Tag: Bloodlines

With stakes winners on the West Coast and the East Coast on successive days, at Del Mar on July 28 and at Saratoga on July 29, Arrogate (by Unbridled's Song) doubled his total number of stakes winners.

From the sire's first crop, now three, Arrogate's first stakes winner, Alittleloveandluck, came on New Year's Day, then subsequent Grade 1 winner Secret Oath won the G3 Honeybee on her way to victory in the G1 Kentucky Oaks and becoming one of the best fillies of the year, and a third filly, Fun to Dream, won the Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar on Thursday.

Bred in California by Bob Baffert and Connie Pageler, Fun to Dream is unbeaten in two starts. The filly made her debut on May 28 at Santa Anita and won the maiden special by 6 ¼ lengths as the odds-on favorite while trained by Sean McCarthy.

Back to being trained by Baffert after his return from the wilderness, Fun to Dream made her second start in the Fleet Treat, an event restricted to California-bred or -sired fillies, and again was favored. This time, the gray filly won by 9 ¾ lengths in 1:22.67 for seven furlongs.

The dam of Fun to Dream, Lutess (Maria's Mon), was claimed by Bob Baffert on behalf of Live Your Dream Stable for $8,000 on Feb. 17, 2012, and Lutess thus became a broodmare. Fun to Dream races for Pageler and Natalie Baffert.

The day after Fun to Dream became her sire's third stakes winner, Artorius won the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga and became the first son of Arrogate to win a stakes.

Bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms, “Artorius isn't an overly big horse,” according to Juddmonte farm manager Garrett O'Rourke, “and he isn't especially heavy either. He's more of a greyhound type, very athletic. He had shins, and things like that delayed his progress.”

Now a winner in two of his three starts, Artorius is clearly progressive and drew off to win the listed Curlin Stakes at Saratoga by 4 ¾ lengths in 1:50.34. The dark bay colt was the second choice in the field of eight.

Artorius had been second in his debut on April 16 at Keeneland, then came back on June 10 to win a maiden special at Belmont, racing a mile in 1:35.07. The colt seemed notably professional in racing inside, then between horses, before going on to win his race. Furthermore, the form seems solid, with Preakness third Creative Minister (Creative Cause) finishing 6 ¼ lengths back of the winner.

The Curlin was the third start for Artorius, and the race was both a step up in class and forward in distance. And it is tempting to say that the Arrogate stock want distance, but Fun to Dream showed plenty of speed in California, racing the six furlongs in 1:09.53 before finishing the seven furlongs in quick time.

Juddmonte supplied a substantial portion of Arrogate's book each year the gray champion was at stud, and O'Rourke has seen as many of the horse's offspring as anyone. He said that, in addition to the farm's 3-year-olds, “we have plenty of 2-year-olds and plenty of yearlings. I always felt our 2-year-old crop was deeper than the 3-year-olds. Some of the 2-year-olds have already gone into training.

“The pattern that I think is emerging is giving them time, and when you get a good one, it's worth the wait. That was what we found with Arrogate himself. Shins were the problem with Arrogate at two that prompted Bob to send him back to the farm. Then when he went back to training in California, he was ready.”

After winning a maiden and a pair of allowances as a 3-year-old, Arrogate went to Saratoga for the 2016 Travers, where he scorched the earth in a memorable performance. From then through the Breeders' Cup Classic and Pegasus to his victory in the Dubai World Cup, Arrogate was the best horse in the world.

And Juddmonte was planning for the day when he went to stud.

The farm acquired Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper) privately from breeder Vincent Scuderi after the G2 winner had finished a good third in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Filly Sprint, then won the Garland of Roses in December 2016. The filly promptly continued to compile a four-race winning streak, earning victories for Juddmonte in the G1 Madison at Keeneland, the G1 Distaff at Churchill Downs, and the G2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.

Paulassilverlining ran below her best form in her final two starts, the G1 Ballerina and G1 BC Filly Sprint. Then both she and Arrogate were retired to stud in Kentucky, and Artorius was the result of the mare's first mating. The multiple G1 winner has a 2-year-old filly named Parameter (Into Mischief) with Chad Brown, like the half-brother.

The second-crop sires all toil far in arrears of record-setting Gun Runner ($7.5 million), but Arrogate is a highly respectable third behind Keen Ice (Curlin) ($3.9 million) with $3.5 million in his sire account so far this year. Those are the only second-crop sires with more than $3 million in progeny earnings for 2022.

Arrogate has the smallest number of starters among the top 10 sires on the list; so to be ranked that highly, and with only four stakes winners, the colts and fillies winning maidens are clearly doing so in good company and for good purses. The likelihood is that we will be able to assess the stallion's overall contribution to greater advantage in 18 to 24 months.

