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Midshipman Charts New Course with Speedy Runners

He may not be flashiest sire on the Darley stud roster, but the quietly efficacious Midshipman (Unbridled's Song- Fleet Lady, by Avenue of Flags) might just be the most consistent.

He ranks second amongst his studmates, behind Jonabell's elder statesman Medaglia d'Oro, in terms of blacktype runners to named foals at over a 12% clip, and his $7,500 stud fee this year only adds to his appeal.

“I think the area where Midshipman really excels, and it's a very easy selling point, is that everyone has a mare that would suit him because he's so consistent,” Darley's Assistant Sales Manager Kate Galvin said. “There's a low risk factor as a breeder when you're using Midshipman and I feel really confident that he can get mares a runner. He's not expensive compared to his competition and he's very impressive physically. All those things combined really make for a no-brainer mating.”

Of the stallions standing in Kentucky today, Midshipman is the only one to achieve a lifetime blacktype winners to runners percentage of over 15% with a stud fee under $10,000 this year. His current 17.8% strike rate places him in between Uncle Mo at 17.4% (2021 stud fee of $175,000) and Quality Road at 18.2% (2021 stud fee of $150,000).

This year, Midshipman's runners are shining at the highest level. His progeny have already collected five blacktype wins with potential for bigger things to come as the year progresses.

Last month, Royal Ship (Brz) broke through to earn his first graded stakes win in the U.S in the GII Californian S. at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old gelding arrived at the barn of Hall of Famer Richard Mandella last summer after taking a Group 1 and Group 3 in Brazil.

“Royal Ship's win was a really significant benchmark for Midshipman and a very interesting angle as well because Midshipman started shuttling to South America five years ago,” Galvin noted.

Royal Ship made four starts for Mandella prior to his win in the Californian, including a third-place effort in the GII Del Mar Mile H.

“He's a quality horse,” Mandella said. “We were kind of struck with back luck in his first few races, but there's nothing you can do about that. He's doing very well now and he'll get a couple of good workouts in starting here in the next few days.”

Mandella reported that the gelding is pointing towards the GI Hollywood Gold Cup on May 31.

“With the possibility of Midshipman having a Grade I-winning American horse now becoming a reality, that would mean everything for Midshipman,” Galvin said. “It would really drive home the point that he is one of the best proven stallions in Kentucky.”

Royal Ship gets his first stateside win in the GII Californian S. | Benoit

Two days before Royal Ship's victory on April 17, a juvenile filly by the same sire named Averly Jane broke her maiden at Keeneland by nearly nine lengths. The Wesley Ward trainee journeyed to Churchill Downs soon after and stayed undefeated in the Kentucky Juvenile S. Ward has noted plans of pointing the 2-year-old towards the Albany S. at Royal Ascot.

Midshipman's other leading performers this year include Bara Lass S. winner Happy Sailor, Howard B. Noonan S. victor Morestride and another Wesley Ward pupil in dual stakes winner Wink.

The Stonestreet-campaigned filly was a debut juvenile winner last summer and then took the Colleen S. at Monmouth before running second in the G3 Prix d'Arenberg at Longchamp.

“She's a filly that really got some attention, because here you have a major racing operation having a 2-year-old winner by Midshipman,” Galvin said. “We're very excited about her this year because she just made her 3-year-old debut a couple of weeks ago at Gulfstream and she won [the Melody of Colors S.], so we're looking forward to seeing what she'll be doing this summer.”

Galvin added that along with Midshipman's well-recognized asset in consistency, his other big selling point is his versatility.

“Showing the full gauntlet of what Midshipman can get, Royal Ship won going a route of ground as an older horse on dirt, but then you have your top 2-year-old-types like Wink and Averly Jane.”

Wink's victory last month in the Melody of Color S. was on the grass going five furlongs, a reflection of how Galvin said Midshipman was first recognized at stud.

“He got off the mark as a stallion who gave his progeny a ton of speed,” Galvin said. “['TDN Rising Star'] Lady Shipman was his first mainstream horse and she was just an absolute beast sprinting on the turf. She ran seven triple-digit Beyers, she won 11 stakes and was second in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.”

