“This colt has the longest legs we've ever seen on a newborn foal. He has an extraordinary hip and a beautiful head. This is the biggest foal the mare has had. We are very, very happy,” said Martha Rattner, whose Rattner Bloodstock LLC bred the foal.

Greatest Honour, hailing from a half-sister to champion Rags to Riches; Irish Highweight Man of Iron; GSW-US and G1SP-Jpn Casino Drive; GISW Jazil; and the dam of GISW Streaming (Smart Strike), covered 178 mares in his 2023 introductory season, and will stand his second at stud for a fee of $7,500 S&N.

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Even at this end of the market, the perennial dilemma remains that value means different things to different people. A breeder operating at this level tends to appreciate every cent of a commercial return, however marginal. If your belt is already at the last notch, then the understandable inclination is to leave any selfless consideration of the breed's wider interests to those who can better afford it. Nonetheless I would persist in the view that anyone who believes in a mare can do her no better service than try to put a winner on the page.

Many stallions in this bracket are barely clinging to a place in the Bluegrass, even though in many cases they have had little or no opportunity to show what their mature stock can do on the racetrack. We know that the commercial compulsion towards new sires is double-edged, in that they are abandoned just as promptly as they were embraced only a year previously. And once a sire is reckless enough actually to start testing his genetic prowess by fielding runners, the game really is up for most.

Even the few that make a good start on the track tend to find their books and sales yield both on the slide. As a result, the types that are entitled to need a little more time tend to find themselves almost wholly abandoned. If you're keeping the faith with your stallion, all you can do is stand him at this kind of fairly token fee pending the testimonials of the winner's circle. The trouble is that even an excellent ratio of track success, when your volume is so low, will be submerged by “yet another stakes winner” advertised for rivals who may have 500 more foals on the ground across their first three crops.

The trick, among the younger sires, is to distinguish between those lurking at this level only pending a breakout, and those who are merely clinging to hang on. Because we must never forget that Into Mischief himself once spent a couple of years languishing at $7,500.

An alternative source of value at this level is a handful of stalwarts who have quietly carved out a respectable niche of service for breeders of modest means and realistic ambitions; plus a few younger ones who appear on course for that kind of yeoman viability.

Take TAPITURE, for instance. He was launched with plenty of volume: in fact, in his intake only American Pharoah has more named foals. Granted that the quality clearly couldn't match the quantity, at this level, his ratios will probably never be very startling. But he has shown himself able to get plenty of black-type action with an adequate mare and, while Repo Rocks this year became only his second domestic graded stakes winner, his 111 Beyer in blitzing the GIII Toboggan S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Carter together complement the Classic-placed Jesus' Team as evidence that someday Tapiture is going to land an elite score at just $7,500.

At the same fee, his farm has not managed to muster anything like the same demand for COUNTRY HOUSE, who had to make do with just 119 mares across his first three books and endured corresponding inattention for his first yearlings. But he did sell one for $250,000, and I hope he can similarly defy the odds once he gets a foothold on the track over the next couple of years. His inherent merit was lost in all the blather about the horse he supplanted in the Derby, but his performance there was absolutely consistent with the progress he'd been making and it was terribly unfortunate that he never had the chance to corroborate his breakout–especially after the gamble of trying again the following year left him even more of a forgotten horse. It's ridiculous that so many of those that finished behind him at Churchill were launched with huge books at much higher fees. Country House's sire was always scandalously underrated, but he's inbred to the Sam-Son matriarch No Class (Nodouble) and could certainly breed a horse capable of attending to his unfinished business with the Derby.

Country House | Matt Goins

Darby Dan is definitely worth a visit for those working to this kind of budget, then, as a look at our podium will confirm, and the same is true of Airdrie. True, a couple of that farm's most attractive options demand a little nerve, in that they must negotiate the tricky chicane between small books and the maturity of their first stock, but both are now a bet to virtually nothing at $5,000.

Nobody could have expected PRESERVATIONIST to set the world on fire overnight, having won his Grade I at six, but he's had 13 juvenile winners already from 41 starters-a ratio that matches or beats many peers working from monster books. Unsurprisingly, in the world we live in, his second crop were quiet at the sales but earlier transactions of $280,000, $260,000 and $250,000 show the kind of stamp of horse he can produce. And there are few stallions in any bracket with a better shape to their pedigree, with King Ranch queens Courtly Dee and Too Chic standing opposite each other. I'd be amazed if Preservationist doesn't make a broodmare sire.

DIVISIDERO was never going to cause a stampede, either, having been so recklessly “uncommercial” as to advertise his constitution on the racetrack until the age of seven. He duly had a small debut crop, prompting little interest at the yearling sales, but from this tiny foothold he has mustered a very talented horse in Vote No, whose three starts to date comprise maiden/stakes/length defeat in a Grade II. He had a good winner at Gulfstream just last week, too, leaving him top of the freshmen table by earnings per starter. In the meantime, the eight yearlings sold from his second crop, again very small, included a colt and filly that each made six figures at the September Sale.

So Divisidero is hinting, to those who pay heed, that he could yet claim a role in filling the void left by the loss of his sire Kitten's Joy. Remember that his two GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classics, 13 triple-digit Beyers and length defeat in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile have a genetic bedrock in none other than Cosmah as fifth dam.

