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Taking Stock: Pletcher on the Curlins

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher is on fire, unveiling one promising colt or filly after another in maiden, allowance, and stakes races it seems.

Last month, Pletcher won his eighth Eclipse Award as North America's leading trainer. Not only that, but three horses trained by Pletcher also won Eclipses: Forte (Violence), champion 2-year-old colt; Nest (Curlin), champion 3-year-old filly; and Malathaat (Curlin), champion older female.

Like Pletcher, Curlin shone at the Eclipses. Aside from Nest and Malathaat, his Elite Power was named champion sprinter of 2022, giving the Hill 'n' Dale-based stallion three individual Eclipse winners in one year, the first time any stallion has had more than two in a year.

Curlin and Pletcher, in case it wasn't evident, have a special long-term relationship. On Saturday, the promising Pletcher-trained Julia Shining (Curlin), a Grade ll-winning 3-year-old sister to Malathaat owned and bred by Stonestreet, finished third in her season debut in the one-mile-and-40-yard Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, 1 1/4 lengths behind 2-year-old champion Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief), who in turn was a neck behind 38-1 upsetter Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream), a granddaughter of Curlin. This Saturday, Pletcher saddles Crupi (Curlin) in the Gll Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. Crupi is a maiden; he has placed in each of his five starts, but like Julia Shining, who won the Gll Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles last year, he figures to improve as the year progresses and the distances increase. That's simply a function of the Curlins.

I spoke to Pletcher about this recently, and he said, “Curlin is my favorite stallion I didn't train. We're big Curlin fans.”

Pletcher has trained a number of prominent stallions throughout his career, including More Than Ready, Scat Daddy, Quality Road, Uncle Mo, Speightstown, and Munnings, among others. There isn't another modern-day trainer with such a striking record as a stallion maker. None of these stallions, however, regularly imparts stamina in the pronounced manner that Curlin does. And many of the better Curlins frequently get even more stamina in their pedigrees from their broodmare sires, because the stallion nicks so well with Seattle Slew-line mares. Both Nest and Malathaat (and Julia Shining), for instance, are from A.P. Indy mares; Crupi, who was bred by Claiborne, is from a mare by A.P. Indy's top sire son Malibu Moon, the sire of Gl Kentucky Derby winner Orb. (Skinner, a promising maiden winner from over the weekend for John Shirreffs, is also from a Malibu Moon mare and was bred by Stonestreet.) In different hands, the Curlin sons and daughters that have excelled with Pletcher may not have realized their potential. They have with Pletcher because he understands pedigrees and specifically knows how the Curlins tick.

“A lot of our training program builds toward stamina,” Pletcher said. “I don't think [the Curlins] want to be rushed off their feet. We always feel like you want to let a horse be comfortable, and if you're trying to take them out of their comfort zone early on, then you're probably not going to finish the way you want to. We would expect them, hopefully, to put themselves in a tactical position, but you wouldn't see too many of them going wire to wire. We've recognized that, for whatever reason, he fits our program well.”

Pletcher's Curlins

Curlin, a son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Smart Strike, has been represented by six Eclipse winners to date, and Pletcher has handled three of them. In addition to Nest and Malathaat, he also trained Vino Rosso, champion older male of 2019.

Though the Curlins aren't especially noted for early maturity and front-running speed, the best of them have plenty of class, are seemingly Classics contenders every year, improve with time, and are particularly adept at a mile and a sixteenth and above on dirt. That's because Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year, was a Classic winner and a mile-and-a-quarter specialist who also stayed a mile and a half on dirt (he lost the Gl Belmont S. by a head to the Pletcher-trained A.P. Indy filly Rags to Riches, who, like Curlin, was out of a mare by Deputy Minister). In fact, it was notable and surprising that in 2022 Curlin got a champion sprinter and two others, Cody's Wish and Obligatory, that won Grade l races at seven furlongs. Both Cody's Wish, who won the Gl Forego at Saratoga, and Obligatory, first in the Gl Derby City Distaff at Churchill, won their respective sprints by closing from the back of the pack.

