Walmac Farm has come a long way since owner Gary Broad purchased the historic property off Paris Pike in 2018. After several years spent resurrecting the farm and its signature blue and white barns, in 2022 Broad brought his multiple graded stakes winner Core Beliefs (Quality Road) home to be the first sire to stand in a newly renovated stallion complex.
This year, Broad added Grade I winner Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) to the roster, handing the farm's new stallion salesman Jay Goodwin a challenge to get the word out on the rookie sire in a short period of time after he joined the Walmac team in January.
As another breeding season quickly approaches, Walmac has doubled its stallion roster for 2024 with a pair of newcomers hailing from auspicious sire lines.
Broad's goal for this year was to lock down a new stallion by supersire Into Mischief and another by emerging influential stallion Gun Runner. He accomplished the mission with Pappacap, who stands out as the first son of Gun Runner to go to stud that was a graded stakes winner at two, and Fulsome, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Into Mischief.
A homebred for George and Karen Russell's Rustlewood Farm trained by Mark Casse, Pappacap was a debut winner in May of his juvenile season and he returned to the winner's circle with a near-five length win in the GII Best Pal S. Later at two, he was runner-up to future Eclipse Champion juvenile Corniche (Quality Road) in both the GI American Pharoah S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Pappacap also competed against top competition at three, running second to Jack Christopher (Munnings) in the GII Pat Day Mile S. and the GI Woody Stephens S.
“To have a Gun Runner that was that precocious and that fast at two and then he came back at three and was just as talented, we were extremely happy with his race record,” said Goodwin. “He just made sense for us. He also never ran on Lasix at two or three and today that is as big of a selling point for a stallion as any.”
But it's Pappacap's physical, Goodwin said, that has impressed the breeders who have stopped by to visit since the new addition was announced in early September.
“Physically, he's probably the best Gun Runner that I've seen,” he shared. “He's got that beautiful Gun Runner shoulder and neck, but he also has a little bit more hip than you would expect.”
For Goodwin, a former partner in Select Sales Agency who had never sold stallion seasons before taking on the job at Walmac this year, the experience of announcing the arrival of Pappacap to breeders in September was completely different than his start with Pinehurst, who joined the roster at Walmac in late November of last year well after most of the newcomers to the Kentucky stallion ranks had already been announced.
“The reaction from breeders has been crazy,” Goodwin said. “We had to fight tooth and nail last year for Pinehurst because we got him in here late. We were very happy with where he ended up, but we worked our butts off to get him to where he was. With Pappacap, it has been a lot easier. We just have to answer the phone. They're rolling in and he's going to breed a full book.
Goodwin reported that Pappacap is already closing in on 150 mares, adding that the stallion's $12,500 initial fee offers value for breeders looking to send their mare to a son of Gun Runner.
“Pappacap is going to come right under a lot of these Gun Runners,” he explained. “We priced him right and we priced him to have a full book. At $12,500, I think he'll be the best deal in the stallion book.”
From the family of Peruvian Horse of the Year Al Qasr (Aptitude), Pappacap is out of a graded stakes-placed Scat Daddy mare and is a half-brother to last year's GIII With Anticipation S. winner Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro).
Broad achieved his goal in standing sons of Gun Runner and Into Mischief, but with Juddmonte homebred Fulsome, the millionaire's female family might be just as notable as his sireline.
Fulsome and stallion manager Jose Rodarte | Sara Gordon
“Fulsome's pedigree is three generations of Juddmonte,” Goodwin explained. “The pedigrees on that farm are second to none. Juddmonte bred him, raced him and stayed in on him.”
Fulsome's dam Flourish (Distorted Humor) is a half-sister to Grade I winners Sightseek (Distant View) and Tates Creek (Rahy) and her produce record includes graded stakes-placed Mr Darcy (Harlan's Holiday) and Rimprotector (Point of Entry).
The pedigree also ties in to Walmac Farm's story. Fulsome's stakes-winning second dam Viviana is a daughter of Nureyev, who rose to prominence as a sire at Walmac several decades ago and is now buried near the stallion complex.
Earning over $1.2 million throughout his career, Fulsome won five stakes races including the GIII Matt Winn S. and the GIII Smarty Jones S. at three and the GIII Oaklawn Mile S. and GIII West Virginia Governor's S. at four. He closed out his career with a Grade I placing in the Clark S. last year.
Goodwin noted that Into Mischief is often credited for the heart he puts into his horses and Fulsome is no exception.
“He was tough,” he said. “He was not scared to take on the fight. You could see him really dig down and fight every single race. As someone who breeds mares, you like to see that. You need heart. That's the characteristic I like the most.”
Goodwin's favorite race of Fulsome's career, he said, was the 2022 GIII Oaklawn Mile S. where the Brad Cox trainee closed late to win by a neck, defeating a field that included graded stakes winners Cezanne (Curlin), Silver Prospector (Declaration of War), Roadster (Quality Road) and Law Professor (Constitution).
“I think that was probably the best field he beat,” said Goodwin. “That Oaklawn Mile ends at the mile pole and at the top of the stretch you're thinking there's no way he's going to get there. I still don't know how he gets to the wire and then he ends up winning easily. Brad loved this horse. I talked to Brad after we got him and he said that he thought he would get him a Grade I. He didn't have anything but good things to say.”
Fulsome will stand for $7,500 in 2024.
Fulsome and Pappacap's combined race record of 10 wins from 29 starts is another point of pride for the team at Walmac.
“Both of these horses were sound and ran in a lot of races,” said Goodwin. “They were very talented and were at the top of their crop. They're both well-made and correct. When you see them, you see why they stayed so sound throughout their career.”
As Walmac gears up for another breeding season, Goodwin said the plan for the farm's fledgling stallion business is to continue to grow from here.
“I think Gary wants to find a couple every year,” he shared. “He knows how hard it is to make a stallion, but he also knows you have to get the mares. He's been game. We brought him both these horses and he was ready to roll, so I think we will keep growing. We've got four really good stallions by Into Mischief, Gun Runner, Quality Road and Twirling Candy, so we've got the sire power. We're going to breed a lot of mares here in the next few years and I can't wait.”
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