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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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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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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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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Another graded stakes winner was added to the stallion's list when Liberal Arts won the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oct. 28. The iron gray colt trailed early, then galloped on bravely through the muddy stretch at Churchill to win the mile and a sixteenth event by 2 ¾ lengths.

Now a winner in two of his five starts and placed in all, Liberal Arts had run third to West Saratoga (Exaggerator) and Risk It (Gun Runner) in the G3 Iroquois Stakes on Sept. 16 in his previous start. After finishing third in his debut at Churchill Downs in May, Liberal Arts had come back to run second in a maiden special at Ellis in July, then won his maiden at Ellis on Aug. 13, victorious by a length going seven furlongs from Otto the Conqueror (Street Sense), who has won his two subsequent starts for trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Three Chimneys Farm.

Bred in Kentucky by the father-son team of Stephen and Evan Ferraro, Liberal Arts is a March 24 foal out of Ismene, a stakes-winning daughter of the Storm Cat stallion Tribal Rule. This pedigree is fully invested in family, and Evan Ferraro noted that “my mother Richmond used to do all the stallion advertising for River Edge,” the California farm where Tribal Rule was bred and stood at stud for Marty and Pam Wygod.

After conditioning such stars as Carry the Banner (Advocator; G2 Argonaut Handicap) and Painted Wagon (Gummo; Bay Meadows Handicap, Lakes and Flowers Handicap; 2nd in the G1 San Antonio, 3rd in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap), the elder Ferraro had retired from training in 1990 but continued to attend the races, and he purchased the second dam of Liberal Arts from breeder John Harris in a private transaction about 20 years ago. Never to Excess was a winning daughter of leading California stallion In Excess, who was by Caro's high-class son Siberian Express.

“John Harris was kind enough to let me buy into this family,” Ferraro said, “and Never to Excess turned out to be a good producer for us.” The dam of Never to Excess was Margaret Booth (Well Decorated), winner of the Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar and a half-sister to G1 winners Cacoethes (Alydar) and Fabulous Notion (Somethingfabulous). And this was a truly enviable family to breed from.

From Never to Excess, Ferraro bred three winners, including the stakes-placed Oonga Boonga, and all were by Tribal Rule. The best of these was Ismene, the dam of Liberal Arts. At two, Ismene won the Anoakia Stakes and the California Breeders' Champion Stakes, and she was named the California-bred champion juvenile filly in 2011.

Unbeaten at two, Ismene missed her entire 3-year-old season “due to a chip in the upper capsule of her knee,” Stephen Ferraro said. “But she did come back to race well at four.” That season, the dark brown filly was second in the B. Thoughtful Stakes, the Irish O'Brien Handicap, and the California Distaff Handicap, and she raced in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Filly Sprint, although unplaced behind Groupie Doll and Judy the Beauty.

Sent to stud, Ismene promptly produced stakes winner Ismelucky (Lucky Pulpit) and stakes-placed Nardini (Acclamation). With those good black-type successes, the breeders then decided “to try a stallion in Kentucky,” Evan recalled, “and I guess we got lucky” with Liberal Arts.

Stephen Ferraro said that the dam “was good sized, and Evan was able to get us a season to Arrogate, and not only was Arrogate a fabulous racehorse, but one of the reasons we wanted to breed to him was that we got another cross to Caro through Unbridled's Song. I thought that was the key to this mating.”

It certainly has turned out fortuitously for the Ferraros.

In the meantime, though, they decided to sell the mare, and she went to the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale in foal to Liam's Map, also a son of Unbridled's Song. With Liberal Arts a short yearling at the time, Ismene sold for $65,000 to Mike Abraham.

And they almost sold the colt. “My dad thought about selling this colt but kept him and decided to see what he could do with a racehorse here at 80 years of age,” Evan Ferraro said.

Now the gray son of a gray champion with a number of important gray ancestors is shaping up like a colt who can keep owners and fans dreaming through the winter. Dreaming of what might be.

The seasoned owner Stephen Ferraro takes a pragmatic line: “We hope that the colt will prove to be a worthy successor in the family line. He certainly is a lot of fun.”

