Tag: Bloodlines

Bloodlines columnist Frank Mitchell is taking some well-deserved time off this week, so bloodstock editor Joe Nevills is stepping in to provide some insight on stallions who fell just short of the 2023-24 All-Value Sire Team's First and Second Teams, but still merited a shoutout.

This year's edition of the All-Value Sire Team is rounding to its finale, with just one more installment, two more positions, and four more stallions to be recognized next week. Those will be the Rising Star (stallions with two to four crops of racing age in 2024) and the Regional Star (stallions standing outside of Kentucky).

That means we have several stallions that are mathematically eliminated from making the roster due to their divisions having already been recognized. However, that by no means suggests that the stallions who didn't make this year's team are devoid of value or ability. In fact, there are some outstanding sires that kept showing up at or near the top of the lists, or made an impression on me upon physical inspection that simply couldn't get past the top two in a given division, and it frustrated me that I couldn't find a spot for them.

Let's take a look at some of the stallions that didn't make this year's team, but still stood out during my research. To avoid any spoilers for next week, there won't be any stallions eligible for the Rising Star or Regional Star positions.

To see who has already made the team, click here.

And, to see the massive spreadsheet I've used to track 159 value sires by 51 different statistical categories to aid in my decision-making process, sign up for our Patreon.

Caracaro

B. h., 2017, Uncle Mo x Peace Time, by War Front

Standing at Crestwood Farm, KY, $6,500

If you want to minimize risk standing a new stallion, stand a son of Uncle Mo. There are few active sires with a more proven track record of not just getting sons to stud, but getting sons to stud who get the job done.

I'm especially interested in the cross between Uncle Mo and a War Front mare, and Caracaro is the lone example of that at stud in North America. Fortunately, he gives me everything I want to see in that cross.

Uncle Mo is known for putting size and substance in his best sons, and Caracaro is as solid as they come. I see the War Front/Danzig influence come through in his neck and shoulder, and in his frame, which is slightly more compact than I'm used to seeing from an Uncle Mo stallion. His median yearling sale price of $27,000 has been competitive among first-crop yearling sires of 2023 that stand for $20,000 or less, so it's good to see buyers are accepting him, as well.

It wouldn't surprise me if Caracaro's runners have a few different ways to win. Uncle Mo is a dirt sire through and through, and Caracaro was himself a graded stakes-level runner on the main track. Still, he's got such a big foot under him, if he's able to pass that along, it could take to the turf nicely. Add that to the clear physical influence we see from the broodmare sire, and the Australian success of his siblings, and there's reason to believe the Caracaros could do grass once they hit the track.

Core Beliefs

B. h., 2015, Quality Road x Tejati, by Tactical Advantage

Standing at Walmac Farm, KY, $5,000

I make a point to get out to as many farms as I can to include physical presence to my All-Value Sire Team picks, beyond what a carefully posed conformation shot can provide. This also helps me learn how stallions develop as they settle in to their new careers, and there has been perhaps no more dramatic transformation in the Kentucky sire ranks in recent years than Core Beliefs.

When I saw him ahead of his first season at stud, I wasn't blown away. He was kind of gawky and needed to fill out and find his balance. When I saw him a year later, he'd matured dramatically. When I saw him this past September, he was a man, capable of standing beside anyone in the Kentucky stallion ranks.

The Walmac Farm stallion team has done a masterful job bringing him along, and I hope breeders that might have written him off early on go back and give him a second look if they've got a mare with some leg. (Yes, I am speaking glowingly about the sponsor of this segment. No, the sponsorship doesn't have anything to do with why I'm saying it. I've been singing the praises of their stallion team long before they came on as a sponsor.)

Greatest Honour

B. h., 2018, Tapit x Tiffany's Honour, by Street Cry

Standing at Spendthrift Farm, KY, $7,500

A member of last year's All-Value Sire Team, Greatest Honour has a walk to die for, with a physical and pedigree to match. I wanted to see more out of the median sale price during his first mixed sale season as a covering sire, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if his first foals come out firing in the auction ring next year, and he's back on the team from there.

Happy Saver

Ch. h., 2017, Super Saver x Happy Week, by Distorted Humor

Standing at Airdrie Stud, KY, $10,000

The clubhouse leader for most dramatic physical change before and after his first season at stud among the value sires, and arguably among first-year sires at any price.