The crass neglect of turf sires also requires us to draw attention to DEMARCHELIER (GB) at $7,500. His unfortunate derailment, after an immaculate start to his career, required Bluegrass breeders to show uncharacteristic breadth of perspective by grasping their good fortune in having access not only to a son of the European great Dubawi (Ire) but also to an outstanding Classic family. Demarchelier's first crop will not come fully into their own until stretching out at three, but a perfectly respectable start by his American juveniles is not even half the story, with a youngster Group-placed in France from a handful of starters over there.

His veteran neighbor at Claiborne, FIRST SAMURAI, is a seriously productive horse to be standing at the same fee. He's actually inside the top 20 active stallions on lifetime earnings, and it's very scrupulous of the farm to advertise only six millionaires when he also has one who came up cents short at $999,000! That's not enough for the typical breeder, apparently, as he's only getting small books nowadays. But if you want to put a winner under your mare, here's a Hopeful/Champagne winner by Giant's Causeway for a fraction of the price required to reach many horses of less accomplishment who have yet to sire the winner of a maiden claimer.

TOM'S D'ETAT won't have a runner himself until next year yet has somehow just suffered a third consecutive fee cut, from an opening $17,500 to $7,500. That reflects the modest commercial traction of his first yearlings, but on the racetrack he achieved a high level with maturity-nine consecutive triple-digit Beyers-and he's by a sire of sires out of Giant's Causeway mare whose own mother was a sister to Candy Ride (Arg). Tom's D'Etat has every right to sire runners at a fee that minimises those risks equally attached to more expensive but similarly unproven horses.

That said, there's no denying the superior impression made by the first yearlings presented by CARACARO. They were processed at an average of $41,745 from a base of just $6,500, thanks partly to a filly who brought $175,000. In exemplary hands at Crestwood, Caracaro also kept some good company in a light track career and has a physique reminiscent of his expensive sire.

By the way, before we proceed to our Value Podium, don't forget that we surveyed the new sires separately in the first part of this series. That was on the premise that they seldom offer sufficient value, strictly on their merits, to have any chance of a podium against the proven horses in the higher brackets. But that wouldn't apply to a couple we highlighted at this level: the teak-tough and classy SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT is almost insulted by a fee of just $3,500, while LOGGINS actually mounted the top step of the newcomers' podium at $7,500.

Copper Bullet | Matt Goins

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: COPPER BULLET

More Than Ready ex Allegory (Unbridled's Song)

Darby Dan $7,500

Bronze for Copper? Why not, when this horse has been the medium of a pioneering experiment: not only complimentary covers for mares that satisfied certain selection criteria, but a $5,000 award to their owners once certified in foal!

Nor have their dividends stopped there. The first intimation that the novel strategy was paying off came at the 2-year-old sales, when 11 members of Copper Bullet's debut crop-comprising 34 named foals-achieved the fourth-highest median ($65,000) among new sires, headlined by colts selling at Ocala for $275,000 and $260,000. He then did something even more unusual by actually advancing the yield realised by his second crop of yearlings. At a time when even those of his peers who had made a flying start with their first runners were suffering from the usual slide-so fatuously do purchasers follow the herd-the handful representing his second crop at the sales achieved a median ($55,000) surpassed, among Kentucky sires, only by Omaha Beach.

After another restricted book this spring, Copper Bullet will surely be generating demand after producing Copper Tax to win five off the reel, including two stakes (one by nearly seven lengths), before flattening out from a messy trip in the GII Remsen S. Overall Copper Bullet has had half a dozen winners from 19 starters, including another placed in stakes company.

It all stands to reason, for a four-length winner of the GII Saratoga Special who flashed residual talent at both three and four despite only fitful visits to the track. With a classy French family behind him, his innovative showcasing may turn out to give us plenty more to think about.

Silver: GREATEST HONOUR

Tapit ex Tiffany's Honour (Street Cry {Ire})

Spendthrift $7,500

This farm's system has adapted very well to the upgrading of its roster over recent years but here we have a horse combining a hint of elite caliber at the kind of basement fee that first made the model work. Having duly welcomed 178 mares into his debut book, he's surely going to produce a headliner or two to maintain momentum through the crossroads ahead. As ever, with high volume, you'd want to be taking one of his nicer specimens to market. But plenty of commercial breeders will be happy to accept those terms for such a lenient fee.

On the racetrack Greatest Honour ultimately proved an anti-climax but only after showing ample to suggest that he had inherited a functioning line to one of the great modern families. And at least his fading has brought affordable access to those aristocratic genes, with second and fourth dams both Broodmares of the Year, divided by a GI Kentucky Oaks winner.

Greatest Honour took four starts to break his maiden, but that was fair enough when he was sharing an education with Olympiad, Speaker's Corner and Known Agenda, and he duly beat a subsequent Grade II winner when doing so. Improvement was barely required, then, in making a dazzling emergence on the Derby trail in the GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fountain of Youth S. He was so strong at the wire in these races that it was a jolt when he could not follow through in the GI Florida Derby, but he disappeared for a year and never really retrieved the thread.

As we've indicated, this horse straddles the divide in that busy Spendthrift covering shed. He's standing at the kind of commercial fee that brings corresponding numbers behind him. But he definitely had a ton of class, far more than his final profile suggests, and recycles genes that could produce any kind. Few stallions at this level will appeal to the breeder who wouldn't mind keeping a filly, but that's a measure of the way Greatest Honour has all bases covered.

Gold: HIGHLY MOTIVATED

Into Mischief ex Strong Incentive (Warrior's Reward)

Airdrie $7,500

I'm going to put it on the line here and declare that this is the value play, hands down, among all the aspiring young sires in Kentucky.

