TAIBA (5, Gun Runner – Needmore Flatter, by Flatter)

   Standing for an introductory fee of $35,000, this son of Gun Runner trained by Bob Baffert and campaigned by Zedan Racing Stables was a leading 3-year-old in 2022 with three Grade I victories on his resume.

KP: A seven-figure 2-year-old and a TDN Rising Star in his debut, it's fair to say that expectations were high for Taiba from the start. How did he rise to those?

MT: Taiba certainly got the whole racing world on edge when he brought $1.7 million at the 2-year-old sales. Being by Gun Runner out of a Flatter mare, he is a gorgeous horse. He probably has more bone and body than any Gun Runner that I've seen.

Taiba got off to such a start as a TDN Rising Star. It was just one of those races that gives you chill bumps. He won so effortlessly and so easily that day and then to come back in start two in the GI Santa Anita Derby, doing something he'd never done before going a mile and an eighth, and be able to win the way he did just lets you know right off the bat that this horse is as talented as maybe anything we've seen in a while.

From there, he would go on to win the GI Pennsylvania Derby in impressive fashion and he closed out his 3-year-old year with a win in the GI Malibu S. He was a very talented horse to be able to do what he did early on, but still be good late in the year. It was asking a lot of him, but it tells you how mentally tough that horse was.

KP: You said he stands out from other progeny of Gun Runner physically. How so?

MT: I think it's just his body. He's got a great way of moving, but he's got a lot of bone and a lot of muscle. I've had many people out here tell me that they've not seen another Gun Runner with a body like that.

His dam was in the Night of the Stars Sale. She was a mare that had tons of bone and tons of substance to her. Anybody out there that got a chance to peek at her can see what Taiba got.

KP: Last year you added dual Grade I winner Cyberknife to your roster and now this year you have Taiba. What has the demand been like in offering two new sons of Gun Runner to breeders within two years?

MT: Well we say around here that you can't have too much Into Mischief blood, but you also can't have too much Gun Runner blood.

When we had a chance to go get these two horses, we bought them both during the same year. We knew they wanted to run Taiba again as a 4-year-old and so that fit our program fine with them doing that. We were able to get Cyberknife 223 mares last year. He was a great breeder, a very fertile horse. Now we have Taiba standing for $35,000 and he sold out in about an hour. It was crazy, the demand for him. We've got him at 180 mares. We'll get to mid-April and see how he's breeding and if it's going well, we'll slide some more in.

Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in 2024 | Sarah Andrew

ARABIAN LION (4, Justify – Unbound, by Distorted Humor)

   This speedy son of Justify was his sire's first Grade I winner when he edged away to win the 2023 GI Woody Stephens. Another TDN Rising Star for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables, Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in his debut season.

KR: Speaking of red hot stallions, this year you have the first son of Justify to retire in Kentucky.

MT: We were so excited to be able to get Arabian Lion because of him being a son of Justify. We have Bolt d'Oro here that was in a great battle with Justify and Good Magic for leading freshman sire in 2022. We were thrilled that Bolt wound up coming out on top and then in 2023, it was all just Justify, Justify, Justify. So you tip your hat to that horse on the year that he's had that culminated with what he did out at the Breeders' Cup.

For us to be able to go out and get a Grade I-winning son of one of the hottest stallions here in North America–plus the success he's had in Europe and Australia–it's a very cool thing. But what makes him even more special is that his female family is all a Phipps family. His mother is a Distorted Humor mare that was stakes placed. His third dam is the great Personal Ensign. So when you back up that this horse ran a 109 Beyer when he won the Woody Stephens and he's by Justify and out of a Phipps family that's as deep as you could ever hope for, it gives you a lot of hope that five years down the road, what could he be standing for? We've seen what Justify started out at and where he's at now and we're hopeful to have a son that can go follow in his footsteps. We were overwhelmed with interest in him and he sold out extremely quickly.

KR: That 109 Beyer Speed Figure was one of the best numbers on the year in 2023. How does that speak to Arabian Lion's talent?

MT: He was always one that Bob had at the top of his list as a horse with tremendous talent. He ran a very good race at Keeneland when he was second in the GIII Lexington S. and Bob decided to go the conservative route and run him in the Sir Barton S. on Preakness day. He came out of that weekend with the fastest Beyer of anything that ran that weekend [103]. Bob said he probably should have run him in the Preakness and I think if they would have, he would have been a tough customer in there. To bounce out of that race and come back three weeks later on Belmont Day in the GI Woody Stephens, the horse just left there running and was in a great spot all the way around. When he made the lead, he was gone.

KR: This guy is built a bit differently than his sire. What type of horse do you expect him to throw?

MT: What's funny about Arabian Lion is that he looks very much like a Distorted Humor. He looks like his mother's side of the family. We have Jimmy Creed, who is a Distorted Humor, and Arabian Lion reminds me a little bit like Jimmy with the really good body and great hip. He looks like he would throw a precocious, fast, early horse–just like he was.

