Recent graduates of the Spring sale include Grade I winners Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), Arabian Lion (Justify), Du Jour (Temple City); Practical Move (Practical Joke); Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming); and Carson's Run (Cupid).

OBS will again offer online bidding during the Spring sale. Buyers will be register for online bidding on the OBS website. For complete information on registration and online bidding, click here.

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The drawing will be held on Apr. 26.

The farm said that the event was being held “to celebrate Justify's phenomenal year in 2023.”

Justify is the cumulative leading third-crop sire by earnings in a group that includes strong competition from sires including Good Magic, Bolt d'Oro, Mendelssohn, and City of Light. He was the leading second-crop sire of 2023, not only by earnings, but in every black-type category. His six individual Grade I winners equaled the annual combined total of the rest of his crop year.

His appeal is global; in 2023 alone, he was the sire of dual Grade I winner Just F Y I, the favorite to be named Champion Juvenile Filly; Hard to Justify, the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; Opera Singer, winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac; Aspen Grove (Ire), winner of the GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational S.; Arabian Lion, winner of the GI Woody Stephens S.; and City of Troy, winner of the G1 Dewhurst S. Already in 2024, his Storm Boy (Aus) has won the A$3-million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic in Australia.

“In a very competitive market, we hoped that this promotion would remind breeders of the incredible potential and upside of our younger stallions,” said Coolmore's Charlie O'Connor. “And who better to remind them of that than Justify? This is an amazing opportunity for breeders to use these stallions who are all Grade I winners on dirt.

“Justify has enjoyed a sensational year,” continued O'Connor. “He's the first sire in North America since Mr Prospector to sire four Grade I-winning juveniles in a single season. His two Breeders' Cup winners are amongst the three finalists for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly at the upcoming Eclipse Awards, City of Troy and Opera Singer have been crowned European Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and European Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, while Ramatuelle was crowned French Champion 2-Year-Old. And if all that's not enough, he was also Champion First-Crop Sire in Australia. We think 'THE JUSTIFY 4' concept is a novel idea which is sure to catch the imagination of breeders given four seasons to this great stallion are up for grabs.”

Justify's 2024 stud fee was initially listed at $200,000, but was later switched to private.

The terms and conditions of the event are as follows:

• For each qualifying mare contracted to any of the four stallions by Apr. 26, 2024, a ticket will be entered with no limit on the number of tickets per client.
• One ticket will be drawn for each of the four stallions with the prize being a no-guarantee 2024 season to Justify in each case.
• The mare nominated must be approved and fit for breeding purposes. Mares over 17 or barren for the last two years are excluded.
• The qualifying mare must be bred before the nominated mare can be bred by Justify.
• All Coolmore employees and related parties are ineligible for these draws as are any of the partners in the participating stallions. In the event of a dispute, Coolmore is the final arbitrator.

Corniche, Epicenter, and Jack Christopher are all standing their second season at stud with first weanlings arriving now. Corniche is the Breeders' Cup-winning Champion Juvenile; Epicenter is the Eclipse Award winning Champion 3-Year-Old and Travers winner; and Jack Christopher is a three-time Grade I winner. Tiz the Law was a Grade I-winning 2-year-old who went on to win the GI Florida Derby, Belmont S., and Travers S. He has first 2-year-olds this year.

To participate in this draw, breeders may call the following Coolmore connections: M.V. Magnier, 011-353-86-821-6827; Dermot Ryan, 859-333-2562; Aisling Duignan, 859-333-2566; Charlie O'Connor, 859-333-2066; Adrian Wallace, 859-327-8302; Robyn Murray, 859-619-8770; Michael Norris, 859-753-1521; Blaise Benjamin, 859-333-2591; Charles Hynes, 859-753-3736; David O'Loughlin, 011-353-86-249-0821; or Christy Grassick, 001-353-86-255-1126.

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TAIBA (5, Gun Runner – Needmore Flatter, by Flatter)

   Standing for an introductory fee of $35,000, this son of Gun Runner trained by Bob Baffert and campaigned by Zedan Racing Stables was a leading 3-year-old in 2022 with three Grade I victories on his resume.

KP: A seven-figure 2-year-old and a TDN Rising Star in his debut, it's fair to say that expectations were high for Taiba from the start. How did he rise to those?

MT: Taiba certainly got the whole racing world on edge when he brought $1.7 million at the 2-year-old sales. Being by Gun Runner out of a Flatter mare, he is a gorgeous horse. He probably has more bone and body than any Gun Runner that I've seen.

Taiba got off to such a start as a TDN Rising Star. It was just one of those races that gives you chill bumps. He won so effortlessly and so easily that day and then to come back in start two in the GI Santa Anita Derby, doing something he'd never done before going a mile and an eighth, and be able to win the way he did just lets you know right off the bat that this horse is as talented as maybe anything we've seen in a while.

From there, he would go on to win the GI Pennsylvania Derby in impressive fashion and he closed out his 3-year-old year with a win in the GI Malibu S. He was a very talented horse to be able to do what he did early on, but still be good late in the year. It was asking a lot of him, but it tells you how mentally tough that horse was.

KP: You said he stands out from other progeny of Gun Runner physically. How so?

MT: I think it's just his body. He's got a great way of moving, but he's got a lot of bone and a lot of muscle. I've had many people out here tell me that they've not seen another Gun Runner with a body like that.

His dam was in the Night of the Stars Sale. She was a mare that had tons of bone and tons of substance to her. Anybody out there that got a chance to peek at her can see what Taiba got.

KP: Last year you added dual Grade I winner Cyberknife to your roster and now this year you have Taiba. What has the demand been like in offering two new sons of Gun Runner to breeders within two years?

MT: Well we say around here that you can't have too much Into Mischief blood, but you also can't have too much Gun Runner blood.

When we had a chance to go get these two horses, we bought them both during the same year. We knew they wanted to run Taiba again as a 4-year-old and so that fit our program fine with them doing that. We were able to get Cyberknife 223 mares last year. He was a great breeder, a very fertile horse. Now we have Taiba standing for $35,000 and he sold out in about an hour. It was crazy, the demand for him. We've got him at 180 mares. We'll get to mid-April and see how he's breeding and if it's going well, we'll slide some more in.

Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in 2024 | Sarah Andrew

ARABIAN LION (4, Justify – Unbound, by Distorted Humor)

   This speedy son of Justify was his sire's first Grade I winner when he edged away to win the 2023 GI Woody Stephens. Another TDN Rising Star for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables, Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in his debut season.

KR: Speaking of red hot stallions, this year you have the first son of Justify to retire in Kentucky.

