first yearlings | Horse Racing Free Tips

Values Sires for 2022, Part 3: First Yearlings

With the global economy tottering in the Covid headwind, last year a lot of stallion farms went out of their way to help breeders with fee cuts. As a result, as I've previously suggested, the market's remarkable rally since means that the present trading environment represents a pretty historic opportunity. And that particularly applies to the next group in our series, as the first to have absorbed those cuts. (Even last year, it felt as though the rookies had been priced with the usual and necessary opportunism.) Especially because one or two of these, from that lowered base, have now received an extra trim of the kind customarily offered, in plainer times, for stallions beginning to lose the priceless commercial advantage of novelty.

His third book is always an early crossroads in a stallion's career. While the second might at least start to reflect the physical impression made by first foals, the third will be responding to some concrete evidence of their reception in the ring. If things have not gone well, in that initial test, then some breeders will tend to back off and wait until stock has been measured more rigorously on the racetrack.

Obviously there's no guarantee that the guy who tops the weanling averages will retain his primacy when finally reaching that stage, and vice versa. But it's no less clear that a depressing number of people will by then have disappeared over the horizon, the job done, meanwhile engaged on the next cycle of sires that remain spared the inconvenience of exposing their ability (or otherwise) actually to come up with runners.

As things stand, then, we must pick a precarious path between trying to harness the undeniable energies of the market-commercial esteem, after all, will hold up book sizes and so fill “the pipeline”–and keeping the faith with those that you think deserve a chance to reward it, once their stock finally gets somewhere near a starting gate. As such, each having come through his first market test in decent shape, we make no apologies for sticking by three stallions we've liked from the get-go.

With this particular intake, most roads have led to Spendthrift. In the first instance, that was simply because so many of its most coveted prospects were herded up there. Even with their reliably competitive pricing strategy, the late B. Wayne Hughes and his team launched the first, second and joint-third most expensive rookies in 2020. That felt like a pretty significant moment in the evolution of the aggressive commercial model that had revolutionised competition for mares in the Bluegrass.

But then, last year, you also had to factor in the characteristic lead taken by Hughes in cutting fees so purposefully. Rival farms will duly have to pardon Spendthrift's central role in the value conversation, at least for this instalment of our series, even though our top pick a) wasn't one of their headline recruits when starting out and b) was already priced too attractively to be one of the 15 of 21 stallions on the farm roster to take a cut last year.

As ever, however, these choices reflect just one person's highly subjective opinions. Different stallions fit different mares; different fees fit different pockets. But what I would say is that it's a good time to stick with any of this group that you do like, as you'll be taking the foals to market after they have actually started to show their wares on the track. That introduces a degree of volatility, and tends to drive nervous breeders elsewhere. But the odds for those who do get it right will certainly be rewarding.

Bubbling under: The $360,000 Audible filly that topped the fifth session at Keeneland November was the most expensive weanling sold by those taking their bow at the sales, but the WinStar stallion's $110,000 median was also outstanding. He was a pathfinder for his sire in stretching out for a Derby podium and, as a classier type, also leads a fresh wave in Into Mischief's career as a sire of sires. He covered over 400 mares in his first two seasons and duly holds his fee at $22,500. He has all the momentum he needs, but he's just competing with another son of Into Mischief who simply can't be dislodged from the podium at a much cheaper service.

Mitole was one of those that took a really businesslike cut at Spendthrift last year, slashed to $15,000 from $25,000. Having followed up his staggering debut book of 230 with one of 208, there will be a lot of people out there gratified that his pedigree has meanwhile received such a lift from the stellar sophomore endeavors of half-brother Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). That might feel especially useful for a son of the exported Eskendereya, but don't forget that Mitole was his second GI Met Mile winner in three crops. His first weanlings having performed in line with his opening fee, fourth in the averages, this brilliant racehorse finds himself precisely where the program would hope to have placed him at this stage.

Bronze: PRESERVATIONIST (Arch-Flying Dixie by Dixieland Band) Airdrie, $10,000

This guy was always going to require a little patience, so it's no surprise that he couldn't repeat his opening three-figure book. But we can't just allow block-booking of the podium for stallions that churn through industrial numbers, in the idle hope that they will keep jumping through the market hoops until you discover, too late, that they don't sire runners!

A runner is exactly what you are entitled to expect from Preservationist, and I remain adamant that those who keep the faith will ultimately get their due reward. He offers everything we should be looking for in a young sire: a superb physical ($485,000 yearling, when Arch was a $30,000 cover); a pedigree without a single loose rivet, with sire and dam both tracing to King Ranch matriarchs; and elite performance, for instance in thrashing Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) by 4 1/2 lengths in the GII Suburban. (The runner-up went to market at more than twice the fee.)

A lack of precocity is perceived by some as the cardinal sin, but Preservationist's weanlings actually performed perfectly respectably (averaging just under $40,000) and he will run down those commercial hares in the end.

Silver: OMAHA BEACH (War Front-Charming by Seeking The Gold), Spendthrift, $30,000

The loss of Spendthrift's owner this summer has given the poignant look of a parting gift to the characteristically decisive lead he took on fees this time last year. Now the team continuing his work has given Omaha Beach another trim, from $35,000 to $30,000, even though he had appeared sportingly priced (notwithstanding his status as the most expensive of the intake) when starting out at $45,000.

