Favored RAISE THE BAR ($4.26) went gate-to-wire under a hand ride to win his first career start in race 2 at Keeneland!

Johnny Velazquez was in the irons for trainer Wesley Ward and owner/breeder Douglas Scharbauer. pic.twitter.com/uzoMq0ZNzK

— TVG (@TVG) April 10, 2024

The post Wesley Ward-Trained Maclean’s Music Firster Sharp on Debut at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“She's been very popular today, let's put it that way,” Becky Thomas said of the filly from the first crop of Complexity (hip 276) after a long day of showing Sunday in Ocala.

Thomas's Sequel Thoroughbreds bred the daughter of Goods and Services (Paynter) and she is consigned under the Sequel Bloodstock banner.

The tote delay that caused the Tampa Bay Derby post time to be pushed back a half-hour did, at least, allow Thomas to get home in time to watch the race.

“I was afraid he was not going to be able to move around because he was in tight there at the end,” Thomas said. “Those kind of horses are so impressive because he obviously had so much horse left, he just needed to be able to go. So it was very, very cool.”

Even before Domestic Product's win at Tampa Bay, Thomas was impressed with his 2-year-old half-sister, who worked a furlong during the OBS under-tack show in :10 flat and had shown even more promise when training over the dirt.

“I really love her on dirt,” Thomas said. “She was a filly that I slated for Maryland May [Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale] and I moved her up here because she was training so good. She's got a really quiet demeanor, so I originally put her for May because she is a big, stretchy filly and I thought I would give her a little bit more time. They kind of tell you when you start breezing them who needs to move up and who might need to move down. But she's been really solid.”

The dark bay filly is one of 19 juveniles by Complexity to work last week ahead of the OBS March sale. The son of Hill 'n' Dale stallion Maclean's Music won the 2018 GI Champagne S. and 2020 GII Kelso S. He stands at Airdrie Stud for a fee of $12,500.

“I am a Maclean's Music fan,” Thomas explained. “I ended up buying a share in [his sons] Drain the Clock and I bred to Jackie's Warrior. I am a John Sikura disciple. When you have those horses who have shown such brilliance and have been a Grade I-siring stallion like him, I really like those kind of horses. And this filly is a big tall leggy, two-turn looking filly that's got a lot of parts. You can see why she can go so fast and you can also see why she should go two turns.”

The large number of juveniles by Complexity in the March catalogue came as no surprise to Thomas.

“We are a land of pinhookers and if we actually bought horses, it's because all of us like the shape of them,” she said. “The fact that there are that many in here and so many of them are pinhooks, they are the type the pinhookers like. They look quick.”

Thomas purchased Goods and Services with the Complexity filly in utero for $37,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.

“I couldn't be at that sale, but [bloodstock agent] Andrew Cary and my assistant Carlos Manresa sent me the link to her,” Thomas said. “So we decided to try on her. But it was all because of Andrew and Carlos.”

The 2-year-old is the mare's last foal.

“Unfortunately, she has passed away,” Thomas said of the mare. “We bred her to Drain the Clock and she was in foal, but she was really very laminitic. Unfortunately, even through our podiatrist, we were not able to keep her comfortable. This is the only baby we got out of her.”

The three-day OBS March sale begins Tuesday at 11 a.m.

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“Very pretty boy born of a maiden mare. Good bone and such a sweet expression!” said breeders Carrie and Craig Brogden.

A debut winner at Gulfstream at two, Drain the Clock returned the following season to add wins in the GIII Swale S., GIII Bay Shore S. and GI Woody Stephens S., where he defeated subsequent champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior.

Drain the Clock retired with seven wins in 15 career starts, including three victories in graded stakes races, for earnings of $698,000.

The post First Foal of GISW Drain the Clock Arrives appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which hadn't had a million-dollar mare since 2019, had two reach seven figures during its opening session Monday in Lexington, with 19-year-old Tom Wachman making the day's highest bid of $1.6-million to acquire the broodmare prospect Prank (Into Mischief) on behalf of his grandfather, John Magnier's Coolmore. Late in the session, Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm purchased Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) for $1 million.

“I think we've got to be very happy with the way the session turned out,” Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said Monday evening. “We had two million-dollar plus horses, which is the first time since 2019. The numbers were pretty much on par for much of the day compared to last year and last year was a very strong sale.”

A total of 225 horses sold Monday for $17,547,500 for an average of $77,989 and a median of $32,000. Bolstered by the two million-dollar mares, the session average was up 7.43% from a year ago, while the median declined 20%.

With 97 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 30.12%. It was 31.29% a year ago.

Bloodstock agent Steve Young, accompanied by Ramona Bass, was the session's leading buyer with three mares purchased to support Bass's recently retired Grade I-winning sire Annapolis. The session featured a diverse buying bench with the 16 top-priced horses selling to 14 different buyers.

Cormac Breathnach and Tony Lacy on Monday | Keeneland

“I was really pleased with the depth of the buyer bench here,” said Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach. “There were a lot of people signing tickets in the ring and a lot of important buyers from America and also from around the world.”