Highly Motivated resides at a farm that strives to price stallions fairly without making breeders pay another way by flooding the catalogues. The 141 mares he covered last year represents a maximum subscription, by its restrained standards, and reflects what a talented runner he was. We'll return to that, but the big news is what has happened to his page since.

If pressed, I suspect that Airdrie might have conceded that the only reason he launched at a fee this low was that it wasn't totally clear that his young dam, albeit a black-type winner in a light career, had much genetic back-up to complement the brilliance we know to expect from Into Mischief. But now look!

Since he went to stud, the two named foals she had delivered since Highly Motivated-only her third and fourth overall-have both emerged as elite performers. The 3-year-old by Flintshire (GB), Surge Capacity, has emerged from nowhere to be beaten by a single rival in five starts, winning a maiden, two grade IIIs and now the GI Matriarch S. And the 2-year-old filly by Practical Joke produced the debut of the Saratoga meet, geared down by 12¾ lengths for a 90 Beyer, before enduring a horror trip and still failing by only half a length to run down Brightwork (Outwork) in the GI Spinaway S.

Combine those new talents with Highly Motivated himself, and you're looking at a mare entering blue hen territory at the age of 11. Throw in the expensive genes of his sire, and it's hard to resist reminding ourselves that Into Mischief himself once stood at exactly this fee.

A quick refresher: Highly Motivated beat no less a horse than Known Agenda (Curlin) in his maiden before breaking the Keeneland track record in his stakes debut, clocking the second highest juvenile Beyer of his crop. After a messy stakes debut, he probably did himself a disservice in pushing champion Essential Quality so hard in the GII Blue Grass S., just run out of it by a neck, as he left connections no choice but to stretch his speed on the first Saturday in May. His Derby turned into one of those that require an 11-month lay-off, yet he regrouped to claim another track record-one previously held for 37 years by a Horse of the Year-in the GIII Monmouth Cup.

Look, this is a horse with something for everyone. He's a commercial no-brainer, yet benefits from the relative market protection of a commendably restrained farm. And he has just enjoyed a freakish genetic upgrade that creates just as much interest for breeders playing a longer game, as well. Much as had always been true of our silver medallist, Highly Motivated now offers cut-price access to elite blood for anyone who would be happy to retain a filly. Among the four-figure options, no other stallion has this kind of five-star appeal.

Highly Motivated | Sarah Andrew

Value Sires under $10,000: the Breeders Speak

We asked breeders to weigh in on who their top picks were.

George Adams of Housatonic Bloodstock serves as the Director of Stallions and Breeding for Wasabi Ventures.

GOLD: Tapiture (Tapit-Free Spin, by Olympio), Darby Dan Farm, $7,500.

Tapiture would be my best value pick at under $10,000 in Kentucky. For me, value at this price point is about a horse's ability to get runners rather than explicitly commercial considerations, and Tapiture has a high percentage of runners to foals, and an excellent winners/runners ratio. He also has a strong 4.7% stakes winners/foals aged 3 and up. His 11.3% stakes horses/foals is solid as well.  Plus he can get you a two-year-old, which we all like to have. He has 25 juvenile winners already in 2023, with a pair of black-type winners and five more that are stakes-placed. To me, that makes him very good value and an excellent choice with which to start off a young mare–especially since his physical makes him easy to breed to.

SILVER: Demarchelier (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})-Loveisallyouneed (Ire), by Sadler's Wells), Claiborne Farm, $7,500.

Demarchelier is a really interesting horse at this level. With the start that he's off to with his first crop this year, he has a big chance to make it as one of the next good turf stallions here, I think. His CI shows that he didn't get the best book of mares for these first foals, which isn't unexpected for a two-turn turf horse by Dubawi in Kentucky. But despite his own later-maturing tendencies and that lack of support, he's got double-digit winners to his credit already with far fewer foals than some of the top freshmen. His winners have come in good maiden special weight races, and he has a Group horse in France and a good stakes colt in New York.  He's also had some dirt winners, which doesn't hurt his chances. He's a horse that I could see standing for more down the road (and he got a bump for '24), and I think that makes him good value this year.

BRONZE: Instagrand (Into Mischief-Assets of War, by Lawyer Ron), Taylor Made Stallions, $7,500.

Typically I have a hard time calling an unproven stallion a good “value” just because I think that it has to be a function of their ability to get runners. But in the case of Instagrand, who will have his first two-year-olds next year, I think he's got so many things going for him that he counts as value this coming spring. He was the first seven-figure sales son of Into Mischief, and he was so precocious–which you can easily see why by looking at him–I have a hard time believing that he's not going to be giving Authentic a run for his money at the top of the freshman sire list next year. At 190 mares bred in that first year, he'll have plenty of ammunition, and we all know the quality of some of the mares that Larry Best sent to him, which will set him apart from some of the others at this prince point. His first crop have sold well, and the ones that I have seen have looked quick and early. So when they come out firing early next year and put Instagrand right at the top of the freshman sire list, I think that'll make his '24 fee look like pretty good value.

Andrew Cary, Cary Bloodstock

Gold: Loggins (Ghostzapper-Beyond Blame, by Blame), Hill 'n' Dale Farms, $7,500.

