2022 freshman sires | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dec. 15: Bolt Determinedly Drawing Away

by Margaret Ransom

It's been a quiet week so far for the top stallions brawling it out to claim the title of 2022's leading first-crop sire, but the numbers for all three are likely to move with each having a number of runners over the next few days before the quiet of the Christmas holiday week sets in.

On Thursday, Bolt d'Oro's (Medaglia d'Oro) daughter Bullock captured a $25,000 maiden claiming event at Gulfstream Park by a length and picked up a check for $28,400. In doing so, the filly padded her sire's lead by $121,599 over his rivals with 16 days left on the 2022 calendar. With the win, Bolt d'Oro remains in front with total progeny earnings of $2,575,216, followed by Good Magic (Curlin) at $2,453,617 and Justify (Scat Daddy) with $2,383,960.

All three stallions have at least one entry on Friday, Bolt d'Oro showing the way with three runners. Two–Rocket and Roll and Communication Memo–are set to contest a $90,000 maiden event at Oaklawn Park carded as the afternoon's 6th; and Pinfire will contest a $55,000 maiden event at Fair Grounds, which is also the 6th race. Justify's Pappy Wolfe will tackle Bolt's two in Hot Springs, while Miss New York will represent Good Magic in the 8th at Gulfstream Park, an $80,000 optional claiming event worth $71,000.

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.

Current Earnings Standings through racing of Dec. 7:

1st—Bolt d'Oro, $2,575,216

2nd—Good Magic, $2,453,617

3rd—Justify, $2,383,960

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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Who Will Be This Year’s Leading Freshman Sire?

From a stellar class, which freshman sire will emerge on top? And what sire currently flying under the radar will be the year's biggest surprise? With the first 2-year-old sale of the season, OBS March, now in the books, we thought it would be a good time to ask the experts:

JUSTIN CASSE
Top pick: Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy–Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek). 2022 fee: $35,000, Coolmore America.
“I saw some very athletic two-turn horses by Mendelssohn with size, scope, strength, and balance. They were very athletic types and they breezed fast. I didn't imagine some of them putting in as quick a breeze time as they did, but the fact that they did and are bred and built to go two turns, that would make me excited. They were attractive, athletic types that were scopey. Not all horses built like that have speed, but they showed speed. It was impressive to see what they were capable of.”

Under-the-radar pick: Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music–Quick Temper, by A.P. Indy). 2022 fee: $5,000, Spendthrift Farm
“I think they were well-balanced, solid, with good bone, good substance, size scope and strength. I vetted three or four of them, and they were typically good-moving horses, with little wasted action, and very good walkers. I think what you're seeing is that the yearling market was so strong last year that most of the pinhookers probably needed to step down their choice of the desired freshman sires. They probably couldn't afford most of the ones that everybody wanted, so you had a horse like this who was throwing quality individuals and they were falling into those pinhookers price bracket at the yearling sale. They were a pleasant surprise at the sale. These horses looked more like milers–precocious with a good walk. I'm sure there's a lot of Maclean's Music coming through there.”

DAVID INGORDO
Top Pick: Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro-Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy). 2022 fee: $20,000, Spendthrift Farm.
“I thought Bolt d'Oro was an immensely talented horse. I saw him training in California and always got really good reports on the horse. When I saw his offspring , I thought they were nice horses and very athletic. Then I watched them develop from yearlings into two-year-olds and they all came forward really nicely. We have some going into training that we bought as yearlings that we are pretty high on. Then seeing his sales horses kind of put the exclamation point on it.”

Under-the-radar pick: Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky-Issues, by Awesome Again). 2022 fee: $15,000, Lane's End.
“Disclaimer, I was intimately involved with Accelerate. We bought him as a yearling and we broke him at the Mayberry's. We sent him to John Sadler and he stands at Lane's End. I've been watching him since his yearling year. That's how long he's been part of my life. He's never let us down and he improved from year to year. I'm very high on the ones we have in training and we bought a few more at the sales because we didn't have enough. He's never missed a mark. He's done everything right for us. These ones at the two-year-old sale are showing some speed, which he himself had. The criticism is that he didn't start running until later on. He was a May foal and we took our time with him and let him grow up. The ones with earlier foaling dates are showing precocity and speed. I've been happy with the ones we have at the farm and the ones I've seen at the sale.”