This latest gesture to breeders is one that the horse hardly appeared to need. Last spring he precisely replicated his opening book, at 215 mares, and then did the necessary in his debut at the weanling sales, topping the averages at $142,692.

Bottom line, then, is that Omaha Beach has been given every possible chance to this point. And he really is abundantly equipped to seize it. Winning Grade Is at six and nine furlongs in the same campaign was as compelling a signpost as we could hope to find, nowadays, for the speed-carrying elixir we crave in stallions. As such, he must be counted a vital ambassador on the main track for a son of Danzig whose influence has proved so international.

It's not hard to figure out where he has found the genes to do that. He's a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) out of a half-sister to two other Grade I winners in Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), their dam Take Charge Lady (Dehere) herself a multiple elite scorer. He also doubles up War Front's damsire Rubiano behind his third dam. We know how Rubiano's half-sister gave us a monster dirt influence in Tapit, while the other three sires seeding the bottom half of Omaha Beach's third generation are Raise A Native, Buckpasser and Deputy Minister.

Omaha Beach looked pretty good value at his opening fee, as the market has immediately confirmed. He looked great value, last year, at $35,000. So what can we call him at $30,000? Even those who can afford to play at this level of the market appreciate that kind of saving. In relative terms, then, this is a very generous fee.

Gold: MAXIMUS MISCHIEF (Into Mischief-Reina Maria by Songandaprayer), Spendthrift, $7,500

We couldn't really offer a greater contrast to Preservationist than this blatant commercial formula. But from the outset Maximus Mischief had the look of a horse that could bring back memories for those clients of the farm who got his sire started, and everything has so far been functioning like clockwork. In this day and age, in fact, I find it mildly surprising that he could muster “only” 171 mares last spring after receiving 198 in his debut book.

His first weanlings sold every bit as briskly as one would hope, 26 of 31 finding a new home for an average $42,153–approaching six times his covering fee. With his record of precocity, Maximus Mischief looks tailormade for pinhookers and his yearlings will surely be high on the list for a winter in Florida. (Remember he was himself a $340,000 2-year-old at Timonium.)

Having disappeared after his first defeat, on his sophomore debut, Maximus Mischief went to market with a seamless juvenile record, beaten to a single call in three starts while opening up by an aggregate 17 lengths, the visuals underpinned by the fastest Beyer of the crop. We're familiar with Into Mischief upgrading his early mares, not least in producing some of his first sons to stud, so it counts for plenty that this guy's second dam also produced the tragic juvenile Grade I winner Secret Compass (Discreet Cat) from only three foals.

It's the easiest thing in the world to picture all this translating into a run at the 2023 freshman championship. If that happens, not only will this fee soon recede in the rear-view mirror: it will be those who stay aboard now who reap the benefits at ringside.

There really is a limit to how many horses like this, flaring brightly but briefly, we want to see shaping the breed. But if the purpose of this exercise is to identify value, then the modest stakes–and the potential odds of reward–are just too tempting to resist.

The post Values Sires for 2022, Part 3: First Yearlings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Value Sires: First Yearlings of 2021

In the third installation of our Value Sires series, we will dig into the sire crop with its first foals born in 2020, and therefore with its first yearlings this year. After some two years in waiting since most of these retired to stud, the judges got the chance at the recently concluded foal sales to lay eyes on the first progeny of most of them, and though it is still incredibly early days, their opinions, corroborated through their actions in the ring, will have an impact on the perception of these horses and the support they receive in their crucial third and fourth seasons.

It is interesting to note that the top four first-season sires by average at the European foal sales in 2020 were all born abroad, and are all by sires that stand outside Europe. It’s not like any of them have snuck up on us, of course-Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) and US Navy Flag (War Front) were four of the top five most expensive horses of their crop to retire to stud in 2019. But it is affirmation of the global nature of the game.

We noted in our prior edition of Value Sires that all bar three of the 18 sires with their first foals to be born in 2021 are taking fee cuts, and the nature of the pandemic and the global economic uncertainty means of course that much of this sire crop, too, has had its fees reduced.

Leading the way on first-crop foal sale averages was Coolmore’s G1 Racing Post Trophy and G1 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, who had 16 sold for an average of €108,315/£98,679-3.6x his debut stud fee of €30,000, and he was the only member this sire crop to crack six figures on foal sale averages. His median of €82,502/£75,162 was 2.75x his fee. Saxon Warrior had 94 foals registered from his first crop and covered a further 166 mares last year at a fee of €27,500, and he stands for €20,000 in 2021.

Unbeaten in three starts at two, Saxon Warrior won the G2 Beresford S. before besting Roaring Lion in the Racing Post Trophy. He once again bettered that rival as well as the likes of Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and GI Breeders’ Cup Mile victor Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) in the Guineas first up at three. Though that proved his final win, Saxon Warrior put in fine performances in some of Europe’s greatest races over the remainder of the summer, including second-place finishes by a neck to Roaring Lion in both the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Irish Champion S. Saxon Warrior is the second foal out of the G1 Moyglare Stud S.-winning and Classic-placed Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who, after a stint in America to visit American Pharoah and War Front, returned to Japan and produced a full-brother to Saxon Warrior in 2020. Maybe is herself out of Sumora (Ire) (Danehill), a three-quarter-sister to G1 Oaks winner and multiple stakes producer Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), while sires Dr Devious (Ire) and Shinko King (Ire) and last year’s G1 Irish Oaks winner Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) appear under the third dam.