Excellent physical, high-level talent, and the pedigree to succeed. He was a pricey Saratoga yearling and ran to his looks. Beaten a nose by champion Forte in a Grade I and looks like a slam dunk under $10k as a first year sire with big upside. Hill 'n' Dale has an excellent reputation developing stallions with his profile such as Army Mule and Maclean's Music.

Silver: Instagrand

Into Mischief has already sired the likes of Practical Joke, Maximus Mischief, and Goldencents and his reputation as a sire of sires will only grow in the future. Instagrand was a precocious and brilliant 2-year-old and he should have lots of early runners next summer with his first crop. His first crop of yearlings averaged over $44k this year.

Bronze: Beau Liam (Liam's Map-Belle of Perintown, by Denere), Airdrie Stud, $6,000.

He had elite talent and his first few races were jaw-dropping. Another beautiful physical, he has all the ingredients to succeed and has been well supported for an under $10k sire. His first foals look the part and were well-received at the November sales.

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The first mare reported in foal to GI Arkansas Derby and TVG.com Haskell S. winner Cyberknife, a son of sire sensation Gun Runner, is graded producer Afleet Lover (Northern Afleet), who is located at Wynnstay Farm. Likewise, the beautifully bred GII Fountain of Youth S. winner Greatest Honour, a son of Tapit, also had his first mare confirmed in foal. She is American Jack (Pioneerof the Nile) and is part of the Watershed Equine broodmare band.

The Eclipse champion sprinter of 2021, Jackie's Warrior got Chesapeake Farm's stakes producer Battle Bridge (Arch) in foal. A son of Maclean's Music, Jackie's Warrior won five Grade I races during his career. And finally, the 2022 GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal, a son of Uncle Mo. also had his first mare confirmed in foal. She is Allez Jete (Petionville), who is part of Adan Mandujano's broodmare band.

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WHY NOT TONIGHT (5, Tapiture—Pay the Lady, by Not For Love), to be bred to Nashville

This filly became Wasabi's first stakes winner last year when she won the All Brandy Stakes at Laurel, and she also won an allowance for them after they claimed her at Monmouth. Originally a $57,000 yearling, she has good size and is well-made, and we're sending her to one of the more exciting freshman stallions in this year's crop in Nashville. A wickedly fast sprinter, he's a gorgeous specimen, and the cross is a good one. Plus, she's a half to a stakes horse of last year by Great Notion, from the same Gone West sire-line.

GUN SLINGIN (4, Gun Runner—Easy Tap, by Tapit), to be bred to Liam's Map

Wasabi really upped its game at the Keeneland November Sale, buying five mares for a total of $247,000, and this one was the most expensive at $77,000. A maiden mare, she's a full-sister to the TDN `Rising Star' of last summer Disarm (Gun Runner). We wanted to send her to a proven horse, and she gets that in Liam's Map, who should still have some upside as his best-bred crop comes to the races this year. This mating results in loads of line-breeding to some great Tartan Farm names like Fappiano, In Reality, Dr. Fager, Aspidistra and Rough n Tumble.

AMERICAN THRILLER (4, American Pharoah—Thrilled, by Uncle Mo), to be bred to Candy Ride (Arg)

Another purchase from Keeneland November who will be bred for the first time in 2023, she is another for whom we tried to find a proven stallion to fit. Physically, she's a great, big filly, so should match nicely with Candy Ride. And he has done very well with the Empire Maker sire line from which this filly hails. Her family can also show some versatility on the track, and Candy Ride should play into that, as well.

MAD GRACE (8, English Channel—Floating Island, by A. P. Indy), to be bred to Aloha West

This was a hard-knocking, versatile racemare that Wasabi claimed and who will be bred for the first time in 2023. She has a lot of page, and there are turf horses and dirt horses, sprinters and routers on it. We're sending her to Aloha West, a first-year stallion that is going to get every chance from the folks at Mill Ridge. He was exclusively a dirt sprinter himself, but his pedigree contains the same type of versatility that Mad Grace showed, and we won't be shocked if he gets horses that run longer than he did, and on turf. He's a beautifully balanced horse, very nicely-made, and we're excited to have a share in him and send a couple of mares to him.

FLORAL HALL (4, Bodemeister—Painted Lady, by Broad Brush) to be bred to Greatest Honour

Another Keeneland November purchase, this one carrying her first foal by Frosted, she goes to another first-year stallion that we are very high on in Greatest Honour. Physically, he's an incredible specimen, and we think the turn of foot he showed to win those Derby preps for Shug McGaughey over a surface and configuration that should not have suited his style means he's got a huge shot and offers a lot of value where Spendthrift priced him. This mare's family has had plenty of success with Pulpit-line stallions, and a few by Street Cry, who happens to be Greatest Honour's broodmare sire. So we like this pairing a lot.

WILD FOR LOVE (13, Not for Love—Sticky, by Concern) to be bred to Tapiture

One of Wasabi's first broodmares, Wild for Love delivered her first foal for us in the form of stakes winner Local Motive by the Maryland stallion Divining Rod, a son of Tapit. She has a two-year-old filly of '23 by Maximus Mischief that brought $160,000 as a yearling in 2022, but since then we've gone back to that Tapit/Pulpit line with her–she's in foal to Tacitus currently, and we will send her to Tapiture this spring. Tapiture gets such a high proportion of runners and winners, and plenty of stakes horses, too–and his numbers with Not For Love mares are pretty incredible (4-for-4 winners to runners, two stakes winners plus another black-type placed). We hope we get another Maryland-bred runner to earn us breeder bonuses for years just like Local Motive.

