Rick Porter | Horse Racing Free Tips

Beholder and Songbird, Inextricably Linked After the 2016 Distaff

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends

Each race–particularly a Breeders' Cup win–is special to the connections of the winner, but some races stand out more than others in all who are lucky enough to witness them. Some get embedded in the mind and take up permanent residence there. Just about everyone in racing can recall in vivid detail Arazi's scintillating 1991 Juvenile or Personal Ensign's electrifying 1988 Distaff or Tiznow's gripping 2001 Classic. Each of those are among the transcendent performances in our sport that stir the soul, both for those who witnessed them in person or live on television and even in newer racing devotees who discover them for the first time.

Without a doubt, the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff ranks among the best races in Breeders' Cup history. Two already-beloved Breeders' Cup winners and future Hall of Famers locked horns in what would prove a race for the ages, only to finish millimeters apart at the wire.

To jog the memory, that year's Distaff was the last Breeders' Cup race on Friday's card at Santa Anita and the final race of Beholder's stellar career. The Spendthrift colorbearer was already a three-time Eclipse champion, a 10-time Grade I winner, and a dual Breeders' Cup winner. However, after three straight runner-up finishes and certainly in the twilight of her career at the age of six, there were whispers that perhaps the great mare's best days were behind her.

Beholder at Spendthrift | Sarah Andrew

“I was really nervous about it going in because I wasn't quite sure she was the same Beholder as a 6-year-old as she had been her 5-year-old year,” said Ned Toffey, general manager at Spendthrift. “I remember the next day wondering why my hands were sore and it was because I was pounding on the box, pounding on the wall as they were coming down the stretch, cheering her home.”

For her part, the Fox Hill-owned Songbird was no slouch either as an undefeated 3-year-old filly. Her previous 11 starts–and wins–included seven Grade I victories and the last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, as well as an Eclipse championship of her own. The question facing her was how she would handle older mares for the first time, especially one as tough as Beholder.

“With her first Breeders' Cup, I don't think we've ever had a horse we were as confident in,” said Victoria Keith, Fox Hill Farm's vice president at the time. “You get really, really spoiled by a horse of her caliber. With [Fox Hill's] Havre de Grace and Hard Spun, you knew they were going to give a good effort, but with Songbird, you got the idea she was invincible.

“This race was the toughest competition. When you're going to be meeting up with Beholder…” Keith trailed off. “l always feel when two great horses meet each other, the [older horse] is going to have the physical advantage even with a weight allowance. The fact that Songbird ran so well was something to be so proud of.”

It was exactly the type of showdown we all crave and that so rarely comes to fruition. Both were clearly at their best that day. Of course, there were a number of other top fillies and mares in that year's Distaff, but they were all running for third.

In a stretch run reminiscent of Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in the 1989 Preakness or Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Belmont, Songbird and Beholder exited that final bend together and threw it all down. Nose to nose for stride after pulsating stride, neither deserved to lose.

“We had a bad angle on the wire and it looked to me like Songbird had gotten her nose down on the wire,” said Toffey. “It was a great race. Two champions, two gutsy, courageous mares. Those are the kind we're' all looking for.”

Songbird at Gainesway | Sarah Andrew

Keith had the same thoughts. “We all stood there and thought Songbird had won. From our angle it certainly looked like she'd nosed out Beholder. We were so proud to be part of that race, one that is considered to be one of the best Breeders' Cup races ever.”

In the end, the photo showed Beholder's nostrils just a hair breadth in front at the wire, but the bob could just as easily have gone to Songbird. Both had given their best, neither had disappointed, and the two have been inextricably linked since.

“We were waiting for [the photo] and when it came down, I remember the look on [Fox Hill owner] Rick [Porter]'s face,” said Keith. “At first, we were so disappointed, so sure it was us, and then so proud that the disappointment didn't last long.”

The Spendthrift team had the opposite experience, initially believing they'd lost the photo and then realizing they'd won the epic battle.

“Our group was ecstatic. Just jubilation,” said Toffey. “We all knew going in that it was going to be Beholder's last start. At six, it was time to be retired and be bred. It was funny because there wasn't a sense of pressure because she'd had such a remarkable career already, having won a Grade I at two, three, four, five, and six. It was, in some ways, an unprecedented career.

