Out of the mare, Sophie Sophie (Unbridled's Song), a half-sister to GISW and millionaire Seattle Smooth (Quiet American), the filly was bred by Dr. Oscar Benavides and born at his Montesacro Farm.

“I am very happy with my filly,” said Dr. Benavides. “She looks racy and has great conformation as we expected being by Olympiad.”

Olympiad, a five-time graded stakes winner, posted eight wins in 13 career starts for earnings of $3,027,560 for trainer Bill Mott and owners Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods.

Winner of the 2022 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S., Olympiad also delivered a track-record setting performance over 1 1/16 miles in the GIII Mineshaft S. and added wins in the GII New Orleans Classic S., GII Stephen Foster S., GII Alysheba S.

In the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Olympiad rallied down the Keeneland stretch to finish second behind Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit). He earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures on eight occasions with victories from seven furlongs to 1 1/4 miles.

Olympiad stands for $35,000 LFSN.

The post First Foal Arrives By Gainesway’s GISW Olympiad appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Together, we support the fight against Jewish hate and antisemitism and stand with Israel's mission to eliminate all forms of terrorism,” a statement from the group read. “In a united effort, we are committed to donating a portion of earnings from the Breeders' Cup this weekend to benefit Stand Up To Jewish Hate. We welcome everyone from the Thoroughbred Horse Racing community and all its fans to join us. Please visit www.standuptojewishhate.org to learn more or donate.”

The statement is signed by: Rory Babich of St. Elias Stables, Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud, Gary Barber, Antony Beck of Gainesway Farm, Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm, Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC, Alex Bregman of Bregman Family Racing LLC, Gary Broad of Walmac Farm, Mark Casse of Casse Racing, Everything's Cricket Racing, Gary Fenton of Little Red Feather Racing, Al Gold of Gold Square, Stuart Grant of The Elkstone Group, Len and Jon Green of DJ Stables, John Heims, Racing Secretary Monmouth Park, Larry Hirsch of Highlander Training Center, Jay Hovdey, Billy Koch of Little Red Feather Racing, Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables, David Levine, Mike Levy of Muirfield Insurance, Michael McCarthy of Michael McCarthy Racing Stable, Peter Miller of Peter Miller Racing Stable, Graham Motion of Herringswell Stables, Todd Pletcher of Todd A. Pletcher Racing Stables, Inc., Jay Privman, Eddie Rosen, The Roth Family of LNJ Stables, Len Schleifer of Pantofel Stable, Brian Spearman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stables, Adam Wachtel of Wachtel Stable, Bradley Weisbord of Elite Sales, Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds and Aron Yagoda.

Founded by Robert Kraft, Stand Up to Jewish Hate's mission, according to its website is “to win the hearts and minds of non-Jews and Jews through powerful positive messaging and partnerships, motivating and equipping them to be defenders of and upstanders for the Jewish community.”

The post Prominent Horsemen Pledge Breeders’ Cup Earnings to Support Fight Against Antisemitism appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Olympiad, a Grade I-winning son of Speightstown, will stand his second season at stud for $35,000. Breeders sent over 200 mares to be part of the 5-year-old's inaugural book. Meanwhile, McKinzie, a four-time Grade I-winning son of Street Sense, will stand for $30,000 after his first yearlings went to auction this year.

Young stallions Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music), Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Spun to Run (Hard Spun) will each stand for $10,000.

GI Belmont S. hero Tapwrit will stand for $7,500 and rounding out the roster is GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Karakontie (Jpn) (Bernstein), whose fee will be announced at a later time.

Here is the complete list of the 2024 stallion roster and advertised fees:

• Tapit — $185,000
• Olympiad — $35,000
• McKinzie — $30,000
• Drain the Clock — $10,000
• Raging Bull — $10,000
• Spun to Run — $10,000
• Tapwrit — $7,500
• Karakontie — To be announced

The post Tapit Tops 2024 Stud Fees At Gainesway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The post Wine On Tap Dispenses With First Maiden Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Gainesway also announced that GI Woody Stephens S. winner DRAIN THE CLOCK (Maclean's Music) has his first mare in foal as well–Amelia Island (Hook and Ladder), the dam of Grade III winner Amelia's Wild Ride (D'Wildcat). Drain the Clock stands for $10,000 at Gainesway.