WOWWHATABRAT (11, Louis Quatorize—Kim the Brat, by Smart Strike) to be bred to Blofeld

This mare was a warrior, running 74 times over eight years and earning over $300,000. She was stakes-placed at two and four, and comes from the family of New Money Honey, Any Given Saturday, and a good horse named Second of June. After slipping last year, she is carrying her first foal by Jimmy Creed and looks like she'll be our first mare to foal this year. We are going to breed her back locally to Blofeld—the numbers he has put up are pretty amazing, with his first 14 foals to race all having won, and now he's sitting at 29 winners from 37 runners (out of just 50 foals). He had the winners of both Maryland Million two-year-old races in 2022. He has a couple of decent winners out of a full-sister to Wowwhatabrat, and this mating doubles up on Broodmare of the Year Misty Morn, and adds two more crosses of her dam, Grey Flight. Too far back to count as the Rasmussen Factor, but hopefully still effective.

Interested in sharing your own mating plans? Email garyking@thetdn.com.

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Believe me, it wasn't always easy to find something adequately civil to say about every last one! But the fact is that this is only ever one person's opinion and, as such, a hopelessly subjective exercise. By restricting ourselves to three medalists, after a few general remarks and an honorable mention for a near-miss or two, we know that those overlooked–necessarily a large majority–are bound to include many sires who ultimately get their headlines where it really counts. (So we hope that nobody perceives any kind of slight that would not only be unintended but basically invisible!)

Every mating is different, after all. Your mare may be the wrong size or shape for the stallions we like; and, besides, we all know that a choice of mate must, for many people, be more about anticipating the market than anticipating genetic efficacy. The latter, sadly, tends to be rather a luxury when you require a stallion, first and foremost, to put bread on your table.

That's especially true, of course, regarding the group we start with today. The asphyxiating commercial window of opportunity for sires is unfair on everybody: on the stallions themselves, on the farms that stand them, and on the commercial breeders who feel they have no choice but to jump onto the next round of the freshman carousel. As we're always saying, the fault does not rest with the supply but with the demand.

Those directing investment at ringside claim that their only chance of landing on a top-class cover is to be ahead of the curve, before fees catapult beyond affordability. But we know that simply isn't true. For one thing, they hardly ever follow young stallions through as their fees and averages come down, pending a meaningful examination of their stock on the racetrack. And how many agents and managers, moreover, have sufficient courage of their convictions to buy their clients the stock of an apparently unfashionable stallion like Lookin At Lucky, for instance? Yet his record of achievement, punching miles above his fee, will remain far beyond the vast majority of those rookies annually launched with huge books at what will usually turn out to be a career-high fee.

We'll see whether a place can still be found for him at the other end of the spectrum, once we come to proven sires. But it's a sad state of affairs when hardly anyone today accepts the logic that there should be nothing more commercial than putting a winner under your mare.

Flightline | Sara Gordon

Regardless, today we start with a uniformly clean slate. To reiterate: we're not looking for the new stallion “most likely.” Of course, we send our compliments to anyone who can afford $200,000 to tap into the most blatant racetrack talent seen in a while. True, value is relative. Flightline (Tapit) himself, after all, was a seven-figure yearling who turned out to be cheap. Nothing automatically disqualifies the highest fee of the intake from being its best value. Perhaps Flightline will do a Frankel (GB), and become every bit as important an influence as his track career encourages you to hope–albeit to do that, obviously, his stock will have to move on from a template of six starts across three years in training.

Each to their own. Acknowledging that objectivity must be limited to the spirit of inquiry, and that subjectivity must kick in with the first breath of an answer, let's begin our quest for the most horse for your buck. And if we do happen to turn up another Not This Time to top the podium, we accept that it will again be more by luck than judgement!

Bubbling Under

The overall quality of the intake feels strong, perhaps the strongest in a few years. If one generational talent bestrides the cohort, there are several following him into a second career absolutely entitled to close the current gap in their stature.

I also feel that a number of farms have risen to the challenge laid down in recent years by the Spendthrift team, who have expertly converted the momentum of their pioneering incentive schemes to upgrade their recruitment. There must have been times when the opposition felt as though they were being left irretrievably behind. But while Spendthrift welcomes another four newcomers for 2023, the fresh blood at several farms will reassure breeders that the Bluegrass retains a healthy depth of competition.

Ashford, most conspicuously, has assembled as many as five new sires all of sufficient standard to be starting out between $25,000 and $45,000. Our pick of those will duly be found on the podium, but we must also acknowledge the sheer solidity offered by Epicenter (Not This Time). His brilliance is underpinned by some extremely sturdy European influences, such that he really offers something really quite different, and precious, to the American gene pool.

Gainesway, meanwhile, has looked to the future, with the great Tapit in the evening his career, offering a couple of contrasting but attractive new packages in Olympiad (Speightstown) and Drain The Clock (Maclean's Music). Really, there are quite a few farms that can take their new guys to market with deserved confidence. Strictly in terms of value, however, I feel that none has stepped up to the plate better than Airdrie.

With the emerging star Girvin arriving from Florida, the Airdrie team have added further momentum by pricing both their rookies to give their clients every chance.

The one who narrowly misses the podium is Highly Motivated, a can't-miss $7,500 son of Into Mischief with two track records to his name. A horse with this kind of profile, at this kind of price, would at some farms assuredly be loaded with over 200 mares. But that's not the Airdrie way–and those who can get to him are unlikely, therefore, to find themselves inundated by alternative stock once they get into a catalogue.