Other leading earners for Midshipman include Dearest, a three-time stakes winner who took the 2016 GIII Sugar Swill S. going six furlongs on the dirt, as well as the Kenny McPeek-trained Princess Warrior, who ran second in the GI Darley Alcibiades before switching to the turf at three to take the GII Mrs. Revere S. at a mile and a sixteenth.

“We see a variety of results in his best runners,” Galvin said. “If you have a young mare that you don't want to put a ton of money into her first year or two, for less that $10,000 you can go to a stallion who has a higher percentage of blacktype horses to runners than the majority of stallions in Kentucky. You have to pay more than $90,000 to get a horse that has a better number than him in that statistic.”

Averly Jane remains undefeated in the Kentucky Juvenile S. on Kentucky Derby week. | Coady

Galvin said that Midshipman has become a go-to stallion for many breeders looking to find the true potential in a young mare.

“Obviously unproven stallions are very popular, but as a breeder you can get into a trap where all of a sudden, you're four or five years in and look at a mare's produce record and you don't know if you gave her a chance or not if she hasn't gotten a runner. So I always tell people, let's backtrack, reduce your risk and breed her to Midshipman, and let's see what happens.”

While Midshipman is now an in-demand representative for Darley, Galvin said that the early days at stud for the 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion weren't quite so simple.

“Midshipman had a really unique start to his stud career. Most stallions who are Eclipse Champion Juveniles start their career with a bang with everybody lining up to breed to them. But Midshipman had a bit of a tougher start. It was kind of a reverse demand situation than what you typically have with a young stallion.”

When Midshipman suffered from minor soundness issues as an older horse and there were some questions regarding the overall soundness of the sire line at the time, breeders were initially skeptical.

“He offered everything that you want a top stallion to have,” Galvin explained. “He has an amazing pedigree. He and Frosted are very closely related- they're both from Stonerside breeding. But the breeders just weren't super excited about him and he actually struggled to get mares in his first few years at stud. It wasn't until the year that he had his first 2-year-olds in 2014 and they were breezing at OBS and Gulfstream, that's when the phone started ringing for Midshipman.”

Midshipman saw a 50-mare jump in his book from 2013 to 2014 and his book has not fallen below 100 mares since.

“I do think one of the reasons Midshipman has been successful is that he's done it the hard way,” Galvin said. “Since 2014, he's been standing for less than $10,000. We've just made an effort to get plenty of mares to him and get good breeders to use him, and that has really paid off in spades. Now we're starting to see these bigger operations having no problem buying a Midshipman at the sale and they're obviously all breeding to him.”

So while a Grade I win this year would of course raise the profile of the now 15-year-old Midshipman, he has already sealed his deserved space in history as an influential part of the Darley sire program, doing so at a modest stud fee along the way.

“Getting a Grade I win in the U.S. would make a big difference to Midshipman,” Galvin said. “It will probably raise the profile of the type of mare he gets and raise the profile of his sales results, so it would make the latter half of his career stronger. But he's also a stallion that has done so much, he really doesn't owe anyone anything. We're just very proud of the results he's had so far.”

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The `Good’ Larry Melancon

Back in the days when I was in high school, I would work in the racing office at Jefferson Downs in the mornings as an entry clerk. This was before the days of computerized databases and electronically keyed-in entries. Entry blanks were bound by red glue as thick pads and filled out in pencil. Each form filled out one by one, as the jockey agents and trainers drifted into the racing office to do business. Entries were made in individual stalls for privacy and usually in a hushed tone so no one could overhear the potential competitors filling the races offered for the race day to be carded several days later.

The jockey agents were a cast of Runyon-esque all-stars. “Sad Sal the Horseman's Pal” who had spent time in “Mandeville”…the mental hospital, Roland “Buck Eye” Dagrepoint, Lloyd L. “Cuz” Nixon, John Giambelluca, along with others would keep things lively as they entered trainers' horses for the day after securing calls for their riders. Some of the trainers would enter their own. There are hundreds of stories about those guys and those days, but the one for today begins in those days and came to a close Mar. 25, 2021.

