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In The Stud Presented By Kentucky Equine Research: Sharp Azteca, First Crop Weanlings Of 2020

Sharp Azteca was one of the top dirt milers of his generation, and now the son of Freud will aim to pass that talent on to future generations.

In this week's episode of In The Stud, we speak to Tom Hamm of Three Chimneys Farm about the five-time graded stakes winner whose first foals are weanlings of 2020.

Sharp Azteca was a road warrior during his on-track career, with all six of his career stakes wins coming at different racetracks. At three, he took the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile Stakes at Churchill Downs and the non-graded City of Laurel Stakes at Laurel Park, adding an in-the-money effort in the G1 Malibu Stakes.

His best season was at age four, when he claimed the G1 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct, the G2 Gulfstream Park Handicap at Gulfstream Park, the G2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park, and the G3 Monmouth Cup Stakes at Monmouth Park. He also finished second in that year's G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar and the G1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.

Sharp Azteca is out of the unraced Saint Liam mare So Sharp. He hails from the family of Kentucky Oaks winner Seaside Attraction, as well as Canadian champion Key to the Moon, Grade 1 winners Bowies Hero and Gorgeous, and Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line.

The In The Stud series, put together by our friends at EquiSport Photos, features up-and-coming names in the stallion ranks, with a focus on those whose first foals are weanlings of 2020. Paulick Report bloodstock editor Joe Nevills interviews farm staff about the stallion's appealing qualities and what mares might work best with them, while giving viewers and potential breeders a chance to see the stallion on the walk and on the racetrack.

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Champion Comando Intimo The Latest Stallion Killed In Peru

Late last year, a raid on Haras Barlovento in Peru made global headlines when the list of equine casualties included North American-born stallions Cyrus Alexander and The Lieutenant; the latter being a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify.

South American publication Turf Diario reports that the violence has continued at Peru's stud farms, with the latest strike being at Haras El Castillo on the dawn of Sept. 29. The attack claimed the life of 2004 Peruvian Horse of the Year Comando Intimo, along with two other horses on the farm.

According to Turf Diario, early theories by investigators speculate that the attack was conducted by a group aiming to collect and sell the horses' meat.

The stallions at Haras Barlovento were also killed for their meat, according to that farm's social media channels. The attack on Haras Barlovento was so catastrophic to its operation that it announced its exit from the breeding industry less than a week later.

Comando Intimo was one of Peru's biggest native stars on the racetrack, winning seven of 27 starts over the course of five seasons.

He was named Peru's Horse of the Year in 2004, with a campaign that included venturing out to Chile to win the Group 1 Latin American Grand Prix, one of the continent's biggest races. He was also named Peru's champion 3-year-old colt that season, with a domestic win in the Clasico Marina de Guerra del Peru, and in-the-money efforts in the Peruvian Derby and 2,000 Guineas.

Comando Intimo began his stallion career at Haras Barlovento, and he was later moved to Haras El Castillo. The 20-year-old son of Riyadian has been used sparingly at stud, with just 36 foals over nine crops of racing age, according to Peruvian Stud Book records. However, the small sampling of runners has produced several stakes winners.

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Noble Mission, Full-Brother To Frankel, Sold To Stand In Japan

Noble Mission, a full-brother to the great Frankel and sire of Grade 1 winner Code of Honor, has been sold to stand in Japan, per a statement from the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association.

The release states that the 11-year-old son of Galileo will ship to Japan in late November, and he will take up residence at Shizunai Stallion Station in December, following import quarantine.

Noble Mission stood his first six seasons at Lane's End in Versailles, Ky., where he was advertised in 2020 for a fee of $20,000. He is best known as the sire of Code of Honor, the winner of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, and runner-up in the 2019 Kentucky Derby hailing from his sire's first crop.

Other notable runners among Noble Mission's 73 winners include Spanish Mission, a Group 2 winner in England, and stakes winners Life Mission and Laafy.