Highly Motivated was classy enough to run Essential Quality (Tapit) to a neck when stretching out for the GII Blue Grass S., but his unmistakable forte was Into Mischief speed, showcased by a 96 Beyer eclipsed only by Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) among the juveniles of 2020. That secured Highly Motivated a Keeneland track record, while the one he added as a 4-year-old at Monmouth was wrested, after 37 years, from a Horse of the Year. His name was Spend A Buck, and that sounds like a pretty good plan with Highly Motivated.

BRONZE:

GREATEST HONOUR (Tapit-Tiffany's Honour by Street Cry {Ire})

$7,500 Spendthrift

Greatest Honour wins the Fountain of Youth | Horsephotos

No denying that this guy's derailment from the 2021 Derby trail was made to seem a long time ago when he resurfaced to rather tame effect this spring. But his fee makes ample allowance for that, and if you just rewind to the unmistakable brilliance of his original emergence, then you can only be excited to have cut-price access to such a regal bloodline.

Second and fourth dams are both Broodmares of the Year, divided by a GI Kentucky Oaks winner, with the family seeded by distaff influences of corresponding stature: Street Cry (Ire), Deputy Minister and Blushing Groom (Fr). Greatest Honour's dam was admittedly one of the least distinguished runners in this family, but she's a half-sister to Rags To Riches (A.P. Indy), Jazil (Seeking The Gold) and Casino Drive (Mineshaft) (a successful freshman sire in Japan, by the way) out of the broodmare icon Better Than Honour.

And there was no doubting that this blood had told when Greatest Honour was a flourishing sophomore in Florida. Even his juvenile grounding had been of exceptional substance: he took four starts to break his maiden, but was learning his trade by consecutive bouts with Olympiad (Speightstown), Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and Known Agenda (Curlin)! Sure enough, when he did win a maiden, it was by beating subsequent Grade II winner Dynamic One (Union Rags).

So he was scarcely raised in grade when romping in the GIII Holy Bull S.; and he then overwhelmed Drain The Clock (Maclean's Music) in the GII Fountain of Youth S. And while the speed figures measured up, the way he appeared to be hitting his stride only deep in the stretch made him look like a horse just getting started. I was stunned that he did not follow through in the GI Florida Derby, but he disappeared for a year and then never really retrieved the thread.

But I am definitely keeping the faith, at this price. After all, the template isn't dissimilar from his sire, who started out at a lower fee than anticipated after fulfilment of his potential had likewise been thwarted by physical issues.

Above all, Greatest Honour passes the ultimate test of pedigree depth. His fourth generation is saturated with genetic potentates (Weekend Surprise, Narrate, Moon Glitter, Coup De Folie, Best In Show) corroborated far more widely than simply by those sons or daughters that happen to put them on this particular page.

This aristocratic blood, harnessed to Spendthrift's dynamic commercial program, will presumably benefit from plenty of opportunity. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were to result in one or two candidates to redress his own misfortune on the road to the Derby–and you can't say that of too many stallions at this kind of fee.

SILVER:

EARLY VOTING (Gun Runner-Amour d'Ete by Tiznow)

$25,000 Ashford

Early Voting (right) wins the G1 Preakness S. | Mathea Kelley

Hats off to the Klaravich program, which missed the podium by a cigarette paper with Highly Motivated while also reaching its second step with this fellow, in our view the outstanding value among Ashford's exciting new quintet.

The three Ps–physique, pedigree, performance–are all lavishly present and correct.

This is a knockout specimen and, while Gun Runner will become still more extraordinary if also proving an instant hit as sire of sires, the family tree brings its own guarantees in that regard. For Early Voting's dam is, of course, a sibling to one such in Speightstown (as well as to the very talented but ill-starred Irap).

Performance, admittedly, was vexingly confined to just half a dozen starts. But Early Voting followed up his debut success with a daylight score in the GIII Withers S. before being collared by a neck, in a duel of future Classic winners with Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), in the GII Wood Memorial. He confirmed his place among the elite of his generation when holding off Epicenter (Not This Time) in the GI Preakness, only for his career to derail in Saratoga.

Sure, he was a fresher horse at Pimlico than his new studmate; and he also got first run. But Early Voting was arguably only in a position to do that by superior early speed and, regardless of which side of the quibbling fence you fall, they were plainly in the same vicinity in terms of talent. And the relative durability of Epicenter is amply measured by the difference in their fees.

In this slightly more accessible tier, you seldom find such quality through so many dimensions: looks, natural ability (won a Classic, remember, off three starts) and genes. What worked for Speightstown (first three dams by Storm Cat, Chieftain and Buckpasser) has obviously worked for his sister, too. She is of course by a deeper staying influence (Tiznow, as against Gone West) but Gun Runner has done his stuff to produce a very alert runner. Gun Runner himself, remember, is out of a Giant's Causeway mare, which not only doubles up Storm Cat but entwines his influence with that of his nemesis Tiznow.

These are all very wholesome brands, and just look at the four mares in Early Voting's third generation. Without exception, they've shown that there is more than one string to their genetic bow. From the top: Candy Girl (Arg) (Candy Stripes) is here as dam of Candy Ride (Arg), but is also third dam of Tom's D'Etat; Quiet Dance (Quiet American) is here as granddam of Gun Runner, but is also dam of Saint Liam; Tiznow's dam Cee's Song (Seattle Song) famously produced not just classy performers like Budroyale but also the dams of Paynter and Oxbow; and Silken Doll (Chieftain), as we've already seen, unites Speightstown and Irap as well Early Voting.