Demand for short yearlings, a segment of the market which was competitive at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale two months ago, remained strong Monday in Lexington. Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, the session's leading consignor, sold the day's two top-priced yearlings, with a colt by Curlin selling to Milan Bloodstock for $375,000 and a son of Maclean's Music selling for $300,000 to Muir Hut Stables.

“The demand for yearlings was strong,” Breathnach said. “We sold 22 six-figure yearlings today versus 17 for the same day last year.”

Still there was a familiar polarization in the market.

“The market is very, very selective right now,” said Hill 'n' Dale manager Jared Burdine. “There are no end-users for the weanlings and pinhookers are very professional. They line up on the same horse.”

Lacy acknowledged the selectivity in the market, but also saw some positivity in Monday's results.

“Quality was very much to the fore,” Lacy said. “I think there was a little weakness on the ones of perceived lesser quality. But in saying that, I think the sellers were very pleased the way the market was shaking out and the buyers found it tough to buy what they were looking for. So, all in all, a good day.”

The Keeneland January sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

$1.6M Prank Kickstarts January Sale

Prank (Into Mischief) (hip 77), never able to follow up on a scintillating debut victory on the racetrack due to injury, had a star turn in the sales ring at Keeneland Monday, selling for $1.6 million to Coolmore. The 4-year-old was consigned by Gainesway, which campaigned her in partnership with LNJ Foxwoods and StarLadies Racing to that 9 3/4-length victory which earned her 'TDN Rising Star' honors at Saratoga in 2022.

“She's a lovely filly and a very good race filly,” said Tom Wachman after signing the ticket on the bay filly on behalf of the Coolmore team. “I'd say she will go to Justify. He's a phenomenal stallion doing it on the grass and the dirt. So I'd say that's where she'd go.”

Wachman, the 19-year-old grandson of Coolmore founder John Magnier, said this was the highest-priced horse he has signed for to date.

“I'm just trying to learn the ropes at the moment,” he said.

Looking like a million bucks! Prank, TDN Rising Star and half sister to Mo Donegal delivers $1.6 million at Keeneland January. #KeeJan pic.twitter.com/2q4lydbpDm

— Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) January 8, 2024

Out of Callingmissbrown (Pulpit), Prank is a half-sister to GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo). Bred by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables, she was purchased for $500,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale.

“She was a real talent,” Gainesway's Brian Graves said of Prank. “She broke her maiden by 10 at Saratoga when she won by the length of the stretch basically. She got injured and wasn't able to make it back. But she had that brilliance that people want, the type that if you pass that along to your foals, they can be Grade I winners. We certainly thought she had the ability to be a Grade I winner. On the day she broke her maiden, you would have said she was the best 2-year-old in America, colts or fillies. Her figures were among the fastest in six years in Saratoga. And those horses were Grade I winners, so the ability was there.”

Prank's last recorded works came in August and her presence in the January sale was largely an issue of timing, according to Graves.

“We were going on with her and she developed a little issue,” Graves said. “And it was obvious that we weren't going to be able to continue on and it was time for her to be a broodmare and dissolve the partnership. So she landed here.”

“She sold way above our expectations”

After the Ring: Brian Graves speaks on the session topper, Prank, who sold for $1.6 million today at Keeneland January. #KeeJan @Gainesway pic.twitter.com/Tw1mlBP2jJ

— Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) January 8, 2024

Graves admitted the filly's $1.6-million price tag exceeded expectations.

“The young and beautiful have been selling well,” Graves said. “It's been holding up and we thought she would be in the top end, but that was a bit more than we were expecting.”

Prank was the first seven-figure horse sold at Keeneland January since Abel Tasman (Quality Road) sold–also to Coolmore–for $5 million in 2019. @JessMartiniTDN

Curlin's Voyage Brings $1 Million

Canadian champion Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) (hip 413) became the second seven-figure offering of Monday's first session of the Keeneland January sale when bringing a final bid of $1 million from Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm. The 7-year-old mare, who was supplemented to the auction, sold in foal to Flightline from the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment.

“I liked the pedigree, the physical and who she was in foal to,” Nakamura said through an interpreter. “Everything matched up. I liked everything about her.”

Curlin's Voyage hammers at $1 million, sold in foal to Flightline to K I Farm! #KeeJan @HillnDaleFarm pic.twitter.com/MwoICWoo8Z

— Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) January 9, 2024

Curlin's Voyage, who produced a filly by Tapit in 2022 and a filly by Uncle Mo in 2023, was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale.  Racing for the partnership of Sikura and Windsor Boys Racing, the chestnut won the 2019 GIII Mazarine S. and 2020 Woodbine Oaks. She was named Canada's champion 2-year-old filly in 2019 and came back to be named champion 3-year-old filly in 2020.

The mare is out of Atlantic Voyage (Stormy Atlantic), a full-sister to Grade I winner Stormello.