It'll be interesting to see what he throws when we start seeing the foals on the ground. We'll have to see when that chapter comes up in his career, but we're trying to breed mares to him with a little bit more stretch. I think that will suit him.

GI Blue Grass S. winner Zandon at Spendthrift | Sarah Andrew

ZANDON (5, Upstart – Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause)

About as consistent as they come, this Brereton C. Jones-bred placed in all but two of his 14 lifetime starts for trainer Chad Brown and owner Jeffrey Drown. Zandon was a leader on the Kentucky Derby trail as the winner of the 2022 GI Blue Grass S. and this year at four, he claimed the GII Woodward S. The $2.2 million earner will stand for $12,500.

KR: Zandon always caught my eye in the mornings, whether it was at Churchill Downs ahead of the Derby or this summer up in Saratoga. How have his looks factored into his resume as he launches his stud career?

MT: Well Zandon is Black Beauty. From the first time we saw him, he was a big, scopey, stretchy horse. He's an Upstart out of a Creative Cause mare. Mike Ryan, one of the best eyes of anybody in the horse business, bought him as a yearling out of the Airdrie consignment. It's an Airdrie family that Governor Jones and his son Brett have really cultivated for many generations. We're excited that they are doing the Share The Upside on the horse with us and so it's fun to have them involved.

I think he's at a price point at $12,500 where he fits a lot of breeders' programs. He gives them what they're looking for and hopefully will get them a gorgeous sale weanling or yearling.

KR: When you look back on his career, what do you think of as his best race?

MT: I think his best race was probably when he won the GI Blue Grass. He worked his way through horses in the stretch and when he finally found daylight, he was gone. I thought he showed a great turn of foot that day and it was an impressive trip to be able to work it out the way he did. Any time you win a Grade I right here in front of all the breeders at our home track, that gets your attention.

KR: He was on the board in 12 of 14 starts–all of those were graded after his debut win and half of his placings came in Grade I contests. For him to be so consistent at the top of the game at two, three and four, what does that indicate about his potential ability as a sire?

MT: Zandon was a very good 2-year-old and he had a great 3-year-old year–not only winning the GI Blue Grass S., but he ran a very good third in the GI Kentucky Derby. He's a horse that danced all the dances–on the board in the GI Travers and the GI Pennsylvania Derby. He's had a very good 4-year-old year. He was second in the GI Met Mile and the GI Whitney. He won the GII Woodward. We had big hopes for him out on Breeders' Cup weekend and unfortunately we didn't get the Cinderella ending we were hoping for. It was a tough track to close ground on out there on both days, but he ran hard. He always tries hard and so we were very proud of the horse to make $2.2 million. He was an extremely consistent horse that always gave his all. That's something that you can hang your hat on as a breeder. You know the horse had a lot of try in him and he was always going to come out there and compete as hard as he could.

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Panelists were Carrie Brogden, owner of Machmer Hall Farm; Alan Porter, founder of TrueNicks; and Mark Toothaker, director of stallions at Spendthrift Farm. The panel was hosted by OwnerView's project manager, Gary Falter.

Topics for the breeding panel included matings, nicking, conformation traits, inbreeding, broodmare preferences and stallion selection.

The first question to the panelists referred to the saying, “breed the best to the best and hope for the best.”

“I can't afford beautiful and pedigree, so I'm always going to lean more on the pretty side on my mares, and they may be just a little bit lacking on pedigree,” said Toothaker. “Buy the prettiest mare that you can afford.”

Brogden considers conformation to be extremely important when making breeding decisions. “It is the most important thing,” she said. “After years and years and years of being on the farm now, we started to see a trend where every single graded stakes winner off our farm, on the dirt, every single one was in the top 30 percent of physicals of our yearling crop.”

The Thoroughbred Owner Conference virtual panels will continue in 2024 with a full schedule available early in the new year.

Click here to watch the presentation and view videos from previous topics.

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“Any time you get a chance to show a champion off to your breeders, it makes the sales team's job pretty easy,” said Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker. “He has been hugely popular and is completely sold out. Most every mare that he got is a blacktype mare, so he's going to get a huge chance.”

With an introductory fee of $50,000, Forte follows in the steps of Spendthrift sires like champion Jackie's Warrior, who stood for the same fee in his debut year last year, and the fast-starting first-crop sire Omaha Beach, who joined the roster in 2020 with a $45,000 fee.

“When Omaha Beach came in, he got the mares and then the next year Authentic got the mares,” explained Toothaker. “Jackie got the mares last year and so Forte will get them this year. He's a beautiful horse and we're so glad to have him here.”

The first champion 2-year-old to join the Spendthrift roster in over 40 years–since the likes of Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Lord Avie– Forte broke his maiden by nearly 8 lengths at Belmont, earning 'Rising Star' honors in that debut in May for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. The Todd Pletcher trainee would later score three straight Grade I victories in the Hopeful S., Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile, where he bested MGISW Cave Rock (Arrogate) and eventual GI Preakness S. victor National Treasure (Quality Road).