The post Bloodlines Presented By CTBA Sales: Coast-To-Coast Scores Boost Late Arrogate On Second-Crop Leaderboard appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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With a one-two finish in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 23, Cyberknife defeating Tiaba by a head, leading sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) is wading into the subtle distinctions that separate truly important sires from the select few who transcend the breed and reshape the sport in their own images.

It is too early to say that, with only one crop at age three, but Gun Runner is stacking up accomplishments that bear scrutiny against the great sires of the past.

One of the most important of those accomplishments is getting multiple top-class performers. That's what makes a sire great – highest-quality offspring – but it's so rare and difficult to achieve.

Thirty-four years ago, Mr. Prospector (Raise a Native) had the one-two in 1988 Haskell. In one of the great rivalries of the 1980s, Forty Niner, the previous year's champion juvenile colt, and Seeking the Gold, a lightly raced and improving 3-year-old, showed the speed and determination that made Mr. Prospector one of the greatest sires in history.

The sons of Mr. Prospector – the chestnut and the bay – turned the 1988 Haskell into one of the best horse races in history. It was a truly thrilling event rarely matched in sport, and yet the same pair of colts came back three weeks later in the Travers at Saratoga and restaged their epic duel with the same result.

In both races, Forty Niner was the winner by a nose.

Twenty-two years earlier, Bold Ruler (Nasrullah) had the one-two finishers in the 1966 Garden State Stakes. Some bold planning in the early 1950s had allowed Garden State Park to boost the purse of their Garden State Stakes to be the richest racing event in the world for 2-year-olds. It drew big fields of the top talent to race over a mile and a sixteenth, and it stood for a generation as a championship deciding event, much in the fashion of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile today.

Coming into the 1966 Garden State, the leading colt was Successor, a full-brother to 1964 juvenile champion Bold Lad. Successor had defeated Dr. Fager (Rough'n Tumble) in the Champagne Stakes, then had a shocking reverse in the Pimlico Futurity when second by a neck to In Reality (Intentionally). Yet a success in the lucrative race in Jersey probably would clinch the divisional championship for the bay colt. (Dr. Fager did not race again in 1966 after the Champagne, which was his only loss at two.)

In the Garden State, Successor ran one of the very best races of his career and won by three lengths over the Bold Ruler son Bold Hour, who had six lengths on the colt in third. Earlier that year, Bold Hour had won the Hopeful and the Futurity; so his second in the Garden State was positively good form. As a 4-year-old, Bold Hour also won a race at Garden State Park called the Amory L. Haskell Handicap, well before that race swapped names with the Monmouth Invitational.

Successor profited from his extra racing at 2 to become the divisional champion of 1966, although he struggled thereafter. Dr. Fager, Damascus, In Reality, and Bold Hour made life tough for everyone else in the division too.

Of all the one-two finishes by great sires of the past, the greatest pairing in the greatest race came in 1948.

Juvenile champion Citation had not met the 3-year-old sensation Coaltown until the Kentucky Derby, when trainers Ben and Jimmy Jones sent both sons of Bull Lea (Bull Dog) out together on one of the worst tracks ever for the Kentucky classic. Churchill Downs that day was a muddy mess.

Coaltown possessed exceptional speed, which he had willingly displayed during his spring preps in Kentucky, and his front-running efforts at Keeneland had swayed local horsemen and observers to believe that not even Citation could cope with his kinsman's ability to turn on the speed early and continue through to the finish.

Both owned by Calumet Farm, Coaltown and Citation ran coupled for betting and were odds-on in the field of six. The unbeaten Coaltown broke alertly and sped away to an open lead by the time he passed under the finish wire the first time. Coaltown continued to lead through quick fractions of :23 2/5 and :46 3/5, by which point Coaltown had whistled away to a six-length lead over the sloppy track.

Citation was racing in second under the capable hands of Eddie Arcaro, however, and the master jockey wasn't going to be trapped into a speed duel with a stablemate. He understood pace far too well. Coaltown's next two quarter-mile fractions of six furlongs in 1:11 2/5 and a mile in 1:38 brought him back to the field, and Arcaro had only to use a hand ride to catch Coaltown by the time he reached the stretch call.

Citation drew off to win “handily” by 3 ½ lengths in 2:05 2/5, and yet none of the other horses could close effectively over the tiring track. That left Bull Lea's two great sons to take the first two positions in the Derby, and Citation went on to win the Triple Crown impressively. The next season, when Citation was on the sidelines regaining soundness, Coaltown took over as champion of the division and Horse of the Year in one of the year-end polls.

One of the barriers to clear comparisons between sires of the past and those of the present is that none of these older sires covered books nearly so large as those of the present. A book of 25 to 40 mares was considered adequate, even preferable, but stallions today are presented with a minimum of 125 mares annually, and some cover close to double that number.

