WinStar Farm's Liam O'Rourke vividly recalls the day that breeders got their first look at Audible (Into Mischief – Blue Devil Bel, by Gilded Time) just after the new stallion moved into the stud barn.

“We had a little party here to welcome him to the WinStar stallion barn and when we brought him out in front of breeders, there was an immediate draw to him,” O'Rourke explained. “He's just such a eyeful and is among the very best of the physicals by Into Mischief. From that point, people started shouting for seasons.”

Demand to breed to the 2018 GI Florida Derby winner was so high that Audible was the most popular first-year stallion in WinStar's history, breeding just over 220 mares in his debut season with a $25,000 stud fee.

“Demand for him has been extremely strong through all three years he's been here,” O'Rourke reported. “Right from the get go, there was a buzz around town on Audible.”

A $175,000 New York-bred yearling pinhook and a $500,000 2-year-old purchase for WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, Audible broke his maiden as a juvenile for Todd Pletcher and returned at three to take the GII Holy Bull S. by over five lengths and the GI Florida Derby by three. He ran third to Justify in the GI Kentucky Derby and later added another victory in the Cherokee Run S. Audible retired at four with over $2 million in career earnings.

As Audible's first crop of foals arrived last year, O'Rourke said that he quickly found several common trends in the youngsters.

“They're a very consistent group,” he noted. “He throws great substance, plenty of length, great quality and good bone. They're a robust, muscular type but with lots of length and they look like they can stretch out. The feedback from breeders was very positive from the start and we realized pretty early on that he was going to have a big November.”

Audible ranked second in his class with his first crop of weanlings. His progeny averaged $103,813 with 43 of 53 sold, including 16 six-figure weanlings led by a $360,000 filly out of Nagambie (Flatter) named Cosmic Thread and a $200,000 filly out of Safwah (Medaglia d'Oro).

With his first yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, Audible's progeny continued to trend upward. Seven of his nine lots sold for six figures, led by a colt out of I'm Guilty (Verrazano) that brought $220,00 to Bradley Thoroughbreds and a second colt out of Wonder Stone (Super Saver) that sold to Gus King for $200,000.

“Some of the best judges were on the Audibles in July, including Donato Lanni, Peter Bradley, Travis Durr and Nick de Meric,” O'Rourke said. “He has seven entered at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, which is more than any other freshman sire, so we think that's a great sign.”

Machmer Hall's Audible filly sells as Hip 43 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale | Sara Gordon

One filly bound for Saratoga will represent the Machmer Hall consignment as Hip 43. The yearling out of Patsy's Kim (Dixie Union) was bred by Teresa Little and was a private purchase for Machmer Hall Sales. Carrie Brogden said that the youngster is the type of yearling that their consignment hopes to offer in Saratoga.

“She's big and fancy and two-turn, but looks like she'll have speed,” Brogden said. “She vets, she's correct and she's got a classy brain. Our farm has a share in Audible. I was a big fan of him as a racehorse and obviously WinStar has an incredible track record making stallions. We had two Audibles in July and they were more of a pinhooker-style horse. Both of them looked very speedy. This [Saratoga-bound] filly has a lot more scope and stretch.”

Of the Audibles that have been on her farm, Brogden said that all have shared one trait that she has also noticed in Into Mischief's progeny and the offspring of other sons of the champion sire.

“They all have the Into Mischief brain,” she said. “When you're pushing the feed cart, they're always whinnying and beating down the door for feed. For me that's a wonderful sign of a racehorse because it means they're not going to back out of their feed tub. It's a common theme that I see again and again.”

Another yearling slated for the sales ring in Saratoga is a colt out of Peter Blum's homebred Tapit mare Sundown. The gray will sell as Hip 97 with Bridie Harrison.

“We like this colt a lot,” Harrison reported. “He's tall with a lot of leg and great length. Audible added a lot of size and scope to Sundown. This is certainly one of her bigger foals. He's a very nice mover and has a great temperament.”