Forte wins the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland | Horsephotos

It was a roller coaster of a 3-year-old campaign for Forte, as he continued his win streak in the GII Fountain of Youth S. and GI Florida Derby but was forced to scratch from the GI Kentucky Derby as the favorite due to a foot bruise. Off a 10-week layoff, he returned to the starting gate for the GI Belmont S. and was runner-up to Arcangelo (Arrogate). Before his final career start in the GI Travers S., Forte earned a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure in a hard-fought victory in the GII Jim Dandy S.

A quarter crack forced him to retire ahead of his bid in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“He had some hiccups along the way, but still the talent came through,” said Toothaker. “The horse had so much class and he was just so push button. I think he just knew where the wire was. That was our biggest comment about him is that if you ever got in a dogfight with him, he knew how to win.”

Perfect pose, while waiting for his turn to pose in front of the crowd @spendthriftfarm open house. A natural. Forte pic.twitter.com/vrvCds9rdw

— Tanya Gunther (@tanyagun) November 13, 2023

Toothaker said that Forte first came on Spendthrift's potential stallion list after his win in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, where he defeated fellow 'Rising Star' Loggins (Ghostzapper), a horse co-owned by Spendthrift.

“That race really puts him on our radar to try to get something done and we were able to get a deal done with Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola. We were thrilled we were able to get him secured late in his 2-year-old year. We got to ride the roller coaster this year, but it was all worth it.”

A $110,000 Keeneland September buy, Forte is out of the multiple stakes-winning Blame mare Queen Caroline, who just sold for $3 million to John Stewart at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Toothaker said that Forte's physical is reminiscent of his sireline and has been another bonus to his credentials as breeders have stopped by the farm since his arrival.

“He's got that Medaglia d'Oro length to him,” he said. “He stands over some ground and he's such a good mover. You see why Jacob West picked him out. He just drops his head and motors when you show him. Breeders have loved that when you bring him out on the end of the shank. He's just got a classy look to him. We're thrilled to have him and so happy we can show him off to all of our breeders.”

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Registration for the seminar and lunch is free to all ITA members. Membership to the organization can be purchased on-site for a discounted price of $20, paid at the door.

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“Listen,” he said. “I got a Bolt d'Oro filly that can really run. I'm telling you, maybe as good as anything I've ever had.”

Mark Toothaker had to take heed; had to pass on the word to his employers at Spendthrift, where he is Stallion Sales Manager. After all, he has known McCrocklin since 1985, when he'd arrived at Louisiana Tech and found this guy who was a real man of the world: already a graduate, and married, he'd had proper jobs, even been a Marine. Whereas Toothaker was still just a wide-eyed kid from Van Buren, Arkansas, whose only experience with horses had been on the old Quarter Horse track at Blue Ribbons Downs, just over the state border in Oklahoma, learning how to pick feet and clean stalls.

Toothaker had graduated school on Friday evening and his dad drove him straight down to Ruston, Louisiana, to start Wednesday. “That's how keen I was to get going,” he recalls. “Because at the time, before Arizona, before Louisville, Louisiana Tech had the first racetrack management program. You came in there as a freshman and by the time you were a senior, you got your trainer's license. We actually ran a stable. We had all these older horses that people were done with, so they donated, and we'd run them at Evangeline or Delta or Louisiana Downs. So we were all young guys, trying to get going.”

But McCrocklin was their hero. When MTV started up, he'd hooked up huge speakers to his television and blasted out Dire Straits: Money for nothin', chicks for free. “Tom, at that stage, he's already lived life,” Toothaker says. “He loved to go the races, loved to handicap, all that. He was like a big brother to me. We hit it off great.”

Mark Toothaker and Chris McGrath | Keeneland

When Toothaker left Tech, he got a job with Joe Cantey. Then, on Cantey's retirement, he spent two years with D. Wayne Lukas himself.

“In his real hot days,” he recalls. “In '87, we ran 3 horses in the Derby. We ran 10th, 12th, and last. Capote had been champion 2-year-old and ran last. And then the very next year I got to see the other end of it, because we had Winning Colors. So I got to see a wide spectrum in the race: tears, and then some real happy tears. I was very fortunate.”

Toothaker was with Randy Bradshaw in Lukas's Chicago division when he got a call from McCrocklin, who had meanwhile completed his postgraduate course at Tech.

“Hey,” he said. “I've got this big construction guy from Boston, Charlie Matses. He's offered me a private training job. Why don't you come up here and be my assistant?”

Toothaker chuckles and shakes his head. “So I'm a smart guy,” he says. “I leave Wayne Lukas, and all these Grade I horses, to go to Rockingham with Tom McCrocklin. That'll tell you how much I like Tom! I'm an idiot but I did, I went up there and froze to death in New England. And to be fair we had a great time up there, won a bunch of races.”