Asked about his plans for the mare, Nakamura said, “I haven't decided yet. Still in the decision-making process.”

Annapolis Date for Bridlewood Cat

Bloodstock agent Steve Young, sitting alongside Ramona Bass, signed the ticket at $750,000 to acquire Bridlewood Cat (Street Sense) (hip 267). The 8-year-old mare, in foal to Tapit, was consigned by Denali Stud, as agent for Bridlewood Farm. She now has an impending date with the Bass family's recently retired Grade I winner Annapolis (War Front).

“It was a tremendous result, she's a beautiful mare.”

After the ring: Conrad Bandoroff on Bridlewood Cat selling for $750,000 at #KeeJan @DenaliStud pic.twitter.com/PJQ6NI5tdO

— Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) January 9, 2024

“She was bought for the Bass family with the intention to give Annapolis the best mare support he could possibly get,” Young said. “She is a terrific, talented horse who won her first two races with mid-90s Beyers. She had Grade I talent and is a very good-looking horse on her own. She is probably one of the fastest Street Sense fillies that there ever was, breaking her maiden going three-quarters in :09 and change and she is the type of mare that the family is going to support this horse with.”

Purchased by Bridlewood Farm for $750,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale, Bridlewood Cat was stakes-placed while winning two of 10 starts for earnings of $115,090.

She is out of Ithinkisawapudycat (Bluegrass Cat) and is a half-sister to GI Spinaway S. winner Sweet Loretta (Tapit). Ithinkisawapudycat is a half-sister to Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Spring in the Air (Spring At Last).

“She is from a highly talented 2-year-old family,” Young said. “Her half-sister is a Grade I winner on the dirt at Saratoga as a 2-year-old. Under the second dam is the 2-year-old champion of Canada. And we are going to breed her to an undefeated 2-year-old stakes winner in Annapolis.”

Steve Young | Keeneland

Bred and campaigned by the Bass family, Annapolis earned his first graded victory as a juvenile, winning the 2021 GII Pilgrim S. In 2022, he added the GI Coolmore Turf Mile and GIII Saranac S. He will begin his stud career next month at Claiborne Farm at a fee of $12,500.

“He is going to throw a lot of quality 2-year-olds,” Young said of the stallion. “He's going to throw dirt. We never got a chance to run him on the dirt, but he always trained tremendous on the dirt. This is the type of mare he deserves.”

Young signed for My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), with Annapolis in utero, on behalf of Bass for $4 million at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

Bridlewood Cat produced a colt by Authentic in 2022 and a colt by Essential Quality in 2023.

Young and Bass returned later in the session to acquire Kaling (Practical Joke) (hip 387), third in 2022 GI Spinaway S., for $650,000 from the Bluewater Sales consignment and closed out the opening session of the auction with Juniper's Moon (Galileo {Ire}) (hip 419), purchased for $625,000 from Taylor Made Sales Agency. @JessMartiniTDN

Hill 'n' Dale Consigns Pair of Top-Priced Colts

Hip 236, a son of Curlin out of 'TDN Rising Star' A Z Warrior (Bernardini), went to Milan Bloodstock on a final bid via phone of $370,000 during Monday's first session of the Keeneland January sale. The colt was the second of two top-priced short yearlings to sell within a matter of minutes consigned by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

“Curlin sets records year after year,” said Jared Burdine, general manager at Hill 'n' Dale. “This foal fit everyone's criteria. All of them [buyers] want kind of the same thing and the same five or six people were on the horse. So when it lines up, you get paid on those.”

Hip 236 | Keeneland

Hip 236 hails from a family of 'TDN Rising Stars' including not only his dam but also three of his dam's half-siblings in Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile), herself the dam of another 'Rising Star' in Under Oath (Speightstown), along with E Z Warrior (Exploit) and J Z Warrior (Harlan's Holiday). He is also a half to last year's Runhappy Ellis Park Debutante S. winner Justa Warrior (Justify).

The yearling was bred by Cypress Creek Equine, which purchased A Z Warrior in foal to Uncle Mo for $550,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January sale.

Just a few minutes earlier, Muir Hut Stables went to $300,000 for hip 200, an Ontario-bred short yearling by Maclean's Music. Bred by Josham Farm's Ted Burnett, the colt is out of Wild N Ready (More Than Ready), a mare purchased by Josham Farm for $170,000 out of Keeneland November in 2017.

“We thought he'd in the 100 range,” said Burnett. “He had a few minor vet issues that I thought might hurt him but, if you've got the right horse and the issue is not a big one, I don't think it makes much difference [in the price],” said Burnett. “We have a very strong program in Ontario. So we always find that Ontario-breds have a special market and often we feel that we get a little bit of a premium because of that.”

Burnett sold Wild N Ready two months ago at Keeneland November for $60,000 carrying a full-sibling to this colt. @SGrimmTDN

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It tells you a lot about our business that the majority of the two dozen stallions operating at this level can only do so because they have yet to send a single runner into the starting gate. A quarter of these we immediately set to one side, as absolute beginners, because those received separate consideration in the opening instalment of this series. Of the remaining 18, another eight belong to those preceding intakes that remain untested by runners.