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Liberal Arts A Capstone Horse For Ferraro Family Racing, Breeding Programs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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On Oct. 14, two daughters of the Darley stallion won graded stakes at Woodbine. The 6-year-old Spun Glass won the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes, with another daughter of Hard Spun, the stakes-winning 4-year-old Loyalty, in third place. On the same card, the 5-year-old Millie Girl won the G3 Ontario Matron.

Each of those three is bred on the most popular mating pattern of the past few decades: Northern Dancer crossed with Mr. Prospector.

Hard Spun provides the Northern Dancer, and his successful daughters are out of mares by Elusive Quality (Loyalty), Songandaprayer (Spun Glass), and Smart Strike (Millie Girl). In addition, Elysian Field (Hard Spun), winner of the Woodbine Oaks in July, also was produced by a daughter of Smart Strike.

Of course, Hard Spun himself is bred on the related cross of Northern Dancer with Mr. Prospector's sire Raise a Native through that stallion's great son Alydar and his champion son Turkoman. The latter is the broodmare sire of Hard Spun, and Turkoman is responsible for much of the physical type of Hard Spun.

The stallion is not the most typical son of Danzig, whose most common good performers were strongly made, lengthy and well-muscled horses, and frequently not especially tall. Although quick and quite talented, Hard Spun took the height and scope and bone of Turkoman; as might be expected, this son of Danzig frequently presents a mix of physical types among his foals.

But they have a common trait: many of them are quite effective athletes.

From 13 crops of foals of racing age, Hard Spun has 1,948 foals in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and 1,046 winners who have earned nearly $150 million. Among them are 100 stakes winners at present, and these include such as champion Questing (G1 Alabama Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks); Silver State (G1 Metropolitan Handicap), Aloha West (G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint), Spun to Run (G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile), and the current-year stakes winner Two Phil's. The latter won a trio of G3 stakes, including the Ohio Derby, but is best-known for his effort in the 2023 Kentucky Derby, staying within striking distance of the leaders, taking the lead off the turn, and then battling through the stretch and holding second against winner Mage (Good Magic).

The latter quartet above are all young horses at stud. Two Phil's enters stud for 2024 at WinStar at a fee of $12,500. Top sprinter Aloha West entered stud at Mill Ridge for the 2023 season and covered a full book at a fee of $10,000. Silver State entered stud at Claiborne in 2022. His first foals will be yearlings in 2024, and he will have a stud fee of $15,000. Spun to Run entered stud at Gainesway in 2021, and his first crop of foals will be 2-year-olds of 2024. He will stand for a fee of $10,000 next year.

So Hard Spun will have a likeable group of sons competing for success at stud in the coming years, just as his daughters are acquiring a reputation as broodmares.

And Hard Spun himself comes from a fine producing family. His stakes-winning dam Turkish Tryst also produced the stakes winner Our Rite of Spring (Stravinsky), who is the granddam of champion Improbable (City Zip). Hard Spun's second dam is Darbyvail, a Roberto half-sister to champion and classic winner Little Current (Sea-Bird), and the third dam is Luiana (Our Babu).

Although unraced, Luiana had a champion pedigree; two of her earlier siblings had been champions. Her half-sister Primonetta, from the first crop by Horse of the Year Swaps, was unbeaten and highly regarded at two, then was one of the top fillies of 1961, and she was named champion older filly in 1962.

The following season, Primonetta's full brother, the two-years younger Chateaugay, won both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes and was named champion 3-year-old colt of 1963.

Both of these champions were bred and raced by Darby Dan Farm, which had acquired their dam, Banquet Bell (Polynesian), for $9,000 as a yearling at the 1952 Keeneland summer sale. Primonetta was the mare's second foal, Chateaugay her third, and Luiana was the fifth.

A source of distinguished achievement, Banquet Bell produced champions for Darby Dan and continues as a fount of athleticism for breeders in America and abroad.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Hard Spun Spins On appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The high-spirited bay son of a leading sire and out of a stakes-winning daughter of another leading sire, Alydar, was a source of amazing talent. He set a track record at Belmont Park in his debut at two and ran a dead-heat with Devil His Due (Devil's Bag) in the Gotham Stakes at three, but trainer Shug McGaughey knew something wasn't quite right with the talented colt because he threw in some clunkers in between efforts of excellence.