In the winter, McCrocklin would take the better horses to Florida. Then, one spring, he called Toothaker from Ocala.

“Listen, I'm not coming back,” he announced. “You're now the trainer of those horses.”

McCrocklin was going to start his own business, pre-training and pinhooking. Without him, Toothaker did not tilt much longer at the training windmill. In fact, for a while he left the game altogether. He put in a period of military service, with the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York; and also a stint in real estate back in Arkansas.

“Yeah, I'd left the business, 100 percent,” he admits. “But then there was this guy Clyde Henson, who had a little stallion farm in Lavaca, Arkansas. And he said, 'I've been doing this for 50 years, and I'm tired. I want to sell this place to somebody that'll keep it going.' I knew nothing about the stallion business. But I thought, 'How hard can it be? You got a girl, you got a boy. I mean, surely we can figure this thing out.'”

So Toothaker, by now a family man, allowed himself to be cheerfully dragged back into the vortex. He renamed the farm Tooth-Acres and for a while stood Kipling, a son of Gulch out of A.P. Indy's half-sister, who later produced Kip Deville to win the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. And eventually one of his clients, Allen Poindexter, mentioned that he was thinking of buying a farm in Kentucky. How would he feel about moving up there to run it?

Toothaker had already resolved that if he was to stay in the breeding side, then the Bluegrass was where he had to be. They arrived at Liberty Farm, Midway, in 2004. Not long afterwards, Toothaker received a call from Des Dempsey at Spendthrift. A man named B. Wayne Hughes had bought the farm and wanted to get the boarders off, could Liberty take a few mares?

This led to an introduction to Hughes: as was true of many other people, a life-changing moment.

“I'm a little consignor, got a little farm,” Toothaker told him. “But I got a lot of hustle. I'd love to sell some horses for you.”

“Well,” replied Hughes. “Let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to start building a stallion business here. You help me hustle these stallions, and I'll send you horses to sell. But if you quit sending me mares, I'm going to quit sending you horses. Understand?”

“Yes sir. Believe me, I'm going to hustle.”

And so it was that Toothaker was able to share a thrilling ride with the whole Spendthrift team, not least with Hughes introducing the kind of innovative and aggressive incentive schemes that helped get a neglected young sire named Into Mischief into the record books. By the time they mourned the loss of Hughes, in 2021, the Spendthrift revolution was sustainably secure, with a roster now adding more and more quality to the quantity.

Bolt d'Oro | Spendthrift Photo

And that brings us back, finally, to that Bolt d'Oro filly. McCrocklin had meanwhile become long trusted by some of the biggest investors in the sport, and his old friend had to pass on his enthusiasm (and the videos backing it up) to Eric Gustavson, who had succeeded Hughes at the Spendthrift helm, and general manager Ned Toffey. After all, Bolt d'Oro was one of their own new stallions.

“Listen, Tom says he has a Bolt filly that can really run.”

Well, they listened: they gave $1.2 million for her, topping the Gulfstream Sale last year. But the cold fact is that she has been beaten in all three starts to date, out in California. And meanwhile there's an Uncle Mo colt, from the same McCrocklin draft, who worked well enough at the Sale for the Spendthrift crew to stretch for another $800,000. And he's not just three-for-three but has the chance, next Saturday, to reunite those Louisiana Tech alumni in the winner's circle at the GI Kentucky Derby itself.

“I mean, this business will drive you crazy trying to figure it out,” Toothaker says. “Tom thought that filly was unbelievable, that she was just breathing different air. And here we are: she's not broke her maiden, and we've got Kingsbarns going to the Derby.”

To be fair, McCrocklin had told them that the Uncle Mo–a $250,000 purchase on behalf of Champion Equine as a Saratoga yearling–was also very special. “You can't get that horse tired,” he promised. “He will run all day long, you can't wear him out. I've tried. He's going to give you all he's got.”

Sure enough, Todd Pletcher has saddled Kingsbarns to outclass the competition in a Gulfstream maiden in January; then an optional allowance at Tampa Bay; and above all when posting a 95 Beyer in the GII Louisiana Derby.

“The first race was unbelievable, because he was in behind horses and took a bunch of dirt,” Toothaker remarks. “He was kind of stuck but then bulled his way through and went on. Then at Tampa, he got some nice experience around two turns. I don't know that the plan was absolutely just to go to the front at the Fair Grounds, but he broke well enough and nobody else wanted to lead. So Flavien [Prat] did what he did, slowed the pace down and walked the dog around there. And when it came time to ask him, he just exploded.”

For most of its history, nobody would countenance trying to win the Derby off so light a schedule. “But it's a whole different world now,” Toothaker acknowledges. “Everybody's coming into it now with three or four starts, rather than 15.”

Yet if the world has changed, the beauty of this whole adventure is how it brings things full circle for a couple of guys who have stuck together in a business that notoriously offers many more downs than ups.