“Songbird was a worthy adversary and she certainly didn't disappoint. It was a really, really fitting way for Beholder to wrap up one of the greatest careers we've seen, a great and fitting way to cap her career.”

Both Beholder and Songbird earned year-end championships in their respective divisions. Beholder became only the second horse in history to win three Breeders' Cup races.

Despite officially losing what would become a match race, Songbird inspired enduring respect and a legion of hashtags on social media claiming #SongbirdWon.

Both owners of the two champions have since passed away: Fox Hill's Rick Porter in June, 2021 and Spendthrift's B. Wayne Hughes two months later.

Beholder with Spendthrift's Kendall Wucker | Sarah Andrew

“Probably one of my favorite memories is that Rick and Mr. Hughes became friends,” reminisced Keith. “One time [Hughes] invited us to his house to show us his guest bathroom downstairs with custom wallpaper of Songbird and Beholder. Obviously for him to do something like that showed how equally proud he was. Those two gentlemen were two of the finer men in racing. Both were so proud to be part of that race and those two fillies. That's what is so special about it to me.”

Both mares have continued to make headlines. Beholder was retired after the Distaff to Spendthrift Farm.

“It was huge for us to bring her home,” said Toffey. “There are obviously plenty of nice mares on the farm, plenty of nice horses, but when you have a horse like that get off the van, there's a little added sense of pressure to the task of getting her let down safely and settled into farm life, plus to go on and get her bred, all those things.

“[Trainer Richard] Mandella did such a great job taking care of her at the track. It was very gratifying for her to come home and to hope she was going to come in and have a good, long career. A horse like that sort of picks everybody's head up on the farm. There's a sense of pride, something really special about it, how it lifts everyone's morale.”

Songbird with her Curlin filly | Sarah Andrew

Each foal has been eagerly anticipated, with the farm willingly sharing updates with the public. Beholder's first two foals did not live up to her lofty standards at the track, but her next three have each made headlines in 2023. There is a sense that she is just getting started as a producer despite a slower start.

Her first foal, Q B One (Uncle Mo), did not win at the racetrack. He is now a 5-year-old and has been gelded.

“He is a young lady's show horse,” said Toffey. “He has a great, great home, goes to horse shows regularly. He was not an easy horse. If he had almost any other pedigree, he would have been gelded sooner as he was a little bit of a rogue. He had a hard time concentrating on doing his job, so it was hard to get an assessment of his talent level, but he didn't show a lot of focus.”

Karin With an I (Curlin), Beholder's 4-year-old, was unplaced in two starts.

“She is back here at Spendthrift,” said Toffey. “She's a beautiful filly, very strong, marked sort of similarly to Beholder. For whatever reason, she didn't demonstrate a lot of talent. She is in foal to [Spendthrift's Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner] Authentic.

“The mating was always interesting. We were waiting to do it for a generation or so because there's some thought of inbreeding to superior females. The foal will be 3×3 to Leslie's Lady. We're excited about the potential there.”

Leslie's Lady, of course, was the Broodmare of the Year who produced both Beholder and Into Mischief, Spendthrift's record-breaking four-time leading sire.

Beholder's current 3-year-old filly, Teena Ella (War Front), became her first winner in February and then went one better by capturing the GIII Senorita S. in May. Toffey said she is the least impressive physically of Beholder's foals to date, as she is “somewhat short and compact, but definitely had a little bit of zip to her.” He said she was just starting to come into her own, but had some niggling issues and will be retired and bred this coming year.

Beholder | Sarah Andrew

A graded winner is a wonderful accomplishment for any broodmare, but Beholder is not just any mare. In hindsight, she was just warming up with Teena Ella. Her 2-year-old filly has since become the undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' and facile GI Del Mar Debutante S. winner Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), who has given flashbacks of her brilliant dam. Tamara is targeting the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, which Beholder won 11 years ago. And then, of course, there's Beholder's yearling colt by Curlin, who topped August's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale when realizing $4 million from agent Donato Lanni on behalf of Zedan Racing.