Putting the colt on the turf changed his outlook and his future. Lure won his turf debut by 10 ¼ lengths at Saratoga as a 3-year-old. The colt never ran on anything else again, and in 18 starts on that surface, Lure won 11 and was second in six. Earning more than $2.5 million, his victories included two runnings of the Breeders' Cup Mile, and Lure was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2013.

A horse with the speed that Lure clearly possessed and with an exceptional pedigree created immense interest in Lure as a stallion when he was retired to stand at Claiborne Farm, where he was born and raised. Alas, his fertility was so bad that the farm had to file a claim for their fertility insurance on the horse. Purchased from the insurance company by Coolmore, Lure proved a consistent disappointment in his fertility, no matter where he stood or how he was managed.

Returned to live out his years at Claiborne Farm after he was pensioned from stud duty in 2003, Lure died from the infirmities of old age in 2017. He was 28.

Few would have expected Lure to found an enduring male-line branch for his illustrious sire Danzig, due to Lure's marginal fertility that produced 133 named foals, but nobody told Orpen, who was a member of Lure's first crop.

In fact, Orpen was the star of the crop for Lure because he won the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville in France as a 2-year-old and ran third in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh at three. Sent to stud, Orpen flitted around the globe like a swallow, standing at stud in Ireland, France, Argentina, and Australia, and he sired champions in Argentina, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, and Turkey.

Argentina, in particular, proved a fertile field for the stallion's plow, and that is the homeland of Didia, winner of the G2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita. John Stuart, bloodstock agent and raconteur, said that “Didia was bred by a longtime friend and associate, of 20 years or more, down in Argentina, Dr. Ignacio Pavlovsky.

“This filly was really talented, had been a champion there, had a strong dam behind her, and as a result, she was expensive,” Stuart concluded. The mare had won her last three races in Argentina, including the G1 Enrique Acebal and G1 Copa de Plata-Roberto Vasquez Mansilla-Internacional, before her purchase by Merriebelle Stable.

From six starts in the U.S. for Merriebelle since her importation last year, Didia has won five and finished second in the G1 New York Stakes to Marketsegmentation (American Pharoah). Didia is being pointed for the Breeders' Cup and then a potential appearance at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Didia is one of 15 champions credited to Orpen by Equineline statistics, and the stallion is listed with 120 stakes winners. These are not the only fascinating statistics associated with Orpen, however. From 21 crops of racing age, he has 3,134 foals, which is the second-largest number of foals that I can find among flat-racing stallions.

Among other noted sires with great longevity, Galileo leads all and has 3,234 foals, exactly 100 more than Orpen, and has 371 stakes winners. Among active sires, there are Medaglia d'Oro (2,348; 164); Uncle Mo (1,753; 92); Into Mischief (1,620; 138); and Curlin (1,253; 96).

Orpen died from complications of colic surgery in Argentina in early 2021, and his last foals are of racing age. So his overall foal numbers should be fairly set, and he will no doubt have additional stakes and perhaps champions.

One such is Davide, a full brother to Didia who was sold as a yearling to race in Singapore and is a champion there. With racers of championship quality from both hemispheres and across multiple countries, Orpen has spread the influence of Lure far and wide.

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In addition to the Arc trifecta for the house of Frankel, the sire's daughter Kelina won the G1 Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs at Longchamp later on the Arc card. Back in June, this 3-year-old filly had won the G2 Prix de Sandringham at Chantilly.

Also at Chantilly earlier in the summer, Ace Impact had scored his most important prior victory, storming through the stretch to win the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club raced over 2,000 meters. Although favored for the Arc, Ace Impact had to produce a startling turn of speed through the stretch to overtake Westover, who had maintained a good position near the leaders from the start, while Ace Impact and Onesto were much farther back.

