's stakes-placed homebred Night Time Lady (Midnight Lute).

“She was a late foal, but she still has lots of size,” agent Bridie Harrison said of the late April-foaled yearling. “She has great bone, great substance and a really good walk. We like her a lot.”

Harrison reported that Blum has been a strong supporter of Omaha Beach throughout the stallion's first years at stud.

“Peter fell in love with Omaha Beach when he saw him in Richard Mandella's barn in California,” she said. “He thought he was a big, strong, beautiful horse with a great temperament. We bred a few mares to Omaha Beach and I like all the foals. Omaha Beach added a lot of size to our mares. Every one of our Omaha Beach foals are taller than most of the mares' other foals. They have lots of substance and bone and they're strong, rangy-type horses.”

Also during the first session of the Saratoga Sale, Mill Ridge Farm will send Hip 67 through the ring. The Omaha Beach colt out of the winning Sky Mesa mare Savannah Sky was a $140,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Sale.

“We liked this colt from the get-go,” Mill Ridge's Headley Bell explained. “His presence and athleticism was really everything that you look for in a horse. We couldn't be more pleased with him. We've always been big fans of Omaha Beach. Two years ago, we bred 12 mares to the horse with our clients.”

Other yearlings by Omaha Beach at the same sale include Hip 41, a half-brother to GSW & MGISP Pappacap (Gun Runner); Hip 93, a New York-bred half-sister to MGSW Highway Star (Girolamo) and MSW Captain Bombastic (Forty Tales); Hip 196, also a New York-bred and a half-sister to MSW Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible) and current stakes performer Venti Valentine (Firing Line); and Hip 205, a filly out of Hot Water (Medaglia d'Oro), the dam of this year's GIII Ben Ali S. and GIII Michelob Ultra Challenger S. winner Scalding (Nyquist).

Omaha Beach will have four additional yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale.

As the young stallion's first crop begin to make their way to the track next year, Toothaker said he looks for Omaha Beach's progeny to show speed right out of the gate as juveniles.

“With his speed, he was able to win a Grade I going six furlongs and also lay very close in all of his two-turn races. With his pedigree, your hope is that he turns out to be a Classic sire, but that he's also going to be able to throw horses with enough speed that I think you'll see plenty of them be well received at the 2-year-old sales.”

Hailing from one of the most influential dirt families in recent years, Omaha Beach is a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). His second dam, 2013 Broodmare of the Year and MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), has now produced three Grade I winners while her daughter I'll Take Charge (Indian Charlie) is the dam of recent GIII Dwyer S. winner Charge It (Tapit).

“It's one of those female families that is just going to keep getting bigger and better,” Toothaker said. “It's as good as there is in the stallion book. Omaha Beach was a really good dirt horse out of a really good dirt female family, but he's by one of the best sprinters and now turf sires out there. It's an interesting combination and we look forward to seeing what they do on the track.”

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