MT: We were so excited to be able to get Arabian Lion because of him being a son of Justify. We have Bolt d'Oro here that was in a great battle with Justify and Good Magic for leading freshman sire in 2022. We were thrilled that Bolt wound up coming out on top and then in 2023, it was all just Justify, Justify, Justify. So you tip your hat to that horse on the year that he's had that culminated with what he did out at the Breeders' Cup.

For us to be able to go out and get a Grade I-winning son of one of the hottest stallions here in North America–plus the success he's had in Europe and Australia–it's a very cool thing. But what makes him even more special is that his female family is all a Phipps family. His mother is a Distorted Humor mare that was stakes placed. His third dam is the great Personal Ensign. So when you back up that this horse ran a 109 Beyer when he won the Woody Stephens and he's by Justify and out of a Phipps family that's as deep as you could ever hope for, it gives you a lot of hope that five years down the road, what could he be standing for? We've seen what Justify started out at and where he's at now and we're hopeful to have a son that can go follow in his footsteps. We were overwhelmed with interest in him and he sold out extremely quickly.

KR: That 109 Beyer Speed Figure was one of the best numbers on the year in 2023. How does that speak to Arabian Lion's talent?

MT: He was always one that Bob had at the top of his list as a horse with tremendous talent. He ran a very good race at Keeneland when he was second in the GIII Lexington S. and Bob decided to go the conservative route and run him in the Sir Barton S. on Preakness day. He came out of that weekend with the fastest Beyer of anything that ran that weekend [103]. Bob said he probably should have run him in the Preakness and I think if they would have, he would have been a tough customer in there. To bounce out of that race and come back three weeks later on Belmont Day in the GI Woody Stephens, the horse just left there running and was in a great spot all the way around. When he made the lead, he was gone.

KR: This guy is built a bit differently than his sire. What type of horse do you expect him to throw?

MT: What's funny about Arabian Lion is that he looks very much like a Distorted Humor. He looks like his mother's side of the family. We have Jimmy Creed, who is a Distorted Humor, and Arabian Lion reminds me a little bit like Jimmy with the really good body and great hip. He looks like he would throw a precocious, fast, early horse–just like he was.

It'll be interesting to see what he throws when we start seeing the foals on the ground. We'll have to see when that chapter comes up in his career, but we're trying to breed mares to him with a little bit more stretch. I think that will suit him.

GI Blue Grass S. winner Zandon at Spendthrift | Sarah Andrew

ZANDON (5, Upstart – Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause)

About as consistent as they come, this Brereton C. Jones-bred placed in all but two of his 14 lifetime starts for trainer Chad Brown and owner Jeffrey Drown. Zandon was a leader on the Kentucky Derby trail as the winner of the 2022 GI Blue Grass S. and this year at four, he claimed the GII Woodward S. The $2.2 million earner will stand for $12,500.

KR: Zandon always caught my eye in the mornings, whether it was at Churchill Downs ahead of the Derby or this summer up in Saratoga. How have his looks factored into his resume as he launches his stud career?

MT: Well Zandon is Black Beauty. From the first time we saw him, he was a big, scopey, stretchy horse. He's an Upstart out of a Creative Cause mare. Mike Ryan, one of the best eyes of anybody in the horse business, bought him as a yearling out of the Airdrie consignment. It's an Airdrie family that Governor Jones and his son Brett have really cultivated for many generations. We're excited that they are doing the Share The Upside on the horse with us and so it's fun to have them involved.

I think he's at a price point at $12,500 where he fits a lot of breeders' programs. He gives them what they're looking for and hopefully will get them a gorgeous sale weanling or yearling.

KR: When you look back on his career, what do you think of as his best race?

MT: I think his best race was probably when he won the GI Blue Grass. He worked his way through horses in the stretch and when he finally found daylight, he was gone. I thought he showed a great turn of foot that day and it was an impressive trip to be able to work it out the way he did. Any time you win a Grade I right here in front of all the breeders at our home track, that gets your attention.

KR: He was on the board in 12 of 14 starts–all of those were graded after his debut win and half of his placings came in Grade I contests. For him to be so consistent at the top of the game at two, three and four, what does that indicate about his potential ability as a sire?

MT: Zandon was a very good 2-year-old and he had a great 3-year-old year–not only winning the GI Blue Grass S., but he ran a very good third in the GI Kentucky Derby. He's a horse that danced all the dances–on the board in the GI Travers and the GI Pennsylvania Derby. He's had a very good 4-year-old year. He was second in the GI Met Mile and the GI Whitney. He won the GII Woodward. We had big hopes for him out on Breeders' Cup weekend and unfortunately we didn't get the Cinderella ending we were hoping for. It was a tough track to close ground on out there on both days, but he ran hard. He always tries hard and so we were very proud of the horse to make $2.2 million. He was an extremely consistent horse that always gave his all. That's something that you can hang your hat on as a breeder. You know the horse had a lot of try in him and he was always going to come out there and compete as hard as he could.

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This time round, value feels likely to prove quite elusive. With the middle market increasingly porous, stud fees overall are at a challenging level. If they were driven up by a long bull run in international bloodstock, that appears to be tapering away and there's evidently going to be quite a lag before we see any kind of relief in fees.

Instead of assessing each annual intake, and judging how its members are meeting challenges particular to a phase of their career, this year we're going to tackle them by price bands. Previously a mediocre group has sometimes left us scratching around for a horse for the Value Podium, while much better sires in stronger year groups enjoyed no such elevation. So we're simply going to work to a budget, and the full range of options within it–which, after all, is what every breeder has to do. We'll start with sires below $10,000, and work our way up through the tiers.

The one exception comes today, when we acknowledge that new sires are always a class apart. On the one hand, they are priced to exploit commercial prejudice and seldom turn out to have offered value relative to their eventual competence. Almost all will turn out to be standing at a career-high fee; and many will be packing their bags, whether for overseas or Oklahoma, even before the claims now being made on their behalf are validly tested by mature crops. Nonetheless many breeders will be focusing all their attention on this group.

The defeat of the proposed 140 cap appeared to stimulate some pointedly unfettered books last time round, when a rookie turf sprinter covered 293 mares. Regardless of the merits of that debate, and indeed of that horse, it really can't be healthy for so many mares to be corralled by unproven stallions that will mostly fail. As we've often conceded, however, it's hard to blame either commercial breeders or the stallion farms. The former need to put bread on the table, never easy; the latter, equally, can no longer bank on market interest even into a second year. (In other words, if you want fees to come down, don't just flit from one new sire to the next.)

The situation is really driven by the agents and managers driving the spending at ringside. This series will hope to challenge the refrain that breeders have no choice but to roll the dice on newcomers because proven sires are too expensive. In fact, that's exactly why we're giving the newcomers separate consideration today: few, if any, would have had a prayer of making a Value Podium in a price band shared by stallions who have actually got horses out there winning stakes. The truth about buyers' behavior is evident from the way yearling averages tend to slide markedly in the second crop even for stallions whose first runners make a flying start-as happened this year, for instance, to all four of the sires who have dominated the freshman table! (Champion elect Mitole, for instance, processed his second crop at $48,423, down from $104,638 with his first.)