Now unbeaten in a career of six starts that began on Jan. 26 at Cagnes-sur-Mer, Ace Impact was bred in Ireland by Mrs. Waltraut Spanner from the Anaaba Blue mare Absolutly Me, and Ace Impact was purchased at the Arqana August yearling sale in 2021 by trainer Jean-Claude Rouget as agent.

Yet Ace Impact overcame more than the odds against a good field of competitors on Oct. 1. For, among all the odds-against that a racehorse must exceed to become a champion, one of the certainties is that he must have a ninth dam, and the ninth dam of Ace Impact was simply lucky to live.

This was La Grelee, a 1918 daughter of the French-based stallion Helicon (Cyllene) and the Kilglass mare Grignouse foaled in France at Jean Couturier's Le Mesnil. A good-sized chestnut, La Grelee was born with a most unfortunate set of forelegs, and the circumstance was enough of a problem that breeder William A. Chanler was going to have the filly euthanized.

Couturier, however, asked to purchase the filly, and Chanler agreed to transfer the filly to Couturier but refused to accept any payment.

La Grelee became the dam of 10 winners in Couturier's stud and became the breeder's foundation mare with such performers as Rialto (Rabelais), who won the Prix Dollar, Prix d'Ispahan, and the Grand International d'Ostende. At stud, Rialto sired Wild Risk, a foal of 1940 who raced during the Second World War in German-occupied France and was far from being considered a top racer or sire prospect.

At stud, however, Wild Risk sired Worden, winner of the 1953 Washington D.C. International and other important races; Vimy, winner of the 1955 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and second in the Prix du Jockey-Club; Balto, winner of the 1961 Grand Prix de Paris at three and the Ascot Gold Cup at four; and even more importantly, Le Fabuleux, winner of the 1964 Prix du Jockey-Club and seven other races from 11 starts. After an excellent beginning at stud in France, Le Fabuleux was imported to stand in Kentucky at Claiborne, and the immense chestnut had a major impact in the States. He is notably the broodmare sire of Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Unbridled (Fappiano).

Rialto's full sister, the chestnut Roahouga, was born when Rabelais was 25. This did not stop Roahouga from becoming a high-class performer and winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in 1928. Her half-sister Phebe (Pharis) was third in the 1933 running of the same event, which gives some indication of the importance of La Grelee to French breeding and racing. Phebe's branch of the family produced the Arc winner, as well as Teleprompter (Welsh Pageant), winner of the 1985 Arlington Million, and Ouija Board (Cape Cross), who won the 2004 Oaks at Epsom and at the Currah, as well as the Breeders' Cup Filly Turf in 2004 and 2006.

Despite the French connections of her parents and descendants, La Grelee came from an American female line. It was, in fact, one of the greatest and most famous of American lines, and this is the family of the greatest American sire of the 19^th century: Lexington.

This line goes back to the Jack of Diamonds mare (born 1760) in the U.S. and goes forward past Lexington (1850) to Kentucky Derby winners Baden-Baden (1877) and Leonatus (1883), Preakness winners The Bard (1886), Damrosch (1916), and Dauber (1938); and to 1960 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Puissant Chef.

The branch of the family that gave us the 2023 Arc winner went overseas in 1908 when Chanler exported La Grelee's second dam Simper (Sempronius) in foal to Olympian (Domino). Chanler and other breeders and racing men were exporting American stock to Europe at this time because New York and other states had outlawed gambling, which had the effect of shutting down racing in most states in the country.

The American owners and breeders found a less-restrictive sporting life in Europe, and breeders there found good horses that helped to improve the racing fortunes of Marcel Boussac and Federico Tesio, among others.

The post Bloodlines: Arc Winner Ace Impact And The Crooked Foal appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 23, the strongly favored Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) broke alertly, held the lead at every call, and won by a half-length from Dreamlike (Gun Runner), who was six lengths ahead of the third-place Il Miracolo (Gun Runner).

With this success, Saudi Crown became the first graded winner and first Grade 1 winner for Always Dreaming, whose first crop are now three. Sold first as a short yearling at the 2021 Keeneland January sale for $45,000, Saudi Crown returned to the sales ring as a 2-year-old in training last spring at the OBS April sale.