Beholder was barren to the cover of Gun Runner this year. She is in foal to Jackie's Warrior for 2024.

“There was a time when Mr. Hughes thought about selling Beholder,” said Toffey. “It was early in her career, but she developed a fever which kept us from shipping her to Fasig-Tipton. That may have been some of the best luck we've ever had. Mr. Hughes had a saying, 'This is the damnedest business, because at the time when you have luck, you don't even know for a couple of years whether it's good luck or bad luck.' How fortunate that led us to keep her. After her win [over males in the 2015 GI] Pacific Classic, there was no selling her. Some of the best luck.

“There is something really special about Beholder,” continued Toffey. “She's only a little bit bigger than average. She's a good, strong filly, not huge, but now on the farm she's grown and developed and is that much bigger. She has a tremendous presence about her that you would get a sense of even if you didn't know who she was. She sort of knows that she's special. There's a presence and a substance to her that really strands out.”

Songbird | Sarah Andrew

Songbird had a slightly different journey than her biggest rival after the 2016 Distaff. She briefly raced the next summer, adding two more Grade I wins to her extensive CV, then topped Fasig-Tipton's November Sale as a $9.5-million broodmare prospect when Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm LLC won the bidding war.

“While it was hard [to say goodbye to Songbird], Rick was never really into breeding,” said Keith. “He had tried his hand at it a little bit earlier and thought about buying a farm in Lexington, but it didn't pan out and he didn't really want to board them elsewhere. Rick loved the horses but was also very disciplined. For him that meant there was a certain amount of money he'd spend at auction and from that crop there would be a very small percentage that would pay for the rest, not on the track, but in selling. That enabled him to keep in the black by having that discipline.

“He had to be able to sell the valuable breeding prospects. The good thing is that he was at the level in racing that you know the person who is going to buy the horse is going to be a good owner, and give certainly as good a home as we'd ever give the horse. It was exciting for him to see his horses do well in every area. The businessman in him was very disciplined in that.”

Like Beholder, Songbird did not immediately find success with her first foals, but each foal brings renewed promise and hope. Also like Beholder, she too sent her first yearling to the sales this year. Songbird's Curlin colt was a $1-million Book 1 purchase by Grandview Equine at the Keeneland September Sale.

Songbird's initial foal, the unraced Arrogate filly Song Gate, produced her first foal, a filly by Tapit, this year. Songbird's 3-year-old filly, Magical Song (Tapit), last raced at Saratoga Aug. 18 for trainer Todd Pletcher but has not yet found the winner's circle. She also has an unraced 2-year-old filly by Tapit, as well as that seven-figure Keeneland yearling. Songbird produced another Curlin foal, a filly this time, May 1 and has been bred back to Gun Runner.

“I've watched her from afar,” said Keith. “She was such a sweetheart, it's sort of unbelievable to me how sweet she was [and yet such a competitor]. The most you can hope for in racing is that you've been blessed enough to own a horse like that.

“Rick was very blessed and I got to ride along on the coattails. I got to live vicariously. It was so fun, a very special journey. I wish everyone in horse racing could experience it.”

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Fox Hill Farms’ Run Has Come To A Close

The red-and-white colors of Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms will not be seen on the racetrack again. Eighteen months after Porter passed away after a long battle with cancer, the final horse still owned by Fox Hill, Royal Ship (Brz) (Midshipman), has been acquired by Porter's son, Scott, and will race under the name of Fox Hollow Farm. Siena Farm LLC has retained its minority interest in the horse.

“We could have kept him running in Fox Hill silks, but, accounting-wise, it made sense to put an end to that and keep things simple,” Scott Porter said. “He is a gelding, so it wasn't like we were going to sell him. I decided maybe I can race him and see where it leads.”

Royal Ship was the last horse owned by Fox Hill. Scott Porter has no immediate plans to expand his stable.

“It's not like I'm looking to start up a big racing stable,” he said. “At this point in my life, I'm not able to do that. Maybe someday that will change. I have the same love of racing my father had. I learned a lot from him and spent a lot of time with him. We were very close. I thought we might run this horse and see what happens. I am a builder. So I'm not making the kind of money my father did.”