We'll leave for another day the puzzle why breeding “for the sale ring” should be any different from “breeding for the track.” As I'm always saying, there should be nothing more commercial than putting a winner under your mare. The only real argument for unproven sires is self-fulfilling, in that most will never again repeat the quality and quantity of their debut books. Otherwise, investment is being directed precisely where it is most likely to fail. But each to their own, right? There's a proving ground out there, with a wooden stick at the end, and this is a great environment for anyone mating a mare with the quaint objective of breeding a runner.

So let's immerse ourselves in this perilous whirlpool of new sires, and at least try to make the gamble affordable as we seek the handful that will eventually manage to swim clear and build a viable stud career in the Bluegrass.

As indicated, that won't be easy in the current market. For a sense of where the typical commercial breeder is operating, we can calculate the median fee of the top 10 new sires in each of the past six years. This was $22,500 in 2019; $27,500 in 2020; $25,000 in 2021, as farms made a pandemic gesture; $40,000 in 2022; $35,000 in 2023; and it is again $35,000 for this latest intake.

So the typical cost of using a new sire has gone up by over half (56 percent) in the last six years, during which time the average banked for a Keeneland September yearling has risen only 13 percent. And you still don't want to use a proven horse?

Well, okay, if you insist. Let's take a look at the class of '24. But remember that this whole exercise, while undertaken with every effort at objectivity, is just one guy's opinion. You know what your mare looks like-which should, after all, be the starting point for every mating-and you know what physique would complement her best.

OVERVIEW OF THE CLASS

The retiring cohort is led by two sons of Curlin who have given an extra twist of speed to his established influence. That said, both shared another of his trademarks by thriving with maturity. Both, indeed, required four sophomore starts to win a maiden, Elite Power in September and Cody's Wish in October. So we'll have to see whether or not their brilliance will express itself on a pattern more conventional for sons of Curlin out of Seattle Slew line mares.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Both those mares were elite runners themselves, of course, as a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up and GI Gazelle S. winner respectively. The latter, Dance Card, showed conspicuous speed for a daughter of Tapit when placing in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and had laid the ground for Cody's Wish by producing Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), the throwback talent who has this year won graded races in his sixth season. Elite Power meanwhile underpins his credentials with a half-sister to proven sire Dialed In as second dam, besides champion Eliza (Mt Livermore) as his fourth.

Both will take little finding but rather more funding, CODY'S WISH introduced at $75,000 and ELITE POWER at $50,000. While we all love a Met Mile winner, I'm not sure anyone could sensibly assert that there's a 50 percent difference in their potential at this stage.

GUNITE got a rear view of each, in his respective Breeders' Cup starts, but proved a handful for Elite Power in their two meetings in Saratoga this summer, running him to a head in the first and then beating him in GI Forego. And he has an edge in precocity, having won the GI Hopeful S. by nearly six lengths, enabling him to start at $40,000. His maternal family is seeded by some fairly arcane names, but the first three dams are stakes winners so it's demonstrably all working.

By the way, while we quickly learned to expect the unexpected from Gun Runner, perhaps we should pay more heed to the fact that Cody's Wish, Elite Power and Gunite were all presumably bred with two turns in mind. Quality tells, however it expresses itself. You want a Hopeful/Forego winner? Then you don't necessarily want to join a long line for a “commercial” sprinter.

Gunite | Sara Gordon

As for those who did end up with a Triple Crown agenda this year, we'll see who ends up with Eclipse laurels but the farms have meanwhile sought to anticipate the votes of breeders, with juvenile champion FORTE ($50,000) still ahead of ARCANGELO ($35,000), MAGE ($25,000) and TWO PHIL'S ($12,500).

The world was still at Forte's feet when he added the GI Florida Derby to three elite scores at two, but a couple of his contemporaries rather caught up with him. With hindsight, as the far less experienced horse, Mage's performance that day actually turned out to be the more significant pointer. But obviously commercial breeders will prize Forte's precocity, the Derby and Belmont winners both being later developers.

No newcomer has a better genetic base than Arcangelo, whose third dam is Better Than Honour, yet was found as a yearling for exactly the same price we must now pay for single cover! Hard to argue with that, given the way he followed up his Belmont breakout in the deepest sophomore field of the year at Saratoga.

Mage did not show his true colors there, but let's not lose sight of the historic level of talent required to progress so rapidly from a standing start, unraced until Jan. 28. He's gone to a farm that prices horses fairly without flooding the catalogue, and his brother's GII Remsen performance has meanwhile opened an exciting door.

That's the kind of thing that would help Two Phil's, who has an inescapably plain page. But you had to love the way he followed up a shatteringly game Derby effort on what sadly proved his only subsequent start, and the bottom line is that Danzig's last big star has covered a graded stakes sprinter and come up with something special.

Another star sophomore entering the ranks is ARABIAN LION, at $30,000. He's surely set for pinhooker shortlists as a $600,000 2-year-old who followed through to clock big numbers in the GI Woody Stephens, but those taking a longer view will also be satisfied to find Justify underpinned by Personal Ensign as third dam.

Pappacap | Sarah Andrew

TAIBA was an even more spectacular pinhook ($140,000 to $1.7 million) and paid it all back on the racetrack, winning the GI Santa Anita Derby off a maiden win and flaunting his speed when dropping back for the GI Malibu. Sticking around to run in the desert did not pay off, except maybe for breeders who might conceivably have been asked for a little more than $35,000 a year ago. Like Gunite, Taibia suggests the upgrading powers of their sire: his family owes most of its distinction to Ohio-breds, but his dam's 17 wins would be pretty remarkable in any currency.

PROXY, like Taiba, ran third in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and that was a fitting conclusion to four seasons of set-your-clock Tapit action that left him just a tick below the very best (starts on $25,000) while thoroughly deserving his Grade I in the Clark. That hard-knocking profile befits the combination of his sire-line with a third dam also by Seattle Slew, and his dual Grade I-winning dam Panty Raid (Include) has corroborated her genetic input–sister a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up–with a Grade II-winning daughter.

Among the more affordable newcomers, ZANDON appeals strongly at $12,500 as a horse rather more talented than generally appreciated. That's a curious suggestion of one whose consistency banked over $2 million through three campaigns in the best company, but he seldom found the right scenario to showcase that turn of foot. Even as it stands, he looks a lot of horse for this kind of money. I guess someone who could stretch for his aptly-named sire should still do so, but at this level Zandon is entitled to give Upstart fresh kudos.