That's a pretty copper-bottomed array of repeatable genetic excellence and, combined with the physical and performance attributes he has placed in the foreground, makes me confident of this horse's eligibility to last the course.

GOLD:

HAPPY SAVER (Super Saver-Happy Week by Distorted Humor)

$12,500, Airdrie

If you don't give this horse a shot, at this kind of money, then I guess you don't really buy into the only principles that ever make sense of this chaotic industry of ours.

Okay, so he was not quite a champion. But only an elite talent, and a very natural one, could win the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup as an unbeaten 3-year-old making just his fourth start; and only a matching resilience could maintain him in maturity as benchmark, in three consecutive races earlier this year, for Olympiad (Speightstown), Flightline (Tapit) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief).

That trio, needless to say, are all starting out at much bigger fees. Maxfield (Street Sense), similarly, stands at $40,000 after being pushed all the way by Happy Saver in the GI Clark S. last year. But now they all resume with a clean slate and, in terms of his eligibility to prove a conduit of genetic quality, none is in a stronger position than Happy Saver. His third dam is Weekend Surprise herself; and standing directly opposite her, as damsire of Super Saver, is her son A.P. Indy.

Super Saver will concern some people, despite Runhappy and Letruska, but the key here is that he has produced a very good racehorse by combining one spectacular maternal line with another. His own extends through generations of Ogden Phipps bluebloods; and obviously Happy Saver's dam, herself a stakes sprinter, belongs to a family that has famously produced several other stallions besides A.P. Indy.

Sure enough, the pedigree overall is heavily seeded with the right brands. For instance, Super Saver's grandsire Wavering Monarch was out of a Buckpasser mare; Super Saver's celebrated fourth dam, Numbered Account, was by Buckpasser; and so, too, was Weekend Surprise's mother Lassie Dear. That's typical of what happens when families extend their quality back to the days of much smaller books. Access to a top-class stallion was a privilege, earned by blood or performance or both. The mares behind Happy Saver, as celebrities in their own right, have corresponding consorts: after his mother by Distorted Humor, the next four dams are by all-time distaff legends in Deputy Minister, Secretariat, Buckpasser and Sir Gaylord.

The quest for value in stallions is about seeking the potential to punch above their presumed weight. If stallions couldn't sometimes produce foals better than themselves, the breed would stagnate at best and mostly decline. And a stallion's ability to elevate his potency, relative to his track career, must lurk in his blood. Yes, you want to see evidence on the track of a functional vitality in his genetic make-up. Happy Saver gave us that in spades. But he has every right to surpass even that exalted standard in his next career.

Like many horses going to stud, for one or two reasons we didn't see his very best as he closed out. But he had previously been a set-your-clock campaigner at the highest level, moreover one blessed with real flair. If you rewind to the very beginning, for instance, he won a sprint on by 5 1/2 lengths on debut in essentially the same time as the GI Woody Stephens S. winner on the same card.

This, in other words, is a horse whose stock can someday make us grateful that “Happy” days are here again.

The Value Podium: New Sires

Gold: HAPPY SAVER Airdrie $12,500

An elite competitor with aristocratic pedigree at an accessible fee

Silver: EARLY VOTING Ashford $25,000

A pacey Classic winner out of Speightstown's half-sister

Bronze: GREATEST HONOUR Spendthrift $7,500

Another of royal blood and made a lasting impression early

The post Value Sires For 2023 – Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Spendthrift has added four new stallions including MGISWs Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cyberknife (Gun Runner), who are both pointing for the Breeders' Cup. The other new additions are GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GSW Greatest Honour (Tapit), who are both available for inspection at the farm.

Champion Jackie's Warrior, the likely favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, will command a fee of $50,000 S&N. GI Arkansas Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. winner Cyberknife's fee will be determined after he runs in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Mo Donegal, who retired shortly after his Classic victory, will stand for $20,000 S&N. While regally bred Greatest Honour will be at an introductory fee of $7,500 S&N.

“We are extremely excited about the new stallions we are bringing in for 2023. They represent exactly what we hope to do each year, in terms of offering quality and value at all levels of the market,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Jackie's Warrior is a brilliantly fast champion and one of the most decorated racehorses to come around in recent years. Mo Donegal is a graded winner at two and classic winner at three. Cyberknife won two of the most high-profile Grade Is for 3-year-olds, and Greatest Honour has a rare combination of talent, looks and pedigree that you don't find often at his level of the market. From $50,000 on down to $7,500, all four of these horses were precocious, displayed immense talent, are tremendous physicals, and possess the sire power breeders are looking for.”

Into Mischief's GI Kentucky Derby-winning son and Horse of the Year Authentic will stand for $60,000 S&N for his third season, down $10,000 from last year. Meanwhile Bolt d'Oro will see his fee increase on the back of a strong freshman season, going from $20,000 to $35,000 S&N.

Omaha Beach and Yaupon will remain at $30,000 S&N. Omaha Beach's yearlings have proven quite popular, making him the leader in his class at the recent yearling auctions. Yaupon is standing his second season this year.