Second on the first-crop foal sale averages was Horse of the Year Roaring Lion, who tragically died in the summer of 2019 after covering a book of 133 mares that resulted in 90 registered foals for a fee of £40,000 at Tweenhills Stud. Roaring Lion’s eight foals sold at the sales averaged €69,603/€63,411, with a median of €62,272/£56,732. While his legacy will be sadly fleeting, he nonetheless has an excellent chance to make a last impact, with Group 1 winners Bateel (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Golden Lilac (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Simple Verse (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) among those to have produced by him, as well as excellent young mares like Kiyoshi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Purr Along (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) and Wekeela (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}).

The team at Tweenhills are afforded some consolation by the fact that they have another exciting young sire among this group, the Australian shuttler Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}). Zoustar’s popularity in his first season shuttling was such that he sired 102 foals in his first crop, and he covered a further 124 mares last year. Zoustar started at £25,000 in 2019, took a rare second-season fee hike last year to £30,000 and is back down to £25,000 in 2021. His 18 first-crop foals sold at the breeding stock sales averaged €67,281/£61,295, 2.7x his stud fee, with a median of €49,971/£45,525, 2x his stud fee.

The team at Qatar Bloodstock, which had bought into Zoustar during his racing career, made the strategic decision to not shuttle the horse until he had proven himself Down Under, and that decision has paid dividends, with Zoustar having an excellent body of work behind him in his homeland before he even set foot on UK soil. Zoustar won two key sire-making races in Australia, the G1 Golden Rose S. and G1 Coolmore Stud S., over seven and six furlongs at three, and it took him no time at all to fulfill that prophecy in the stud barn. He was far and away the leading first- and second-crop sire of his generation in Australia, and in his first season among the general sire ranks in 2019/20 wound up seventh with just three crops of racing age. Zoustar thus far has 16 stakes winners with his fourth crop of juveniles having just hit the racetracks Down Under, with 12 of those emanating from his first crop including his brilliant sprinting mare Sunlight (Aus), who led home a trifecta for her sire in the Coolmore Stud S. of 2018. Sunlight is one of five pattern race winners by Zoustar with dams or second dams by Sadler’s Wells or Danehill, which bodes well for the European broodmare population.

European breeders may be less familiar with Zoustar’s sire Northern Meteor-another winner of the Coolmore Stud S. who got off to a brilliant start at stud before an untimely death. He is a son of the excellent Australian sire Encosta de Lago (Aus), who is by Sadler’s Wells’s full-brother Fairy King, and out of a daughter of the influential American sire Fappiano. European breeders will be plenty familiar, however, with Zoustar’s damsire Redoute’s Choice (Aus), who not only hails from one of the most international families in the stud book but who is himself proven in the Northern Hemisphere through the likes of G1 Grosser Dallmayr Preis winner Danceteria and the excellent staying filly Enbihaar, the winner of five Group 2s.

Like Zoustar, US Navy Flag started out at €25,000 at Coolmore in 2019, and after dropping to €17,500 last year he is down to €12,500 for 2021. US Navy Flag’s 10 foals to sell at the sales last year averaged €39,971/£36,415, with a median of €41,297/£37,623. Like Saxon Warrior, US Navy Flag is out of a Group 1-winning daughter of Galileo, his dam being the four-time Group 1 and Classic winner Misty For Me (Ire), a full-sister to the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac scorer Ballydoyle (Ire) who has also produced the triple Group 1 winner Roly Poly (War Front). US Navy Flag’s second dam, Butterfly Cove (Storm Cat), is a half-sister to the dual Group 1-winning juvenile and sire Fasliyev (Nureyev).

US Navy Flag embodied the precocity his pedigree suggested he should. He ran a remarkable 11 times at a 2-year-old, finishing worse than fourth just twice and winning the G1 Middle Park S. and the G1 Dewhurst S. over his subsequent GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-winning stablemate Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy). US Navy Flag returned at three to win the G1 July Cup in a performance that was a joint career-best with his Dewhurst win (RPR 122). He sired 60 first-crop foals last year and covered an additional 143 mares in his second book.

Darley’s Champions

Rounding out the top five first-crop sires by average at the foal sales last year was Darley’s Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who had 16 foals sell for an average of €35,958/£32,759. Cracksman has stood for £25,000 the past two seasons and is down to £17,500 for 2021.

Cracksman has earned the gold medal on the value sire podium in this column the past two years based on his racetrack merits; he was one of the best racehorses we’ve seen in the past 10 years, his official rating of 130 trailing only Frankel (140), Sea The Stars (Ire) (136) and Harbinger (135) among European colts in the past decade.

A debut winner in October of his 2-year-old campaign, Cracksman won an Epsom Derby trial conditions race next out before finishing a length off Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}) when third in the Derby in his third start. He split that rival and the winning Capri (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Irish Derby before embarking on a three-race win streak that began with the G2 Great Voltigeur S. and G2 Prix Niel and culminated in a seven-length score in the G1 Champion S. (RPR 131), good enough to earn him champion 3-year-old honours at the Cartier awards.

Cracksman added victories in the G1 Prix Ganay and G1 Coronation Cup and a title defense in the G1 Champion S.-in which he won by six lengths, equaling his RPR of 131 from the year prior-at four. He packs plenty of power on pedigree, too, being out of the stakes-winning and multiple stakes-producing Pivotal (GB) mare Rhadegunda (GB), who is herself a granddaughter of the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Sussex S. scorer On The House (Be My Guest). Cracksman sired 98 first-crop foals last year and covered 112 mares in his second book.