Some of these have been taking the precautionary clips often necessary to keep young sires in the game, as commercial breeders maintain as safe a distance as possible from the dangers that accompany racetrack exposure.

You can see that template magnified in one of the two sires who are closest to the moment of truth. AUTHENTIC started out in 2021 as the most expensive in his intake, at $75,000. This year he takes his third consecutive cut, down to $50,000 (from $60,000 and previously $70,000). Yet has he become any less likely to sire racehorses, if you send him a mare this spring, relative to when he retired as Horse of the Year? Far from it, if the market reception is any guide: he duly looked after investors by processing 91 yearlings (120 offered) at a median $235,000 (average $286,076), clear at the top of the class.

Authentic | Sarah Andrew

We all know how the system works. But if you genuinely thought Authentic good value at $75,000, well, you'd better get right back to him now that his fee is down by one-third. After all, a true commercial opportunist should be anticipating a rising tide from all the juvenile winners that will surely be emerging from a debut book of 229 mares, just a couple short of making him the busiest stallion in North America that year!

Of course, Spendthrift operates the model so dexterously that Authentic has meanwhile maintained demand, at his more lenient fees, with books of 202 and 198 mares. With 165 live foals to go to war, he surely gives the farm every chance of a third consecutive champion freshman.

MCKINZIE has bucked the trend by retaining his initial fee of $30,000 for a fourth year. He starred at the sales, sending no fewer than 144 into the ring-a staggering percentage of his 174 live foals. That's expressive of the commercial package he had offered in combining knockout looks with 11 triple-digit Beyers, plus Grade Is at two, three and four. He duly sold 110 at a median $90,000, reaching an average of $149,157 after blowing the doors off with a $1.2 million colt at the September Sale. (Both indices beaten only by Authentic in the class.) We've all seen market discoveries sink without trace, over the years, but McKinzie has certainly raised expectations and duly maintained numbers in the meantime, with books of 171 and 168.

The next intake is also represented by two sires, now preparing their first yearlings for auction. One of their peers, Essential Quality, actually remains beyond even this level and duly topped the weanling averages, but CHARLATAN filled second place in selling 19 of 22 at a median $175,000 and average $206,052. That was what he had to do, having similarly starting out behind only Essential Quality in terms of fee, and he's another whose original investors have been spared a depreciation: he remains $50,000 for 2024.

Charlatan emerged from the same crop and barn as Authentic to emulate the GI Arkansas Derby-GI Malibu S. double of Omaha Beach the previous year, and was only narrowly outstayed when stretching his speed again in the G1 Saudi Cup. Unfortunately he then suffered another setback, but nobody forgot his talent and he started with books of 222 and 223. Breeders evidently recalled that he had himself been a $700,000 yearling out of a genuine Grade I mare.

Maxfield | Sarah Andrew

MAXFIELD takes a mild trim, to $35,000 from $40,000, despite selling 11 of a dozen weanlings at a median $110,000/average $165,181. His farm tends to be more conservative with its books, so 165 mares for his first year looked like a full subscription, with another 134 in his second. Maxfield was beaten by just four horses across 11 starts, won a Grade I as a juvenile by five and a half lengths, and above all is out of a Bernardini half-sister to the admirable stallion Sky Mesa (very fine family overall).

Four youngsters who covered their first mares last spring assembled books that appeared, after the mare cap debacle, to be making a point of some kind-albeit one that may be lost on anyone who ends up with only an average specimen to bring to saturated catalogues.

With 262 partners, EPICENTER was behind only his frenzied studmate Golden Pal among American sires, his championship campaign having featured a standout GI Travers (112 Beyer). His sire has gone beyond reach, for most, and I love the sturdy European influences sowing his deeper family-though I can't imagine that those names were front and central for many others!

His neighbor JACK CHRISTOPHER was nearly as hectic with 247 mares. He must have been an easy sell, even his solitary defeat in the GI Haskell counting in his favor as confirming him to be all speed. He'd have had plenty of support had he retired on the spot after a daylight debut success at Saratoga, and beat a good one when returning for what proved his final start a year later. Both he and Epicenter take the customary trim, from $45,000 to $40,000, to help keep the door revolving.

Jack Christopher | Sara Gordon

Jack Christopher represents Munnings, of course, and it's good to see some of Speightstown's later sons contesting the legacy.

Just like Charlatan, OLYMPIAD was a $700,000 yearling. His debut book of 228, making him the busiest stallion outside Ashford, shows that plenty of other farms are prepared to go all out for numbers, given the chance. He matured through the grades with eight triple-figure Beyers, but the clincher is Chic Shirine as third dam. By this stage of the series, you probably won't be surprised that proven stallions populate the Value Podium, but this guy looks a profoundly wholesome prospect in retaining a fee of $35,0000.