In the 1970s, there were two Larry Melancons riding at Jefferson Downs during the summer race meetings. As an entry clerk, it was a problem because inevitably there would be confusion. As things went, the disclaimer to distinguish between the two by whomever was entering was to signify the “good” Larry Melancon or just plain Larry Melancon. The “good” Larry Melancon had already made a mark as not only a talented rider destined for bigger things, but as truly a good person in how he interacted in his life.

The “good” Larry made a step up in his career by the end of the 1970s and rode mostly on the Midwest circuit. He rode at Fair Grounds in the winter, Oaklawn, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in the spring and Arlington Park in the summer. He became a fixture at Churchill Downs riding in four Kentucky Derbies with his best finish a fourth place in 1976 on Amano. He became a valued contributor in the development of many top horses for various trainers through providing accurate insight of soundness and fitness during morning workouts.

Truthfully, I had lost track of Larry in the 1980s when he was having some of his best success. He was always a low-key guy and I was following my life path. We closed Jefferson Downs in the fall of 1992 and by then Vickie and I were fully involved in Fair Grounds. My days didn't allow me to get to the jocks' room very often, and for whatever reason Larry and I didn't connect again until after the 1993 Fair Grounds fire and reopening of the new building in 1997.

When the new Fair Grounds building opened, I did make almost daily passes throughout the building, checking on what needed to be addressed with the new building. This brought me back into contact with Larry. He would sit in the silks room to start his race day and read the Bible. The other jocks bought him a rocking chair since he had become a senior member of the colony. He would gently rock, read and visit with whoever drifted into the room. Class guy through and through.

Vickie and I had some young homebreds in 1997. One strapping colt was named Coach Rags named after an old friend, an iconic baseball coach in New Orleans. He was a big horse and was a bit slow to develop. He broke his maiden in the spring of 1996. Rags was still pretty green when we entered in the Gentilly H., but he was well meant and was the favorite. We had high expectations. To say the least, we were a bit disappointed when Rags was a clearly beaten second to a horse named Kazliv. After regrouping, and processing what had just happened, I had to smile.

The betting public threw Kazliv out in their consideration because his form didn't quite fit the competition and his trainer, Winona Champagne, had never won a stakes race. Winona had recently recovered from cancer, and the win in the Gentilly was a tremendous lift for her. The only prouder member of the winner's circle picture was the jockey, her son, Larry Melancon. When Larry recounted his fondest memories in racing at the time of his retirement as a rider, he spoke of the mounts on Rapid Gray, Weekend Surprise and Guided Tour, but the win he was proudest of was Kazliv in the Gentilly H. for his mom. Rags went on to be a multiple stakes winner for us over several years.

In March 2002, we had a nice homebred filly named You'llbeinmyheart. She had won her first three races and looked to be special. The last spot for her to run at Fair Grounds before the close of the race meeting was the Gentilly H. against the boys. We lost our rider to another commitment and needed a replacement. As fate would have it, Larry was available and we were happy to have him. She broke on the lead and Larry throttled her down to make an honest pace for the mile on the turf challenge. When the pack came to her at the head of the lane, he released his cross and turned the whip. She drew off again to win by two lengths. This was a sweet win. You'llbeinmyheart's win complimented what turned out to be Coach Rags's last stakes win in the Dixie Poker Ace S. earlier in March under Shane Sellers's handling.

By 2006, Vickie and I were winding down our horse operation. Our filly Blueyed Lass was foaled out of Coach Rags's half-sister and by Rags's sire, Sky Classic. She was a late bloomer, just like Rags. She had been stakes-placed but had no stakes wins leading up to the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies S. of 2006. Once again, we were happy to secure the services of Larry to ride what would be our last stakes win as owners before we disbanded our stable that year.

I would see Larry in the years after, crossing paths with him with Al Stall, Jr. as an assistant or with Pat Day in his role with Pat's ministry. He had suffered a stroke in 2017, but fought through the effects to continue to maintain a presence in racing.