KEEPMEINMIND (Laoban), winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S., covered Wintrily (Carpe Diem), his first mare bred reported to be in foal. He stands for $6,500 at Sequel Stallions New York.

The post First Mares in Foal to Olympiad, Drain the Clock, Keepmeinmind appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Ryan Norton, who joined Gainesway as the farm's new stallion director a few weeks before the Breeders' Cup, explained how Olympiad's performance at Keeneland over fellow Grade I-winning Classic contenders Taiba, Rich Strike, Life Is Good and others led to a busy stretch of open houses at Gainesway as breeders were eager to inspect the multi-millionaire.

“The Breeders' Cup was the pinnacle of Olympiad's career,” Norton said. “It was a race that had breeders look at him and say, 'This is a real-deal horse.' I think that was the reason why he was such a success when he retired here. He had hundreds of people coming to view him and he was booked full within three weeks of his arrival.”

Certainly the campaign that Olympiad put together throughout his 4-year-old season was further incentive for inquiring breeders. A lightly-raced winner at both two and three, the Bill Mott trainee strung together five graded stakes scores in 2022, starting with a track-record setting win in the GIII Mineshaft S. and then continuing on with further victories in the GII New Orleans Classic S., the GII Alysheba S., the GII Stephen Foster S. and the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S.

“Olympiad had a mix of speed and stamina,” Norton explained. “He won at seven furlongs and he won at a mile and a quarter. He ran eight triple-digit Beyers up to 111, so he was definitely a very fast horse and he could carry his speed. He had six wins from eight starts at four, plus a second in the Breeders' Cup Classic. To do that in this day and age with such a deep field of older horses in 2022 really showed the quality and perseverance that this horse had.”

Norton said that the members of Olympiad's partnership – Robert Clay's Grandview Equine, Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods – have all submitted some of their best mares to Olympiad and that the new Gainesway stallion will breed between 185 and 200 mares in 2023.

With an initial stud fee of $35,000, Olympiad is one of seven stallions by Speightstown standing in Kentucky, but Norton explained that this particular son of the WinStar stalwart offers a unique opportunity for breeders.

“One of the main things that breeders have been saying is that he has a lot more size and a lot more scope that the typical Speightstown. That was something that I think they were very intrigued with. The mating can produce something that's going to be a little bigger and a little rangier, a horse that is going to be able to run short or long. He's 16'1, so you see a lot of Medaglia d'Oro, his broodmare sire, coming out.”

The Speightstown-Medaglia d'Oro cross has been a rewarding mating. Along with Olympiad, Speightstown's Grade I winners out of Medaglia d'Oro mares include Rock Fall and Competitionofideas. The cross has also produced Grade III victors Strike Power and Souper Stonehenge.

“It works well because you get the speed of Speightstown with the stamina of Medaglia,” Norton noted.

With a pedigree tracing back to Emory Hamilton's foundation mare Too Chic, Olympiad's extended family features a host of Grade I winners including sires Preservationist, Keen Ice, and Verrazano. His dam Tokyo Time, herself a turf success with a runner-up placing in the GIII Herecomesthebride S., is a half to MGSW Hungry Island (More Than Ready) and GSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker).

“It's a very deep family which is why, between his looks and that female family, he was a $700,000 Keeneland September yearling,” Norton said. “Solis/Litt Bloodstock bought him and they're known for picking out very attractive horses, so breeders are aware when they come here that he is going to have a certain look that they are going to like. He's a great walker. He drops his head, really extends and has a nice overreach. Looking at the horse and how he moves, you understand exactly how he was such a good racehorse.”

Along with Olympiad, Gainesway also welcomes Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music – Manki, by Arch) to their roster for 2023. The speedy sprinter earned three graded stakes wins over his three-year career, including a victory over champion Jackie's Warrior in the 2021 GI Woody Stephens S. He will stand for $10,000 in his debut season.

For more on this year's class of incoming stallions, click here. 

The post “A Mix of Speed and Stamina,” Olympiad Attracts Breeders at Gainesway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Christened a 'TDN Rising Star' after he stylishly devastated a deep Keeneland maiden field Oct. 21 last year by over four lengths, the good-looking son of Tapwrit showed he had heart to the talent by fighting back to capture a Nov. 26 Churchill Downs allowance optional claiming contest to cap his juvenile season.