DR. SCHIVEL will be in commercial demand at the same fee, as a Grade I winner at two and then also in the GI Bing Crosby S. He was beaten only two heads in his defense of that trophy, and only by a nose in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in between. His family carries a few faded names, but his dam is a half-sister to a Grade I winner and the blood was plainly functioning in a horse so consistently fast.

The Walmac revival meanwhile gains ground with a couple of eligibly priced recruits. PAPPACAP is assured traffic at $12,500 as a precocious son of Gun Runner, while FULSOME gives bargain access to Into Mischief at $7,500 after converting his Juddmonte page to the margin of elite performance.

War Horse Place is also showing ambition, bringing Classic winner Rombauer in from the cold at $6,000, while SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT has every right to sire runners at a bargain $3,500. This teak-tough and classy horse definitely warrants a look, having repeatedly missed adding to his solitary Grade I score only by narrow margins, including a head, a neck (twice), and half a length. He earned $1.8 million across four full campaigns and has a bunch of top runners and producers under his third dam. Do not make the mistake of assuming that his basement fee limits the kind of breeder who should be interested in recycling his merit in an expanding turf program.

VALUE PODIUM
Bronze:
UP TO THE MARK (Not This Time–Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper)
Lane's End $25,000

Up to the Mark | Coady Photography

Here's a horse that taught a couple of valuable lessons for anyone smart enough to heed them. One is that the fearless approach can pay off even if you're beaten: the decision to risk a new distance at the Breeders' Cup, against a vintage group of Euro raiders, was arguably only thwarted by a dream trip for the winner and enabled Up to the Mark to tell us something new about himself–something that made us all think still more highly of him. Meanwhile the GI Mile was won by a horse he had nailed in their previous start, confirming his caliber at that trip.

But a still more important lesson concerned a different type of versatility. Because our horses will only expand their boundaries if we push our own, and Up to the Mark's career confirms what has long been obvious to any student of pedigrees: even when horses might have an obvious surface, on paper, we have to remember that races aren't staged on paper. How many other talents remain unfulfilled, you wonder, because they are campaigned in prescriptive fashion?

As it is, the slavish orthodoxies of our business have created a dividend for more imaginative breeders. Because the discovery that Up to the Mark was an elite performer on grass means that we get a much milder fee than would be the case for a dirt horse so narrowly denied a fourth consecutive Grade I success. And yet the pedigree that made it perfectly logical to start him on dirt–first four dams are by Ghostzapper, Capote, Fappiano and Key To The Mint–could easily filter into his second career.

After all, Not This Time himself in this instance appears to have served as a conduit for the flexibility trademarked by Giant's Causeway. Maybe Up to the Mark can now emulate his grandsire by helping breeders to overcome their prejudices, especially in an era when the American turf program is growing far faster than the available pool of talent among Kentucky stallions.

There's room at the top, after all, after the loss of Kitten's Joy and English Channel. And those who are squeamish about chlorophyll will surely be comforted that Up to the Mark's grandam Capote Bell won elite dirt dashes in the GI Test and GII Prioress. If he can breed a few to start their careers like he did, impressive in a Saratoga dirt sprint, then perhaps they will also emulate the kind of money he made as a $450,000 Book 1 yearling.

Silver:
COUNTRY GRAMMER (Tonalist–Arabian Song, by Forestry)
Winstar $10,000

Country Grammer | Benoit

This horse was one of the great auction steals at just $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. It tells you a lot about our business that he had brought four times as much as a 2-year-old, at OBS April, yet had since won the GIII Peter Pan S.! He was chased home there by Caracaro (Uncle Mo) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), respectively GI Travers runner-up and GII Jim Dandy winner on their next starts. Though it was a poignant dispersal that put him into the ring, only WinStar were wide awake. The rest of us must keep going to work!

Country Grammer now gets the chance to top up his earnings since–enormously inflated in the desert, but also very respectable in the best Californian company–at what could prove another bargain price.

It's unsurprising to be reminded that this tremendously game animal draws on two doses of Pleasant Colony, responsible for the dams of both sire Tonalist and damsire Forestry. Tonalist may be keeping his price down but remember that Country Grammer's sire is himself extremely well-bred, while the second dam is a half-sister to a brilliant dasher in Etoile Montante (Miswaki) and granddaughter of the Juddmonte foundation mare Nijinsky Star (Nijinsky). The continued efficacy of this branch has been confirmed by both his granddam (produced a very fast juvenile in Britain) and his own mother, whose daughter by Runhappy banked over half a million with multiple graded stakes placings.

On pedigree as well as performance, then, Country Grammer is absolutely entitled to sire an elite runner like himself, and you can't say that of many horses standing at this kind of money. Personally, I wouldn't labor the point about his earnings: nobody is going to deceive themselves that this is the third best American Thoroughbred of all time, and the real point of his Dubai win was that he had too much for the likes of Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow). And pinhookers should note the progress he made, admittedly as a May 11 foal, from $60,000 September yearling to his bullet breeze in Ocala.

Gold:
LOGGINS (Ghostzapper–Beyond Blame, by Blame)
Hill 'n' Dale $7,500

Loggins | Coady Photography

Like everybody else, and far more than many, I'm just guessing with all these horses. But every now and then even I can strike lucky and that was certainly the case with Not This Time. I was in his corner from the moment he went to stud in 2017 at $15,000-a fee he has meanwhile increased tenfold-and I feel there are striking echoes about this fellow, who starts at half that price.

Both ran the subsequent champion juvenile to a neck on what unfortunately proved to be their final start, and in each case their connections were entitled to hope for revenge next time. At the Breeders' Cup Not This Time had to concede first run to Classic Empire, who exploited his cleaner trip but was all out to hold on. Loggins, in contrast, was exposed to a hot pace in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, and yet rallied bravely as Forte picked up the pieces. Moreover, the winner jostled him towards the rail sufficiently for a rider objection, albeit one that was ultimately not sustained. Regardless it was a remarkable effort, against the GI Hopeful winner, from a horse that could not have learned too much when breaking his maiden by over eight lengths on debut.

He now enters competition with Mystic Guide for what remains a slightly alarming vacancy as a worthy heir to their sire, who's plainly in the evening of his career as he welcomes Loggins to the barn. It would be a shame if such a flamboyant talent failed to secure a male conduit for genes that have already served Justify and Up to the Mark so well, through their dams.

Loggins himself shared a damsire with Forte, in Blame. My feeling is that Blame's precocity in this capacity channels the quality both of his own maternal line, and that of his sire Arch. Now Loggins can combine that legacy with Ghostzapper's prowess as a broodmare sire, typical of the Deputy Minister sire-line. As such, any breeder who wouldn't mind retaining a filly would be well advised to consider Loggins.