Clearly, there could be some dilution of quality in the mates with such policies, as well as concentration of the top breeding stock in a smaller circle of bloodlines. But it does allow a stallion with the genetic and phenotypic excellence to be a super sire to get more top horses earlier than ever before.

Among contemporary sires, both Tapit (Pulpit) and Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) started off far from the perceived “best” stallion prospects of their crops and had some relatively small early crops from relatively moderate mares. Even Curlin (Smart Strike) had quite a bit of commercial pushback until his early crops began to display consistent classic potential.

Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) and Gun Runner have had the steadiest volume in their books of mares and the best results for quality among the stallions with very large books from the start of their breeding careers. Uncle Mo has proven himself both a commercial star and sire of champions, and there seems no reason to expect anything less from the chestnut newcomer to the ranks of leading sires.

The post Bloodlines: Haskell Exacta Continues Elevating Gun Runner To Loftiest Company appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The current crop of sires with their first runners at the racecourse this year now include five freshman sires located in Kentucky or Florida who have already been represented by a stakes winner: Justify (by Scat Daddy), Sharp Azteca (Freud), Good Magic (Curlin), Girvin (Tale of Ekati), and Free Drop Billy (Union Rags).

The leader by number of stakes winners, with two, is Justify, and the chestnut stallion stands at Coolmore's stateside operation, Ashford Stud, outside Versailles, Ky., for a 2022 fee of $100,000.

The 2018 divisional champion and Horse of the Year struck first with Statuette, a half-sister to G1 winner Tenebrism (Caravaggio). Both are out of G1 winner Immortal Verse (Pivotal). Statuette won the G2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh on June 26, and on July 14, the sire's daughter Just Cindy won the G3 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga to become Justify's first stakes winner on this side of the Atlantic.

Just Cindy is a homebred for Clarkland Farm, which bred the filly from the stakes winner Jenda's Agenda (Proud Citizen). A winner in four of her eight starts, Jenda's Agenda is out of G2 Molly Pitcher winner Just Jenda (Menifee), and this family traces back to fourth dam Fulbright Scholar (Cox's Ridge), winner of the Busher at Aqueduct and a half-sister to G1 winner Bachelor Beau (Raised Socially). Fulbright Scholar became a major producer with three stakes winners: Seeking Regina (Seeking the Gold), Tutorial (Forty Niner), and Oxford Scholar (Seeking the Gold).

Just Cindy is the first foal from Jenda's Agenda, and the leggy bay filly went to the Keeneland September yearling sale last year as part of the annual Clarkland Farm consignment. When the bidding stalled at $140,000, the breeders brought her home and have been amply repaid. Unbeaten in two starts, Just Cindy has earned $165,710 and now has a value that is … well, let's say, substantially higher.

Whereas Justify has the most stakes winners to date, the first freshman sire with a 2022 stakes winner was Girvin, whose daughter Devious Dame won the Astoria Stakes on June 9. Based in Florida at the O'Farrell family's Ocala Stud, Girvin became a minor celebrity and a quality surprise this spring with his first juveniles in training. They looked the part of enterprising racehorses and sold like it. The horse stands for $6,000 live foal in 2022.

Two recent freshmen sires with stakes winners are Sharp Azteca, who stands for a 2022 stud fee of $5,000 at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., and Good Magic, who stands for a current season fee of $30,000 at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa in Bourbon County north of Paris.

Sharp Azteca is among the newer members of the fraternity for sires of stakes winners. On July 9, Tyler's Tribe won the Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows. The gelded son of Sharp Azteca won the race by 8 ½ lengths. The Iowa-bred is now unbeaten in two starts and was the top-priced yearling at $34,000 in the 2021 Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders' October sale. Tyler's Tribe was bred by Clifton Farm and Derek Merkler from Impazible Woman (Mission Impazible).

On the same day at Pleasanton racetrack in California, Good Magic's daughter Vegas Magic won the Everett Nevin Stakes by a nose from Fumano's Girl, with a colt a length back in third. Bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, Vegas Magic is out of multiple stakes winner Heidi Maria (Rockport Harbor). The juvenile filly sold for $130,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, then resold as a 2-year-old in training earlier this year at the OBS March sale for $100,000.

The fifth freshman with a stakes winner is the Spendthrift Farm sire Free Drop Billy, whose daughter Free Drop Maddy won the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity on July 17, making the son of Union Rags the latest sire to get a 2022 stakes winner. Bred in Louisiana by Clear Creek Stud, Free Drop Maddy sold for $10,500 as a yearling, then resold earlier this year at the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $200,000. Second on debut at Churchill Downs, Free Drop Maddy won her second start, in the TTA Futurity, by 1 ¾ lengths as the slight favorite.