Wildly popular at the betting windows for this seasonal bow, to the tune of 3-5 favoritism, Victory Formation made the first Kentucky Derby points race a procession; breaking well enough and asked to use a bit of himself to secure his lead over Western Ghent (American Pharoah). The race was over from there as he galloped along through :23.20, :47.75, and 1:12.36 splits unchallenged with ears pricked. When Flavien Prat shook up his mount for the short run through the stretch to the wire, the colt responded by putting a comfortable three-length margin on his closing stablemate Angel of Empire and McPeek trainee Denington, who followed the latter in from the rear of the field.

With this 10 point pick up, Victory Formation now sits in a three-way tie for sixth with GII Remsen S. winner Dubyuhnell (Good Magic) and GII Los Alamitos Futurity victor Practical Move (Practical Joke) keeping him company. Angel of Empire is eleventh–though tied with six others including Denington–after claiming four points. Counting his exacta here, Brad Cox has a loaded hand thus far with six of the early top 20 in his barn.

“This horse has a great mind. He doesn't overdo it in the morning. He settles and I think the farther the better. He's got a lot of natural speed. He's able to put himself in good position and he was able to turn off and settle and finish up with good strides there,” said Cox. “The breeding suggested he would go long. You never really know [going two turns] until they do it. He has to confirm it. We have opinions, horses have the answers. He gave us the right answer today.”

#8 VICTORY FORMATION ($3.20) wins the SMARTY JONES STAKES! The 3 year old colt by TAPWRIT (@Gainesway) remains undefeated and earns 10 points in the KENTUCKY DERBY standings. Flavien Prat was aboard for @bradcoxracing who finished 1-2. Congrats to all the connections! pic.twitter.com/8PbtgD9UES

— TVG (@TVG) January 1, 2023

In addition to his Grade I-placed half-sister Bellamore (Empire Maker), Victory Formation also claims the dam of Italian stakes winner Sienna (Ger) (Amaron {GB}) as a half-relation. Smart N Soft, herself out of an accomplished racemare in GSW & MGSP Softly (Binalong), has a newly-turned 2-year-old filly by Karakontie (Jpn) as well as a yearling filly by Practical Joke. She visited Raging Bull (Fr) for a foal this season. This is the female family of GSW, track-record setter Coragil Cat (Forest Wildcat) and GSW Conquest Big E (Tapit). GI Kentucky Oaks-placed Til Forbid (Temperence Hill) also makes an appearance beneath the fourth dam. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

SMARTY JONES S., $250,000, Oaklawn, 1-1, 3yo, 1m, 1:38.14, ft.
1–VICTORY FORMATION, 119, c, 3, by Tapwrit
           1st Dam: Smart N Soft, by Smart Strike
           2nd Dam: Softly, by Binalong
           3rd Dam: Coragil, by Metfield
($100,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $150,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL; $340,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Spendthrift Farm LLC and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations, Inc.; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Brad Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $152,750. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $282,285. *1/2 to Bellamore (Empire Maker), GISP, $284,040.
2–Angel of Empire, 118, c, 3, Classic Empire–Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve. ($32,000 RNA Wlg '20 KEENOV; $70,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Albaugh Family Stables LLC; B-Forgotten Land Investment Inc & Black Diamond Equine Corp (PA); T-Brad H. Cox. $47,000.
3–Denington, 118, c, 3, Gun Runner–Stronger Than Ever, by Congrats. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Fern Circle Stables and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek) (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $23,500.
Margins: 3, 3, HF. Odds: 0.60, 18.10, 6.80.
Also Ran: Western Ghent, How Did He Do That, Ten Days Later, Communication Memo, C. J's Storm.

The post Tapwrit’s Undefeated Victory Formation Victorious in Smarty Jones appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The auction raises funds that allow the NYTB to carry on its two-fold mission of promoting New York breeding and racing and protecting the welfare of industry stakeholders.

Attracting donated seasons from farms in the Empire State and Kentucky, the auction has included McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, Sequel New York, Irish Hill & Dutchess Views Stallions, Rockridge Stud, Darley, WinStar Farm, Darby Dan Farm, and Gainesway Farm.

“The benefit of our annual stallion season auction is that it allows participants to find great value on stallions from leading farms in New York, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and elsewhere while helping our mission to protect and enhance the incentives and awards that have made the New York-bred program the strongest regional breeding program in the country,” said New York Thoroughbred Breeders Executive Director Najja Thompson.