Rick Porter passed away in June of 2021 at the age of 80. Fox Hill Farm campaigned 20 graded stakes horses and multiple champions led by Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro), Hard Spun (Danzig), Omaha Beach (War Front) and Kodiak Kowboy (Posse). Three months after Porter's death it was announced that all of his horses but Royal Ship would be sold at the upcoming fall sales.

Trained by Richard Mandella, Royal Ship was imported from South America by Porter and finished third in the 2020 GII Del Mar Mile H. in his U.S. debut. Four starts later he upset Country Grammer in the GII Californian S. He beat Country Grammer again in the 2021 GII San Diego H. Royal Ship not started since finishing sixth in the GI Awesome Again S. in October.

“The horse has been on the farm for quite some time and he just had his first work back,” Scott Porter said “He has had a few ailments. It seems like he can put a couple of good races together and then he throws in a clunker. We'll give him as much time off as we can. If he's happy and wants to run again we will try to have some fun with him. It just made sense for me to take him over rather than trying to find a new home for him.”

According to Victoria Keith, who was Fox Hill's racing manager, Rick Porter owned about 15 horses at the time of his death. Fox Hill's last mare was sold in November, leaving only Royal Ship. She said Porter had stopped acquiring horses a few years before his death, aware that his health issues were a problem.

“Probably the hardest part was when we were selling the first horses,” she said. “Then after that we whittled the numbers down. It is certainly sad that we won't be seeing those red-and-white silks anymore. It was a really good run. I got to live vicariously through Fox Hill Farm when it was on top. Rick has a wonderful family. His wife and kids are very much like him.”

Scott Porter said that if Royal Ship has a successful 2023 he will look to reinvest some of the earnings into a new horse or two.

“We'll see,” he said. “That's the way my dad did it, starting small. But I don't have any false ambitions. I'm not trying to be Fox Hill Farms.”

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TDN’s Most Popular Stories of 2021

With 2021 now behind us–thankfully, some might say–it's time to look back at the TDN stories that were the mostly widely read during the year. Unfortunately, it's a list largely void of feel-good stories. That's not surprising during what was another tumultuous year for the sport, from the sad saga of Medina Spirit (Protonico) to the sentencing of drug cheat Jorge Navarro to five years in prison to the 11th-hour surprise that was the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcing that it would not be part of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act going forward. It was also a year in which the sport lost some giants, B. Wayne Hughes, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum, Rick Porter, Khalid Abdullah, to name a few.

Here are the 10 most widely read stories of 2021:

Medina Spirit Dies of an Apparent Heart Attack

The news was stunning and tragic. After finishing up a Dec. 6 workout at Santa Anita, Medina Spirit collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack. It was the final chapter in a story that began with an overachiever once sold for $1,000 winning the GI Kentucky Derby and continued with his drug positive in the Derby and then his death.

“Medina Spirit was a great champion, a member of our family who was loved by all and we are deeply mourning his loss,” trainer Bob Baffert said in a statement. “I will always cherish the proud and personal memories of Medina Spirit and his tremendous spirit.”

The story had more than twice as many readers as any other story that ran in the TDN during the year.

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum Dies

In March, His Highness Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum passed away at the age of 75. Operating a racing and breeding empire under the Shadwell banner that tasted success all over the world, he raced 19 European Classic winners. In the U.S., Shadwell won such notable races as the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the GI Belmont S. and was a two-time winner of the GI Whitney H.

Lopez After Fight with Ortiz: I Don't Want Any Trouble Going Forward

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned donnybrook to get the readers' attention. Irad Ortiz, Jr. didn't like Paco Lopez's tactics during a late February race at Gulfstream and let him know it afterward when he started punching his rival outside the jockey's room. Lopez did not retaliate and told the TDN after it was over that he wanted to put the incident behind him.

Rispoli Not Allowed to Fly to Saudi Arabia for Cup

COVID-19 regulations proved to be a headache during the early part of the year and kept Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez from being able to travel to Saudi Arabia to ride in the Saudi Cup.