He was a $460,000 Saratoga yearling, remember, as the first starter for a graded stakes winner out of a half-sister to two others. The next dam is a dual Grade II-placed Unbridled's Song half-sister not only to Street Boss but also to the dam of another elite sprinter in Jack Christopher (Munnings).

As the rest of this podium demonstrates, we'd appreciate rather more proof of soundness. But the bottom line is that a raw Loggins had shown himself to be nearly Forte's equal, forcing him seven lengths clear of smart horses like Red Route One (Gun Runner), Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), Newgate (Into Mischief), Two Phil's (Hard Spun) and Funtastic Again (Funtastic). All served as complimentary proxies on the Derby trail after Loggins was derailed.

Forte obviously achieved a much deeper body of work, but that's why he's basically seven times the price. Loggins has gone to a farm that has excelled with these brief meteors and its owner must have been very keen, given that Spendthrift was in the ownership group that made a deal to send him here. In the current fee climate, he has been priced with unbelievable generosity. That will surely secure the kind of volume that can help Loggins make his second career far more sustainable than his first.

The Value Podium: New Sires

Gold: LOGGINS. $7,500 Hill 'n' Dale.

• Reminiscent of Not This Time.

Silver: COUNTRY GRAMMER. $10,000 WinStar.

• Modern career, old school merit.

Bronze: UP TO THE MARK. $25,000 Lane's End.

• Turf discount but potential for any surface.

Check out our breeders picks for their value sires of 2024.

The post Kentucky Value Sires for 2024, Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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How, for instance, do we account for the sheer size of King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who sealed his place among the elite sophomores of Europe with his Group 1 success at Ascot last Saturday? You don't particularly see that bulk in the sire; and, tragically, it wasn't in the dam either. In her case, the disparity proved fatal.

“She was a good, medium-sized mare but he was so big it caused her to hemorrhage when foaling,” explains Figueiredo, CEO of Bonne Chance Farm. “That's how we lost her. We understand, that's part of the game. We deal with live animals and, unfortunately, something like will happen from time to time. He was well raised by a foster mare. But when you look at him, and then look at his parents–well, the gene is not obvious, it's not right there. You might have to go back to the fourth, fifth generation. And that's the chess.”

Figueiredo is duly impatient with any attempt to reduce breeding to a simple formula, as though everything comes down to slapping this bloodline over that one. He remembers how one of the best judges of horseflesh he ever saw, in his native Brazil, never even brought a catalogue to the sales. Long experience in different hemispheres tells Figueiredo that such horsemanship transcends cultures, languages, racing environments. We should all be able to learn something, then, from an astounding year for this small but most cosmopolitan of farms.

King of Steel | Megan Ridgwell

Figueiredo modestly protests that there's nothing so extraordinary about the program he operates for Brazilian entrepreneur Gilberto Sayão Da Silva.

“I don't think we have a very unusual program,” he says amiably. “I would not put that way. I think we do the same kind of thing that you normally have to do with horses.”

But nor can we merely say that it's all in the name: French for “good luck”. Something, surely, merits attention when a crop of just 14 Bonne Chance graduates, in the sophomore class of 2023, should include not just King Of Steel but also GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion (Justify). On the one hand, a colt that briefly burst clear in the ultimate test of the Classic Thoroughbred, over 12 furlongs at Epsom, until collared late on his first run of the season, and just the third of his life; and, on the other, a top-class dirt sprinter.

The fact is that Bonne Chance, for a boutique operation, has quite exceptional geographical reach: both in blood and schools of horsemanship. King Of Steel himself–conceived in France, foaled in Kentucky, trained in Newmarket–is an apt symbol of internationalism. For Bonne Chance has evolved as an offshoot of the leading South American program Stud RDI, which was launched in 2008 by Sayão in partnership with Paulo Fernando de Oliveira. In 2013, after a tentative experiment at Tattersalls the previous year, Figueiredo (along with colleagues Philippe Jousset and Fernando Garcia) picked out three yearling fillies at Arqana and sent them to Mikel Delzangles. Each has since become a black-type producer.

At €95,000, the least expensive was Eldacar (GB) (Verglas {Ire}), who proved a modest but sound staying handicapper. “She had a good pedigree,” Figueiredo recalls. “Not a fashionable one, perhaps, but she was a beautiful mare and at that time our program was all breed-to-race.”

Eldacar started her breeding career in Normandy, but was soon transferred to the 300-odd acres previously known as Regis Farms on the Pisgah Pike, acquired in 2015. “There was no reason to have 10 mares here, and five over there,” Figueiredo explains. “Having bought this land, we said we'd concentrate them all in one place.”

Bonne Chance had started out with yearling fillies, rather than broodmare prospects, so that the team could get to know them inside out. That way, a complementary influence might be sought from matings.

“People can choose nicks because that's what they think the market wants,” Figueiredo says. “I'm not opposing them, that's okay as a way to conduct their business. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to believe in those scientific equations. But I'm more like, 'Okay, this is a nice filly. She has talent but Mikel has brought us the information that she's more of a galloper, so she needs a little more speed.' And we were lucky enough, at that time, to be part of the Wootton Bassett syndicate. So we could bring in some speed that way.

“Maybe doing something like that won't work immediately. Maybe you need another generation. You can never say we will definitely get this, or that. But that's the same as when we mix blood from South America in the United States or Europe. You might not be able to say why a combination has worked. But when it does, you know that you have only achieved those results from having an open mind.”

Arabian Lion at Spendthrift | Sara Gordon

A perfect example is Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}, the program's breakout success in the United States. A domestic Group 1 winner in Argentina as a juvenile, he was sent to Paulo Lobo and won the GI Shadwell Turf Mile before being involved in three consecutive finishes of the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

“His second dam came to United States from Chile,” says Figueiredo. “She had a Smart Strike filly we sent to Brazil, where she was very smart, a Group 2 winner. And then we brought her to a Japanese stallion, Agnes Gold by Sunday Silence. And then came Ivar. So, you could see how it can work.”

King Of Steel did not have such an exotic background. Nonetheless the market remained too insular to prevent agent Alex Elliott having to pay more than $200,000 on behalf of Amo Racing at the Keeneland September Sale of 2021. A Wootton Basset was challenging enough. One that size, however, was a bridge too far for most.

“We had high expectations,” Figueiredo recalls. “Don't get me wrong, he brought good money. But people kept saying he was too big. What's the problem in being big? If big means slow, well, he's never been that. He was always a straightforward horse, never had any problems. But his size did scare a lot of people.”

Because of his build, and also because his dam improved with maturity, Figueiredo is confident that King Of Steel will keep thriving if kept in training. But first he is set to return to his native soil for the Breeders' Cup.