New York-bred program stakeholders receive more than $60 million distributed in purse money, incentives, and awards for New York-breds who compete in more than 600 New York-bred races run annually on the New York Racing Association circuit and Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack.

Additionally, there are specific enhanced programs targeted for New York-Sired New York-breds, including the $2.3 million 10-race New York Stallion Stakes Series and the New York-sired owner's bonus programs on the New York Racing Association circuit.

Donations of stallion seasons will be accepted until the beginning of the auction. Please visit to view the current list of stallions in the auction and contact NYTB directly at 518.587.0777 or info@nytbreeders.org to donate a season.

All bids will be subject to the rules and conditions of the auction and each season's conditions will be posted. All participants must be registered in advance, click here.

The post NYTB Stallion Season Auction Returns in Late Jan. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Olympiad captured five graded victories this season, beginning with the GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds, where he set a track record for 1 1/16 miles. He followed up at the same track with a two-length score in the GII New Orleans Classic S. before adding a pair of wins at Churchill Downs in the GII Alysheba S. and the GII Stephen Foster S.

Bred by Emory Hamilton, Olympiad is out of the Grade III-place Tokyo Time. This is the immediate family of Grade I winner and foundation mare Chic Shirine, from whom 20 graded stakes winners descend. He was purchased from the Gainesway consignment as a yearling for $700,000 by Solis/Litt.

“I have been a huge fan of Olympiad since selling him as a yearling in 2019,” said Gainesway General Manager Brian Graves. “Olympiad has backed up his exceptional looks and pedigree with a tremendous race record. I couldn't be more excited to stand a horse of his quality and talent at Gainesway.”

An advertised fee for Olympiad's first season will be announced at a later date.

The post GISW Olympiad to Stand at Gainesway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A son of Derby winner Roberto (Hail to Reason), Lear Fan, trained by Guy Harwood for Ahmed Salman, went three-for-three as a juvenile, his campaign culminating with a victory in Doncaster's G2 Champagne S. Making his 3-year-old bow in the G3 Craven S., the colt had future Arc victor and sire Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}) back in second. He emulated his sire with a placing in the G1 2000 Guineas in the wake of the high-class runner and future star sire El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer).

Sent to France in search of a top-flight victory, Lear Fan trotted up in the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois and was then second in the G1 Prix du Moulin. Although he participated in the first edition of the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Hollywood Park, Lear Fan did not land a blow and was duly retired after a brief but brilliant eight-start career to Gainesway Farm in Kentucky, where he lived out the rest of his years as a stallion.

Despite not founding a mainstream male line, Lear Fan did well in the breeding shed with an above-average percentage of black-type winners, leaving 68 stakes winners (7%) and 32 graded/group winners from 914 foals. Among his 12 Grade/Group 1 winners were eight champions headed by 2008 Hong Kong Horse of the Year Good Ba Ba, a three-time winner of the G1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile from 2007-2009 and earner of over $7.4 million. Other standouts included Italian champion and seven-time Group 1 winner Sikeston, as well as the four-time Grade/Group 1 winner Ryafan, successful at the highest level in both France (Prix Marcel Boussac) and thrice in the States, who was named the Eclipse Champion Grass Mare in 1997.

However, it is through his daughters that Lear Fan, the sixth of 13 foals out of Wac, a daughter of noted broodmare sire Lt. Stevens out of a daughter of an even more significant broodmare sire in War Admiral, is maintaining his presence in pedigrees. Bred by Preston Madden, Wac was a full-sister to the stakes-placed Bel Sheba, herself the dam of dirt router par excellence and 1988 U.S. Horse of the Year Alysheba (Alydar), who won the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness S., as well an additional seven Grade I races, including the 1988 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Inking His Legacy

Pensioned after the 2004 breeding season, four years prior to his death, Lear Fan's grandchildren began arriving in 1991, and it did not take him long to make his mark as a broodmare sire. The first inkling of his eventual 85 stakes-winning grandchildren came with the win of Tzar Rodney (Fr) (Assert {Ire}) in the 2100-metre Listed Prix Maurice Caillault at Saint-Cloud in March of 1995. The son of the winning Laquifan then became the first of 35 group winners for Lear Fan as broodmare sire with a win in the G3 Prix La Force later in the season.