LAUREN CARLISLE
Top Pick: Mendelssohn.
“They have size, scope and the ability to run on turf or dirt.”

Under-the-radar pick: Good Samaritan (Harlan's Holiday-Pull Dancer, by Pulpit). 2022 fee: $7,500. WinStar Farm.
“The March group breezed well and had solid physicals.”

MIKE RYAN
Top Pick: Good Magic (Curlin-Glinda the Good, by Hard Spun). 2022 fee: $30,000, Hill 'n' Dale Farms.
“It's a very strong crop this year. You have the five main sires-Justify, City of Light, Mendelssohn, Good Magic and Bolt d'Oro. It's a loaded generation. Some people will say I am biased, but my pick is Good Magic. People might say he's picking him because he's his own horse. I have seen quite a few training at Stonestreet and at Niall Brennan's and some other places and I was very impressed with what I saw. They are very much like him. Great attitudes. Great demeanors. Great appetite for training and they enjoy what they are doing. They are focused and committed, a trainer's dream. He was like that himself. I like Mendelssohn quite a bit, too. It might be a flip of the coin between Mendelssohn and Good Magic.”

Under-the-radar pick: Cloud Computing.
“Niall Brennan has a couple that I have seen train and I was most impressed by them. He reminded me a little bit of Upstart from a few years ago. I didn't give Upstart a whole lot of recognition at the yearling sales. But when I saw them train as two-year-olds I was very impressed with them. I think Cloud Computing will prove to be a good value. They're well grown. They've got speed. But I don't think they'll be limited to one turn. ”

LIZ CROW
Top Pick: Bolt d'Oro.
“I have been really impressed with the Bolts overall physically. A bunch of them breezed well at OBS. They were quick and precocious.”

Under-the-radar pick: Cloud Computing.
“We had the Cloud Computing that we sold for $560,000. We bought him as a yearling and he just improved every day since we bought him. We have another one that is going to the April sale that we like as well. The ones I've been around have been really nice horses.”

JARED HUGHES
Top Pick: Good Magic.
“He was a good two-year-old and his offspring have a lot of quality to them. They are very classy. I think they will be forward enough to be around for the big fall races. I don't expect them to be early. I more expect them to start winning in the two-turns races. Like the Connect model.”

Under-the-radar pick: Accelerate.
“They have the right shape and they seem to have really good attitudes. They seem like they could be forward, even though he, as a racehorse, wasn't that forward.”

The post Who Will Be This Year’s Leading Freshman Sire? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Thoughts from Ocala Part 3: Finding Value in Freshman Sires

Justify, City of Light, Mendelssohn, Good Magic and Bolt d'Oro all received glowing reviews by various consignors in parts one and two of our 'Thoughts from Ocala' series. Logically enough, this select group of freshman sires holds the top five stud fees amongst their stallion crop in the U.S., each standing for $20,000 or more in 2022.

While 'value' and 'freshman sires' are two terms rarely used in the same sentence in this industry, as buyers can surely attest, we asked consignors to point out a few first-crop sires who might be flying under the radar now, but could very well be making headlines when their 2-year-olds take to the sales ring and the racetrack. The responses we received were all across the board, but each of the freshman sires noted stand for under $15,000 this year and could eventually wind up creating valuable opportunities for breeders and buyers alike.

CIARAN DUNNE: Wavertree Stables

Our sleeper horse is probably Always Dreaming. We only have two, but if they're reflective of what the rest of them are, I would think that he's a horse with a big future. They've got a beautiful way of going and they act like horses that will stay all day long. We have a colt out of Silent Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}) who goes to OBS March [Hip 121]. He's a half-brother to Epicenter (Not This Time), who wants to go long, so we have high hopes for him.