Guillot Horse with Racist Name Wins at Aqueduct, Sparks Outrage

Trainer Eric Guillot retired from racing in January but he didn't exactly go quietly. The last horse he ran was a horse he named Grape Soda (Uncle Mo), a racist stereotype directed at African Americans. On Twitter, Guillot admitted the horse was named in “honor of a TVG analyst,” presumably Ken Rudulph. The horse was claimed out of the race by owner Larry Roman, who promptly changed his named to Respect For All.

Rick Porter Passes Away

Few owners in the sport were more respected and more successful than Rick Porter. Porter, who campaigned three Eclipse Award winners, passed away in June at 80 after a long bout with cancer.

“We lost a gem in horse racing,” said trainer Larry Jones.

Writers Room Tackles Medina Spirit News, Baffert, Ortiz Suspension

With the Medina Spirit death and the 30-day suspension handed to Irad Ortiz, Jr. by the Aqueduct stewards for careless riding, there was plenty to talk about on the Dec. 8 TDN Writers' Room podcast. A story previewing the podcast proved to be among the most popular of the year.

Derby Winner Aiming for New World Record

Emma Berry tells the story of 2013 GI Epsom Derby winner Ruler Of The World (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) arriving in Italy at the Cipriani family's Allevamenti della Berardenga

Irad Ortiz, Jr Suspended for 30 Days

In what was supposed to be an ordinary race in December at Aqueduct, Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard Gran Casique (Algorithms), inexplicably came over about eight paths while making his way toward the rail on the backstretch and cut over on and dropped apprentice Omar Hernandez Moreno. The Equibase chart caller wrote that “Gran Casique angled in with reckless abandon.” Throughout the year, many had been calling out Ortiz Jr. for what they said were his rough riding tactics. At least on this one occasion, the stewards agreed, setting him down for a month.

Parx Backstretch Raid Yields Significant Contraband

There was plenty of controversy in 2021, including a backstretch raid at Parx that yielded, according to Pennsylvania Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Tom Chuckas, a “significant amount of contraband.” A few days later, trainer Richard Vega was “summarily suspended” by the stewards after hypodermic needles, syringes and injectable substances were found in his tack room.

The post TDN’s Most Popular Stories of 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Silver Gleams With Hard Spun Polish

If his most important legacy to our community was the example of his own conduct, it was nonetheless apt that a more tangible bequest made by Rick Porter to the breed itself was measured afresh even as he left us. For while the owner of Fox Hill Farms devoted more attention to the welfare of those horses that had failed to extend their usefulness, into a breeding program, he also measured out for our benefit some precious genetic ore–none deeper than that mined by the winner of the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. on the very eve of Porter's loss.

Silver State is the 11th domestic Grade I winner (besides three in Australia) by Hard Spun, who carried Porter's silks in a GI Kentucky Derby that truly served its purpose as a signpost to merit for breeders. Only Street Sense managed to overhaul him, with Curlin well held in third. Those two have given us seven and 14 Grade I winners, respectively, taking the 2007 podium aggregate to 32, in the process earning themselves fees of $60,000 and $175,000. In that context, $35,000 for Hard Spun–especially as one of the last direct links to his breed-shaping sire Danzig–transparently represents some of the best value around at that level of the market.

In fairness, the genetic seam that has proved so fertile was first opened up by Hard Spun's breeders, Michael Moran and Brushwood Stable. But Porter and his team certainly showcased the breadth of his talent, trainer Larry Jones developing him from the company of Pennsylvania-breds to become a key player in the Classics before dropping back to seven furlongs to win his Grade I in the King's Bishop S. Hard Spun then disclosed the kind of versatility we associate with Danzig, as a global influence, by subsequently beating Street Sense on a synthetic surface and then chasing home Curlin in that ghastly mudbath at the Monmouth Breeders' Cup.

As luck should have it, Hard Spun's sophomore campaign coincided with a conspicuous determination by Sheikh Mohammed that his Turf empire needed to upgrade its seeding by in-house stallions. A deal was duly done with Porter to include Hard Spun among a series of expensive recruits made that year for Godolphin's feeder farms around the world: in Europe, champion juvenile Teofilo (Ire) and G1 Epsom Derby winner Authorized (Ire) gave the Sheikh precious access to the blood of two titans, Galileo (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire), revealing their potency for his great rivals at Coolmore; G1 Japan Cup winner Admire Moon (Jpn) joined the Hokkaido roster; while both Street Sense and Hard Spun arrived at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, at $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, alongside fellow rookies Any Given Saturday and Discreet Cat.