Happy Saver came to Airdrie Stud shortly after his farewell start in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland following a pretty taxing campaign. There was plenty to like there – his scope, his shoulder, and his athleticism – but he was still definitely race-fit and lean. In a year's time, he put on a lot of muscle, filling out in the chest and getting some more shape in the hindquarters. He's wonderfully balanced and has an elite Wertheimer page backing him up. If his foals develop like he did, astute breeders could end up looking very smart in a few years' time.

Idol

B. h., 2017, Curlin x Marion Ravenwood, by A.P. Indy

Standing at Taylor Made Stallions, KY, $10,000

I fully expected to go to the Taylor Made stallion complex and be underwhelmed by Idol. The California handicap ranks were nothing to write home about during his heyday, and the stallion market is getting flush with sons of Curlin.

Then, I got a look at him in person and it all made sense.

Idol moves like a cat on the walk, helping show off his long scope. He's a bit racier than the typical son of Curlin at stud, but I see that as a positive for him. We know that Curlin over an A.P. Indy mare is a proven formula on the racetrack, and your two options to reach that cross in the stud book are Idol and WinStar Farm's Global Campaign.

Oh, and Idol's a full-brother to champion Nest. So, if you need any further proof that this proven cross is especially proven with this particular mating, there you go. By all rights, this should work.

Known Agenda

Ch. h., 2018, Curlin x Byrama, by Byron

Standing at Spendthrift Farm, KY, $7,500

Another member of last year's All-Value Sire Team, Known Agenda has been priced incredibly fairly by Spendthrift Farm for what he offers on the page and at the end of the shank. Where Idol is on the lankier side for a son of Curlin, Known Agenda is on the stockier side. This horse devoured two turns on the track, so a lengthier mare could lean into that preference, or a bulkier mare could create one heck of a middle-distance horse. I'm so eager to see his foals hit the track in 2025.

Smooth Like Strait

B. h., 2017, Midnight Lute x Smooth as Usual, by Flower Alley

Standing at War Horse Place, KY, $3,500

As a stallion operation looking to relaunch its brand, War Horse Place has taken the path of trying to draw eyes through bargain pricing, and Smooth Like Strait absolutely merits a look at $3,500.

Smooth Like Strait was a graded winner each year from ages two to four, and it was rare that the gates opened and wasn't in the mix at the end. His turf preferences show through in his build, with a wide turfy foot and a lot of scope. At 16.1 hands tall, he should match well physically with a wide variety of mares.

More money gets poured into the North American turf program every year, and with an entry point this low, that could mean more room for profit if he can replicate his own success on the grass.

Summer Front

B. h., 2009, War Front x Rose of Summer, by El Prado

Standing at Airdrie Stud, KY, $5,000

It was neck-and-neck between Airdrie Stud barnmates Summer Front and Cairo Prince for the Second Team spot in the Turf Sire position. Cairo Prince ultimately won out, but after poring over the numbers, I gained a lot of respect for what Summer Front's been doing at stud. He and Cairo Prince were practically deadlocked in a lot of turf categories, and each of them were in the upper tier among sires standing for $20,000 or less.

If you're breeding to race with turf in mind, think hard about Summer Front.

Take Charge Indy

Dk. b. or br. h., A.P. Indy x Take Charge Lady, by Dehere

Standing at WinStar Farm, KY, $10,000

No matter how I sorted out the Team Captain and Veteran lists, Take Charge Indy just kept showing up. He gets 59 percent winners from horses of racing age, and 16 percent wins from total progeny starts, which both stack up very well among sires in this price bracket. His median yearling sale price also rose in 2023 to $30,000, which is well above his lifetime median.

He's hurting badly for the kind of breakout star or two that brought him back from Korea in the first place, but short of that, he's doing practically anything else you'd want to see from a sire in this price tier. With more foals from his return to the States about to hit the track, bred knowing what he was capable of, that next star could be just around the corner.

Zandon

Dk. b. or br. c., 2019, Upstart x Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause

Standing at Spendthrift Farm, $12,500

I had three extremely worthy horses for two spots in the Rookie category of the All-Value Sire Team, and it killed me to leave Zandon out.

His sire Upstart is a big, leggy horse, and Zandon got all of that in his own frame. He has a commanding presence coming out of the stall, and even fresh off the track, his walk was so impressive. Spendthrift Farm gets support to its rookie stallions like no other, so Zandon should have plenty of opportunities to show himself off through his foals.