After the Select Sale in Saratoga, nine Audible yearlings will go through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Sale.

As Audible's progeny soon begin making their way to the racetrack, O'Rourke said to look for them to come out in force early next year.

“He was a precocious horse,” he noted. “He breezed fast and then went out and performed as a 2-year-old on the racetrack. His sire line has precocity so I do think there's going to be precocity there, but with the way he's built, I think they are built to carry that speed a route of ground. They'll be able to go around two turns with their length, but do so in a front-running fashion.”

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One year before future champions Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) were both foaled, WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden and SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan attended the 2015 Japan Racing Horse Association's yearling and weanling sale. They came home with a group that included Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn} – Hilda's Passion, by Canadian Frontier)–a ¥94 million (approximately $850,000) yearling purchase, eventual multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star', and now, a WinStar Farm sire with his first crop of yearlings pointing for the sales ring.

Bred by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm, the grandson of the Japanese breed-shaping sire Sunday Silence is the second foal out of Hilda's Passion, a multiple graded stakes winner who culminated her career with a victory in the 2011 GI Ballerina S. and then sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.225 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“Yoshida is very prototypical of the Japanese breeding program,” said WinStar's Liam O'Rourke. “He's out of an elite American race mare and he is by a son of Sunday Silence. We've seen it come to fruition in recent times that in the Japanese program, they breed for class and versatility. Those are two of the big qualities that Yoshida represents.”

Campaigned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Head of Plains Partners, Yoshida raced from age two through five under Bill Mott's tutelage, claiming four stakes wins headlined by the GI Old Forester Turf Classic S. on turf and the GI Woodward S. on dirt.

Debuting in his career at stud with a fee of $20,000 in 2020, the durable earner of $2.5 million bred 148 mares in his first year at WinStar. With a $15,000 stud fee, he saw another 84 mares last year.

“His first book was ranked third by CPI among [incoming] sires that year,” O'Rourke noted. “We're very proud of the types of mares that he has gotten. He's been supported by a variety of breeders, both commercial and racing types.”

As Yoshida's yearlings now work through their sales prep, O'Rourke said that he has heard optimistic reviews from breeders.

“They have a lot of his physical qualities,” he reported. “They have that class and strength. In watching them as foals early on out in the field, you could see that they were high energy. They were assertive types, kind of rambunctious, and were really aware of their surroundings. The one really common piece of feedback that I get as I've been visiting farms is that you can't give them enough work. That's a great quality when they have the desire to work and to be competitive.”

O'Rourke said that Yoshida's ability on multiple surfaces, along with Japan's growing success on a global scale, has retained breeders' interest throughout the stallion's first three years at stud.

“It's unique that he was so successful on dirt and turf,” he said. “I think he brings a different dimension to the stud barn that we're very proud to offer breeders. He was a very convincing winner of the Woodward, which is a great sire-producing race. In the Old Forester Turf Classic on Derby Day, [he beat] a great field. I think there was eight graded stakes winners in that field. He also beat Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the GIII Hill Prince S.”

Last year, Yoshida was represented by 36 weanlings and short yearlings at the fall and winter breeding stock sales. 23 youngsters sold to average $38,279. His colt out of GIIISW Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured) sold for $150,000 at the Keeneland November Sale while in Japan, a colt out of Curlins BFF (Curlin) brought $181,235.

Yoshida has seven yearlings cataloged for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton July Sale on July 12, including a colt out of Moon and Stars (Orb) that sells as Hip 19 with the Shawhan Place consignment.

“He's very strong with tons of bone, good hip and a strong shoulder,” said Shawhan Place's Director of Sales Courtney Schneider. “He's built like a bull; he's just so strong. He's very easy to work with and he's a little bit more forward than our others so that's why we wanted to showcase him a bit earlier in the July Sale.”

Shawhan Place has a special connection with Yoshida as the birthplace of his dam. Bred by Shawhan partner Ted Kuster, Hilda's Passion did not meet her reserve as a weanling, but was sold early in her racing career and went on to claim five graded stakes for Starlight Racing.