Cracksman is joined at Dalham Hall by another Cartier champion in Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). A half-brother to the G2 Mill Reef S. victor Pierre Lapin (Ire) (Cappella Sansevero {GB}) out of Beatrix Potter (Ire) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), a half-sister to Hong Kong star Xtension (Ire) (Xaar {GB}), Harry Angel was a sprinter of the highest quality. He also won the Mill Reef at two and leapt into the big leagues at three with back-to-back scores in the G1 July Cup and G1 Sprint Cup. Harry Angel has had 89 foals reported from his first crop and bred an additional 98 mares last year. After standing for £20,000 his first two seasons, Harry Angel is down to £12,500.

Expert Selection

Another young Group 1 winner who has been well supported is Juddmonte’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile scorer Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}), who has 96 first-crop foals and covered 105 mares in his second book including a handful of Juddmonte bluebloods. Expert Eye was precocious enough to win the G2 Vintage S. at two, and add the G3 Jersey S. at Royal Ascot by 4 1/2 lengths and the G3 City Of York S. before shipping to Churchill Downs to take the Breeders’ Cup Mile. There have been fewer sire lines hotter than Acclamation as of late, he having supplied the likes of Dark Angel and Mehmas (Ire), and Expert Eye has the female side to match; his dam Exemplify (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is a half-sister to champion and dual Classic winner Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy), and it is also the family of multiple Grade I winners Sightseek (Distant View) and Tates Creek (Rahy). Expert Eye is down to £12,500 after standing for £20,000 and £17,500, with his first-crop foals (22 sold) having averaged €35,857/£32,667.

Completing the Coolmore clan with its first yearlings in 2021 are the Castlehyde Stud duo of Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy) and Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Sioux Nation shares a likeness with No Nay Never not only through their sire by also through the fact that they both won the G2 Norfolk S. at two and followed it up with a Group 1 score; for No Nay Never it was the Prix Morny, and for Sioux Nation it was the Phoenix S. Both also trained on to win Group 3 sprints at three, and Sioux Nation was just three quarters of a length behind Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) when third in the G1 Flying Five S. Sioux Nation was the busiest first-season flat sire in Britain and Ireland last year, covering 241 mares which yielded a first crop of 133 foals. His second book numbered 158 mares. Sioux Nation was well received at the foal sales, his 28 sold averaging €29,622/£26,987, 2.4x his opening stud fee of €12,500. Sioux Nation, who is out of the Oasis Dream (GB) mare Dream The Blues (Ire), is down to €10,000 for 2021.

Gustav Klimt hails from the same Galileo over Danehill cross that has produced the excellent sires Frankel and Teofilo. His race record didn’t nearly hit the heights of either of those two, but nonetheless he won the G2 Superlative S. at two and, in addition to taking the Listed 2000 Guineas Trial S. at Leopardstown at three, placed in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, the G1 St James’s Palace S., G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Sprint Cup during a busy 10-race 3-year-old campaign. Gustav Klimt has a sire’s pedigree, too, being out of Massarra (GB), who has produced five stakes winners and is herself a daughter of Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}), the dam of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). It is also the family of Pride Of Dubai (Aus), who made an eye-catching start with his first 2-year-olds last year, and future sire power could be added to the page by not only Gustav Klimt but also Pinatubo (Ire), who is the most expensive first-season sire of 2021, and James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who also stands his second season in 2021. Gustav Klimt is down to €4,000 after standing for €7,500 and €6,500 the past two seasons.

Rathbarry Stud’s James Garfield bested Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G2 Mill Reef S. in 2017 and trained on to beat Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G3 Greenham S. before being beaten a half-length in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. He had 45 first-crop foals last year before covering another 31 mares and is down to €4,000 from an opening fee of €7,000.

Speed Proves Popular

Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) was the busiest of this sire crop at the foal sales last year, with 44 offered and 36 sold for an average of €26,161/£23,834 (3.3x his opening fee of £8,000) and a median of €18,812/£17,139. His first crop numbered 108 foals, and he maintained his popularity when covering a further 130 mares in 2020 dropped to £6,500. He is available for £6,000 this year. From the family of the great Al Bahathri (Blushing Groom {Fr}) and her sire son Haafhd (GB) (Alhaarth {Ire}), Havana Grey is out of the Dark Angel (Ire) mare Blanc de Chine (Ire). He is best remembered for his victory at three in the G1 Flying Five S. over the likes of Sioux Nation, but he was also prolific at two, running eight times and winning the G3 Molecomb S., two listed contests and finishing second in the G1 Prix Morny.

Havana Grey looks to follow in the footsteps of Whitsbury Manor incumbent Showcasing, and it is a son of his, Tasleet (GB), who represents Shadwell here. Tasleet turned heads at the mare sales in 2019, his first in-foal mares selling for an average of 5.3x his opening fee of £6,000. The G3 Greenham S. and G2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics S. winner remained popular at the foal sales last year, with 17 sold averaging 3.8x his fee at €22,834/£20,803 and returning a median 3.3x his fee at €19,605/£17,861. Tasleet’s dam Bird Key (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) is a half-sister to the dam of Sheikh Hamdan’s outstanding sprinter Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who continued to enhance the page last year with wins in the G1 King’s Stand S., G1 Nunthorpe S. and G2 King George S. While Tasleet can’t claim to have reached the racecourse status of that illustrious relative, he has some upside down to £5,000 in 2021. He ran six times at two and was a listed winner and placed in the G2 Richmond S. and G3 Somerville Tattersall S. before winning a three-runner Greenham S. when it was switched to Chelmsford’s all-weather course in 2016. Despite running just once more at three he returned at four to win the Duke of York before finishing second in three Group 1s-the Diamond Jubilee, Sprint Cup and British Champions Sprint S. Tasleet has a first crop of 63 foals and covered 51 mares last year.