Bill Mott trained the trio of Elite Power, Cody's Wish, and Obligatory, and before them he'd trained Gl Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights, giving him four of Curlin's 20 top-level winners.

Only Pletcher has more, and then some. He has trained an astounding eight of the 20, or 40% Grade l winners. Aside from champions Nest, Malathaat, and Vino Rosso, Pletcher handled Belmont S. and Gl Metropolitan H. winner Palace Malice, who was from Curlin's first crop; Gl Florida Derby winner Known Agenda; the fillies Curalina, who won the Coaching Club American Oaks, and Off the Tracks, winner of the Gl Mother Goose. Keen Ice, who won the Gl Travers for Dale Romans, won the Gll Suburban at a mile and a quarter for Pletcher.

I asked Pletcher if there is a common physical thread among the Curlins.

“I think yes and no,” he said. “I do think there are some similarities in the good ones, that they're medium–at least medium–to larger size. Some of them can tend to be a little bit small, and we've found that the better ones maybe have a little more size and scope, but in terms of a particular conformational prototype, I don't know that there is. Keen Ice was a big strong horse, and so is Palace Malice. Off the Tracks was a very talented filly, but conformationally she was very, very incorrect but was able to overcome that with good mechanics. Malathaat is a scopey, long mare; Curalina was a little more refined, but she was impressive as a 2-year-old; Nest is not real big, but she's one of the best walkers I've seen. For a filly that's probably just over 15.3, she covers a lot of ground. There is an athletic component to the good ones, and in particular, I'd say Nest would stand out as an outstanding walker.”

Pletcher also noted that some of the Curlins may show talent in workouts that takes some time to translate to races.

“Known Agenda reminded me a lot of Vino Rosso in that way. If we hadn't had the setback that ultimately made them decide to retire him to stud, Known Agenda was going to be a good 4-year-old. As a younger horse, he would display more talent sometimes in the mornings than we were producing in the afternoons. But then he kind of put it together in the Florida Derby, and I thought if we'd had a chance to go on with him, we would have seen him get more consistent. I'm not saying he would have won the Breeders' Cup Classic like Vino, but he had that sort of potential.”

Mike Repole's Repole Stable, which co-owns Nest with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, raced Vino Rosso in partnership with Vinnie and Teresa Viola's St. Elias Stable, which bred and raced Known Agenda. Both Repole and Viola are billionaire patrons of Pletcher, and they race Forte, the current Derby favorite, in partnership as well. However, they know the value of the Curlins and their trainer's ability with them, and they've loaded up on more sons and daughters of the stallion to send Pletcher's way. Last September at Keeneland, the two combined to sign for two fillies at $650,000 and $450,000, and two colts at $400,000 each. Meanwhile Repole, in partnership with Coolmore, bought a colt for $1.1 million, and in another partnership with Spendthrift bought a colt for $525,000. For his own account, Repole then purchased another five with agent Jacob West signing the tickets: three fillies for $675,000, $500,000, and $250,000; and two colts for $320,000 and $275,000.

So be prepared to see even more Curlins in Pletcher's hands this year, and not just from Repole and Viola. Stonestreet, which raced Curlin with Steve Asmussen and is the stallion's majority owner, campaigns Grade l winner Clairiere with Asmussen, but the operation sent Julia Shining to Pletcher instead of Asmussen, presumably because of Pletcher's success with her Grade l-winning dam, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), and with her champion sister Malathaat, but also for his sterling record with their stallion.

Pletcher is a maestro with the Curlins.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Knicks Go Ready For Sophomore Season at Taylor Made

After a debut season at Taylor Made during which he covered a hefty book of better than 150 mares, Horse of the Year and five-time Grade I winner Knicks Go (Paynter) is champing at the bit to get back to work as breeding sheds open their doors across Central Kentucky. The Korea Racing Authority raced the gray to 10 victories over the course of four-plus seasons and earnings north of $9.2 million, and his first year at Taylor Made has led to even greater optimism for his second. The KRA's Lee Joo-Win was generous enough to field a set of questions reflecting on last year and looking forward to 2023:

TDN: As a racehorse, you just don't see things like what Knicks Go accomplished. Grade I winner at two and later at eight, nine and 10 furlongs, yet strikes as a horse that was perhaps underrated.