Both Street Sense and Hard Spun would soon be asked to risk their early domestic momentum with a year in Japan. That mission might not have been entertained on a purely commercial farm, but they belong to a global program and, besides, were always guaranteed swift rehabilitation in the Bluegrass by the quality of the herd on their home farm.

Nor would external clients forget Hard Spun during his absence. His first crop ultimately yielded a record 17 stakes winners, while the fourth-crop table of 2014–the year of his absence–put Hard Spun clear (whether by prizemoney, winners or graded stakes success) of no less a trio than Street Sense, English Channel and Scat Daddy. One way or another, then, he has routinely maintained books of around 150, which amounts to full subscription on a wholesome farm like this.

Sure enough, having had no 2017 U.S. juveniles/2018 sophomores, Hard Spun didn't miss a beat on his return. Indeed, the prizemoney banked by his comeback 3-year-olds in 2019 was exceeded only by those of champion Into Mischief.

Moreover he had been helped through his blank year by a useful propensity in his stock to keep thriving with maturity. That, in turn, reflects the soundness that underpinned Hard Spun's own career, which spanned 13 starts in barely a year, repeatedly giving everything he had in stretching his speed.

The chances are that Hard Spun might have reached still greater heights at four–he would surely have been an ideal type for the Met Mile himself–but his services were impatiently awaited at Jonabell. So while he can also produce a romping GII Saratoga Special winner, in Green Light Go, we often see the benefits of maturity in his stock. Silver State himself is one such case, having seamlessly regrouped since his comeback last fall, while Smooth Roller only surfaced at four before thrashing Hoppertunity and Bayern in the GI Awesome Again S. Moreover, American breeders may not be aware of the durability exhibited by some of Hard Spun's high achievers overseas, Le Romain (Aus) and Moviesta having each soaked up six campaigns in Australia and Europe, respectively.

Both also operated not just on turf but in sprints. Moviesta's biggest win, in fact, came over five furlongs on the downhill ramp at Goodwood–and he's out of an A.P. Indy mare. That versatility is the trademark of a sire who has shown a Danzig serviceability on turf (see Hard Not To Like) but has proved no less adept on dirt (see Hard Not To Love!). And his speed is very often carried through a second turn: as, for instance, by runaway GI Alabama S. winner Questing (GB), GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun To Run, or GI Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong.

A flair for dirt gives Hard Spun priceless distinction, of course, in an environment that might otherwise be wary of the strong grass flavor to Danzig's dynasty, notably through Danehill (in both Australia and Europe) and Green Desert (in Europe). But “priceless” is only a figure of speech, when he trades at a rate so much more affordable than another of Danzig's later sons, War Front, whose career fits that international/grass branding so closely.

Regardless of any surface prejudices, it is rare in this day and age to retain such proximate access to such a hallowed influence on the modern breed. Danzig was 26 when he conceived Hard Spun (a mere youngster of 24 when he came up with War Front). We've often remarked on the self-fulfilling nature of commercial prejudice against older sires. With Danzig, admittedly, we're rolling back the years to an era of much smaller books, one somewhat evoked by the conservative management of War Front himself. But even today it's funny how those horses unchallenged by fashion, like Galileo, maintain into the evening of their careers a mechanical output that is duly presented as an exception to the perceived “rule”.

Be that as it may, it certainly feels special to have a stallion in his prime, at 17, who not only provides a direct tap into Danzig but also brings in names like Roberto and My Babu (Fr) as close up as his second and third dams. The only chink in Hard Spun's genetic armor was always his damsire Turkoman, a son of Alydar who won an Eclipse Award as an older horse but made little impact at stud, excepting another daughter who became dam of Horse of the Year Point Given (Thunder Gulch). Turkoman can perhaps be credited for the physical immensity of that horse–and Hard Spun is another imposing specimen, who has stamped Silver State in much the same way–but he did not recycle his acceleration consistently enough and ended up wandering round California.