“Yoshida was a stallion we were really excited to support here on the farm,” Schneider said. “He was a dual-surface Grade I winner and has all the qualifications of bringing back the Sunday Silence line. We have several on the farm that we're really excited about.”

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In Paris on Sunday, another son of the Darley lynchpin Dubawi, Modern Games (Ire), added a French Classic to his success in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. His victory in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains brought the week to a resounding climax for his dam, the New Approach (Ire) mare Modern Ideals (GB). On Monday her 4-year-old son Modern News (GB) (Shamardal) won the Listed Fitzdares Royal Windsor S., followed on Saturday by the easy debut success of juvenile Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in a Newmarket novice contest.

Godolphin's stud director Liam O'Rourke was at Longchamp to welcome back the operation's most recent Classic victor. He said, “The family really came alive last year when this lad showed his colours, and he went on and won a Breeders' Cup and kept on improving. [Saturday] was a nice surprise as well. It didn't immediately look obvious as Mawj was the outsider of our three runners in the race, but there's nothing wrong with her. She's an Exceed And Excel and they love fast ground, and the mare is by New Approach so it's all homegrown. It's very satisfying.”

Modern Ideals, who was trained in France by Andre Fabre, ran only twice without winning, but she is a half-sister to Godolphin's former champion 2-year-old and young French-based stallion Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), the pair being out of Epitome (Ire) (Nahswan), who was bought by Sheikh Mohammed from the late owner/breeder Gerald Leigh.

New Approach, a long-term resident of Dalham Hall Stud along with Dubawi, has already provided Godolphin with Classic winners Masar (Ire) and Dawn Approach (Ire), and he is now branching out in the sphere of broodmare sire.

O'Rourke continued, “We've invested heavily in him, he's our version of Galileo (Ire) and he's really proving his worth now as a broodmare sire.

“And what more can you say about Dubawi? This is going to be his championship year, I hope, and he is well on how way to it. It's long overdue–and take nothing away from Galileo, who has been a wonderful sire forever–but hopefully now Dubawi's time has come.”

Of Godolphin's start to the season, he added, “We have to pinch ourselves. The team in Ireland deserve huge credit because Coroebus and Modern Games are both Irish-bred, but the team across the board plays its part. We're very proud of them, they work very hard, and now the results are coming.”

Two Studs Celebrate Success Of Mangoustine 

There was much to enjoy in the success of Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. A return to the big time for the classy double act of Mikel Delzangles and Gerard Mossé, and a first Classic winner for the 17-year-old Dark Angel (Ire), whose top-level success as a sire has hitherto predominantly been seen in the sprint division. 

There were Classic clues in the pedigree of Mangoustine, whose dam Zotilla (Ire) (Zamindar) is a half-sister to Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast), also trained by Delzangles and the winner of this same race nine years earlier. 

Mangoustine was another feather in the cap for Henri Bozo and his partners involved in Ecurie des Monceaux. In this particular case, the filly was bred by Monceaux, Qatar Bloodstock, and Lordship Stud. The latter also feature as co-breeders of the Oaks prospect Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

“It's amazing,” said Bozo, whose Ecurie des Monceaux has been responsible for such top-class names as Sottsass (Fr), Sistercharlie (Ire), Magic Wand (Ire) and Chicquita (Ire).  “She's a really good filly. She showed class at two but you never know how they will improve at three. Mikel was very confident that he had her right at home. It is fantastic to own her and have bred her in partnership–it's a good advertisement for racing.”

The Monceaux draft regularly tops the Arqana August Yearling Sale. The one in which Mangoustine appeared in 2020 was rebranded as the Deauville Select Sale when Covid forced it to be delayed by a month. Mangoustine was retained by the farm at €46,000 when failing to reach her reserve, and the team will obviously be relieved still to have her, not just because she is now a Classic winner, but also because her dam was sold later that year to Blue Diamond Stud at the Arqana December Sale for €75,000. 