In other points of interest among the leading freshmen, the list leader by number of winners is Sharp Azteca with 12 from 27 starters. The son of Freud has the second-highest percentage of winners from starters, behind only Girvin, who leads freshmen by percentage of winners at 50 percent, five winners from 10 starters.

A point of particular irony among the leaders on the freshman list is Bolt d'Oro, who stands at Spendthrift along with Free Drop Billy. Despite not yet having a stakes winner, Bolt d'Oro is the overall leader by earnings with $476,249. The son of Medaglia d'Oro has only a modest lead over Justify at this stage, with eight winners, and none has come back to win a second race. Yet.

The stallion's son, Owen's Leap, was second in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs on July 4, and the stock by Bolt d'Oro, despite being very quick and early to train, appear likely to improve notably as they find distances beyond six furlongs through the late summer and fall.

These sires should help make some exciting sport.

The post Bloodlines: The 2022 Freshman Sire Report Card, Mid-July Edition appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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One of the everlasting assets of racing in North America, both in the States and in Canada, is the extensive and fairly lucrative racing program restricted to fillies.

This allows breeders and owners to place their fillies in conditions that allow them to race effectively and win. Overall, the filly restricted races make owning fillies a sound financial decision, and the program allows breeders to evaluate the athletic potential of fillies, especially those who are a cut or two below the best, and then to use the racing test as a means for selecting good broodmare prospects.

In Europe, this is not so consistently the case. Not only is the purse structure quite meager for races that are not sponsorship events, but to a notably greater degree, fillies and mares have to compete against colts if they want a share of the rewards.

The upside of that situation is that fillies more often prove their ability to compete and win in open company, even at the Group 1 level. Over the past weekend, a pair of fillies did just that.

On July 9 at Newmarket, the 4-year-old filly Alcohol Free (by No Nay Never) showed speed in advance of her coltish comrades to win the Group 1 July Cup at six furlongs. This race was the fourth victory at the G1 level for the talented racer. Previously, she had won the Cheveley Park at two, the Sussex and Coronation Stakes last year at three, and the July Cup was her first success at the premier level this season from four starts that also include a third in a G2 and a fourth in the G1 Lockinge behind the top colt Baaeed.

The following day at Deauville, Tenebrism (Caravaggio) thumped the colts in the G1 Prix Jean Prat at seven furlongs. This was the third victory and second G1 from five lifetime starts for the highly talented filly. She won the G1 Cheveley Park last year as an unbeaten juvenile.

And a victory in the Cheveley Park Stakes is not the only point of similarity between these two talented fillies. Each is by a son of the late and much-lamented leading sire Scat Daddy (Johannesburg), and both sons are part of the Coolmore international circle of stallions.

No Nay Never, winner of the G1 Prix Morny at two, won four of his six starts and was second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Sent to stud at Coolmore in Ireland, No Nay Never is one of the most powerful horses imaginable, with tremendous muscular development, and he has been a roaring success from his first crop of racers. Alcohol Free was a member of her sire's third crop, foals of 2018. No Nay Never stands in Ireland for a fee of 125,000 euros.

A gray son of Scat Daddy out of a Holy Bull mare, Caravaggio had an extraordinary reputation on the gallops and won seven of his 10 races, including the G1 Phoenix Stakes at two and the G1 Commonwealth Cup at three. Caravaggio entered stud at Coolmore in Ireland, then the horse was transferred to Coolmore's Kentucky stud, Ashford, in 2020 and has proven popular there, as well as with Irish breeders.

Tenebrism is a member of her sire's first crop and is one of his three group winners to date. Caravaggio stands at Ashford for $35,000 live foal.

Descending from the Scat Daddy male line branch of Storm Cat and possessing a high turn of speed and precocity have distinguished this pair of accomplished fillies. In addition, they have some distinguishing characteristics, notably in their female families.

Bred in Ireland by Churchtown House Stud, Alcohol Free is from a good family but not one of particular distinction of late. There isn't a racer of G1 caliber in the female line until the fifth generation. There, Special Account (Buckpasser) is a full sister to champion and major producer Numbered Account. The recent relative quietness in the family was one reason the filly brought only 40,000 euros at the 2018 Goffs November foal sale. The filly's top-tier racing performances have caused a major advance in that valuation.

Tenebrism, on the other hand, is out of multiple G1 winner Immortal Verse (Pivotal), who was the highweight filly at three in England over seven to 9.5 furlongs. Immortal Verse won the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, then won the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and was third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes against colts.

Bred in Kentucky by Merriebelle Stables and Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt, Tenebrism is the best foal of her distinguished dam, and the second dam is a listed winner by Sadler's Wells and a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Mile winner Last Tycoon (Try My Best) and to German highweight Astronef (Be My Guest).

Tenebrism joined the party as highweight juvenile filly last year in England and Ireland, and both she and Alcohol Free are outstanding indicators for the continuing influence of Scat Daddy.

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