All but one of these races over the span of years at Fair Grounds were in the month of March. So to me, it was not without irony, in the month of March in early spring which had provided so many pleasant memories, Larry passed away. Perhaps the last win in December foretold more than we knew.

Everyone in racing will really miss the “good” Larry Melancon.

Bryan Krantz is the former owner of Jefferson Downs and Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, and a lifelong Thoroughbred owner and breeder. He is currently a real estate developer and investor in southern Louisiana, and is a perpetual racetrack storyteller.

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The Week in Review: How to Buy a Derby Winner for $1,000

As consignor Christy Whitman remembers, it was deathly quiet when Medina Spirit (Protonico) entered the ring as a yearling at the 2019 OBS Winter Mixed sale. She seemed to be the only one paying any attention to him

“I knew he wasn't going to bring much because no one was looking at him,” she said.

A few minutes later, Medina Spirit would be hers, forever remembered as the GI Kentucky Derby winner who sold for $1,000 as a yearling.

It's the umpteenth reminder about how beautifully unpredictable this sport can be. The Derby field included horses who sold for $525,000, $725,000, $650,000, $950,000, plus a handful of beautifully bred homebreds. But these sons of super sires Tapit, Into Mischief, Curlin and others didn't have what it took to win the Kentucky Derby. A bargain-basement colt did.

“That's what is so great about this sport,” Whitman said. “Anybody could have bought the Derby horse. Anybody could have put up $1,000 and had a Kentucky Derby winner. That's what makes horse racing so special.”

One of Whitman's exercise riders, Jose Gallego, asked her to see if she could buy on his behalf an inexpensive horse that could be sold for a profit at the 2-year-old sales the following year. Whitman had a small budget and modest plans for the purchase.

“I've always been on a bit of a budget and I don't have a lot of money to spend on a horse,” she said. “I kind of have a knack for finding horses everyone else is overlooking, whether they are immature or maybe have a slight issue. I am looking for diamond-in-the-rough horses. I have honed that skill over the years because that's the only way I've been able to get horses bought.”

She realized that Medina Spirit's pedigree page was not a selling point. The sire, Protonico, who never won a Grade I race and stood at the time for $5,000, was hardly in demand. And on the dam's side you had to go back three generations before finding any blacktype. This was the first foal from a mare, Mongolian Changa (Brilliant Speed), who won one of six starts and earned just $25,970.

“He had all the things I look for,” she said. “He was really well balanced, had a really good hip and top line, was decently correct, athletic and had a good walk to him. I really liked the colt and nobody was looking at him and that was because of his page. With the mare there was pretty much no blacktype and it was her first foal. I didn't even know who Prontonico was. I had to look him up. This was a really nice colt, pretty well put together, but I knew he wasn't going to bring much because absolutely no one was looking at him.”

Whitman opened the bidding on Medina Spirit at $1,000. It was the only bid for the horse.

Gallego broke the horse and Whitman had him back in the Ocala sales ring for last year's July 2-Year-Old Sale.

Whitman was starting to believe that the $1,000 yearling had some talent, but she and Gallego stuck to their plan. Medina Spirit worked three furlongs in :33 flat prior to the sale, which, Whitman knew, would mean there would at least be some interest in him. He was bought by Gary Young, the agent for Zedan Racing Stables for $35,000.

“He sold for the $35,000, basically, because he had a good work,” Whitman said. “If he hadn't had that, he would have been a $10,000 2-year-old. I thought $35,000 for a $1,000 yearling was a pretty good turnaround.”

Whitman will occasionally keep a horse and race them, but she never gave that a thought with Medina Spirit.

“If I had kept the horse and raced him, he would have never made it to the Derby,” she said. “It takes a lot of things coming together to make that happen. He's a good horse, but it is important that he wound up with a good trainer in Bob Baffert. Everything fell into place for him.”

Whitman may never again come across another horse like Medina Spirit, but she will keep trying. She looks for horses that have been overlooked for one reason or another and doesn't worry about their breeding.