Spendthrift's stallions under $20,000 are led by champion Vino Rosso at $15,000 S&N, down from $20,000 last year. MGISW Vekoma and champion Mitole will also stand for $15,000 S&N. Mitole's fee is unchanged from last year and Vekoma is down slightly from $17,500. Goldencents, Known Agenda, Rock Your World and Jimmy Creed will all stand for $10,000 S&N.

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“Greatest Honour has one of the best combinations of pedigree, looks and ability among the sons of Tapit that we've evaluated,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Unfortunately, he came up with an injury in last year's Florida Derby as the odds-on favorite before the Triple Crown. Prior to that, he was so dominant at Gulfstream that he was in the top three along with Essential Quality and Life Is Good as the favorites for the Kentucky Derby in many of the early wagering pools.

Bred and owned by Don Adam's Courtlandt Farm, Greatest Honour retires with earnings of $446,440. He is out of Tiffany's Honour, a half-sister to Belmont S. winner Jazil and champion and Classic heroine Rags to Riches, in addition to Breeders' Cup victor Man of Iron. Greatest Honour's second dam, Better Than Honour, was the Broodmare of the Year in 2007.

“Greatest Honour's second dam is Better Than Honour who needs no introduction, and he's a big, strong son of Tapit that has 'classic' written all over him,” added Toffey. “Because he did not get to fulfill his tremendous potential on the track, we believe Greatest Honour offers a lot of value and upside now to breeders for $7,500.”

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Greatest Honour broke his maiden as a 2-year-old, to go on a three-race win streak at Gulfstream, including the Holy Bull followed a win in the Fountain of Youth.

Greatest Honour is available for inspection at Spendthrift.

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Also on the comeback trail is Dynamic One (Union Rags), who was second to Greatest Honour in that one's maiden-breaking success before going on to just miss behind stablemate Bourbonic (Bernardini) in the GII Wood Memorial S. last spring. After beating home just one rival in the GI Kentucky Derby, the $725,000 Keeneland September grad defeated the Curlin duo of Miles D and 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain in the July 30 Curlin S. at Saratoga and was last seen finishing seventh in the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 28.

'Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) is a somewhat surprising inclusion in the Challenger, given that three of his four wins have come on the grass, including a 1 1/2-length defeat of defending champion Get Smokin (Got Stormy) in the GIII Tampa Bay S. Feb. 5.

The post Greatest Honour Returns in Challenger appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Courtlandt Farm's homebred Greatest Honour (Tapit–Tiffany's Honour, by  Street Cry {Ire}) was a serious early contender for the GI Kentucky Derby following flashy wins in Gulfstream's GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. last winter. After finishing a flat third as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 27, however, McGaughey decided to hit the reset button on the bay.

“I wasn't really pleased with the way he was going after the Florida Derby,” McGaughey said. “So, we gave him some time. Then we gave him a little bit more time. He's been back training now. He was training at Courtlandt Farm then he came to Payson Park and we stepped it up a little bit when he got there. So, this is where we are.

McGaughey added, “He was always a tall horse and probably didn't carry as much weight as a 3-year-old that I'd like for him to. I think that's all come together now. I like everything he's been doing.”

Greatest Honour, produced by an unplaced daughter of bluehen mare Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister) and hailing from the same female family as Classic winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, has posted three workouts since late January at Payson Park, most recently completing a four-furlong breeze in :50.40 (21/24) Feb. 14.

“So far, he's doing really well,” McGaughey said. “He's been breezing weekly at Payson Park and hopefully he's probably a month or so away. I haven't gotten any timetable [for specific races] for him. I'm just sort of waiting to let him to tell me. But, so far, so good.”

Last year's GIII Dwyer S. 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin–America, by A.P. Indy), meanwhile, has begun gearing up at McGaughey's Gulfstream base. A disappointing well-beaten third while suffering his first career defeat making his two-turn debut in Saratoga's 1 1/8-mile Curlin S. July 30, he was subsequently freshened after bypassing a potential start in the GI Pennsylvania Derby in September. He's breezed six times so far this year, including a five-furlong move in 1:01.46 (6/14) in Hallandale Feb. 14.

“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't all together pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since. Hopefully, we can find a spot for him down the road somewhere along the lines.”

The $1.5-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling is campaigned in partnership by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, breeder Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing. First Captain, the first foal out of Flay's GSW & MGISP America, is bred on the same Curlin over A.P. Indy cross responsible for recently crowned champion Malathaat as well as GISWs Global Campaign and Idol.

“I just want them to have a good summer campaign, so I'm not in any hurry,” McGaughey concluded of the duo.

First Captain was his usual silky smooth self this am in a 5F breeze (1:02.1) with ⁦@jose93_ortiz⁩ up. This was his 4th breeze since arriving ⁦@GulfstreamPark⁩ on New Year's Eve. Good stuff. pic.twitter.com/jm7rbAhCdf

— Jason Blewitt (@jasonblewitt30) February 2, 2022

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Greatest Honour has been off since a disappointing third-place finish as the favorite in the G1 Florida Derby on March 27.

“He had an old cyst in a pastern and we gave him time for it to fill in,” McGaughey told bloodhorse.com. “It was nothing major but something we had to get behind him so he could move forward.”

With Greatest Honour's anticipated return to training on Sept. 1, McGaughey hopes to target a race in New York like the G3 Discovery on Nov. 27 in preparation for a winter campaign in Florida. The G1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January is a primary goal, the trainer said.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

The post Greatest Honour Nearly Ready To Resume Training; McGaughey Will Target Winter Campaign appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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