“But we have Mangoustine and we are so happy to have her,” said a smiling Bozo.

Blue Diamond's owner Imad Al Sagar bought two mares that same day, the other being Manasarova (More Than Ready) from Haras de Saint Pair, and her daughter Sicilian Defense (Fr) also ran in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, finishing seventh, just over two lengths behind the winner.

Blue Diamond Stud's bloodstock and media advisor Nancy Sexton reported at Longchamp that Zotilla has a “very nice” Too Darn Hot (GB) filly foal and is now in foal to Dubawi. The mare's 2-year-old colt from the first European crop of Zoustar (Aus) was bought by Sam Sangster for 35,000gns at Tattersalls last October.

Al Sagar has a potential Classic star of his own to look forward to in the coming weeks following the impressive success at Newbury on Saturday of homebred Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

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While WinStar Farm hopes that Constitution, whose first crop was foaled in 2017, could one day become a foundation sire at WinStar, this year they checked off the next goal for their promising stallion by adding one of his sons to their stallion roster.

Independence Hall, a graded stakes-winning member of Constitution's first crop along with MGISW Tiz the Law, will stand alongside his sire this year for a fee of $10,000.

“We're super excited to have Independence Hall came home to WinStar and begin his stud career,” said WinStar's director of bloodstock Liam O'Rourke. “We've had a great history at WinStar over the past 21 years and Constitution really represents the next generation of what WinStar is going to be. He's had such an electric start and with what he has coming down the pipeline, we're very excited and very bullish on his future. [Reaching] the next step of having one of his sons retire to WinStar is very rewarding.”

Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Independence Hall was an easy debut winner for Robert and Kathleen Verratti and trainer Mike Trombetta. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables joined in the ownership before his next start, a stunning 12 1/4-length score in the 2019 GIII Nashua S. in record time.

“He came on our radar very early,” O'Rourke said. “After his first start, when he came back in the Nashua to run a 101 Beyer speed figure–the fastest 2-year-old performance of the year–we started to realize that he was going to be a very special horse.”

The dark bay colt remained undefeated in his sophomore debut in the Jerome S. and was then runner-up in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. After an unplaced finish in his next start, he was given time off and returned to the starting gate at the end of his 3-year-old season under the care of trainer Michael McCarthy.

At four, Independence Hall was competitive against top company with WinStar joining his partnership at the beginning of the season. He ran third to future GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., placed second to the same rival later in the GIII Lukas Classic S. and then earned a final career victory in his next start in the GII Hagyard Fayette S.

“He held form with [Knicks Go] through most of the year and the season was culminated by what was I think one of the talking performances of the Keeneland meet when he came out and won the Fayette S.,” O'Rourke recalled. “He beat some outstanding horses in that race and really showed what a brilliant horse he was.”

Independence Hall retired with earnings of almost $900,000, running in the money in six graded starts with three stakes wins to his credit.

Independence Hall's breakout performance in the GIII Nashua S. | Chelsea Durand

“I think he was a really great racehorse because of that high cruising speed,” O'Rourke explained. “We love that 2-year-old form, that brilliance, and when they can come back and be an elite older horse and knock heads with the best of the best in the country, that's something that we find really strong.”

O'Rourke said that the new stallion's physical helps explain the high cruising speed he was able to display on the track.

“Physically, he's a very impressive horse. He's a big, beautiful, smooth walker. He's balanced, but he's masculine. He has that size, scope and frame that I think Constitution has been able to produce and he put it all together in the way he could get over the ground.”

A son of the winning Cape Town mare Kalahari Cat, Independence Hall is a half-brother to Grade III winner Black Onyx (Rock Hard Ten) and two more graded stakes-placed siblings in SW Francois (Smarty Jones) and Quality Council (Elusive Quality). His family also includes Desert Stormer (Storm Cat), winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and the granddam of MGISW Better Lucky (Ghostzapper).