At that venue, Saudi Crown flitted a furlong in :10 flat, and then the grand-looking gray was sold to Faisal Mohammed Alqatani, Pedro Lanz agent, for $240,000. Presented by Top Line Sales, the handsome colt brought the third-highest price for a juvenile by Always Dreaming in 2022. Racing for Alqatani's FMQ Stable, Saudi Crown has now won three of his five starts, with a second in the G3 Dwyer to Fort Bragg (Tapit) and in the G2 Jim Dandy to odds-on Forte (Violence) after an eventful stretch run.

Now having earned $817,085, Saudi Crown is his sire's leading earner and the standard-bearer for the stallion's offspring. Always Dreaming himself won four of his 11 starts, including the G1 Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby in a string of successes in the spring of the 3-year-old season. The handsome dark bay won the Kentucky classic in splashing fashion on a sloppy track. Subsequently, the best results for Always Dreaming were a second in the G2 Gulfstream Park Mile and a third in the G2 Jim Dandy.

Retired to stud at WinStar, Always Dreaming has covered large books of quality mares, with 213 foals of racing age from his first two crops. The stallion's other stakes winner is Grand Isle, winner of the Best of Ohio Juvenile.

Bred in Kentucky by China Horse Club (CHC Inc.), Saudi Crown is out of the Tapit mare New Narration. China Horse Club purchased the dam for $500,000 at the 2016 Saratoga select yearling sale. The gray daughter of leading sire Tapit did not get to the starting gate but produced Saudi Crown as her second foal.

At the 2021 Keeneland November sale, China Horse Club sold New Narration, then in foal to WinStar sire Yoshida, for $17,000 to Harry Landry. From two foals to race, New Narration is the dam of two winners.

It is faintly ironic that Mr. Big, the sire of the Cotillion Stakes winner Ceiling Crusher, has exactly the same number of foals of racing age (213) as Always Dreaming … but from 10 crops of racing age.

From nine starts, the son of Dynaformer won two, neither black type, and earned $70,920. Those are not “stallion credentials,” and the now 20-year-old Mr. Big has the travel miles to prove it. He entered stud at owner George Krikorian's Starrwood Farm in Kentucky in 2010, then a half-dozen years later shipped to California, where he has made a circuit of California stallion operations. Currently, he is lodged at Legacy Ranch, with a stud fee of $7,500.

The odds against any horse being a successful stallion are large; much larger than most people recognize. The odds against Mr. Big – who didn't have an exceptional race record – making a success as a stallion were so large, that the numbers won't fit on a page.

But Mr. Big did have something going for him: owner Krikorian sent him a nice mare or two every year. Even so, the horse didn't have more than seven foals in any of his first six crops.

But a colt born in 2014, from the stallion's fourth season at stud that resulted in a crop of three, made a lot of noise.

This was Big Score, who won a pair of stakes, including the G3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland, and placed in a half-dozen more graded races. He earned $702,792, almost exactly 10 times what his sire had earned.

That put Mr. Big on the breeding map, and the stallion now has a dozen stakes winners. Ceiling Crusher has done her part by becoming her sire's second graded stakes winner and first G1 winner.

With six victories from seven starts, Ceiling Crusher is one of five current year stakes winners for Mr. Big, who also has four racers that are stakes-placed in 2023.

Bred in California by Harris Farms, Ceiling Crusher is one of three winners from her dam, the Indian Charlie mare Palisadesprincess. Krikorian had purchased Palisadesprincess at the 2017 Keeneland November sale for $52,000 in foal to Constitution (Tapit), then resold her in the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association January sale in 2020 for $4,500. The mare was in foal to Mr. Big, and the buyer was Harris Farms, which bred the resulting foal, Ceiling Crusher.

Whether they come from famous parents or not, whether they cost large amounts of money or smaller ones, the best horses have one thing in common: they show up on the big days and produce their best efforts. They are the big winners.