Lee Jin-Woo: Knicks Go's race record speaks for itself, as he is an Eclipse Award winner and was Longines #1 Racehorse in the world of 2021. He was a Grade I winner at two at Keeneland and also won Grade Is as a 4- and 5-year-old. He danced all the dances winning both the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and GI Dirt Mile in strong wire-to-wire fashion. Our genetic research tells us speed can be genetically passed onto offspring and we are already getting great reviews from the early foal reports. Everyone says they are very athletic, well-balanced and smart foals so far.

TDN: How was Knicks Go selected as a yearling and why was it decided to race him in the U.S. instead of exporting him to Korea?

L J-W: K-Nicks is the genomic selection system made by the Korea Racing Authority. Genomic selection is a breeding technique that uses genomic data, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), to predict an individual's breeding value for racing ability. Knicks Go was selected by K-Nicks at the 2017 Keeneland September sale. He had the highest breeding value among about 100 samples collected four weeks prior to the sale. His breeding value is 150, which is in the top 3% of the Thoroughbred population.

TDN: What stands out about Knicks Go as a physical specimen? Are there other attributes that make him desirable?

L J-W: As Brad Cox said after winning the Breeders' Cup Classic, Knicks Go is built for American dirt racing. In other words, he has innate precocity, speed and stamina. He's a very well-balanced, athletic horse, correct, with a big walk. Knicks Go is an extremely intelligent horse that loved to train and race. As a middle-distance racehorse rather than a sprinter, he has tremendous turn of foot in his two-turn races. A large, strong heart and athletically superior conformation made this possible. If you watch his races, he was always able to put a few lengths on the competition coming out of the turn and that's purely an athletic trait, being able to corner those turns at a high rate of speed. Also, Knicks Go was a very sound racehorse in his career and raced without Lasix as an older horse

TDN: What does Knicks Go offer from a pedigree standpoint?

L J-W: Knicks Go is an Awesome Again line, and free of A.P. Indy and Storm Cat in his pedigree, so he can be tried with a lot of different bloodlines through A.P. Indy and sons and grandsons as well as anything from the Storm Cat line. Very outstanding sires such as Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer have a moderate height and have well-balanced conformation, delivering excellent heritability.

TDN: Talk about his first book of mares (quantity and quality) that he covered in 2022 and how he adapted to life as a stallion.

L J-W: Knicks Go had a very strong book of 151 mares in his first year at stud. Both his CI and CPI ranked #3 amongst all stallions in his crop. He received very good support from all of the big commercial breeders in Central Kentucky and was very well backed by Taylor Made's large client base of both commercial and breed-to-race customers. It can be a little bit of an adjustment coming straight into the breeding shed off the racetrack with only a few weeks in between. He settled in well after just a few weeks of breeding. He has great libido and fertility and is just as professional in the breeding shed as he was on the racetrack.

TDN: Can you tick off some of the breeders who patronized the stallion in his first year?

L J-W: We had a wonderful response from some top breeders, including Ashview Farm, Ballyrankin Stud, Bloodstock Investments, Joel Politi, Calumet Farm, Castleton Lyons, Clarkland Farm, Classic Bloodstock, Coteau Grove Farms, Crestwood Farm, Denali Stud, Watercress Farm, Machmer Hall, Manganaro Bloodstock, Narvick International, Allen Poindexter, Pollock Farms, Ramspring Farms, Rose Hill Farm, Runnymede Farm, Shawnee Farm, Spruce Lane Farm, St. George Stables, LLC, Stonehaven Steadings, Stoneriggs Farm, Town & Country, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Team Block, Walking L. Thoroughbreds and Woods Edge Farm (Peter O'Callaghan actually purchased Knicks Go as a weanling).