Mor Spirit is obviously a horse that we're a little bit biased on having had him as a yearling and selling him as a 2-year-old, but the colt out of Follow My Tail (Indian Charlie) was probably one of his more expensive yearlings [$160,000 at FTJuly] and he has trained accordingly. He's going to OBS March [Hip 437] and I think everybody will know who Mor Spirit is when he's done.

Another stallion who maybe is a little under the radar is Good Samaritan. Again, we have a very small sampling. We only have one, but she is just a wonderfully-athletic filly. She came to us late, but she's done everything right and she's going to the March Sale [Hip 404] because she pointed herself there rather than us deciding it for her. We're quite excited about her. I think she'll be a neat filly down the road.

JIMBO GLADWELL: Top Line Sales

We have a Tapwrit filly that has really shown a lot of speed early and should be a nice filly over at OBS March [Hip 309]. She has looked like she would go 10 flat from the day we bought her. All we've done is maintained that and kept her going in the right direction. She's good-minded and a really good-moving filly with a lot of balance and muscle. We're very happy with the way she's broken out. Tapwrit was a sire that kind of flew under the radar for us, but she's really gone the right way and is going to be really fast at the sale.

We also have a really nice U.S. Navy Flag filly that came over from Europe. She's doing really well and we're very happy with her. She handles the training and has had no issues with anything we've thrown at her. I think she's going to really throw a big work over at OBS March [Hip 368] and we're very happy with the way she's coming along.

NIALL BRENNAN:

Obviously there are a lot of nice freshman sires this year, but there are a few I don't have any by so it's hard to comment.

However a stallion that I feel like could be very much under the radar is Cloud Computing. I've got two lovely fillies by him that are big, strong, scope-y, classy fillies. They're beautiful movers on the racetrack. They're very light on their feet, very athletic and they act like they've got speed.

One is out of a Malibu Moon mare and the other one is out of a Rock Hard Ten mare. They're both bred to run all day, but they sure look like they'll get over the ground pretty quick to me. I'm impressed with them. Just because of those two fillies, I'm going to pick him as an under-the-radar stallion.

NICK DE MERIC:

Bucchero is as a local stallion in Florida. He's a son of Kantharos, who is a sire that we've had great luck with over the years and we are particularly fond of. We've sold some good Kantharos 2-year-olds over the years. Bucchero seems to be getting nice individuals. We've seen a lot of them at local yearling sales. They seem to be precocious, athletic and quick, and we have a Bucchero filly going to the OBS March Sale [Hip 473] who would fit that description on all accounts.

SUSAN MONTANYE: SBM Training and Sales

I have an Always Dreaming colt that actually is the half-brother to We the People (Constitution), who just broke his maiden for Rudolphe Brisset. This colt is potentially targeting the OBS April Sale. I might even wait until Maryland, depending on what the brother does. He's a big, two-turn, cool horse. I think Always Dreaming might be a little bit under the radar. I know there are other people who have some and they think that they're a little on the early side as well.

I have an Army Mule colt going to the OBS March Sale [Hip 3]. He's more of a two-turn horse. He's a big, pretty colt and has been straightforward. I have another Army Mule filly going to OBS March [Hip 298] as well, and she is going to be hopefully really fast. She's more of a sprinter type. Fingers crossed, she should work lights out and I think Army Mule should be well received. I don't know that the Army Mules are stamped as only sprinters or only two-turn horses. I think he could kind of get you both.

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Thoughts from Ocala Part 1: Freshman Sires

With the start of the 2-year-old in training sales just around the corner, a visit to Ocala proved to be informative as we checked in with consignors who are starting the fine-tuning process with their sales horses. In the weeks leading up to the OBS March Sale, which starts March 15, we will release a series of video features covering the topics everyone is talking about as the sales season approaches: Who might be this year's top freshman sire? Which freshman sires could be flying under the radar? What horses are these consignors most looking forward to presenting to the market? And speaking of the market, what are consignors' thoughts on the overall health of the 2-year-old market in 2022?