The G1 Haydock Park Sprint Cup second by Danetime (Ire) (Danehill  in September 1997 was another notable milestone for his grandsire. Subsequently placed in the G1 July Cup too, Danetime was given a place at stud and served mares in both hemispheres before his death in Western Australia in 2005. The bay's progeny includes three Group 1 winners among his 30 stakes winners.

Just Desserts

Grade I winners that produce Grade I winners are few and far between, and those that repeat that feat are in another stratosphere entirely, but the 1996 Canadian champion Windsharp, who raced for Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corp., was one such quality filly. From Lear Fan's 1991 crop, she punctuated her career with top-level scores in the GI San Luis Rey S. and the GI Beverly Hills H. in the mid-90s, and even stretched her stamina when second, by only a length, in the 1 3/4-mile GI San Juan Capistrano Invitational H.

At stud, she provided Lear Fan with his first two top-level winners as a broodmare sire in the form of the 2002 GI Hollywood Derby hero Johar (Gone West) and the Storm Cat filly Dessert, who won the GI Del Mar Oaks in August of 2003. Both were also Thoroughbred Corp. homebreds. Johar would go on to pad his reputation with a dead-heat victory that November–with High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) –in a memorable edition of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Offered at Keeneland, Windsharp later brought an eye-watering $6.1 million from John Ferguson to join the Darley broodmare band after her childrens' accomplishments that November.

Over one quarter of Lear Fan's 11 Grade/Group 1 winners earned that badge in 2003, with Volga (Ire) (Caerleon) following in the wake of Dessert with a victory of her own in the E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine that autumn. Lear Fan's annus mirabilis ended on a high note with Vallee Enchantee (Ire) (Peintre Celebre) taking out the G1 Hong Kong Vase at year's end.

'Mour' Heights To Scale

The best runner out of a Lear Fan mare in Europe was undoubtedly the impeccably bred Aga Khan homebred Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift), a son of the Irish listed heroine Asmara. The John Oxx-trained winner of the 2004 G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Irish Champion S. was also Classic-placed in both the 2000 Guineas and Irish equivalent earlier that year. Kept in training at four, he secured the G1 Princes Of Wales's S., the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond S., and ran third in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Lone Star Park in Texas.

At stud, he left 43 black-type winners (including five Group 1 winners), but sadly died at the relatively young age of 13. The 2015 G1 Irish Oaks heroine Covert Love (Ire), who was also successful in the G1 Prix de l'Opera, was the best of his progeny, which included the G1 Prix de Diane victrix Valyra (GB). However, his best male flagbearer was the gelded Best Of Days (GB), who struck in the G1 Cantala S. In Australia.

Johar, too, was given a place at stud, and came up with 16 stakes winners (10 at group level), with GI Breeders' Futurity S. winner Joha on dirt and New Zealand Group 1 winner Guiseppina (NZ) the two stars. Besides the latter, the admirable filly Keertana won a quintet of graded races and was third in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2010.

Kitten's First, The Rest Nowhere

Initially not the most distinguished daughter of Lear Fan to grace the paddocks, Kitten's First made just $17,000 as a 1992 Keeneland September Yearling and was selected by Sarah Ramsey for $41,000 out of the OBS Spring Sale one year later as her first horse. The future blue hen achieved a debut win in a seven-furlong turf maiden special weight at Belmont Park in July of 1993 and was pulled up in her only other start, Monmouth's Junior Champion S., later that summer.

However, her true merits were revealed at stud, and she hit pay dirt with her very first foal–the dual stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Justenuffheart (Broad Brush). As it stands, that branch of the Kitten's First family now features no fewer than 11 black-type horses out of Kitten's First's firstborn, anchored by 2006 Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Dreaming Of Anna (Rahy), who won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Kitten's First visited El Prado (Ire) in 2000, and the resulting foal, Kitten's Joy, has guaranteed Lear Fan's influence well into the 21st century. A $95,000 RNA out of the 2003 OBS April Sale and named in honour of the late Sarah Ramsey, the blaze-faced chestnut was destined to become a dual Grade I winner in 2004 with victories in the Secretariat S. and Turf Classic for trainer Dale Romans. Although he was second in the Breeders' Cup Turf, his earlier efforts granted him a championship at year's end as the Eclipse Champion Turf Male. He returned the next year with a victory in the GII Firecracker Breeders' Cup H. and ended his career with an unlucky runner-up performance in the GI Arlington Million a few months later.