Toothaker need not seek far for inspiration, when it comes to the abiding efficacy of the horsemanship he learned in his early days. The incredible rejuvenation of Lukas, crowned by a Classic success at Churchill a year ago with Secret Oath (Arrogate), has delighted all those he mentored.

“Just think of everybody that came through that program,” Toothaker says. “From Todd to Kiaran [McLaughlin] to Dallas [Stewart] to Randy [Bradshaw]. He had a system that people could understand, and he's so detail-oriented. Everybody had to keep everything just the way it should be. So all those guys learned to be very meticulous. And of course they had the chance to be around a lot of good horses, and see what those should look like.”

Secret Oath | Coady Photography

On the morning of the Oaks, last year, Toothaker saw Stewart sitting on a bench. He walked over and asked: “Well, what do you think? Can he win?”

“I'll guarantee you this,” replied Stewart. “He's been planning this for six months and she'll be the fittest horse anybody's ever going to lead over there.”

But Lukas was not the only remarkable veteran to have shaped Toothaker's professional life. Later in his career, he considered himself no less fortunate to fall under the influence of Hughes.

“Working for Spendthrift has been an unbelievable experience,” he says. “Mr. Hughes gained confidence in us, in his crew, that if he put the money up, we were not going to lose it. And the more confident he got, the more he spent. And so we went from buying lower-tier stallions to buying Omaha Beach and Authentic. Tammy [Hughes's daughter] and Eric have just been fantastic, in taking it forward.”

And let's not forget Mr. Charles T. Matses, either. McCrocklin's first employer bred Ocasek (Candy Ride {Arg}), second for Spendthrift on his recent debut at Aqueduct.

“Charlie's my oldest breeder,” marvels Toothaker. “He's 96 and still breeding mares. We bought that horse [for $440,000] up at Saratoga and he looks pretty nice. So it's just weird how everything kind of keeps coming around.”

But the ultimate example, of course, is his old Tech buddy.

“Tom's just a guy people know they can trust,” Toothaker says. “If you have a horse that's had a few little vet issues, but they've gone through the program and not had a hiccup, then you know you can be confident. There's no 'BS'. Tom will always tell you what he thinks, no agenda, and he's sold so many good horses. He calls himself my 'bailout,' says that I always send him the horses I can't sell. I had a filly with a little bit of vetting and my partner goes, 'What should we do?' I said, 'We'll send her to Tom McCrocklin. He's always getting my butt out of the trap!'”

But while Toothaker is adamant that no racehorse could hope for a better grounding, he's incredulous that after all these years their paths should have circled back together with a genuine Derby colt.

“We've been very fortunate, and had a lot of fun doing stuff together,” he reflects. “I soon figured out training was for a different kind of person: getting up at five every morning, seven days a week, while trying to have a wife and kids. So here I am. I love doing what I do, without having to go to the barn and worry about trying to keep a horse together.

“But we say it all the time. If somebody had told us, back then, that in 2023 this would happen, it's just crazy how it's all worked out. On the phone the other day, when he hung up, Tom said: 'They wouldn't believe it in Ruston, Louisiana, would they?'”

He smiles gratefully and shrugs. “But that's just the horse business,” he says. “You know, try to treat people right, put yourself in a position to win and hope that the good Lord takes care of you. And here we all are.”

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Tuesday raced for her breeder Coolmore, in partnership with Swiss car manufacturer Georg Von Opel's Westerburg, and racked up a career line of 10-3-3-1, $1,828,827, which also included a victory in the G1 Cazoo Oaks (Epsom Oaks) and a second in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks.

Tuesday is a daughter of English champion and MG1SW Lilly Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and therefore a full sister to champion and MG1SW Minding (Ire), G1SW Empress Josephine (Ire) and GSW Kissed By Angels (Ire).

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Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo – Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) took home a hard-fought win in the 2021 GII Remsen S. and went on to claim a Classic victory this year. His new studmate Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music – Unicorn Girl, by A.P. Five Hundred) came close to an undefeated season at two, but upped his game at three to be named Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 2021.

Jackie's Warrior's remarkable career highlighted by five Grade I scores started off with his domination of New York's juvenile division in 2020. Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker admits that ahead of the colt's stakes debut in the GII Saratoga Special S., their stallion nominations team was eyeing a different race contender. But after a call in to Steve Asmussen's assistant Scott Blasi, who said that Jackie's Warrior was the one they needed to look out for, they turned their attention to the bay son of Maclean's Music.

“The next thing you know, the horse does just what Scott said he was going to do and I'm on a plane headed up there trying to get a deal done,” Toothaker recalled with a laugh. “We were very fortunate to be able to get involved with him early.”

After his three-length win in the Saratoga Special, Jackie's Warrior established a new stakes record in the Hopeful and then earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in his 5 1/2-length Champagne win.