In this first episode, we spoke with Eddie Woods, Nick de Meric and Susan Montanye about the freshman sires whose 2-year-olds have impressed them most throughout the breaking and training process, and we asked them to show us a few of those sires' most promising progeny that we will see at the sales in the coming weeks.

EDDIE WOODS

This year's freshman sires are a good group overall, probably better than average.

The Justifys are way more precocious than I thought they would be. We have a Justify colt out of Runway Doll (Majestic Warrior) who is a lovely colt going to OBS March [Hip 89]. He's all quality and is built like a tank

The Good Magics are very nice horses. They're laid-back, kind of Curlin-y type horses. We have a Good Magic colt out of Jane Says (Tale of Ekati) going to OBS March [Hip 520]. He's a beautiful-looking horse and we're really happy with him. We have several other Good Magic 2-year-olds who are going to the races that are quite nice.

The City of Lights are beautiful, big, strong, strapping horses. We have a City of Light colt out of Forest Gamble (Forest Wildcat) that is going to OBS March [Hip 439] and is a magnificent-looking horse, so we are looking forward to offering him.

The Mendelssohns also have a lot of quality. They look like they might just take a little bit of time. The Accelerates are looking good as well.

NICK DE MERIC

We have a reasonable cross-section of first-year sires this year. I'd say the ones that have impressed me at this point in the game would include Good Magic, for sure, Bolt d'Oro and West Coast. We have a couple of really nice West Coasts. Mendelssohn is another that has really got my attention. I only have one Justify, but she's a lovely filly and I'm hearing good things from other people about the Justifys, so he would definitely be on the list as well. Some of the horses we have by these first-year sires are going to sales and some of them are going straight to the races.

I have two Good Magic colts and they're kind of different types physically. One is a big, husky individual and the other is a little on the smaller, more nimble side, but they're both taking a little bit of added pressure really well. They're eating the bottom out of their feed tubs, they're light on their feet and everything that we've done with them they've done well within themselves with plenty in reserve. We haven't really squeezed on them yet, but we're just getting to a point where we're asking a little bit more from them and they seem to be handling everything so easily.

I've got a Bolt d'Oro filly out of Scorpio Queen (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) who has been breezing really well. She's another one that is doing, if anything, a little more than she's being asked for. She's going to OBS April. She's a big, rugged filly. She seemed to be all head and no body when she first arrived here, but as she's grown and filled out and her musculature has improved, she's starting to look really balanced and I really like the way she's been breezing. She's looking like she could be a good one. We've had several others Bolt d'Oros as yearlings and we've been noting at the sales that he's consistently getting good individuals, so that's also a good indicator.

Susan Montanye and her OBS March-bound Bolt d'Oro colt out of Queen of May | Katie Petrunyak

SUSAN MONTANYE: SBM Training and Sales

I've been really impressed so far with the Bolt d'Oros. I actually have several of them, one going to the OBS March Sale, one going to the Miami sale, one possibly going to the OBS April Sale and a couple that are going to the races. They've all been light on their feet, very precocious and they love to train. I think it's going to be a big year for Bolt.

My Bolt d'Oro colt going to the OBS March Sale is out of Queen of May (Bernardini) [Hip 51]. If I were rich, he wouldn't be for sale. I just absolutely love him. He is all business. He looks like he'll be fast and want to stretch. There really isn't anything to knock on him. I can't wait to see who ends up getting him and then root him on in his career because I think he's going to be special.

The other colt out of Platinum Song (My Golden Song) is actually a May foal, but he's a big boy. We are taking him down to the Miami sale [Hip 44]. He's a little bit different that the Queen of May colt. I think he's going to be maybe just a tad bit of a later bloomer than Queen of May, but he's going to be a phenomenal individual on the racetrack.

I also have a couple City of Lights. I have a filly out of Edith Court (Pomeroy) going to the OBS March Sale [Hip 405]. She's super fun and classy. I think she's going to be really fast early, more of a sprinter type.

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