Predominantly a miler by trade, although he did win beyond that in the Firecracker and turned in several noteworthy efforts in defeat at longer distances, Kitten's Joy achieved sire success beyond the wildest dreams of most breeders, with two American sire titles (2013 and 2018) and took every U.S. Champion Turf Sire crown from 2013-2018. Currently sitting at 111 stakes winners (53 graded/group winners), the late chestnut, who stood at Ramsey Farm until he was moved to Hill 'n' Dale in 2018, has also accrued 15 Grade/Group 1 winners.

Three of his offspring won Grade I races on the same day–Aug. 17, 2013–Big Blue Kitten in the Sword Dancer Invitational S. in New York and both Real Solution and Admiral Kitten stamped their names on historic Chicago fixtures–the Arlington Million and Secretariat S., respectively. His European stars were Group 1 winners Hawkbill, the late Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion, and 2000 Guineas victor Kameko, while GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby's Kitten also won at listed level in Ireland. All four went to stud, though Roaring Lion's tenure was sadly short-lived. He died of colic after siring just one crop in Europe.

(For a more in depth look at the exploits of Kitten's Joy by Lucas Marquardt, please click here.)

The legacy of Kitten's First continued with her Catienus filly of 2003, Precious Kitten. Although a championship title evaded her, she did strike several times at the highest level in the 2007 John C. Mabee H. and Matriarch S., before adding her final Grade I in the Gamely S. at Hollywood Park in the spring of 2008.

As a broodmare, she has produced Grade III winner and sire Divining Rod (Tapit), who was second in the GI Cigar Mile H. and earned a Classic placing when third in the GI Preakness S.

Late To The 'Pizza' Party

Lear Fan's grandchildren continued to make an impact on the world stage after his death in 2008. Mutual Trust (GB) (Cacique {Ire}), out of the stakes winner Posteritas, claimed the 2011 G1 Prix Jean Prat, while Camilin Camilon (Per) (Unbridels King), a son of the winning Lear Dancer, struck in Peru's G1 Derby Nacional in 2013.

English Channel's The Pizza Man was the final top-flight victor for his broodmare sire prior to Westover, with a win in the 2015 Arlington Million. The immensely popular gelding, out of the multiple stakes-placed mare I Can Fan Fan, became a dual top-level scorer with a narrow tally in the Northern Dancer Turf S. the following year.

Go West My Son

The Juddmonte breeding programme is renowned near and far, and Westover's first three dams are all products of the storied operation. His 20-year-old dam, Mirabilis, gained black-type as a juvenile with a second in the G3 Prix Miesque, before improving to take the Listed Prix d'Angerville at three. Two more group-placings followed, among them the all-important Group 1 with a third in the Prix de la Foret. Sent Stateside, she captured the GIII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. as a 4-year-old and was also third in the GII Jenny Wiley S. and GII Buena Vista H.

A consistent producer, Mirabilis had three winners from three runners prior to foaling Monarchs Glen (GB). By European champion sire Frankel, the full-brother to the Irish Derby hero took the G3 Club S. Also, a stakes winner on American shores just like his dam, Monarchs Glen was placed in the GIII Mint Million at Kentucky Downs. Westover, who was also third in the Derby at Epsom, is the 10th foal from Mirabilis and is followed by the Expert Eye (GB) juvenile filly Japala (GB), who has yet to race.

The Ralph Beckett-trained Classic winner wasn't the only new stakes winner for his grandsire recently either, with Nick Papagiorgio (Outflanker) running out a half-length victor of Laurel Park's Find S. in Maryland on June 19.

With his youngest broodmare daughters now 17, most of the chapters on Lear Fan's immediate influence as a broodmare sire have been written, but Westover's victory illuminated once again what a conduit for class the Gainesway stallion yet embodies in pedigrees. That point could be illustrated even more poignantly on Saturday, with Westover entered in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. If he completes the Irish Derby/King George double, he would be the first 3-year-old colt to do so since Alamshar (Ire) (Key Of Luck) in 2003.

The post Classic Win Emphasises Lear Fan’s Broodmare Sire Legacy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post