Happily, despite the loss of his dam, Bonne Chance now finds itself with a valuable breeding prospect in King Of Steel's full sister Macadamia (Fr). Though not to be confused with her GI Gamely S.-winning namesake (as it happens, a Brazilian-bred), the 4-year-old has won a maiden and allowance race at Horseshoe Indianapolis from 13 starts.

“She's likely to be bred in Europe,” Figueiredo says. “She's much smaller than her brother. If you put them together, she'll look like a weanling. They're both gray, so if you stood her behind him you will lose her. That's the chess again!”

There are, of course, ways of securing your queen on the genetic chessboard. One is to borrow the depth offered by Unbound (Distorted Humor) when acquired for $310,000 at the Keeneland November Sale of 2015, her granddam being none other than Personal Ensign.

“I strongly believe in the foundation of family,” Figueiredo says. “Being a 20-mare operation, we don't have the numbers, money or time to try a different way. I have to reduce the probability of mistakes. So I like to go to a farm, a family that you know produces. Of course, you still have to take your chance, even then, but you know that the substance is there.”

Ivar | Coady Photography

Unbound was one that paid off, and quickly: her 2017 foal, a Giant's Causeway colt, made $450,000.

“And a couple of years later we sent Unbound to Justify for a little bit of size, because she is a compact, Distorted Humor type,” Figueiredo explains. “Again, chess! It did not work as we expected. She had a small, late foal. So I said, 'Okay, let's not put him in the yearling sales, he's not ready.' So we gave him time and sent him to the 2-year-old sales. And that worked perfectly.”

Prepared and sold by Hidden Brook, where Figueiredo's cousin Sergio de Sousa is a managing partner, the colt made $600,000 from Zedan Racing Stables at OBS April. As Arabian Lion, he briefly threatened to give Bonne Chance prospects of a double Derby bid, at both Churchill and Epsom, but ultimately confirmed a single turn to be his métier.

Arabian Lion has now retired to Spendthrift as Justify's first Grade I winner. Of course, his sire has also made an immediate and spectacular impact in Europe. And, if weathervane is finally turning back towards genetic transfusion between hemispheres, then no farm of its size can have trimmed its sails better than Bonne Chance.

That's a gratifying state of affairs for a man whose international Turf education began virtually in boyhood. “I started to work in a sales company when I was 14, researching for catalogues,” Figueiredo says. “So, yes, it's been a lifetime's work. One of the partners in the company was a very successful farm vet, Dr. Jose Luiz Pinto Moreira. And he was the best horseman I've ever been with. Just from the way he talked, the way he looks. I've had so many positive as influences on my life but, strictly on horses, this guy was amazing.”

Figueiredo was also fortunate to work with Moreira during around 20 years working for Linneo de Paula Machado at Haras São José & Expedictus from the early 1990s. That post opened up many new horizons, not least through the export of horses like Siphon (Brz) to California.

“That was best life experience ever,” he says gratefully. “To work with such nice people who gave me such good opportunities in life. Because we can all learn from each other. Richard Mandella was able to go to South America and look at how things work there, and the same for me the other way. When we bought the farm in Kentucky, each year I took one of our team there to Brazil. That meant I could say, 'Look, if I ever I say something that seems stupid in Kentucky, please forgive me–because this is how we do things over here, here's how I learned.' So the same thing that we do with the blood, we also do with people.”

But while the whole premise is that horse skills are transferable, there's no denying that a harder road in South America–for horse and horseman alike–fortifies those who travel it far enough to compete on the global stage.

“How can I explain to you?” muses Figueiredo. “I love my country, and I love living there. But you learn a little bit differently. Say you want to buy a mare. In the United States, you go to the bank, you present your business plan, and you get a very good rate. In South America, you would find that impossible. To buy a horse, you have to sell your house. But I think that when you have those challenges, it makes you more aware. If one way doesn't work, you're going to find another way. Because you need to do this. If things happen a little more easily, more predictably, maybe you get into a comfort zone.”

Auguste Rodin | HRI

One way or another, between the horsemanship and the bloodlines, here is a farm exuding the dynamism urgently required in what has become a rather stagnant gene pool either side of the Atlantic. But you can think big and still stay humble. Because it's about resisting complacency, about being receptive to other cultures and methods.

“I guess that all of us, in this way of life, end up meeting and working with many different people, in many different places,” Figueiredo reflects. “And every time someone will say, 'Hey, the other day, I was wondering about this…' And this exchange of experience, added together, can become very important.

“What works in Kentucky isn't necessarily going to work in Europe or South America, and equally the other way round. But you're getting information every day, and it adds up to a wider perspective.”

He returns to the trainer he used to watch going round the sales in Brazil, with no catalogue. “His success was amazing, and it was just his instinct, just feeling,” he says. “He was unbelievable, the way he and horses could 'speak' together. And that, to me, is the fascination. That feeling he had. Because I'm fascinated by people who succeed. What he had, you can't put into words, but it also showed why Michael Jordan is like this, or Roger Federer, or Pele, Maradona, so on–even the good politicos!”

Figueiredo remembers the cycles of regeneration achieved by breeders of the past: the Classic sires imported to South America from Britain at the turn of the last century; similar traffic from Britain to America in mid-century; then the revolution achieved by sons of Northern Dancer in Europe. And let's not forget that the only horse to run down King Of Steel at Epsom, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), was out of Galileo (Ire) mare outcrossed to the principal heir of Sunday Silence's speed-carrying dirt genes.

Maybe we can't leap to definitive conclusions, even when a farm like Bonne Chance produces two of the best sophomores in the global crop. But it would surely be foolish not to emulate something of the sense of adventure that animates its program.

“It's been a remarkable year,” Figueiredo acknowledges. “And first of all that's about a very good job by our team on the farm. That's for sure. But I really believe that this mix of blood helps a lot. Japan has been showing the world how to conduct things. There are a lot of good things in every country. Go to Argentina, you're going to see nice horses. Brazil, the same. Their best horses can compete around the world. Just look at Book 1 at Keeneland, and see how many trace to good Argentinian mares. So we always start with an open mind, we're always willing to try things. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't. But even then it's a good experience. Because you're not just focused on one thing, and you forget that the world is so big.”

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Bred in Kentucky by Bonne Chance Farm LLC, the chestnut was purchased by Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stable for $600,000 out of the 2022 OBS April Sale and made a big impression at first asking, graduating by three lengths and clocking a strong 1:09.78 for six furlongs. Arabian Lion proved proficient when stretched out to two turns by trainer Bob Baffert, finishing second to fellow 'Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in the GIII Lexington S. before romping by four lengths in the Sir Barton S., good for a 103 Beyer.