TDN: The list of sires set to be represented by their first foals in 2023 is formidable. How does Knicks Go fit in?

L J-W: We believe Knicks Go was the best racehorse to retire to stud in 2022. Knicks Go was a very precocious racehorse breaking his maiden first-time out in July of his 2-year-old year, won the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland by 5 1/2 lengths and ran a very game second to Game Winner in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He really thrived as an older horse under the training of Brad Cox and the switch to Joel Rosario. The more aggressive training and riding style was a natural fit that led to winning TWO different Breeders' Cup races along with the historic GI Whitney H. at Saratoga in a romp and the GI Pegasus World Cup.

TDN: How do the KRA plan on supporting him at stud? Were they/are they involved in purchasing mares to breed to him? Will they be targeting his progeny at the sales?

L J-W: KRA is promoting the establishment of a joint venture in the U.S., and the venture will purchase Knicks Go's weanlings and yearlings. Mares that are suitable for Knicks Go based on our genetic system have also been purchased.

TDN: Are there any plans in place to stand KG in Korea?

L J-W: The KRA is committed to keeping Knicks Go in the United States and giving his progeny the opportunity to perform as racehorses. He will be given every chance to be a successful stallion in the United States. Just like any other stallion standing in Kentucky, the success of his progeny will be evaluated and that will determine his long-term future.

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The Happy Blend Behind Litigate

In an era when it appears that no horse can run twice under the same moon, once again we're going to have plenty of relatively unexposed animals converging on the GI Kentucky Derby. That requires us to fall back on some secondary evidence, in pedigree and upbringing, to estimate what latent resources may be summoned to deal with the startling novelty of a 20-horse stampede.

That's why the handicapping jury should heed the defense attorney for Litigate (Blame), despite a pedestrian 77 Beyer in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. last Saturday. Because everything about this horse tells me that the more he gets tested, the more exemplary he can become.

Before we get to his pedigree, which is copper-bottomed for the job, we need to emphasize that Litigate benefitted from as good a grounding as any Thoroughbred in the crop. All who know and admire John Mayer of Nursery Place are aware of his resolutely self-effacing nature. So let's just put it front and center that this colt was prepared for his vocation at a farm where absolutely no corners are cut, by one of the most respected horsemen in the Bluegrass.

It was typically astute to unearth Litigate's dam, Salsa Diavola (Mineshaft), for just $12,500 down the field in her second (and final) start in maiden claimer at Woodbine in 2016. Her family is saturated with the quality you would expect when Numbered Account (Buckpasser) surfaces as fourth dam; while mating her with Blame, whose third dam is none other than Special (Forli {Arg}), makes Litigate a top-to-bottom aristocrat. He always had a physique to match, too, judging from the $370,000 paid by Centennial Farms as a Keeneland September yearling.

Litigate wins the Sam Davis | SV Photography

Fortunately, Mayer's unyielding modesty will not prevent a due testimonial to his work–and that of his sons Griffin and Walker–from Happy Broadbent, vice-president of Brisnet. He has had a ringside seat to the rise of Litigate, both as Mayer's brother-in-law and as a partner in Salsa Diavola.

“John Mayer is the hardest-working guy I know,” Broadbent says. “Now that the foaling season has started, he won't come off that farm until June, literally until the last mare has foaled. If that means mucking out a 12-stall barn by himself, he'll be doing it to this day. I'm fortunate enough, one, to be his brother-in-law; but also to see first-hand the way he raises these horses. He always does what's best for the horse.”

After a lifetime in the business, Broadbent sets three horsemen apart. All happen to share the same first name; and two of them, to Broadbent's immense gratification, are partners in Salsa Diavola (among several other mares) at Nursery Place.