O'Rourke explained that while Independence Hall has been popular with breeders since arriving at WinStar, he already has a solid support system built in with a large syndicate group that includes Woodford Thoroughbreds, Twin Creeks, Kathleen and Robert Verratti, Eclipse Thoroughbreds, China Horse Club and Machmer Hall.

“It's really a 'who's who' of syndicate members,” O'Rourke said. “Along with that, we offered Independence Hall in our Dream Big program, which virtually sold out overnight, so we have some really good folks supporting the horse and he will have some really nice mares in those first couple of years.”

WinStar's Dream Big program allows breeders the opportunity to acquire a lifetime breeding right to the stallion.

“Independence Hall proved that he was a special horse as a 2-year-old and he proved it again as an older horse,” O'Rourke said. “He has the pedigree and the looks and I think we priced him to where he's very attractive to breeders. We've had a huge response to him so far and it's so rewarding to have a son of one of our sires come home and join our stallion roster.”

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Bred by CHC Inc., the colt, who hails from a family replete with black-type, is out of the winning Into Mischief mare Dark Corner, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Perfect Alibi, winner of the 2019 Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes.

“We've been eagerly anticipating the Improbable foals since retiring him to stud in 2021,” said Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's Director of Bloodstock Services. “We're thrilled for our longtime partner CHC having his first foal. We look forward to welcoming many more foals out of quality mares like Dark Corner.”

Improbable, City Zip's only four-time Grade 1 winner, rattled off three consecutive Grade 1 victories in 2020, taking the G1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, the historic G1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, and the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. In the latter, he defeated champion Maximum Security by 4 1/2 lengths, recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108.

Undefeated in three starts at two—a pair of them stakes—Improbable reported home a spectacular five-length winner over subsequent Grade 1 winner Mucho Gusto in the 2018 G1 Los Alamitos Futurity, getting the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.18, the fastest time of the race in over a decade. A stakes winner each season from two to four, Improbable concluded his stellar career with a runner-up finish in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic in 2020, earning a 108 Beyer and a 2 Ragozin, the fastest of the field. All told, he won seven starts, six of them stakes, and bankrolled $2,729,520 for owners WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., and SF Racing.

From the immediate female family of Hard Spun, Improbable was booked full in 2021, having bred 177 mares in his initial season at stud. Improbable was the No. 1 Freshman Sire by 2021 CPI (Class Performance Index)—3.80 and number-two sire by CI (Comparable Index)—2.39 in the $25,000-$49,999 stud fee range. Represented in 2021 by first in-foal mares that sold for $550,000, $445,000, $420,000, etc., Improbable was the number-two freshman covering sire by average—$218,187.

Improbable is a complete outcross in his first four generations. His dam, Rare Event, is by A.P. Indy, while his second dam is a half-sister to Hard Spun. Improbable will stand the upcoming breeding season for $35,000 S&N.

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Carpe Diem will be syndicated in Louisiana by a group led by Picard Racing (Dawn and Jeff Picard) and David Tillson and he will stand the upcoming breeding season at Acadiana Equine at Copper Crowne in Louisiana. By Giant's Causeway out of the graded stakes-placed Unbridled's Song mare Rebridled Dreams, Carpe Diem, a dominant Grade 1 winner at two and three for WinStar Farm and Stonestreet Stables and an earner of $1,519,000, will be available for inspection at Acadiana Equine beginning on Dec. 18.

Carpe Diem is the sire of 11 black-type horses in 2021, led by stakes winners Bella Aurora, Wait for Nairobi, and graded stakes-placed Thisismytime, runner-up in the Grade 2 Inside Information Stakes. A $1.6 million juvenile purchase, Carpe Diem is also a leading sire of 2-year-olds this year (21 juvenile winners) and is represented by Romancer, runner-up in the $500,000 Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

“We have a strong relationship with David Tillson and Acadiana Equine,” said Liam O'Rourke, Director of Bloodstock Services for WinStar Farm. “We look forward to continued success with Carpe Diem.”