Having been under consideration for the GI Belmont S., Arabian Lion cut back to seven-eighths of a mile for the Woody Stephens, defeating then-unbeaten Drew's Gold (Violence) by 1 3/4 lengths, covering the distance in a slick 1:21.70 (109 Beyer) ahead of a third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at Saratoga. Arabian Lion retires with a record of 3-2-1 from nine starts and earnings of $498,100.

“Arabian Lion is a tremendous-looking individual and he showed real brilliance on the track,” said Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey. “His win in the Woody Stephens was arguably the best performance this year by a 3-year-old, and the speed figures back that up.

“We are grateful to Mr. Zedan for the opportunity to stand another one of his stars. He and his team have obviously done a great job of acquiring and racing the best of the best, and those are the type of stallion prospects we are looking to stand at Spendthrift.”

Arabian Gold will stand alongside Zedan's 'TDN Rising Star' Taiba (Gun Runner) at Spendthrift.

Produced by a half-sister to the stakes-placed dam of the Spendthrift-owned MGSW Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), Arabian Lion–the first son of Justify to stud–counts the inimitable Personal Ensign (Private Account) as his third dam. Descending from that unbeaten racemare is MGISW My Flag, her champion daughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat) and additional Grade I winners Miner's Mark, Traditionally and Mr Speaker .

#3 Arabian Lion claws to the front to win the G1 Woody Stephens S. at Belmont under John Velazquez for trainer Bob Baffert!

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/QWjNEZRtZG

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) June 10, 2023

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Into Mischief is currently leading the general sires list for 2024 by a comfortable margin. His progeny for 2024 include 21 black-type winners, nine graded winners, and four Grade I winners, led by GI Kentucky Oaks winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous. His yearling average for 2023 of $746,854 also leads the nation.

“Into Mischief just continues to wade further and further into unchartered waters when it comes to the long and storied history of stallions in this industry,” said Spendthrift's general manager Ned Toffey. “Not only is he well on his way to capturing his fifth straight champion General Sire title, he is also backing up that success on the racetrack by breaking more records at the sales, and, perhaps most excitingly, as an emerging sire of sires. Into Mischief had 15 yearlings sell for a million dollars or more this year, breaking Storm Cat's record of 13 from 2005. And he has a great chance of having a champion freshman sire, as Maximus Mischief currently sits atop this year's list and Authentic looks poised to make a run next year. It truly is remarkable.”

The Spendthrift roster will be 26 strong for 2024, including three new stallions announced earlier this month: Grade I winners Taiba (Gun Runner), Arabian Lion (Justify), and Zandon (Upstart). The first two are also 'TDN Rising Stars'. Taiba is already available for inspection at Spendthrift, while Arabian Lion will make his next start in Saturday's GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship and Zandon in Saturday's GII Woodward S. Both colts are being pointed to the Breeders' Cup and will retire to Spendthrift at the end of the year. Their fees will be announced at that time.

“We are excited to announce our 2024 stallion roster and fees fresh off the strongest major yearling sales I can remember,” Toffey said. “The market for a racehorse is as competitive as ever, and that is a wonderful thing for breeders and the overall health of the breeding industry. It should give everyone confidence and optimism heading into 2024. At Spendthrift, we are constantly striving to provide the best opportunities for breeders when it comes to quality, value, and diversity of pedigree at all levels.”

Spendthrift's entire 2024 roster, with fees, appears below.

Into Mischief, $250,000

Bolt d'Oro, $60,000

Authentic, $50,000

Jackie's Warrior, $45,000

Taiba, $35,000

Cyberknife, $25,000

Yaupon, $25,000

Mo Donegal, $15,000

Vekoma, $15,000

Cross Traffic, $10,000

Goldencents, $10,000

Jimmy Creed, $10,000

Greatest Honour, $7,500

Known Agenda, $7,500

Rock Your World, $7,500

Basin, $5,000

By My Standards, $5,000

Coal Front, $5,000

Temple City, $5,000

Thousand Words, $5,000

Arabian Lion, TBD

Maximus Mischief, TBD

Mitole, TBD

Omaha Beach, TBD

Vino Rosso, TBD

Zandon, TBD

The post Into Mischief Again Heads Spendthrift Roster for 2024 at $250,000 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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GI Starlet S. winner Faiza's drill was her first since being scratched from the Torrey Pines S. on Sept. 2 at Del Mar. National Treasure, winner of this season's GI Preakness S., had his second work since finishing fifth in the GI Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 26. Adare Manor has been working weekly following her win in the Aug. 5 GI Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar. GI Woody Stephens S. scorer Arabian Lion has also been working steadily since a third-place effort in Saratoga's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug. 26.

Working four furlongs on the training track for Baffert was Du Jour (Temple City), who completed the move in :49.20. This was Du Jour's second work since winning the GII Del Mar Mile Sept. 2.

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“We are really excited to be bringing in three new stallion prospects of the caliber of Taiba, Arabian Lion and Zandon for the 2024 breeding season,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. “All three are superior physicals, and all three displayed immense talent in winning some of America's biggest 3-year-old races on dirt. Obviously, the Breeders' Cup is ahead and some of them will be looking to finish strong. These are the kind of stallion prospects we have looked to bring in and will continue to try to bring in at Spendthrift.”

Stud fees for all three horses will be announced at the end of their respective racing careers.

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Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has had a tumultuous first two-thirds of the season but has his chance to put it all behind him on Saturday. Having defeated future GI Kentucky Derby hero Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, the $110,000 Keeneland September bargain was famously withdrawn on the eve of the Run for the Roses–for which he was likely to start favorite–and was first off a 71-day absence in the GI Belmont S. June 10. A highly creditable second to the race-fit Arcangelo (Arrogate), the dark bay exits a rough-and-tumble nose victory after surviving a lengthy inquiry in the GII Jim Dandy S. July 29. But here he is, a golden opportunity to cement his spot at the head of this year's sophomore class straight ahead.

“You're never going to make up for not getting to run in the Kentucky Derby,” Todd Pletcher told TDN's Mike Kane at Tuesday's draw. “But it would be, I suppose, some sort of consolation prize if we were able to win the Travers against the three Classic winners.”

Pletcher has been twice successful in the Travers, most recently with Belmont runner-up Stay Thirsty (Bernardini) in 2011.

The third of the Classic winners to whom Pletcher refers is National Treasure (Quality Road), who outlasted Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) and Mage to win the GI Preakness S. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad set a moderate pace when last seen in the Belmont, but gave way readily in the stretch to finish sixth. He looms part of the early pace equation with the outposted Curlin S. hero Scotland (Good Magic) and leaves from gate five with John Velazquez calling the shots. Blinkers come off for the Travers.

“I just got a text from Bob [Baffert] and he loves the post. I don't disagree with Bob too many times,” said Starlight Racing's Jack Wolf. “If he wants to take the blinkers off or put triple blinkers on, that's fine with me.”