“The three people top of my list, as far as hardboot horsemen, are my brother-in-law John Mayer, my other partner John Donaldson, and John Williams,” Broadbent explains. “I was fortunate enough to work for him [at Spendthrift] back in 1980, when the first crop of Seattle Slew was going through as yearlings. And with the other two, believe it or not, I have now been partners for 30 years: we bought our first mare in 1993, and we've bought and sold and traded horses together ever since.

“John Donaldson moved here [to Kentucky] from Arizona in '79. He told me recently that the best thing that ever happened to him in this business was walking through the door of my dad's office and getting hired to do bloodstock research. That's how he got started on his career, and how I got started with him too–because I always recognized his great eye for a horse, his knowledge of conformation and pedigree. He does a lot of consulting for Stonestreet, he's heavily involved in the matings of all those mares. So along with all the information that comes through Brisnet, the three of us have all been able to add something different.”

Between them they certainly spotted a bargain in Salsa Diavola, a half-sister to dual graded stakes-winning sprinter Pacific Ocean (Ghostzapper) and the stakes-placed dam of Blamed, a dual Grade III winner by Litigate's sire. Their dam is an Unbridled half-sister to Mutakddim (Seeking The Gold), a prolific stallion in Argentina, out of a Seattle Slew half-sister to the Mr. Prospector siblings Rhythm, a champion juvenile, and Not For Love, the lesser racehorse but superior sire of the pair. The next dam is Grade I winner Dance Number (Northern Dancer), a half-sister to Private Account (Damascus) out of the elite runner/producer Numbered Account.

“At the time we bought Salsa Diavola out of Canada, we felt that Mineshaft was going to be a good broodmare sire,” Broadbent recalls. “And with the deep, blue-hen family she had, we thought we'd take a shot with her. When we claim a filly, or buy one privately, typically we'd look to sell them on. But at the time we'd started to keep a few mares ourselves and this one, with her background and looks, was one we decided to be patient with.”

Admittedly they tested the water with her, offering her with a maiden cover by Ghostzapper at the Keeneland November Sale of 2017, but fortunately she failed to meet her reserve at $130,000.

“And this colt, Litigate, when he went through the ring was just an outstanding individual,” Broadbent recalls. “We've been watching him since; weren't quite sure at first, but then all of a sudden he started firing bullet works. We knew he was in great hands, with Centennial and Todd Pletcher, so we were hoping that something like this was going to happen. Because it's the kind of pedigree we liked to see in the olden days, blue blood all the way. And it just screams distance. He should run all day long.”

Which is just what excited many of us about Litigate: the fact that he was able to win a sprint maiden on debut at Aqueduct in November, despite a pedigree tailor made for the first Saturday in May (not to mention Belmont in early June). He did, admittedly, get outgunned by a flashy talent next time out, but Pletcher relied on him from eight nominations to extend his race record when introduced to a second turn at Tampa Bay. Sure enough, Litigate was able to break clear of a wide draw before dropping inside, then sweeping round rivals while still green in delaying a switch of leads. He will need to keep learning new tricks against more potent competition, but he certainly has the pedigree to keep building.

Salsa Diavola's first four dams are by Unbridled, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer and Buckpasser; and Seattle Slew recurs along her top line, of course, behind Mineshaft's sire A.P. Indy. But it's the sheer, undiluted quality of the families entwined by the mating with Blame that already makes you hope that Litigate can progress sufficiently to earn a chance at stud. Salsa Diavola's own maternal line we have already sketched out (and it's intriguing that the genes have worked even better in the stallion shed than on the track, in the case of Mutakddim and Not For Love). Her sire's granddam is Up The Flagpole (Hoist The Flag). Blame, as mentioned, goes back through Special to Thong (Nantallah) and the associated dynasty; and his sire Arch is a grandson of Courtly Dee's daughter Althea (Alydar). Find me the weak link in that chain.

Broadbent says that no decision has yet been made on Salsa Diavola's next date, but the team are certainly pleased that they sent her back to Blame after his first cover proved so productive.