In the meantime, I can't wait to see him next year to see how he settles in physically after a season of the stallion life. I bet he'll be quite the sight.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Notes From The All-Value Sire Team Trail appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A half-dozen years ago, a chestnut colt named Solomini (by Curlin) finished first in the (then) Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity. In the 2017 race, the first two home were trained by Bob Baffert, and the margins were small, as Solomini prevailed by three-quarters of a length over McKinzie (Street Sense), who had a head advantage over Instilled Regard (Arch).

After a stretch drive notable for its contentious nature, the stewards disqualified Solomini from first to third for interference, and this past Saturday, Dec. 16, Solomini's son Wynstock won the 2023 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) by a half-length from Stronghold (Ghostzapper), who was a half-length ahead of the odds-on favorite, Coach Prime (Quality Road). Like the 2017 renewal, there was a stewards inquiry, but this time the original result was allowed to stand.

Wynstock is the third stakes winner and first graded stakes winner from the first crop of foals by Solomini, and the irony of the situation is that, after the 2017 Futurity, Solomini never again finished first in a stakes.

Prior to the 2017 Los Alamitos Futurity, Solomini had been second in the G1 FrontRunner to Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and second again in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile to subsequent divisional champion Good Magic (Curlin), with Bolt d'Oro third. Coming into the fourth renewal of the Futurity staged at Los Alamitos, Solomini would have been reckoned one of the very best of his crop of juvenile colts (he was one of the three finalists for the Eclipse Award in the division), but he started second favorite to the unbeaten McKinzie, who had won his debut by 5 ½ lengths the previous month.

Solomini lost little regard with his defeat to the stewards, but the colt's failure to continue improving and win a major race became a major hurdle for him as a stallion prospect. Although he finished second in the G2 Rebel Stakes and third in the G1 Arkansas Derby, his first two starts at 3, Solomini placed in only one subsequent stakes.

Racing through the end of his 4-year-old season, Solomini was the forgotten horse among the stars of the crop. Whereas Justify sold to stand at Ashford, Good Magic went to Hill 'n' Dale, and McKinzie came to Gainesway, Solomini went to stud in New York.

The handsome chestnut was acquired to stand at the McMahon family's McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, which stands some of the most successful stallions in New York, including this year's top state sire, Central Banker (Speightstown).

Ranking eighth overall among all New York sires, Solomini has stepped to the front of the class with three stakes winners from his freshman crop. Among the national freshmen of 2023, Solomini ranks seventh behind the Spendthrift quartet (Mitole, Maximus Mischief, Vino Rosso, and Omaha Beach), Flameaway (Darby Dan), and Audible (WinStar).

Solomini's son Wynstock is the 14^th winner of the Futurity for trainer Bob Baffert. He has trained the winner of the Futurity at Los Alamitos eight times from the 10 renewals at the track; previously contested as the Hollywood Futurity, the race had six times been won by racers conditioned by Baffert when run at Hollywood Park.

When Solomini went to stud at the McMahon family operation, “We had very high expectations for him because he was a son of Curlin and beat some really nice horses,” said John McMahon. “But this weekend has brought tons of interest in the horse and inquiries about breeding to him.

“From the way his 2-year-olds were training and the maiden special winners, we knew he was in a good position,” John said. “We were hoping December was going to be a big month, and it all came together really well this weekend.”

In addition to the Los Alamitos Futurity, Solomini's offspring won the New York Stallion Stakes (filly division) with My Shea D Lady on Saturday and got second place in the colts' division with Heavyweight Champs after the disqualification of the original runner-up.

Bred in New York by Empire Equines LLC, Wynstock is out of the Flatter mare Timberlea. She had been a $50,000 September yearling at Keeneland in 2016, but from eight starts at 3 and 4, she managed only a third-place finish and earnings of $11,554.

So, she must have been a more than satisfactory individual when presented as a broodmare prospect in the Keeneland January sale of 2020, because she brought $10,500 as a young mare suitable for mating.

The buyer was McMahon and Hill Bloodstock, agent for Empire Equines, “which is the entity of John and Sandy Crowe,” Mike McMahon said. “They are longtime clients and keep the mare at my parents' farm in New York.”

John Crowe said, “We bought a share in Solomini, and looking back, I wish we'd bought two. Then we needed a mare for him. Mike and I had jointly decided that an A.P. Indy-line mare would suit Solomini quite well and ended up buying two Flatter mares, with both going to Solomini.”

Wynstock was the first foal of the mare, Timberlea, who was barren for 2022 but has a Mo Town filly of 2023. She was bred back to Solomini for a 2024 foal.