“It takes a special 2-year-old to be able to do what he did,” Toothaker explained. “What was amazing was how big and strong he was. He is a heavily-muscled horse with a lot of bone. When you first saw him as a 2-year-old, you're thinking that this is the biggest kid on the playground.”

During his Eclipse-worthy sophomore season, Jackie's Warrior reeled off four graded stakes wins highlighted by the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., where he went head-to-head with MGISW Life Is Good (Into Mischief). His four graded stakes wins at four included his fifth straight win at Saratoga in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H., where he became the first horse in the storied track's 159-year history to win a Grade I in three consecutive seasons.

Toothaker recalled visiting Jackie's Warrior one morning during Derby week ahead of the sprinter's win in the GI Churchill Downs S. The backside was hectic and the Asmussen team had several high-profile contenders entered for that weekend, but the quietly composed Steve Asmussen spent over half an hour talking about his superstar trainee.

“He was so proud that he had bought the horse for $95,000 at the Keeneland Sale,” Toothaker said. “He said, 'Tooth, where were all the experts? Did they all go to lunch when he sold?' He was very proud that he had picked out the horse for the Robisons, who are wonderful people. Getting to meet Kirk and Judy Robison and develop a friendship with them and their children and grandchildren over the last three years has just been amazing.”

Jackie's Warrior, the highest-earning son of Maclean's Music, will stand for $50,000 in 2023. The champion has been in high demand with breeders and has already amassed a high-quality book to kick off his stud career.

“I've had so many people come out to the farm and say that he might be the best one they've seen of all the new [stallions],” Toothaker said. “Almost every mare that he got was a stakes winner or a stakes producer, so he's going to get every opportunity.”

Spendthrift's Mo Donegal has been received by breeders with similar enthusiasm.

“We love to have sons of Uncle Mo because that is what our breeders want,” Toothaker explained. “Last year [Spendthrift sire] Yaupon was the second most-popular horse in North America. Mo Donegal is a big, stretchy horse. What I love about him is that even though he stands over a lot of ground at 16'2 and a half, he's got a beautiful frame on him and a really nice hip.”

Going two for three as a juvenile, Mo Donegal claimed an exciting edition of the GII Remsen S. when he battled future Grade I winner Zandon (Upstart) down the stretch and survived a stewards' inquiry to get the win by a nose. The Todd Pletcher pupil ran third in this year's GIII Holy Bull S. before adding a win in the GII Wood Memorial S. over eventual GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting (Gun Runner). In the GI Kentucky Derby, he drew the rail and raced 10 wide in the stretch to get up for fifth.

Mike Repole obtained a minority interest in Mo Donegal shortly before his Kentucky Derby bid and was rewarded in the colt's next and final start in the GI Belmont S., where he finished three length ahead of the runner-up, fellow Ashview Farm/Colts Neck Stables-bred Nest (Curlin), who is also co-owned by Repole Stables.

“I know that was a very special day for Mike and his family, the Lyster family and for Todd,” said Toothaker. “With Mo Donegal, one of the biggest factors for us has been that Mike Repole is our partner. Mike brings so much energy and when you've got a guy that buys 71 yearlings at the Keeneland Sale, that was a huge thing for us to know that we had his support like we have on Vino Rosso.”

One of Uncle Mo's top three leading earners along with fellow Classic winner Nyquist, a top third-crop sire this year, as well as champion Golden Pal, who is also set to begin his stud career in 2023, Mo Donegal will stand for $20,000. His dam Callingmissbrown, a daughter of GI Acorn S. victress and GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Island Sand (Tabasco Cat), has produced two others winners including her 2-year-old daughter Prank (Into Mischief), who was named a 'TDN Rising Star' after her 9 3/4-length debut win at Saratoga this summer.

“For Mo Donegal to win a graded stake at two in the Remsen, which is a tough, grueling race at a mile and an eighth, but yet be able to do what he did as a 3-year-old in the Wood Memorial and top it off in the Belmont, it takes a very good horse to be able to do that,” Toothaker noted. “Mo Donegal was one of the absolute best of his class. It's a lot to offer breeders, especially for $20,000.”

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Omaha Beach (War Front–Charming, by Seeking the Gold) set the bar high for this year's class of first-crop yearlings stallions at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where five of his progeny sold and averaged $236,000. His top lot, a Spendthrift-bred daughter of Grade III winner Gas Station Sushi (Into Mischief), brought $410,000 and was the highest-priced filly by any sire at the one-day auction.

“When we went out to Fasig July, we were extremely happy with what we were seeing,” Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker reported. “It was fun for us to watch them. They were nice-sized horses–not overly big, but very correct with good bodies.”

Toothaker explained how he thinks of Omaha Beach as the first horse Spendthrift took a big swing for when they began seeking out some of the most in-demand stallion prospects in recent years. He remembers visiting the Fox Hill Farms-campaigned colt in the days between his nine-length maiden-breaking score and his victory over juvenile champion Game Winner in the GII Rebel S.