Though JACKIE'S WARRIOR had to settle for “just” 182 mares, he could comfort himself that they included Beholder! He's another to take a clip, to $45,000 from $50,000, but still finds himself standing for more than his own sire. Even so, he will remain in demand as a Grade I winner at Saratoga three years running, an unprecedented achievement gilded by a 28-year-old stakes record in the Hopeful.

Right, now let's get onto some sires that have actually demonstrated some competence to replicate the genetic prowess we should be looking for at this kind of fee.

Of these, the one who has barely started is OMAHA BEACH. He's just completed his freshman season with fourth place in a table dominated by Spendthrift sires, on the face of it hardly measuring up to his status as the most expensive of the quartet. But I'm not alone in retaining high hopes, judged from the fact that his fee has moved back up to $40,000 for 2024, having been allowed to slide from an opening $45,000 to $30,000.

Because while he has only had a couple of stakes winners, he has a class-high 11 black-type performers from 64 starters–a much smaller footprint than his three studmates (Vino Rosso, late bloomer though he was, has fielded 92!)–and these include four at graded stakes level. Omaha Beach presumably received rather more Classic/two-turn mares than his peers, and it's reasonable to expect consolidation from here. It's a rare horse nowadays that can win Grade Is at both six and nine furlongs, and his family overflows with quality.

Obviously, he has volume behind him, standing where he does, but that was partly a function of what seemed pretty lenient pricing throughout. His second crop of yearlings held up very well, at a median $105,000/average $156,508 for 95 sold (116 offered). That keeps Omaha Beach miles clear of his intake, some of whom have been quickly embarrassed by their opening fees. Those who kept the faith in the meantime (185 mares in his fourth book last spring) are entitled remain optimistic, the only caveat being the overall underperformance of this particular class of freshmen, judged by graded stakes winners. It's now over to Omaha Beach to convert his promise into a headliner or two.

City of Light | Lane's End

A similar remark might have been made, this time last year, about CITY OF LIGHT–and, heading into the Breeders' Cup, he had still not justified an against-the-tide hike from $40,000 to $60,000 in 2022. That was the reward for a sensational debut (average $337,698/median $260,000) at the yearling sales. With his book down to 85 last spring, from 132, he was slashed to $35,000 for 2024. But then along came Fierceness, and suddenly everything is looking much more cheerful.

City Of Light may have a few later developers, but 18 black-type performers from no more than 127 to have made the starting gate is a very fair ratio. His fee cut was among several such gestures by his farm after polarisation at the sales (where his third crop were down to a median $75,000/average $126,269 for 63 sold of 75) made it feel as though fees generally remain too high.

In his (very competitive) intake, one who has only elevated his reputation is GIRVIN, who started in Florida at $7,500 and is up to $30,000 (from $20,000) after consolidating the breakout that earned him a ticket to Kentucky. From limited materials, he is so far operating at 6 percent stakes winners (including Grade I scorer Faiza) to named foals, narrowly bettered only by Good Magic and Army Mule in his class.

Girvin's tragic sibling Midnight Bourbon showed what their unraced dam Catch the Moon must be contributing to the equation, and this year Catch the Moon's sister produced Brightwork to lend further Grade I luster to the page. Everyone should duly be fully reconciled by now to Girvin's unfashionable (but superbly-bred) sire. Those who bred to Girvin in his second year in Ocala, at $6,000, certainly can't complain about a yearling average of $92,411 (stretched by a $475,000 colt, but a $41,000 median itself very respectable) for 17 sold from 21 offered. Girvin is firmly on his way, through the roof by the restrained standards of his farm with 181 mares (up from 86) last spring, and only an even more upwardly mobile studmate has kept him off the Value Podium.

Violence | Sarah Andrew

Before we get to that, we have three horses that have by now had ample opportunity to show where they fit in the marketplace: Liam's Map, Maclean's Music and VIOLENCE.

Not that the latter has remotely settled, in terms of pricing! Initially elevated to $60,000 for 2024, he has meanwhile slipped back into this bracket at $40,000. The reasons have been cogently explained, and leave him looking big value as the sire of two new stallions in Kentucky this year, not to mention one with an obvious shot at the freshman title in Volatile. Violence is actually cheaper than his champion son Forte, a rookie whose supporters would surely be delighted if he can produce as many fast horses by the time he reaches the equivalent point of his career. Violence's book will be managed appropriately to his circumstances, but purely in terms of value he looks of imperative interest to eligible mares. For this is a proven achiever at this level–both on the track and in the ring, where he moved his yearling yield up to a median of $80,000 (from $60,000) and average $121,642 (from $97,614). That's impressive for a stallion with seven crops in play. Violence was No. 13 on the general sires' list and the caveats sound very manageable.