David Tillson added, “Our goal is to provide Louisiana breeders the best opportunity for future success, and we're excited to stand Carpe Diem, a multiple Grade 1 winner and proven stallion.”

Exaggerator, Curlin's only three-time Grade 1 winner at stud, is returning home after being re-purchased by Texas-based Rocker O Ranch, co-owner of the horse during his sensational racing career. Stud plans are currently being determined for the handsome bay who is produced from the stakes-placed Vindication mare Dawn Raid, a half-sister to Canadian champion and multiple Graded stakes winner Embur's Song.

“Exaggerator gave us the greatest thrills of our lifetime,” said Rocker O Ranch's Cole Ortowski. “We are excited to be bringing him back into the family.”

Winner of the Preakness Stakes, the G1 Haskell, and G1 Santa Anita Derby by a combined 11 1/4 lengths at three, Exaggerator was also a top 2-year-old. He won the G2 Saratoga Special and the $1 million G3 Delta Jackpot as a juvenile and finished second in the G1 Breeders' Futurity. All told, he banked $3,581,120 racing for the partnership of Big Chief Racing, Head of Plains Partners, Rocker O Ranch, and trainer Keith Desormeaux.

Exaggerator is the leading second-crop sire by winners with 77 and is represented this year by 2-year-old stakes-winning fillies Sea Level and Pacific Coast, as well as stakes winner Gagetown, winner of the Prairie Mile Stakes and placed in the Iowa Derby and St. Louis Derby, and multiple stakes-placed Crew Dragon.

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“We're thrilled to welcome the first Yoshida foal here at WinStar Farm on behalf of our client Ms. Christiansen-Croy,” said Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's director of bloodstock services. “Yoshida has repatriated the Sunday Silence line to America and these foals represent the next generation of that world-class sire. Yoshida was an elite and versatile racehorse and will be strongly supported again in his second year at stud in 2021.”

A son of Heart's Cry, one of the leading sires in Japan by dual classic winner and influential sire Sunday Silence, Yoshida earned $2,505,770 in a sensational racing career for WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Head of Plains Partners. Trained by Bill Mott, Yoshida was a versatile four-time stakes winner on dirt and turf. He competed on three different continents and recorded five triple-digit Beyers over both surfaces—108, 106, 105, 103, and 102.

Yoshida won the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in his first career start on dirt, defeating five Grade 1 winners. That same year at four in 2018, he defeated eight graded stakes winners, including three Grade 1 winners, in the $500,000 G1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. He also won the 2017 G3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont and was named a TDN Rising Star in a stylish maiden-breaking win at Keeneland in his 3-year-old bow.

Bred in Japan by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm, Yoshida is the second foal produced from Hilda's Passion, who captured the 2011 G1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga before selling for $1.2 million at that year's Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Yoshida bred 148 mares in his first book in 2020 and he will stand the upcoming breeding season for $15,000 S&N.

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“We’re thrilled to welcome the first Yoshida foal here at WinStar Farm on behalf of our client Ms. Christiansen-Croy,” said Liam O’Rourke, WinStar’s director of bloodstock services. “Yoshida has repatriated the Sunday Silence line to America and these foals represent the next generation of that world-class sire. Yoshida was an elite and versatile racehorse and will be strongly supported again in his second year at stud in 2021.”

Campaigned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club International and Head of Plains Partners and trained by Bill Mott, Yoshida won the 2018 GI Woodward S. and the GI Old Forester Turf Classic.

Yoshida bred 148 mares in his first book in 2020 at WinStar and he will stand the upcoming breeding season for $15,000 S&N.

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Okay, they laid out a conveyor belt for the Breeders’ Cup this year. Knicks Go, in the GI Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile, set only one in a blurred sequence of track records. (New benchmarks were also reached on the day at six, seven and 10 furlongs.) Even within that context, however, Knicks Go needs credit for the electrifying fashion in which he saw off a horse as fast as Complexity (Maclean’s Music), kicking again off fractions of 21.98, 44.40 and 1:08.25 for a final time of 1:33.85. Bottom line is that we need to respect any stallion that can get a horse of such flair, out of Maryland, with first four dams by Outflanker, Allen’s Prospect, Medaille d’Or and Cloudy Dawn.