Another Shadwell-bred among this crop is Massaat (Ire), a son of the red-hot Teofilo (Ire) who stands at Mickley Stud for £4,000, down from £5,000 the last two seasons. Massaat finished second to Air Force Blue (War Front) in the G1 Dewhurst S. in his third start and confirmed that form by finishing second to Galileo Gold (Ire) (Paco Boy {GB}) in the G1 2000 Guineas before going on to win the G2 Hungerford S. at four and finish third in the G1 Prix du Moulin. Massaat boasts a page littered with high-class runners; he is a half-brother to G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who has his first foals in 2021, and last year’s G3 Horris Hill S. scorer Mujbar (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). His dam, Madany (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) is a half-sister to the four-times stakes producer Zeiting (Ire) (Zieten), who is also the second dam of French Classic winner Precieuse (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}).

If toughness is what you’re after, Bearstone Stud’s Washington DC (Ire) may be the way to look. The son of Zoffany (Ire) ran 32 times over four seasons on the track and won a stake in all but his final year. Washington DC won the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot and was second to champion Air Force Blue (War Front) in the G1 Phoenix S., and went on to win two listed races and place in two Group 1s and an overall five pattern races in 11 starts at three before registering a career high at four in the G3 Phoenix Sprint S. His first foals earned plaudits at the foal sales, too, averaging 3.9x his opening fee of £6,000 at €23,376/£21,296. After standing for £5,000 in 2020, Washington DC is down to £4,500 in 2021.

Tweenhills’s Lightning Spear (GB) is down to £5,000 from an opening fee of £8,500. Lightning Spear won his lone starts at two and three, but he didn’t truly get going until four. From that point, he rarely had an off day through his 7-year-old campaign, and after winning the G2 Celebration Mile at five and six and placing six times in Group 1s, he at last got that elusive top level prize to his name when beating Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Sussex S. in 2018. Free of Northern Dancer in his first three generations, he is a son of the influential Pivotal.

Though he is down to £3,000 for 2021, the National Stud’s G2 Coventry S. scorer Rajasinghe (Ire) (Choisir {Ire}) turned heads at the foal sales last year; off a debut fee of £5,000, his six first-crop offerings brought 50,000gns, 46,000gns, 37,000gns, etc. for an average of €33,936/£30,941 that was 6.8x his stud fee, and a median of €32,827/£29,906.

Irish Value

Available for €5,000 in Ireland this year are Kessaar (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Smooth Daddy (Ire) (Scat Daddy). Kessaar was Ireland’s busiest first-season sire in 2019 standing outside the Coolmore banner, with a book of 97 mares at Tally-Ho Stud yielding 75 registered foals. Kessaar is the latest juvenile group winner to be ushered off to stud after early success on the racecourse, he having won the G3 Sirenia S. and the G2 Mill Reef S. during a seven-race 2-year-old campaign. His second book dipped to 42 mares last year, but strong debuts by Kodiac sons Adaay (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire), Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Coulsty (Ire) last year alone should ensure Kessaar still has his fans, especially as he dips from an opening price of €8,000 to €5,000.

Smooth Daddy will have the weight of numbers against him on the racecourse, having sired 25 foals in his first crop before covering a further 37 last year at Starfield Stud, but what he does have going for him is that he is a graded stakes-winning son of Scat Daddy who was tough and sound throughout a five-year, 32-start career, the highlight of which was a win in the GIII Fort Marcy S. going 1800 metres on the turf over Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), winner of the G1 Prix Morny and G2 Prix Robert Papin at two and the G3 Renaissance S. at three, stands for €4,500 at Oak Lodge Stud in Ireland. He has 32 first crop foals and covered 50 mares in 2020 with substantial support from his joint owners Cheveley Park Stud and Linda and Reddy Coffey.

Group 1 Winners In France

France welcomed a pair of classy Group 1 winners in 2019, and heading those on fee at the time was Haras du Quesnay’s Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper). The G1 Prix d’Ispahan and G1 Prix du Moulin scorer debuted at €8,000 and is down to €6,500 in 2021, and he is a classy individual that trained on to win a further four pattern races after defeating the future G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victor Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G2 Prix Greffulhe at three and finishing third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club. Recoletos retired with a rating of 121 and hails from a stout family; in addition to being a half-brother to the dual pattern race winner Castellar (Fr) (American Post {GB}), he is a grandson of Pharatta (Ire) (Fairy King), a graded/group winner in Britain and America and is also related to the dual Derby winner Shahrastani (Nijinsky).

On both pedigree and race record one has to imagine that Haras du Logis’s Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has a great chance to stand for much more than €7,000 down the road. The winner of the G3 Prix des Chenes in his second start at two before finishing second in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, Cloth Of Stars won the G3 Prix la Force and G2 Prix Greffulhe during a four-race 3-year-old campaign. He returned at four to win the G3 Prix Exbury, G2 Prix d’Harcourt and G1 Prix Ganay consecutively before finishing second to Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the Arc, and he came back the following October to fill third in the great race, and on both occasions was the first colt across the line in the Arc. Cloth Of Stars retired as a tough, consistent Group 1 winner rated 123 and holds further clout as a sire prospect being out of a full-sister to Oaks winner Light Shift and a half to G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Shiva (Jpn) (Hector Protector), both of whom are excellent producers.