His studmate MACLEAN'S MUSIC also looks a fair price at $40,000, after a couple of years at $50,000, considering that he has four sons at stud in the Bluegrass. We've already noted one of them, Jackie's Warrior, getting plenty of trade at a higher fee, while Drain The Clock served no fewer than 199 mares in his debut season. Maclean's Music himself had to settle for 144 last spring, but covered 421 over the previous two seasons after dwindling to 57 in 2020, so the good old “pipeline” is well and truly loaded. In fact, no fewer than 183 live foals in 2022 give him the single biggest battalion of juveniles for the forthcoming campaign. So this looks a pretty shrewd time to stay aboard with a horse who processed as many as 104 of 131 yearlings at an average $118,739 ($70,000 median sound enough, against a $25,000 conception fee).

LIAM'S MAP also maintained his sales performance, selling 80 of 102 offered at a $100,000 median/$124,024 average–conceived at $30,000–albeit down somewhat on the previous crop, who had knocked it out of the park ($130,000/$166,724). Standing at $40,000 for a third year running, he once again proved a reliable source of stakes action this year, chiefly with maturing stock. His next task is to emulate the Hill 'n' Dale pair, who have been in the game rather longer, as a sire of sires.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: HARD SPUN
Danzig–Turkish Tryst (Turkoman)
Darley $35,000

So I guess he's not going to change the world, at this stage–but I really don't see much better value to prove your mare, or just to get yourself a racehorse. I know that's not everyone's priority, but the fact is that the last big son of Danzig has now turned 20 and that leaves us diminishing access to the great patriarch.

Hard Spun | Darley

Hard Spun missed a return to the top 10 sires only by cents, relatively speaking, and it was a measure of what he can do for a mare that a horse with as plain a page as Two Phil's could break into the elite of his crop, and now become Hard Spun's fourth son at stud in Kentucky.

It's incredible that a horse with a dozen domestic Grade I winners has never gone higher than $45,000 in the decade since he made the sojourn in Japan that (in hindsight) cost him vital momentum. In that time, he has finished as high as fourth in the general sires' list, but he doesn't get precocious horses and has settled at a median $67,500 (strong six-figure average) with his last couple of yearling crops.

Hard Spun nonetheless produced another 26 black-type performers in 2023, and cumulatively stands at No. 7 among active sires with several ratios (for instance, graded stakes winners/performers at 2.7/5.7 percent of named foals) uncannily in step with his old buddy Street Sense, who maintains a fee of $60,000.

It's gratifying to see that he remains fully subscribed, 151 mares last year showing that there are still plenty of breeders out there who recognise the importance not just of getting a winner under their mare, but a high-class winner. Hard Spun's stock goes on all surfaces, at all distances, and with those storied Darby Dan bloodlines behind him, it's no surprise that he should meanwhile be emerging as a broodmare influence. His daughters have lately produced a top-class miler in Europe in Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), and no less an animal than Good Magic.

Somehow the world has spun against this horse, but it's very hard to see why.

Silver: AMERICAN PHAROAH
Pioneerof The Nile–Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman)
Ashford Stud $50,000

Well, you can't win them all–even if you're Coolmore. Who could have said, for certain, which of their two Triple Crown winners would best replicate the talent that had confirmed the series to remain within the competence of a modern Thoroughbred? It was actually this one, having ended a generation of doubt, that started at the higher fee: he opened at $200,000 in 2016, and Justify at $150,000 three years later. The latter had been trimmed to $100,000 by the time he launched his first runners, in 2022; and American Pharoah had taken a proportionately deeper cut at the equivalent stage, to $110,000 for 2019. Their paths since, however, have forked radically. Justify is now out of sight, listed as private; and Pharoah enters 2024 suffering the indignity of yet another cut, this time down to $50,000 from $60,000.

American Pharoah | Sarah Andrew

Now there's no way that you can say he's any kind of dud, en route to oblivion. He finished 2023 at No. 6 in the general sires' list, with a seventh Grade I winner supplemented by no fewer than six others placed at the elite level–and that's taking no account of his success in Australia, including a G1 Victoria Derby winner. Yes, like most stallions on this farm, the volume behind him proves a double-edged sword when it comes to his ratios.

His 11 stakes winners arrived at 3.7 percent, pretty unexciting given the quality he must have been working with. But he continues to get his superior/graded action at a superior rate to ever-fashionable studmate Munnings, for instance, who commands a 50 percent higher fee.

The exotic seeding of American Pharoah's family was always liable to make the owners of top-class mares a little nervous, but his dam has proved a consistent producer so something has come together in dynamic fashion. Further action was plainly required after he assembled no more than 129 mares with last year's reduction, but if able to maintain his current sales performance–yearling median $150,000 with both his last two crops, averaging $210,164 in 2023–then you'll be looking at a very fair yield at his current price.

Both American Pharoah and Justify have proved effective sires on turf. If this fee proves a last roll of the dice, then I might impudently suggest once again that American Pharoah could be worth a spin in Co. Tipperary. But he's now within reach of a different type of American breeder, and that may well grant him a new lease of life.

Gold: UPSTART
Flatter–Party Silks (Touch Gold)
Airdrie Stud $30,000

So what is it, really, that we can hope to find at this level? I mean, we're obviously excluding “fantasy” breeding to untested stallions. But is there perhaps a horse out there hinting that he's pressing against the ceiling, and might soon be inaccessible? The other pair on the podium, admirable as they are, hardly fit that category. To me, however, Upstart is the dude in this tier who has the chance of elevating himself to a higher level yet.