“John [Mayer] told me Saturday night that the mare's starting to bag up now and probably about 10 days away from foaling a full-brother or sister to Litigate, so fingers crossed,” he says. “John has always loved Blame, since day one, and we've had some luck with his babies before. He was a hard-knocking racehorse, and an underrated stallion in my opinion.”

No dissent to that view here, the Claiborne stallion having featured as high as the top step of our “Value Podium” among established sires. Even before the rise of Litigate he had already made a game-changing step forward with this sophomore crop, in the role of a highly precocious broodmare sire. Both Forte (Violence) and Loggins (Ghostzapper), who ran the champion so close in the fall, are respectively first foals of daughters of Blame.

So this esteem from breeders who can think for themselves is unsurprising. Only the previous weekend, we had seen how Nursery Place can prosper against the tide. Hot Spell (Salt Lake) was already 11 when added to the broodmare band for $85,000 at Keeneland January in 2015. She'd shown stakes talent in a brief career, but little as a producer and was being culled with a cheap cover. Nursery Place sent her to the upwardly mobile Quality Road, then still standing at $35,000, and the resulting colt made $900,000 as a Keeneland September yearling to a partnership of Bob Baffert's patrons. They called him Hopkins and, while he has made them wait, he's putting it all together now and ran out a decisive winner of the GIII Palos Verdes S.

“So that's two weekends in a row the program has produced a graded stakes winner,” Broadbent says. “Hopkins was an absolute beast when we sold him. We never imagined he might bring what he did, but they've handled him the right way. I give credit to Bob, and to Tom Ryan, for being so patient. He's shown along the way in the mornings that he was going be a nice horse and they have given him the time he needed to do that.”

Actually Broadbent himself is on a particular roll. Because if you go back another weekend, there he was in Palm Beach among the First Row partners collecting an Eclipse Award for their mare Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper).

“Her winning at the Breeders' Cup was a huge pinnacle for me,” he explains. “I always tell people my blood's not red, but Keeneland green: my mother's grandfather was Hal Price Headley, [co-]founder of Keeneland; and my grandfather Louis Lee Haggin II was president there for many years. So to win a Breeders' Cup race in front of a home crowd, with mom and whole family all there, was very special.”

Broadbent's 87-year-old father-in-law Bill Robbins (along with brothers-in-law Will and Earl Robbins) has also shared the ride with First Row Partners–who had similarly hit the jackpot as co-owners of dual graded stakes winner Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never). She was sold to Juddmonte for $1.7 million at Fasig-Tipton in November 2021, having cost $210,000 as an OBS March juvenile.

“She was the only No Nay Never from his first crop to be sold over here as a 2-year-old,” Broadbent remembers. “I was saying we must be crazy, buying a horse by some no-name sire out of a no-name mare! Next thing you know, he's the hottest young sire in Europe and her full-brother Arizona was winning at Royal Ascot.”

But Broadbent, whose late father Dick founded Bloodstock Research Information Services, knows that such dividends are typically won only by playing the long game.

“My dad revolutionized the horse industry with computerized pedigrees,” he reflects. “It's amazing to think back to what he was doing back in the '70s and '80s, and everything the internet evolved into since. I was fortunate to work for him 23 years, and I'm still with Brisnet after 37 years, doing what I love every day, working in same building, with so many great people.

“When I was young, Dad had me going round every summer learning every aspect of this business, from yearlings to broodmares to stallions to foaling. It's been my passion all the way through, the one thing I really know is to surround myself with good people–which is just what this horse has been all about.

“We've got probably the best group of yearlings we've had in a long time. Salsa Diavola has a Twirling Candy filly that's one of the best on the farm, we think she's going to be a star come September at Keeneland. So let's hope Litigate stays healthy and carries on from here.”

On Monday morning Broadbent telephoned Don Little Jr. of Centennial to offer gratitude and congratulations. He also mentioned how Little's sister Andy, lost to cancer a few years ago, had been at school in Virginia with Broadbent's wife Pattie.