The post Bloodlines Presented By ThoroughbredAuctions.Com: Different Roads To The Same Destination For Sires Always Dreaming, Mr. Big appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 16, the gray filly V V's Dream became the first stakes winner for her freshman sire Mitole (Eskendereya), who has a dozen winners to date from a first crop of 159 registered foals. Forty-eight of those have started, and their earnings of $979,847 place him second on the current list of leading freshmen sires.

Like Mitole, four of the five leaders stand at Spendthrift Farm: the list leader Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief; 19 winners), Mitole, Omaha Beach (War Front; 11 winners), and Vino Rosso (Curlin; 10 winners). Only third-place Flameaway (Scat Daddy; 12 winners) stands elsewhere; he is located at historic Darby Dan Farm.

Each of the top five has one stakes winner; these are early days among the freshmen sires, but the pecking order for speed is beginning to take shape.

As a factor for speed, Mitole is no surprise. The Eclipse Award winner as champion sprinter of 2019, Mitole won the G1 Metropolitan Handicap, Breeders' Cup Sprint, Forego Handicap, and two other sprint stakes during his championship season.

Yet for all his speed, Mitole raced only once at two and was third. So, it required some faith in the horse to expect his offspring would be at their best so early. The appearance of V V's Dream is a revelation of ability. The filly slipped into another gear to take the lead in the Pocahontas, then was hand ridden through the stretch to win by 8 ¾ lengths, getting the mile in 1:36.45.

Bred in Kentucky by Mark Stansell, V V's Dream is out the Tapit mare Quay, a three-time winner at three and four who earned $213,526. With earnings at that level, it's surprising the mare didn't get black type herself, and she was fourth in Smart and Fancy Stakes at Saratoga and fifth in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint. From three foals to race, all are winners.

V V's Dream is the mare's first stakes winner, and Quay's dam, the Tale of the Cat mare Skipper Tale, produced four winners, including stakes-placed Quaver (Blame), who is the dam of Kathleen O. (Upstart), the winner of the G2 Davona Dale and Gulfstream Park Oaks last season.

Skipper Tale is a full sister to G3 Railbird Stakes winner Ashley's Kitty, and they have three other stakes winning siblings: Heart Ashley (Lion Heart), winner of the G3 Cicada and Miss Preakness; Indianapolis (Medaglia d'Oro), winner of the San Pedro Stakes at Santa Anita; and Cupid (Tapit), winner of the G1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, as well as the G2 Rebel Stakes, West Virginia Derby, and Indiana Derby, earning more than $1.7 million.

The handsome gray Cupid is the point of intersection between the two graded stakes winners. The son of Tapit is the sire of Carson's Run, who came with a bold move, “ten wide into the stretch,” according to the chart, to defeat his opposition in the G1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine.

The chestnut is the first runner and stakes winner for his dam, the Henny Hughes mare Hot N Hectic, who was a winner at four. The second dam, Wicked Wish (Gold Case), is a half-sister to a pair of hickory racehorses: Wishful Tomcat (Tactical Cat), winner of the G3 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct and $716,843, and Uncle T Seven (Freud), who earned more than a half-million.

A winner of two races and $81,410, Wicked Wish produced the even more formidably tough Rated R Superstar (Kodiak Kowboy), who has won 13 races, retired earlier this year at age 10, and has earned more than $1.8 million, with a trio of G3 stakes victories.

If Carson's Run can combine the longevity of his close relatives with his own obvious talent, he should be a colt who can provide sport of a high order.

Bred in Kentucky by Frankfort Park Farm, Carson's Run was sold by the breeders for $35,000 at the 2022 Keeneland January sale as a short yearling, then resold at the Fasig-Tipton July auction of select yearlings for $67,000, and finally at this year's OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training, went through the sales ring for the third time. Earning a BreezeFig of 69 while working with a stride length of more than 25 feet, Carson's Run attracted the attention of serious buyers.

Consigned by Randy Miles, Carson's Run brought $170,000 from West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey. The consignor said that Bouchey “buys a horse from me every year, and when the West Point guys were showing so much interest in this colt, I told them they ought to get together and buy this colt.

“I didn't know I was selling them a G1 winner,” Miles smiled and shrugged.

Indeed, the good ones can come from anywhere.

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