Upstart | EquiSport

Maybe you were disappointed that he didn't follow through the 2022 deeds of Zandon and Kathleen O (among 63 named foals conceived at $10,000) with his next crop of sophomores? Well, that's because his third crop comprised just 27 live foals. Even so they included Prerequisite, a $47,000-to-$350,000 pinhook who won the GII Wonder Again S. on her first start outside maiden company, and then missed a Grade I by three parts of a length next time. Meanwhile, as we knew to expect from his own template (multiple Grade I-placed in three consecutive seasons), his mature stock kept him in the game with wins in races as resonant as the GII Clark and GII Woodward S.

He has punched conspicuously above weight at the sales, averaging $90,900 in 2022, but traded at just $39,434 from a modest book last year. But he's now ready to open a new cycle. His incoming yearlings emerge from a book of 151, saturation point for a farm that resists the opportunity of exposing their clients by inundating catalogues. Hiked to $30,000 last spring, he entertained another 153. When you consider what he has been doing with mediocre materials, this is a stallion on the point of a big move.

Despite a dual Grade I runner-up among his first juveniles, Upstart somehow remained bumping along at $10,000. Even so, his 13 stakes winners at 5.2 percent of named foals and 26 black-type performers at 10.4 percent compares with 5/12.2 percent for the lavishly supported Nyquist (standing at $85,000) in his own class; 4/9 percent for Practical Joke ($45,000) and 5.2/8.5 percent for Arrogate in the following intake; 5.9/9.4 percent for Justify and 4/11.1 percent for Bolt d'Oro ($60,000) in the one after that.

This is a horse that gets stock onto the track, and into the winner's circle: 53 percent winners to lifetime starters, compared with 46 percent for the soaraway hero of his intake, Not This Time; 41 percent for Nyquist; 43 percent even for the stellar Gun Runner, the same for Practical Joke, just 39 percent for Arrogate.

Upstart was cleverly named and, it now seems, aptly too. There are some curiosities sowing his family, but it's demonstrably all working. Perhaps the farm that gave us the sires of Uncle Mo and Into Mischief has again tapped into an unexpected seam of gold. With an incoming spike in quality and quantity, catch him while you can.

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Wasabi has been focused on upgrading the quality of the foals that it's breeding over the last few years, and to that end will be using some higher-end stallions in 2024 than what we've bred to in the past.

A stallion that we'll be patronizing heavily this year is Maclean's Music.  He's about to jump from a crop of 2023 2-year-olds numbering 41 and conceived off of a $20,000 stud fee (out of which he already has nine winners, three of whom have also picked up black-type), to a crop of 2024 2-year-olds numbering around 182 and conceived off of a $25,000 stud fee, which will be followed by two more triple-digit crops conceived off of $50,000 stud fees.

His 2024 2-year-olds include 113 that sold at yearling sales this year for an average of $118,636 (up over last year's average of $100,857 for 21 sold), including individuals that brought $625k, $500k, $460k, $400k, $350k, $310k, $300k (x4), etc. Purchasers of Maclean's Music yearlings in 2023 include the likes of the “Avengers” group, Stonestreet, Klaravich, WinStar, Rigney Racing, Cherie DeVaux's Belladonna group and Mike Ryan.

Wasabi will be sending four young mares to Maclean's Music, including their first stakes winner Why Not Tonight (as a daughter of Tapiture, her foal will be bred on one of Maclean's Music's most successful crosses, that with A.P. Indy-line mares), as well as Floral Hall (half to three black-type winners, one of which is the granddam of '23 GISW Wet Paint) and American Thriller (by American Pharoah from a deep Michael Tabor family), who are both Unbridled-line mares, and the Juddmonte-bred Kitten's Joy filly Paw Prints.

   A year ago, Wasabi purchased a Gun Runner filly named Gun Slingin with the hopes that her full-brother Disarm could make some noise on the Triple Crown trail this year.  After a solid fourth in the Kentucky Derby, he won the GIII Matt Winn S. and finished second in the GI Travers S., and will hopefully make plenty of noise in 2024 when Gun Slingin will visit Authentic.  He's another that had a great sales year in 2023, with an excellent average and individuals purchased by some of the top connections in the industry, and we'll be shocked if he's not at the top of the Freshman Sire List at this time next year. He's a gorgeous individual who will suit her physically, and he was a heck of a racehorse by the best stallion in the country. There's really nothing not to like about him.

One of the incoming stallions of 2024 that we were very impressed by–both as an individual and his race record– was Gunite, and Wasabi will be sending their newly acquired Justify filly Itgetsgreaterlater to him after she delivers a Practical Joke foal this January.