Mage, who looks to become the first Derby winner to double up in the Travers since Street Sense in 2007, passed the Belmont and reportedly was underdone when nearly overcoming a wide trip to drop a narrow decision to Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. five weeks ago. Flavien Prat has been named to replace the injured Luis Saez.

Baffert was deep into his Hall of Fame career when sending out Arrogate to that stunning victory in the 2016 Travers, and the late stallion has a chance to join the fellow Travers winners Easy Goer, Birdstone and Bernardini as sires to account for a Travers winner of their own. Arcangelo's rise has been meteoric, as he progressed from a third-out graduation to victory in the GIII Peter Pan S. and an historic Belmont S. score for trainer Jena Antonucci. He makes his first start in 77 days Saturday, but that is of little concern to his connections.

“He's grown up so much and has gotten stronger and more professional over this little bit of a breather we gave him,” Antonucci said. “We're so thrilled to be here and blessed to do this. To have the opportunity to be here at this stage is amazing.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds looks to become the first owner since Ogden Phipps in 1989 and 1990 to score consecutive Travers wins. Disarm (Gun Runner), whose boom sire was a distant third to Arrogate seven years ago, was a troubled fourth in the Derby and won the GIII Matt Winn S. at Ellis June 11, but was a bit one-paced when fourth in the Jim Dandy. To that end, trainer Steve Asmussen tweaks the colt's equipment this weekend.

“We need to find more,” he said of the decision to add blinkers. “We aren't satisfied with the results of his last race and I think he's capable of more. This is our first step in trying to pull it out of him.”

'TDN Rising Star' and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. hero Tapit Trice (Tapit) tries to give his all-conquering stallion a second Travers winner in three years. Seventh in the Derby and third in the Belmont, he'll need to improve many lengths off his latest fifth in the Haskell.

Plenty Of Talent On the Travers Undercard

The elite-level action kicks off with the GI Forego S., a five-horse affair that shapes more like a match race. Juddmonte's Eclipse-champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) has very much lived up to his name and carries an eight-race winning streak into the seven-furlong test. To make it nine on the trot, he'll have to once again run down Gunite (Gun Runner), who appeared every ounce a winner in a sloppy renewal of the GI A. G. Vanderbilt H. July 29, only to be run down in the last couple of jumps. The latter was in receipt of just two pounds last month in the handicap, but is critically four pounds better off this time around (124-118).

Elite Power and Gunite threw down in the Vanderbilt | Sarah Andrew

Whereas the two older sprinters should boss the Forego, the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. looms a much more competitive affair, where a case could be made for at least five of the six entrants.

David Aragona has tabbed 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify) as the 2-1 favorite on the morning line off his victory in the GI Woody Stephens S. downstate June 10, but so open is the Jerkens that Drew's Gold (Violence,) who endured his first career defeat that day, is the 12-1 outsider. New York Thunder (Nyquist) turned in a Shancelot-esque effort in winning the GII Amsterdam S. by 7 1/2 lengths July 28 to remain unbeaten in four starts, while Fort Bragg (Tapit) drops back in trip off a nose success over subsequent Jim Dandy runner-up Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) in the GIII Dwyer S. July 1. Even Verifying (Justify) cannot be ruled out, as tries a sprint trip for the first time since debuting victoriously here over six furlongs 366 days ago. The half-brother to Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) gutted it out in the GIII Indiana Derby July 8.

A pair of former champions lock horns in the GI Ballerina S., a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in early November.

Goodnight Olive (Ghostapper) was making her graded stakes debut in last year's Ballerina and went on to best Caramel Swirl (Street Sense) by 2 3/4-lengths en route to a victory by a similar margin over champion 'Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Easy winner of the GI Madison S. on seasonal debut in April, the dark bay was an unlucky third behind Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Derby City Distaff May 6 and just managed to stave off Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) in the GII Bed O'Roses S. June 17. The latter would go on to frank the form in the July 23 Twin Bridges S. at Ellis.

Echo Zulu is perfect in her two runs this season at four, a 5 3/4-length tally in the May 29 GIII Winning Colors S. followed by a 7 1/4-thumping of Dr B (Liam's Map) in the GII Honorable Miss H. here July 26.

The GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer S. offers a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and, really, what's not to admire about the evergreen Channel Maker (English Channel)? A winner of nearly $3.9 million in a career spanning 54 starts to date, horse racing's version of Cal Ripken, Jr. makes a mind-boggling sixth consecutive appearance in the Sword Dancer, including a front-running 5 3/4-length score in a soft-turf renewal in 2020. The chestnut doesn't appear to be slowing down either, as he exits a two-length defeat of Verstappen (War Front) in the GII Bowling Green S. July 30, a race marred when favored Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) clipped heels and fell.

Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Stone Age (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was a one-paced third in last year's GI Saratoga Derby and now calls New York home for trainer Chad Brown. Runner-up to Rebel's Romance in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf, the dark bay was beaten a long way from home when last seen in the Listed HH The Amir Trophy in Qatar this past February.

Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) was beaten a length into third by then-stablemate Gufo (Declaration of War) in this event last year and was runner-up in the GI Man O'War S. and GI Manhattan S. this spring. He arguably took the worst of it in the Bowling Green and can rebound at a hint of a price here.

Breeders' Cup Berth Up For Grabs In Pat O'Brien

The seven-furlong GII Pat O'Brien S. offers its winner a spot in the field for the GI BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile up the road at Santa Anita and has drawn a field of 11 that lacks a true standout.

Though still eligible for a second-level allowance, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) was runner-up in the GIII San Simeon S. down the hill in Arcadia Mar. 5 and filled the same spot in the GIII Kona Gold S. on the dirt Apr. 22 before shipping into Woodbine to salute in the May 14 GIII Jacques Cartier S. Second to Elite Power in the GII True North S. June 10, he missed by a head to the outstanding Cal-bred The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) in the GI Bing Crosby S. July 29.

Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride) was a short-priced third in the San Simeon before validating 4-5 favoritism in the Kona Gold with a half-length defeat of Anarchist. The 6-year-old entire was a well-beaten third to The Chosen Vron in the state-bred Thor's Echo S. May 28 and cuts back to a sprint after rounding out the trifecta when trying to wire the field in the GII San Diego H. July 29.

A miniature version of Channel Maker, C Z Rocket (City Zip) tries the O'Brien for a fourth straight time at age nine. Victorious in 2020 when also second in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, he rounded out the exacta again in 2021, but was a slow-starting eighth last year. The bay ran on some to be fifth in the Crosby and gets blinkers back on Saturday.

The Estate of the late Jerry Moss is represented by the lightly raced homebred Sir Atticus (Gormley), winner of a 6 1/2-furlong allowance July 21 for which he earned a competitive 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

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