“I told him of that connection, and all the fun the girls had together through college,” Broadbent says. “And Don said, 'Well, we've got an angel looking over the gate, going forward.'

“There's no bigger thrill than to have a horse on the Derby trail. We were fortunate enough, back in 2006, to have a horse we bred, Steppenwolfer (Aptitude), run third. That was just an unbelievable ride he gave us, one of the thrills of my life. The difference in the number of texts and messages you get, between Hopkins and Litigate, is night and day. It just shows you how the Derby captures the imagination. And I know the people around him couldn't be more excited about this horse as he stretches out.”

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Grading the TDN Rising Stars: Class of 2019

While no singular superstar emerged from this class numbering just 60, the top-to-bottom quality separates this class from its counterparts.

MGISW Guarana (Ghostzapper) was the only 'TDN Rising Star' to win multiple Grade I events in 2019. She posted three consecutive victories that year, going straight from her maiden-breaking score at Keeneland to the GI Acorn S., where she defeated GI Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation) and future Eclipse champion Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), and then to Saratoga's GI Coaching Club American Oaks. Second only to GISW Street Band (Istan) in her final start of the year, the GI Cotillion S., Guarana returned in 2020 to score once more at the highest level, retiring a winner back where she started in Keeneland's GI Madison S.

With a final record of 6-5-1-0 and earnings of $1,078,268, Guarana wasn't done making headlines just yet, going on to bring a final bid of $4.4 million from Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura at the Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale in November 2021. She produced a colt by leading general sire Into Mischief in 2022 and was bred to a fellow Hill 'n' Dale great in Charlatan for 2023.

A further eight 'Rising Stars' from 2019 would find success at the Grade I level including elevated GI Kentucky Derby winner and current Darby Dan stallion Country House (Lookin At Lucky), GI American Pharoah S. winner Eight Rings (Empire Maker), WinStar stallion Global Campaign (Curlin), himself the half-brother to 2022 leading first-crop sire Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), and Valid Point (Scat Daddy). A quartet of fillies, many of whom brought big sales numbers upon their retirement, joined this group: Hard Not To Love (Hard Spun), who sold to Gainesway and Whisper Hill Farm for $3.2 million while pregnant to Curlin, Sharing (Speightstown), Wicked Whisper (Liam's Map), who brought $2,9 million from Whisper Hill Farm also in foal to Curlin, and Wesley Ward's millionaire Kimari (Munnings) who sold at the same Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale for $2.7 million to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier.

Another eight horses achieved graded-stakes success highlighted by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner up Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo), who sold in foal to Tiz the Law for $1.9 million at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale, and Frank's Rockette who finished 2022 strong with a win in the GIII Sugar Swirl S. at Gulfstream Dec. 31. GII Risen Star S. winner Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice), a half-brother to dual Eclipse champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), and GIII Iroquois S. victor Dennis' Moment (Tiznow) both found their best form as 2-year-olds in 2019 while Magic Star (Scat Daddy) entered the graded-stakes ranks with a win in the 2020 GIII Marshua's River S.

Amongst those who competed at the stakes level, Canadian champion 3-year-old Desert Ride (ON) (Candy Ride {Arg}) took wins in two of the three legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara, the Woodbine Oaks and the Wonder Where S. Others include the ill-fated dual-stakes winning filly Taraz (Into Mischief), GI Santa Anita Oaks runner up Flor de La Mar (Tiznow) and MGISP Shoplifted (Into Mischief).

Other names to note include a pair of foals by Constitution in MGISP Gouverneur Morris, a factor in the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby, and MGISP Golden Principal, who did her best racing as a 3 and 4-year-old.

In total, 9/60 (15%) 'TDN Rising Stars' of 2019 would achieve success at the Grade I level. 8/60 (14%) won graded-stakes races, 18/60 (30%) were stakes winners, 10/60 (16%) placed at the graded-stakes level, 3/60 (5%) placed at the stakes level, and only 12/60 (20%) did not reach black-type status.

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