Haras De La Haie Neuve offers Seahenge, a $750,000 yearling by Scat Daddy, for €4,000, down from €5,000. Seahenge won the G2 Champagne S. at two and was third in the G1 Dewhurst S., and is one of four stakes horses out of the listed-winning Fools In Love (Not For Love), those also including last year’s GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. third Max Player (Honor Code). Another son of Scat Daddy available in France for €5,000 this year is the 1700m GIII Pilgrim S. winner Seabhac, who is enshrined at Haras de Saint Arnoult.

Germany’s flagbearer of this sire crop is the nation’s 2016 Horse of the Year Iquitos (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), who stands at Gestut Ammerland for €6,000. Iquitos was Group 3 placed at three but really got going the following season when he won the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and the G2 Grosser Preis der Badischen. First or second in all but two of his seven starts at five, Iquitos added the G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis and was twice second at Group 1 level. The bay wrapped up a prolific career with a victory over Defoe (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern in November of 2018.

Value Podium

Gold: Cracksman (£17,500) – he has occupied this space the last two years and deserves to more than ever down in price. One of the best colts we’ve seen of the past 10 years.

Silver: Expert Eye (£12,500) – a world-class Group 1 winner by sire-maker Acclamation. Juddmonte rarely misses the mark.

Bronze: Havana Grey (£6,000) – a quality sprinter at two and three who was popular at the foal sales and has the book sizes to sustain him.

The post Value Sires: First Yearlings of 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Kentucky Sires for 2021, First Yearlings: Part II

Thursday, Chris McGrath covered the first half of the Kentucky stallions with first yearlings. Click here to read about Justify, City of Light, West Coast, Mendelssohn, Good Magic, Bolt d’Oro, and Always Dreaming. The second part appears below.

ACCELERATE (Lookin At Lucky–Issues, by Awesome Again) has also been trimmed to $17,500, at Lane’s End, having already been our “gold” value pick of the intake at an opening $20,000. Whatever made him attractive then has scarcely diminished in the meantime, given that he was never going to appeal to those fast-buck cynics who breed for the ring rather than the track. As it was, he actually made an auspicious start with his weanlings: the 13 sold (of 21) averaged $68,307, better than a couple already examined at higher fees and duly a more fertile yield.

A fee that so generously acknowledged the possibility of commercial wariness–this, after all, was a horse that only reached his true prime at five–certainly paid dividends in books of 167 and 137 to get Accelerate started. These breeders will get a ton of horse for the money: his Breeders’ Cup Classic success was his fifth at Grade I level in a year when his solitary reverse was by a neck to the brilliant City of Light over nine furlongs. His GI Pacific Classic romp, by a record 12 1/2 lengths, was underwritten by a 115 Beyer and it took an unbeaten Triple Crown winner to deny him Horse of the Year.

There’s an old-school grandeur to his page: his first two dams are granddaughters of Deputy Minister and Damascus; the second is also a half-sister to a GI Jockey Club Gold Cup winner; and he’s inbred to a Broodmare of the Year in fifth dam Smartaire, whose son Smarten is damsire of Lookin At Lucky’s father Smart Strike. But remember also that his stakes-placed mother has produced a Grade I-placed juvenile, and that even as a son of such a scandalously underrated sire he realized $380,000 from a terrific judge as a yearling. So there may be rather more commercial traction than some might anticipate, besides all those priceless assets of soundness, constitution and progression that any sane breeder should wish to impart to a family.

Collected | Sarah Andrew

Another GI Pacific Classic winner, COLLECTED (City Zip–Helena Bay {GB}, by Johannesburg), has proved very popular at Airdrie, duly holding a $17,500 fee after covering 156 and 155 mares in his first two seasons. Around half his weanlings into the ring were retained for another go–nine sold of 21 at an average $58,777–and it’s true that Collected himself thrived with maturity, splitting Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and West Coast in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic at four after shocking Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) at Del Mar in high summer. That season he accumulated triple-digit Beyers in all six starts, a rare accomplishment indeed. But don’t forget that Collected was also a debut winner and graded stakes-placed at two.

The legacy of City Zip has come to seem ever more precious, and Collected has a cosmopolitan and classy pedigree held together by fifth dam Runaway Bride, whose son Blushing Groom (Fr) is responsible for the dam of Collected’s grandsire Carson City. European shoppers of sufficient imagination (admittedly a rather pathetic minority, nowadays) should definitely be interested in a dirt performer who carried dirt speed so well when his first four dams are by Johannesburg, Danehill, Lyphard and Alleged; his mother, meanwhile, is half-sister to a couple of group performers in Japan.

Collected was one of those who lost momentum when kept in training for an extra season but certainly looked value compared with those who finished either side of him at the Breeders’ Cup, who started at $70,000 and $35,000, respectively. Sure enough, he’s the one who has managed to hold his fee and, from such an exemplary farm, he will surely get the track performers to show why.