“When Richard Mandella told me that Omaha Beach was the best horse he'd ever had in his barn, it didn't take long to get back here and say that we needed to figure out a way to get this thing done,” Toothaker recalled. “With the amount of ability that this horse had to go along with his great looks and pedigree, Omaha Beach was just the entire package.”

The winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and morning-line favorite for the 2019 Kentucky Derby was sidelined before his Derby bid due to an entrapped epiglottis, but returned later in his sophomore season to defeat Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., run second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and cap off his career with an easy victory in the GI Malibu S.

Launched at a stud fee of $45,000, Omaha Beach bred 215 mares in each of his first two seasons at stud. Toothaker said that the initial demand for the regally-bred son of War Front was unprecedented in Spendthrift's history.

Mill Ridge Farm's Saratoga-bound Omaha Beach colt out of Savannah Sky | Sara Gordon

“We've never had a horse have 600 requests for seasons in his first year,” Toothaker explained. “I don't know that we've ever had a horse get that kind of book to get them started. With the type of mares that he got in his first year, there's no telling what this first crop can do because the potential is crazy.”

Omaha Beach's first crop was in demand as weanlings, with 19 of 24 selling to average $112,736 and stamp their sire as the number one freshman stallion by weanling average. His top-selling weanling, a colt out of stakes producer North Freeway (Jump Start), sold for $200,000.

At next week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Omaha Beach will be represented by six yearlings. The first to go through the ring will be Hip 36, a filly out of Peter Blum's stakes-placed homebred Night Time Lady (Midnight Lute).

“She was a late foal, but she still has lots of size,” agent Bridie Harrison said of the late April-foaled yearling. “She has great bone, great substance and a really good walk. We like her a lot.”

Harrison reported that Blum has been a strong supporter of Omaha Beach throughout the stallion's first years at stud.

“Peter fell in love with Omaha Beach when he saw him in Richard Mandella's barn in California,” she said. “He thought he was a big, strong, beautiful horse with a great temperament. We bred a few mares to Omaha Beach and I like all the foals. Omaha Beach added a lot of size to our mares. Every one of our Omaha Beach foals are taller than most of the mares' other foals. They have lots of substance and bone and they're strong, rangy-type horses.”

Also during the first session of the Saratoga Sale, Mill Ridge Farm will send Hip 67 through the ring. The Omaha Beach colt out of the winning Sky Mesa mare Savannah Sky was a $140,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Sale.

“We liked this colt from the get-go,” Mill Ridge's Headley Bell explained. “His presence and athleticism was really everything that you look for in a horse. We couldn't be more pleased with him. We've always been big fans of Omaha Beach. Two years ago, we bred 12 mares to the horse with our clients.”

Other yearlings by Omaha Beach at the same sale include Hip 41, a half-brother to GSW & MGISP Pappacap (Gun Runner); Hip 93, a New York-bred half-sister to MGSW Highway Star (Girolamo) and MSW Captain Bombastic (Forty Tales); Hip 196, also a New York-bred and a half-sister to MSW Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible) and current stakes performer Venti Valentine (Firing Line); and Hip 205, a filly out of  Hot Water (Medaglia d'Oro), the dam of this year's GIII Ben Ali S. and GIII Michelob Ultra Challenger S. winner Scalding (Nyquist).

Omaha Beach will have four additional yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale.

As the young stallion's first crop begin to make their way to the track next year, Toothaker said he looks for Omaha Beach's progeny to show speed right out of the gate as juveniles.

“With his speed, he was able to win a Grade I going six furlongs and also lay very close in all of his two-turn races. With his pedigree, your hope is that he turns out to be a Classic sire, but that he's also going to be able to throw horses with enough speed that I think you'll see plenty of them be well received at the 2-year-old sales.”

Hailing from one of the most influential dirt families in recent years, Omaha Beach is a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). His second dam, 2013 Broodmare of the Year and MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), has now produced three Grade I winners while her daughter I'll Take Charge (Indian Charlie) is the dam of recent GIII Dwyer S. winner Charge It (Tapit).

“It's one of those female families that is just going to keep getting bigger and better,” Toothaker said. “It's as good as there is in the stallion book. Omaha Beach was a really good dirt horse out of a really good dirt female family, but he's by one of the best sprinters and now turf sires out there. It's an interesting combination and we look forward to seeing what they do on the track.”

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When no less a judge than Kenny McPeek purchases three colts by the same first-crop yearling sire, people take note. Known for his flair for picking out future stars from the sales ring, McPeek took home a trio of youngsters by Breeders' Cup champion Vino Rosso (Curlin – Mythical Bride, by Street Cry) at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale.

Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker said it was the best stamp they could have asked for to get the young sire's yearling sales season off to a flying start.

“I had a chance to talk to Kenny afterwards and he just told me that they were his kind of horses,” Toothaker relayed. “Anytime you have horses in his barn, you've got a shot because as we've seen lately, he wins races everywhere.”