Actually this is the second time Knicks Go has demanded a fresh look at his sire. In 2018, following a low-key launch by his first juveniles the previous year, Paynter mustered just 34 mares at $12,500. In fairness, if anything he had resisted the usual drag better than most young sires, having maintained a book of 103 at $20,000 the previous spring. That reflected a positive reception for that first crop at the yearling sales, where they had parlayed his $25,000 opening fee into an average return of $83,853.

Having accumulated 438 covers across his first three seasons, however, Paynter was seemingly now being drawn into the deadly commercial vortex so familiar in a world where breeders flit nervously from new sire to new sire. Quite what precocious detonation people had expected in Paynter’s first juveniles, when both he and his sire had been unraced at two, is hard to say.

Knicks Go blazed home in the Dirt Mile | Breeders’ Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

But then Paynter, from his second crop, pulled Knicks Go out of his hat. After scoring on debut at Ellis Park, he appeared to be put in his place when tried in stakes company, only to establish what is plainly a particular affinity with Keeneland by winning the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity S. by 5 1/2 lengths at 70-1. If that performance came out of the blue, he then proved its substance by heading over to Churchill and beating all bar Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

While it is always true that a single star can outshine a multitude of dimmer talents, Paynter had some useful volume behind him and finished behind only Violence (Medaglia d’Oro) in the second-crop sires’ prize money table. He was back in the game. After welcoming 97 partners in 2019, he kept solid interest at 71 this year. In the prevailing climate, admittedly, a further easing of his fee was fairly inevitable. But hopefully that will assist him through the gate that divides the stallion who’s still trying to make his name from the one who can be considered relatively proven, while yet remaining highly accessible. That’s an elusive combination, making Paynter’s credentials seem well worth revisiting.

The Dirt Mile success of Knicks Go has elevated his sire past Violence to head the fourth-crop table as the year draws to a close. But he would still be a clear second without his standard-bearer, who after all was otherwise confined only to a couple of allowance wins, eight months apart, following his transfer to Brad Cox. Given the stellar achievements of Violence this year, with Grade I winners from three different crops, it would have reflected very creditably on Paynter even to remain in his vicinity.

The key now is for Knicks Go not to turn into a burden, by appearing freakishly out of line with the rest of his sire’s output. Paynter has so far assembled another 14 black-type winners at a perfectly respectable ratio, to named foals, of 4%. (That’s a match, browsing stallions at a similar stage of their careers, even for Union Rags {Dixie Union} and Dialed In {Mineshaft}–never mind many others who have not approached their excellence.) And if none of these are in the same league as his kingpin, the success of Harpers First Ride in the GIII Pimlico Special last month was his eighth in 15 starts.

Harpers First Ride took the Pimlico Special last month | Horsephotos

Liam O’Rourke, director of stallion sales at WinStar, emphasizes the solidity of Paynter’s body of work behind his trailblazer.

“I think it’s important to recognize both aspects of his production,” O’Rourke observes. “Paynter is able to get an elite, championship-level racehorse like Knicks Go and also have the depth to be the only top 20 general sire standing for less than $15,000. He’s in the top 15 by winners, and just outside the top 10 (11th) by percentage of black-type horses. This combination should spell an upward commercial trajectory.”

One thing is for sure: nobody could be surprised that a stallion recycling the kind of genes packaged by Paynter should have come up with a horse as talented as Knicks Go. He is out of a full-sister to Tiznow, and therefore also to Grade II winners Budroyale and Tizdubai; not to mention their unraced sister whose own mating with Paynter’s sire produced GI Preakness S. winner Oxbow (Awesome Again).