That prospective foal is now a full sibling to a graded stakes winner and won't be shuffled into the third thousand of the Keeneland September sale, like Wynstock, who nonetheless sold for $50,000 as a yearling to Gerardo Barragan and then resold for $700,000 as a juvenile in training at this year's OBS April sale, where he was consigned by Caliente Thoroughbreds. Los Alamitos owner Dr. Edward Allred and track executive F. Jack Liebau were the buyers.

At the preview for that auction, Wynstock breezed a furlong in :09 4/5 and showed a stride length of slightly more than 27 feet, one of the longest strides of the breeze season, and earned a BreezeFig of 80, which is a massive number for a 2-year-old sales horse.

With Wynstock and other promising performers from his first crop, “Solomini's first crop has put him in the national spotlight,” John McMahon said, “and we're very excited about his prospects for the future.”

Frank Mitchell is author of Racehorse Breeding Theories, as well as the book Great Breeders and Their Methods: The Hancocks. In addition to writing the column “Sires and Dams” in Daily Racing Form for nearly 15 years, he has contributed articles to Thoroughbred Daily News, Thoroughbred Times, Thoroughbred Record, International Thoroughbred, and other major publications. In addition, Frank is chief of biomechanics for DataTrack International and is a hands-on caretaker of his own broodmares and foals in central Kentucky. Check out Frank's Bloodstock in the Bluegrass blog.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Solomini Stock Rising With Big December appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Who's knocking at the door?

It's a bay colt. He's here with his agent, Conor Foley, and personal trainer, Danny Gargan, and the colt says that you're supposed to interview them.

Is that Dornoch?

Yes, Dornoch has knocked. The door has been answered. He says the password is “Remsen.”

Victory in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes on Dec. 2 has opened a lot of doors for Dornoch, as well as his connections.

Co-owner Larry Conley, founder of West Paces Racing, said that “getting this colt [before everyone knew the quality of his full brother Mage] is really down to Conor and his team at Oracle Bloodstock. They put us in the right spot to succeed.”

As part-explanation of the reason for their interest in the colt, Foley said, “We have been associated with this family for several years. I was involved in the selection of Puca as a yearling [at Keeneland September in 2013], and she became a stakes winner while racing for Donegal Stable.”

When the mare's first colt, a foal of 2020 by the champion juvenile Good Magic (by Curlin) came to the sales, Foley and his team at Oracle Bloodstock inspected and strongly approved of the result. Foley said, “We vetted Mage and tried to buy him, but the owners who did [at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale] have been tremendous for racing this year.”

Only four months later, however, “I saw the full brother,” Foley said, “and he was such a different horse. He's more like the dam, a little bigger and rangier. The day he sold, Danny and I went to the sale with this one in mind, and I remember jogging to the ring to be ready for this colt.”

Dornoch's trainer noted: “He's a powerful horse with a world of athleticism; the impressive thing is how strongly he finishes his works and how well he gallops out past his work distance.”

A winner of the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct by the minimum margin wouldn't typically be earning such raves for his accomplishment, but Dornoch made an impression with his effort to win the Remsen. Holding the lead nicely as he turned into the stretch, Dornoch flirted with the rail and allowed Sierra Leone to make a fetching run on the outside to take the lead and appear to be on his way to victory.

Not so. Dornoch switched back to business and made steady progress against his rival to win narrowly on the wire. The top two separated themselves from the third-place colt, Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun), by 4 ¾ lengths.

Bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine, Dornoch is out of the Big Brown mare Puca, who went through the Keeneland November sale last month. She passed through the ring unsold at $2.8 million, then John Stewart bought her shortly thereafter for $2.9 million in foal to Good Magic (Curlin).

Champion juvenile Good Magic is also the sire of Dornoch and his full brother, 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage. The Derby winner has been retired to stud for 2024 and will stand at Airdrie Stud for a fee of $25,000. Their sire stands at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa for a stud fee of $125,000 live foal, if you can secure a season.

As a first-crop yearling, Mage sold to New Team for $235,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale, then resold to OGMA Investments as a 2-year-old at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale for $290,000. Racing for CMNWLTH, OGMA, Sterling Racing, and Ramiro Restrepo, the chestnut colt won two of his seven starts, finished second in the G1 Florida Derby and Haskell, third in the G1 Preakness, and earned $2.5 million.

The year-younger Dornoch sold for $325,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale to Oracle Bloodstock, agent, and races for West Paces Racing LLC, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding LLC, Two Eight Racing LLC, and Pine Racing Stables.