“One thing I've always been adamant about is that a lot of people overlook a horse for what I would say are stupid reasons, like their page,” she said. “The horses don't know what their pedigree looks like. They don't know what you paid for them. Just because a horse has a great pedigree does not necessarily mean they are going to be a great horse. I very much go for the individual. If I like the horse I don't care about their page. It's always easier to sell a horse who is an athlete, whether it has the pedigree or not.”

Speed Wins

It's no coincidence that Bob Baffert's two most recent Derby winners won the race in wire-to-wire fashion. Baffert and jockey John Velazquez clearly understand the importance of using early speed as a weapon in the Derby.

In five prior starts, Medina Spirit went wire to wire only once, but there he was on the lead at every call for the Derby. Of course, it didn't hurt that Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) got off to a poor start.

A year earlier, it was the same story. Authentic (Into Mischief) wasn't always on the lead in his starts prior to the 2020 Kentucky Derby. But in his Derby, he led every step of the way under Velazquez and had a relatively easy time holding off the heavy favorite Tiz the Law (Constitution).

Kornacki Picks the Winner

Medina Spirit wasn't an easy horse to come up with, but at least one person from the NBC team was not fooled. Working his first-ever Kentucky Derby broadcast, Steve Kornacki nailed it and was the only one from the NBC talent pool who picked the winner.

Kornacki is best known for his work as a national correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, but is also a long-time racing fan and horseplayer. He brought a lot of insights to the broadcast, in particular his explanation of how the $2-million-plus win bet on Essential Quality (Tapit) by Jim McIngvale affected the odds on the other horses.

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Derby Diary: It’s a Wrap

“That's it, time to go home.” – Unnamed Churchill Downs usher, at approximately 7:15 pm EST.

I let those words pass through me after watching our horse Helium run his eyeballs out for over nine of the 10 furlongs, in arguably the most important races of his (and my) career.

A few minutes prior I felt like I was living in an alternate universe. I was so excited when Julien Leparoux guided Helium out of the starting gate to sit a mere 2-3 lengths off the eventual winner, Medina Spirit, cruising the first four furlongs in about 47 seconds. Helium sat chilly for another three furlongs until Two-Year-Old Champion Essential Quality loomed outside of him, when Julien had to ask for more from our colt. To my amazement, Helium initially surged forwardly with that rival and heading into the top of the stretch, it looked as if our boy was in real striking distance of the leaders. At that point I was so laser focused on our maroon and white silks that it seemed as if time was slowing down, even if I could feel the adrenaline in my veins surging. For a few more moments, I honestly thought that Helium was going to hit the board in the Kentucky Derby.

And just like that, all the weeks of planning, strategizing, organizing, corresponding, talking, interviewing, packing, traveling, and handicapping washed away as Helium faded to an eighth-place finish.

Of course, there are many silver linings to this story–first and foremost is that we actually ran a horse in the Kentucky Derby. Helium improved as a racehorse and showed that he can compete with some of the most talented three-year-olds in the country.

So, despite not hitting the board in Saturday's race, I am pleased to report that I did manage to cross some bucket-list Items off my list.

Successfully managed a horse into the Kentucky Derby.
Spent quality time with my family and friends.
Received countless emails, texts and direct messages from well-wishers. I cannot thank you all enough for that.
Inspected and evaluated our 2020 and 2021 foal crops.
Made the fabled pre-Derby pilgrimage from the barn area to the paddock with my father and best friend.

On the flight home from the Kentucky Derby, I couldn't help thinking that emotional hangovers are worse than physical ones. When you consume a bit too much alcohol, you can drink tons of water, throw down a few Advil and even make yourself regurgitate in order to rid yourself of any toxins. But it will take a longer period of time to purge myself of the internal questions about how we could have given Helium a better chance to place in the Derby. This certainly was a great learning experience, and one that I will never forget.

Final thought: I realize how special it is to have one of this year's Kentucky Derby entrants and really tried to embrace every moment of it. I want to thank Sue Finley and everyone at the TDN for providing me with the opportunity to share my inner thoughts with you. And as the Churchill Downs usher so eloquently put it: “That's it, time to go home.”

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