Like Oxbow, Paynter finished second in the GI Belmont S., in his case caught close home by Union Rags. He got his Grade I next time, albeit his Haskell S. performance in hindsight appears to be better measured by the clock than by the depth of competition. But where he really showed his fighting qualities was in then rallying from the brink in consecutive battles with colitis, colonic surgery and laminitis. Remarkably, between the skills of his veterinarians and his own resilience, he was able to clock a 114 Beyer on his resumption at four; and then late chased home Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) in an apt bid for the GI Awesome Again S.

Already as a yearling his physique had received a valuable testimonial, in being picked out of Book 1 at Keeneland September by no less a judge than David Ingordo, for $325,000. Everything was in place, then. And, while obviously no stallion is a cookie-cutter, O’Rourke sees the robustness that served Paynter so well as something of a trademark. “Paynter gives a horse depth and class,” he notes. “They are very strong with a good heart girth and a good presence. They are athletes.”

Certainly that dappled streak, Knicks Go, gives smaller breeders something to dream about as they contemplate his new fee. As has been well documented, Knicks Go was co-bred against the odds by Sabrina Moore and her mother Angie, who were grazing a grand total of three mares on their GreenMount Farm in Reisterstown, Md. One of these mares was Kosmo’s Buddy, a daughter of Outflanker opportunely claimed for $40,000 at Monmouth Park in 2010. That was her 36th start and by then she had amply established both toughness and quality, with two wins and as many as a dozen placings in black-type company. Credit for Knicks Go must also be shared, then, between his accomplished dam; and, in turn, the Maryland stalwart who sired her. (Though Outflanker contested ten maidens without success, his fine pedigree has played through at stud.)

Paynter, at home at WinStar | WinStar photo

But there’s no denying the pivotal importance of the resulting talent to his sire; nor, presumably, of his sire to that talent. And the more a stallion like Paynter can achieve commercial traction, the more sustainable the industry becomes for breeders like the Moores, who are very much its lifeblood. Logically, after all, a sire should have no more “commercial” propensity than producing runners at an affordable rate.

“We were thrilled for Angie and Sabrina to breed such a great horse from their small but growing operation,” O’Rourke says. “Of course the market probably disagrees with me, when you see certain proven sires not get enough respect in the sales ring, but I think planning to breed a ‘race’ horse and planning to breed a ‘sales’ horse aren’t mutually exclusive things. The best thing for a mare’s pedigree is to produce good horses: black-type horses. When you do so, you increase the value of your mare and each subsequent foal she produces. The Moores raised a great runner and it created commercial opportunities.”

Paynter has more than once had his back to the wall, but has fought his way back every time. “He definitely finds a sweet spot in the market,” says O’Rourke. “It’s an uncertain business in a good year, and even more so at the moment, but a sire like Paynter–who’s so reliable, so well-priced and has shown he can get you that elite type–can take some of the risk out of it for the breeder. He’s priced at a level where he can be important to your breeding plans, whether you have two or 20-plus mares.”

The post Knicks Go Adds Dash to Paynter’s Palette appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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On this week's episode of In The Stud, we speak with WinStar's Liam O'Rourke about the 2017 Derby winner whose first foals are weanlings of 2020, and we cover the influences that shine through from the top and bottom of the stallion's page.

A 6-year-old son of Bodemeister, Always Dreaming gained notoriety on the Triple Crown trail with a five-length victory in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. That effort sent him off as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, where he drew clear to prevail by 2 3/4 lengths. He retired with four wins in 11 starts for earnings of $2,415,860.

Always Dreaming is out of the Grade 3-winning In Excess mare Above Perfection, making him a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick and Grade 2 winner Positive Spirit.

The In The Stud video series, put together by our friends at EquiSport Photos, features up-and-coming names in the stallion ranks, with a focus on those whose first foals are weanlings of 2020. Paulick Report bloodstock editor Joe Nevills interviews farm staff about the stallion's appealing qualities and what mares might work best with them, while giving viewers and potential breeders a chance to see the stallion on the walk and on the racetrack.

The post In The Stud Presented By Kentucky Equine Research: Always Dreaming, First Weanlings Of 2020 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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