Incidentally, Turkoman lived to 34 and was lovingly tended to the end. But I remember being incredulous on reading that there had been problems getting full syndicate support for his upkeep, once pensioned, with an ordinary race fan from Michigan among those who stepped up to the plate. I can just imagine what Rick Porter might have had to say about that situation.

Turkoman had started his stud career in a noble setting at Darby Dan and it was his daughter out of a Roberto half-sister to farm champion Little Current that was alertly bought by Michael Moran as a yearling for just $39,000 in 1992. Named Turkish Tryst, she won four times and made the podium on the only occasion she was tried in graded company (GII Matchmaker S.). It was her yearling son by Danzig that Porter acquired privately after he failed at $485,000 to meet what was evidently a pretty ambitious reserve (necessarily, given the cost of access even to the ageing Danzig; and quite rightly, as things would turn out) at the Keeneland September Sale of 2005.

It is not just Danzig, then, who gives old-school luster to Hard Spun. Since his granddam was a half-sister to Little Current, remember, then that meant she was out of a half-sister (by My Babu, as noted) to two other Darby Dan legends (both by Swaps) in Chateaugay and Primonetta. The former was notoriously denied the Triple Crown only by a runner-up finish in the Preakness, five days after an unscheduled crack at the Pimlico track record in his final gallop; the latter, a 17-for-25 champion on the track, produced two Grade I winners (plus one at Grade II level).

So while Turkish Tryst did not have a straightforward breeding career, she was certainly working with the right stuff. Five of her seven foals won and, though Hard Spun was much the most accomplished, her stakes-placed daughter Our Rite Of Spring (Stravinsky) has since brought the family new distinction as second dam of multiple Grade I winner Improbable (City Zip).

Hard Spun, then, really represents the full package and, given the inaccessibility of War Front, is surely a more important resource for breeders than is implied by his fee.

His one omission for now remains a proven heir to maintain that abbreviated link to Danzig. War Front already has Declaration Of War and The Factor doing well, with a number of younger sons now making their way either side of the ocean, not least a wonderful parting gift from Porter in Omaha Beach. But several of Hard Spun's best sons have been geldings, while Wicked Strong is down to just $3,500 as he seeks a reboot at a smaller farm. Spun To Run will be given every chance at Gainesway, but the opportunity is plainly there for Silver State to stake his claim.

Silver State's family, after all, introduces complementary Classic influences of its own. His dam Supreme (Empire Maker) was acquired by Stonestreet for $800,000 at Keeneland in January 2013 when carrying her first foal. She owed that valuation partly to her own merit, as a Grade II-placed stakes winner, but also to the fact that her mother was a sister to Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos. Supreme's mating with Hard Spun meanwhile consolidated his trademark toughness with a second strand of that redoubtable influence, Roberto–already noted as sire of Hard Spun's granddam–being responsible for her third dam.

A $450,000 Keeneland September purchase by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Silver State (who is raced in partnership with Wills Horton Racing LLC) has been expertly brought back through the ranks by Steve Asmussen, who gained due reward with a third Met Mile in four years. That stands the trainer up to all comers since Eddie Neloy won the great race three years straight with Gun Bow, Bold Lad and Buckpasser.

The traditionalists among us love this race as a stallion showcase because that sweeping, one-turn mile permits no hiding place in the honest, big-hearted carrying of speed. That's an asset in every environment, and the key to Danzig's international success. It is also the hallmark of a stallion who, above all through the hardiness implicit in his name, covers all bases. At his intermediate fee, Hard Spun can prove a young mare; he gives you a margin to work with, at market; and he can introduce old-school class to any aspiring track program.

The fact is that Hard Spun, already fairly priced before taking his pandemic trim, has been returning the yield of an elite stallion from the moment he could again count on two consecutive domestic crops. A fine ninth in the general sires' list in 2020, he had done even better the preceding campaign, finishing behind only Into Mischief (now $225,000), Curlin ($175,000) and Tapit ($185,000). So while Rick Porter reminded us to respect all horses, regardless of their ability, it seems that sometimes we don't show quite enough even to those who do make the grade.

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