Now a winner in two of four starts, Dornoch earned his first black type with a second-place finish in his second start, the Sapling Stakes, then won a maiden special at Keeneland. To win his maiden, Dornoch led at every call and pulled away to win by 6 ½ lengths as the odds-on favorite in the mile and a sixteenth race. To win the Remsen, favored Dornoch led at every pole up to the stretch call, when Sierra Leone was in front, then again when it mattered most.

Conley said, “What a heart, what a competitive spirit. You can't train that, can't buy that.

“For all of us involved with this colt, every week is going to be like Christmas week for the next few months; right now, he's getting some rest, then getting ready for the New Year.”

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Dornoch Already Living Up To Fast-Growing Pedigree appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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If Curlin were to get any hotter, I suppose the imposing chestnut son of leading sire Smart Strike (by Mr. Prospector) would have to be trotting through the Sahara Desert.

Not only did the Big C have three winners at the highest level in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup races on Saturday – Cody's Wish in the BC Dirt Mile, Idiomatic in the BC Distaff, and Elite Power in the BC Sprint – but Curlin's sons Keen Ice and Good Magic have sired the last two winners of the G1 Kentucky Derby. Although the 2023 Derby winner Mage did not go in the BC Classic, Good Magic's top juvenile son Muth was second in the BC Juvenile and had previously won the G1 American Pharoah.

In contrast to all the immediate success and raging popularity of Clan Curlin, consider the fortunes of the sire of the colt who defeated Muth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Fierceness. The Juvenile winner is from the second crop to race by Pegasus Invitational winner City of Light (Quality Road). A winner in six of his 11 starts, including the G1 Malibu at 3, the BC Dirt Mile, G1 Triple Bend, and G2 Oaklawn Handicap at 4, and the G1 Pegasus at 5, City of Light showed very high ability, and when he was retired to stud at Lane's End Farm for the 2019 season, he proved one of the most popular young sires.

He deserved to be and not only on the score of his best racing performances. The striking bay impressed more than one knowledgeable judge as the best physical in a good-looking group of new sire prospects that year, which included champions Justify (Scat Daddy), Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky), and Good Magic.

The horse continued to impress with his early yearlings and 2-year-olds in training, as they averaged three and four times his entering stud fee of $60,000 for a live foal.

Yet, a year ago with the first racers by City of Light at the races, things were not going the way one would have hoped for this bright prospect of the stallion firmament. At the end of the season, he ranked only 10^th among freshmen sires, behind crop leader Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Good Magic, and Justify. And there wasn't a runner among the whole crop from City of Light who could have warmed up Fierceness.

Such a difference a year makes.

Because Fierceness, oh Fierceness, was not just an average winner of a Breeders' Cup race. He did not win by a modest margin in a “brave display” or hold off a charging foe in an “exercise in gameness.” Fierceness won the Juvenile by one of the longer margins in the history of the 40 years of the Breeders' Cup: 6 ¼ lengths. Champion and subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense won by the greatest margin: 10 lengths. Likewise, divisional champion and Horse of the Year Favorite Trick (Phone Trick) had won his Juvenile by 5 ½ lengths, even more than the amazing Arazi (Blushing Groom), who had been five lengths ahead of Bertrando.

And just in case some are inclined to whisper, “who'd he beat,” each of the next four finishers – Muth (American Pharoah), Locked (Breeders' Futurity), Timberlake (Champagne), and Prince of Monaco (Del Mar Futurity) – are already winners at the G1 level. Those results suggest that this is a pretty good Juvenile and that Fierceness might be a better than good winner of the race.

Bred in Kentucky by Repole Stable Inc., Fierceness is the first runner and winner out of the winning Nonna Bella (Stay Thirsty). In addition to racing the colt and his dam, Repole Stable also bred both, and Nonna Bella is a half-sister to G1 Wood Memorial winner Outwork (Uncle Mo), and the dam of Outwork and Nonna Bella is the Empire Maker mare Nonna Mia. She is a half-sister to Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile), a winner in three of his five starts, including the G2 Holy Bull and G2 Nashua Stakes.

Far more than that bare record, however, Cairo Prince was “one of the ones.” He was so impressive in his late juvenile and early 3-year-old form that he drew multi-million dollar offers from around the world. All that promise on the track was cut short by ill fate, but this is a pedigree that long has flirted with athleticism of a very high order, and Fierceness may be the one who fulfills the promises of the past.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Quality Runs Deep In Family Of BC Juvenile Winner Fierceness appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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