Oscar Performance | Sarah Andrew

It’s been great to see a stallion back at Mill Ridge, where they are also doing a fine job in the promotion of OSCAR PERFORMANCE (Kitten’s Joy–Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire}). We all know how breeders talk the talk about the imperatives of the expanding turf program, without always walking the walk. But Oscar has welcomed strong three-figure books in both seasons to date, and the seven sold of 10 weanlings into the ring put him just where he needed to be at $57,285.

A clip from $20,000 to $15,000 should keep him right in the game, and there’s no doubting his eligibility to catch a rising tide with the proliferation of grass and synthetic opportunities; not to mention the industry’s increasing vigilance over medication. Racing without Lasix, Oscar Performance won Grade Is at two, three and four, and blew the dust off a 20-year-old record for a mile at Belmont at 1:31.23.

Really it’s some package: the constitution to bank $2.3 million through three seasons, having won a Saratoga maiden by over 10 lengths on his way to winning at the Breeders’ Cup at two; and a pedigree saturated with Classic influences on both sides of the ocean. Being out of a Theatrical mare, Oscar Performance entwines the twin lines of Northern Dancer instituted by Special and her daughter Fairy Bridge, respectively via Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells.

Good Samaritan | Sarah Andrew

It was constantly bumping into Oscar Performance that helped to drive GOOD SAMARITAN (Harlan’s Holiday–Pull Dancer, by Pulpit) into what turned into a fertile experiment on dirt instead, starting with success in the GII Jim Dandy S. and only beaten a half in the GI Clark H. Launched at $12,500 by WinStar, he mustered as many as 162 mares in his first book and another 104 last spring. Having processed 15 of 18 weanlings into the ring at $30,100, he gets a bit of help with his fee, down to $7,500.

If a grade below his old rival Oscar, he also maintained his form through three seasons and he’s a nice looker with aristocratic antecedents: his branch of the La Troienne dynasty, stretching through fourth dam La Affirmed (Affirmed), has already produced productive stallions in Sky Mesa and Bernstein.

Down to $10,000 from an opening $12,500, TAPWRIT (Tapit–Appealing Zophie, by Successful Appeal) is a lovely creature who earned a place alongside his sire at Gainesway with a GI Belmont S. success and a stakes record in the GII Tampa Bay Derby. His second book dropped from 154 to 95, but he made a most respectable start at the sales, selling 14 of 18 at $46,214. He should certainly breed a pretty horse, as a $1.2 million Saratoga yearling himself; and he’s entitled to be quicker out of the blocks than might be expected, his dam being a Grade I winner at two. (Incidentally, she has also produced a Grade II winner on turf.)

Mo Town | Sarah Andrew

MO TOWN (Uncle Mo–Grazie Mille, by Bernardini) has taken a second consecutive cut at Ashford, now $7,500 having opened at $12,500, after covering 144 and 108 mares in his first two books and moving on a dozen of 18 weanlings at $36,750.

Actually I like this horse quite a bit and hope he is given time. He was one of those who had somewhat faded from view by the time he arrived at stud, having been confined to a single unproductive start when kept in training at four. But he had shown versatility and class in winning the GII Remsen as a juvenile and then switching onto ‘the weeds’ to win the GI Hollywood Derby.

Obviously Uncle Mo is on a roll as a sire of sires, looking at the freshman championship; and likewise Mo Town’s damsire, as a broodmare sire; plus I love Carson City, Danzig and Sir Ivor seeding the next three generations. The acquisition of the Grade I-placed granddam was another insight into the thoughtful strategies of the Gunthers, as her great-grandsire Raise a Native was full-brother to her third dam.

Mo Town resembles his soaring sire rather more closely in appearance than in fee, and flexibility in terms of surfaces is nowadays supposed to be at an increasing premium. If he appears to be cooling off a little, commercially, then remember that these remain very early days indeed. If anything, this could prove an opportune moment to get ahead of the curve.

Army Mule | Sarah Andrew

Another who slips to $7,500 despite having looked pretty fair value at $10,000 is ARMY MULE (Friesan Fire–Crafty Toast, by Crafty Prospector) at Hill ‘n’ Dale. That’s not hard to explain when you consider that his opening book of 140 slumped to just 47 this time round, but he actually made an excellent start in the ring: the 12 weanlings sold of 14 offered achieved an average of $49,083. That’s a yield matched only by City of Light in the whole intake.

If Army Mule was one of those that are just “too fast to last,” there’s no doubt that he had freakish ability. Though confined to just three starts, he won them by an aggregate 22 lengths in some smouldering times: romping in the GI Carter H. on his stakes debut, for instance, in 1:20.94. He had already flashed his physical charisma and speed when making $825,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old, and would hardly be the first influential stallion to have advertised his prowess in a window as narrow as four minutes’ racing in anger.

It’s sometimes hard to explain where talent like this comes from. But his first three dams respectively won at stakes, Grade III and Grade II level; and, if the sire may not be as respected in Kentucky as in Maryland, he is a wonderful conduit of Secretariat’s distaff influence. If I were a pinhooker for the 2-year-old sales, I would have this guy pretty near the top of my list among this lot.

Cloud Computing | Sarah Andrew

The same farm’s gamble on another brief candle, of course, produced an immediate Classic winner in CLOUD COMPUTING (Maclean’s Music–Quick Temper, by A.P. Indy). He started out at Spendthrift off $7,500, herding 171 and 122 mares before sending a dozen weanlings into the ring, 10 selling at $29,550.