The three Vino Rosso colts were the highest-priced yearlings among McPeek's eight July Sale purchases, selling for $250,000, $200,000 and $180,000. Overall, the stallion's progeny averaged $135,000 from 11 lots at the one-day sale.

Vino Rosso himself was a $410,000 yearling purchase for Mike Repole and St. Elias in 2016. Now that the young stallion has a few crops on the ground, Toothaker said that his progeny are reflecting their sire's eye-catching physical.

“When we were starting to go out and see all the foals, we saw that he was really stamping them,” he explained. “They're not too coarse and not too heavy. They're more of a refined-looking horse and they're good movers. They've got a really solid hip on them and they seem to be horses that are very correct.”

Toothaker said that he believes the ball is just starting to get rolling for Vino Rosso, explaining that pinhookers who may have been hesitant to get behind the first-crop yearling sire are now joining the bandwagon.

“Talking to my 2-year-old buddies, they've been burned on some sons of Curlin that just weren't fast at the 2-year-old sales. After the [July] sale once they had a chance to watch them move and see who was buying them, I think there's a whole other take now on 'Vino' from the 2-year-old guys. It's a little bit like Bolt d'Oro last year where there was a little bit of hesitancy. Are these going to be fast enough? Then once they saw how they sold at the sales, everybody had to have one.”

Undefeated in two starts as a juvenile for Todd Pletcher, Vino Rosso went on to win the GII Wood Memorial S. as a sophomore. At four, he claimed the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita S., was taken down to second after crossing the wire first in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S., and capped off his career with a memorable victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic to earn Eclipse honors as Champion Older Dirt Male.

Vino Rosso colt out of Money Madness sells with Mill Ridge Farm at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale | Sara Gordon

Retired to Spendthrift Farm, Vino Rosso was launched at a stud fee of $30,000 and bred 238 mares in his first year at stud. With fees of $25,000 and $20,000 in his next two years at stud, the son of Curlin bred over 180 mares in 2021 and close to 140 this year.

The stallion ranked third in his class of first-crop weanling sires at last year's breeding stock sales when his progeny averaged $90,595 with 47 of 61 sold. Leading the way was his colt out of Fair Huntress (Tiznow), who brought $340,000 at the Keeneland November Sale.

Five yearlings by Vino Rosso are slated to sell at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. The first to go through the ring is Hip 28, a colt out of Money Madness (Rahy). The Mill Ridge Farm-consigned chestnut was a $100,000 pinhook partnership purchase at the Keeneland November Sale and is a half-brother to LNJ Foxwoods' MGSW Boardroom (Commissioner). Mill Ridge's Price Bell said that the colt is thriving in the final weeks of sales preparation.

“Physically, he looks very fast,” Bell said. “[Our partnership] fell in love with his leg and his attitude when he was a foal and we feel like he has really progressed since that time. He has a really nice, quick look to him and in prep, he has been a workhorse. He has really enjoyed his exercise.”

Bell added that with the Vino Rosso yearlings they have had at Mill Ridge, he has been consistently impressed by their attitudes.

Also at the Saratoga Sale, a Vino Rosso colt out of the winning Pulpit mare War Relic sells with Denali Stud as Hip 115. The yearling was foaled and raised at Elm Tree Farm. Farm owner Jody Huckabay said that the colt has been special from the start.

Vino Rosso's Fasig-Tipton-bound colt out of War Relic was bred and raised at Elm Tree Farm. | Sara Gordon

“He came looking honestly very similar to what he looks like now,” Huckabay said. “He's just developed and he does everything we've asked him to do through the prepping process. You hear that all the time, but he's a horse that has been a joy to be around. We're very proud of him. He's very athletic. We think he's a special horse.”

Other Vino Rosso yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale include Hip 71, a filly out of GIISP Shaken (Uncle Mo) with Gainesway; Hip 133, a half-brother to GIIISP Aurelia Garland (Constitution) with Warrendale Sales; and Hip 172, a colt out of the stakes-placed mare Divergent View (Congrats) with Machmer Hall Sales.

An additional 10 sons and daughters of Vino Rosso are cataloged for the New York-bred Sale.

Toothaker indicated that Vino Rosso will have a strong backing from his ownership group as the yearling sales progress.

“[At the Fasig-Tipton July Sale] Mike Repole was in there bidding and they didn't end up getting anything, but they made sure everything got vetted and wound up selling very well,” he said. “There will be some yearlings that land in his lap as we go forward and it's exciting to know that there are going to be some in those orange and blue colors.”

Once Vino Rosso's progeny get to the racetrack, Toothaker said he believes the athleticism they display now will become even more apparent.

“I feel like they're going to be very efficient on the track with the way they move,” he said. “If they have any of that Curlin blood running through them, which they do, every time you look up you see something from the sire line having success, so we're excited about what the future holds for Vino Rosso.”

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