We also believe very strongly in the chances of Up to the Mark to become an important stallion. Despite his success as a turf horse, Up to the Mark has an undeniably dirt pedigree, being a son of leading sire Not This Time out of a mare by leading sire Ghostzapper, who is herself a full-sister to a dirt sprint stakes winner, the pair of them, in turn, out of the wickedly fast GI Test S. winner Capote Belle. Given that he himself was a winner at six furlongs on dirt at Saratoga in his debut before eventually scoring top-level wins on turf at eight furlongs, nine furlongs and 10 furlongs, plus an excellent placing against the highest company at 12 furlongs, Up to the Mark possessed a dazzling amount of versatility in addition to his obvious quality and turn of foot. We think he has every shot to make it, and the package he brings to stud makes him strong value at his first-year $25,000 fee.

Wasabi will be sending four mares to Up to the Mark, including a pair of well-bred maiden mares in Calling All Angels (Ire) (a Dark Angel half to a Group 2 winner by Lope de Vega) and Saucily (a Curlin filly bred by Stonestreet from the family of Uncaptured and Interstatedaydream), as well as the Juddmonte-bred Tapit filly Prosperity (a half to Fulsome) and the Godolphin-bred Desert Rendezvous (a half to GISW Better Lucky and to the dam of Grade III winner Prevalence).

Other stallions that will see multiple Wasabi mares in 2024 include Nashville, who should have a great shot to make it as a wickedly fast and gorgeous son of the sire-of-sires Speightstown, and the promising young Maryland sire Blofeld, who continues to put up excellent statistics from small crops of modest mares in a state-bred program that is solid, but without the hugely inflated purses of some of the neighboring states.

   Editor's note: As breeding season approaches, the TDN is asking breeders where they are sending their mares in 2024. To participate in the series, email suefinley@thetdn.com or katiepetrunyak@thetdn.com.

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Uncle Chuck was determined to be suffering from untreatable lymphoma.

“We're devastated by this loss,” said Fernung. “He was a beautiful horse, and his first crop of foals are carbon copies of him. Beyond that, Uncle Chuck had a great demeanor and was a pleasure to work around. He will be missed.”

Uncle Chuck, a half-brother to Hill 'n' Dale sire Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor), as well as to GSWs Kentuckian (Tiznow) and Electric Forest (Curlin), won two of his three career starts, including the GIII Los Alamitos Derby. He joined the Journeyman roster for the 2022 season and has a first crop of 75 reported live foals. He was the property of a syndicate at the time of his death.

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EL CAPI, The 2YO son of @HillnDaleFarm stallion Maclean's Music, breaks his maiden impressively in the second race with Jose Gomez up for trainer @RickDutrow59. pic.twitter.com/rOIHP3w1cw

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) December 2, 2023

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Farm stalwart Curlin, who has defined himself as one of the most preeminent sires at stud today, had his fee raised from $225,000. The 19-year-old is the sire of five individual Grade I winners this year, including Idiomatic, Cody's Wish, Clairiere, Elite Power and Bright Future.

Curlin's champion son Good Magic will stand for a 2024 fee of $125,000 LFSN. The leading second crop sire this year, Good Magic is the sire of both Kentucky Derby champ Mage and recent GI American Pharoah S. winner Muth, who sold as a 2-year-old for $2 million to Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.

Army Mule enjoyed a banner year in the sales ring and on the track. In addition to siring One in Vermillion, his first-crop Grade I winner, his yearlings sold for up to $600,000. His fee is set at $25,000 LFSN.

New to the roster this year is Grade I performer Loggins by Ghostzapper who will stand his first season for $7,500 LFSN.

Here is a list of the complete roster with fees:

• Curlin — $250,000 LFSN
• Good Magic — $125,000 LFSN
• Ghostzapper — $75,000 LFSN
• Violence — $60,000 LFSN
• Charlatan — $50,000 LFSN
• Maclean's Music — $40,000 LFSN
• Army Mule — $25,000 LFSN
• Kantharos — $15,000 LFSN
• Midnight Lute — $10,000 LFSN
• Loggins — $7,500 LFSN
• Mucho Macho Man — $7,500 LFSN
• World of Trouble — $5,000 LFSN

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“The health and safety of horses and jockeys competing at NYRA tracks is our highest priority and one that stands above all other considerations. NYRA's comprehensive safety strategy is informed by the most advanced science and research in consultation with independent experts, veterinarians, and horsemen. Every horse entered to compete at Belmont Park is required to undergo an extensive pre-race veterinary examination before the horse is permitted to race.  In addition to physical inspection and observation, regulatory veterinarians perform a detailed review of each horse's medical records, past performances and workouts. According to these well-established protocols, Cold Hard Cash passed the required pre-race veterinary inspection. In the course of investigating this injury, necropsy results will be analyzed by Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) officials as well as the New York State Equine Medical Director. NYRA, HISA and the New York State Gaming Commission will closely review the circumstances around this incident to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment for racing and training at Belmont Park.”

Five horses have incurred fatal injuries during racing at the 2023 Belmont Park spring/summer meet, which began May 4 and has featured 2,493 horses starting in 326 races.

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