Cloud Computing’s form soon tapered off after he won the GI Preakness S. barely three months after his debut. Nonetheless, it speaks to his physique that Mike Ryan gave $200,000 for a Maclean’s Music colt way down the September catalog as Hip 1831, and the pedigree is seeded throughout by wonderful old-school influences. (With the uncommon exception of Waquoit, a 15-length Jockey Club Gold Cup winner whose best daughter, the hard-knocking Grade I winner Halo America, is Cloud Computing’s second dam.) Overall there’s a lot of good blood here for a fee down to $5,000.

Of the rest, a toe in the water at the weanling sales generally proved a chilling experience, but that’s pretty standard at this end of the market and wouldn’t remotely disqualify any of them from earning a way back into fashion.

Ransom the Moon | Sarah Andrew

RANSOM THE MOON (Malibu Moon–Count to Three, by Red Ransom) retains a fee of $7,500 at Calumet despite his three-figure debut book dwindling to 44 mares this time round. Beating Roy H (More Than Ready) in consecutive runnings of the GI Bing Crosby S., however, is no mean distinction and one underpinned by the soundness to race five seasons. His historic farm has a somewhat quirky roster nowadays, with its stallions seldom undervalued. But there are still one or two nuggets we’ll be highlighting later in this series.

While SHARP AZTECA (Freud–So Sharp, by Saint Liam) is down to $6,500 from an opening $10,000 at Three Chimneys, he has numbers behind him after mustering 101 mares to follow a monster opening book of 195.

And he remains a very legitimate prospect, his splendid track career–earnings of $2.4 million, on the board in 14 of 17 starts, crowned with a five-length romp in the GI Cigar Mile (115 Beyer)–being rooted in a really interesting page, pairing up siblings Saint Ballado and Glorious Song 3×4. He’s another whose pedigree has been nurtured through several generations only with the best stallions and, with a bottom line tracing to champion and matriarch Kamar (Key to the Mint), he is perfectly entitled to pull a champion out of his hat. Definitely, definitely worth a roll of the dice at this money.

The horse who beat Sharp Azteca in the GI Met Mile, clocking a knockout 117 Beyer, was consolidating the Grade I status he had established at two in the Los Alamitos Futurity. MOR SPIRIT (Eskendereya–Im a Dixie Girl, by Dixie Union) duly vindicated a $650,000 2-year-old tag and his graded stakes-placed dam is out of a half-sister to the dam of Stellar Wind (Curlin). Any reservations about his sire should have been cleared up by Mitole’s success in the same stallion-making race last year, and Spendthrift dependably assembled 176 and then 136 mares in his first two seasons. He has plenty of ballast, then, for one taking consecutive fee cuts, now down to $5,000 from an opening $10,000.

Another Met Mile winner, BEE JERSEY (Jersey Town–Bees, by Rahy), was always good value at $5,000 and advanced his second book at Darby Dan from 61 to 73. None has sampled the ring as yet, but he’s a fine-looking horse with a fantastic pedigree (fourth dam Lassie Dear, no less), so long as you are prepared to take a chance on his own sire. In fairness to that hard-knocking son of Speightstown, this was some advertisement from his first crop–he ran a 109 Beyer in wiring the Met–and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the unorthodoxy and imagination of Charles Fipke pay off by breeding another good one from Bee Jersey.

Nor, equally, if he does the same with TALE OF VERVE (Tale of Ekati–Verve, by Unbridled), whose marginal track qualifications are reflected in a fee of just $2,000 at the same farm, but whose family is also aristocratic: dam a half-sister to Grade I winner/multiple Grade I producer Zoftig (Cozzene) from the clan of Swale (Seattle Slew) and Forty Niner (Mr. Prospector).

Funtastic | Sarah Andrew

FREE DROP BILLY (Union Rags–Trensa, by Giant’s Causeway) has been sensibly reduced to $5,000 from an opening $10,000 after assembling pretty conservative books (82 and 91) by Spendthrift standards. He’s a juvenile Grade I winner out of a terrific mare, also responsible for Group 1 winner Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy); and the next dam is a Grade I winner out of a half-sister to that very wholesome influence Cozzene.

MCCRAKEN (Ghostzapper–Ivory Empress, by Seeking the Gold) was another smart juvenile, his GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. qualifying him as the most precocious son of his sire, and he’s out of a graded stakes-placed half-sister to a Grade I winner. Though only denied his Grade I in the final stride of the Haskell, speed was his true forte–virtually invincible, in fact, up to a mile and sixteenth–and he confirmed his powers of acceleration when breaking the track record in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby. McCraken struggled for numbers last spring, but he has the graduates of a three-figure debut book going out to bat for him; and a clip to $6,000 at Airdrie (opened at $10,000) should also help.

FUNTASTIC (More Than Ready–Quiet Dance, by Quiet American) had a very small first book but moved up to 51 mares at Three Chimneys last year, having dropped to $5,000 from $7,500. His shock Grade I success in the United Nations H. serves principally to showcase some authentically priceless genes as a half-brother to Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and the dam of Gun Runner.

CHRIS McGRATH’S VALUE PODIUM
Gold: Accelerate ($17,500, Lane’s End)
You want runners? You know he’ll get them…
Silver: Mo Town ($7,500, Ashford)
Keep the faith, every right to add sire’s ‘Mo’-mentum
Bronze: Army Mule ($7,500, Hill ‘n’ Dale)
Weanlings sold well and even better target for 2-y-o pinhookers

The post Kentucky Sires for 2021, First Yearlings: Part II appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post