A British homebred for the Juddmonte Farms operation, Noble Mission is out of the Group 3-placed stakes-winning Danehill mare Kind, making him a full-brother to the undefeated European champion Frankel, and a half to Group 3 winner Bullet Train and stakes winner Joyeuse.

Noble Mission won nine of 21 starts for earnings of $2,202,887, including the Group 3 Gordon Stakes as a 3-year-old, and the Tapster Stakes at four. He took his game to another level at five, earning Europe's Cartier champion older horse honors in 2014 on a campaign that included victories in the G1 Champion Stakes in England, the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in France, and the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland. He also finished second in the German G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen to add even more international flavor.

The Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association is a regular buyer of U.S. stallions and stallion prospects, with a roster of expats that currently includes Animal Kingdom, Declaration of War, Creator, Eskendereya, Cape Blanco, Aldebaran, David Junior, Came Home, and Squirtle Squirt.

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Gift Box Retired To Stand At Lane’s End In 2021

Grade 1 winning millionaire Gift Box has been retired from racing and will begin his new career as a stallion at Lane's End starting in 2021.

The colt retires as a Grade-1 and three-time graded stakes winner with a record of 18-6-6-2 from the ages of two to six. In 2019, Gift Box was among the leading older horses in America after a string of graded stakes performances that included a Grade 1 victory in the Santa Anita Handicap. He retires as the highest-earning colt by his leading sixth-crop sire Twirling Candy. He will join his sire, along with his grandsire Candy Ride, who both also stand at Lane's End.

“Gift Box was an incredibly talented and consistent racehorse,” said John Sadler. “We ran him back-to-back in graded stakes race after graded stakes race and he was only ever off the board once. These are attributes you do not often see in the modern racehorse. He had speed, toughness, sound enough to race on in the handicap division, everything a trainer wants in a two-turn dirt horse.”

As a 2-year-old Gift Box broke his maiden at Belmont posting a 93 Beyer before targeting the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes in his next start, where he was beaten by just three lengths into third. In doing so, he became a graded stakes performer in just his third start as a 2-year-old.

Gift Box opened his 3-year-old campaign with a victory in a competitive allowance race at Belmont by 4 1/2 lengths, posting a 98 Beyer. His next start that year came in the Curlin Stakes where he was defeated by subsequent Grade 1 winner Connect. Just a month later he finished fourth in the G1 Travers at Saratoga to Champion Arrogate, defeating Grade 1 winners Connect, Creator and Exaggerator.

“Gift Box represents so much of what we're about at Lane's End. A Grade 1 winner at a mile and a quarter on the dirt, speed, out of a tremendous mare from a sire line we believe in,” said Bill Farish. “That's what we've been successful with and I'm appreciative of the opportunity Hronis Racing has given us.”

Gift Box's career hit new heights as an older horse when he got a much-deserved graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita defeating Grade 1 winner Battle of Midway. This race was the first of four further graded stakes starts that only saw Gift Box off the board once. His next start came in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap where he defeated four-time Grade 1 winner McKinzie. In his next start he finished second in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, posting a 105 Beyer before winning the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes in his final start by almost 4 lengths, posting a career high 107 Beyer. Gift Box posted four triple-digit Beyers in a career that saw three graded stakes victories.

“Gift Box was always involved in races of the highest level and as owners we could not ask any more than that,” said Kosta Hronis. “John [Sadler] always had a tremendous amount of confidence in him, and time and time again Gift Box proved him right. We are going to stay involved in his next career as a stallion at Lane's End, where they have a proven track record of nurturing a young stallion's career.”

Bred by Craig and Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall, Gift Box was a $135,000 Keeneland November purchase. He is out of the Unbridled's Song mare Special Me. His pedigree is free of Storm Cat and A.P. Indy which will be appealing to breeders as both have been a proven success with Candy Ride and Twirling Candy, producing the likes of Grade 1 winner Collusion Illusion.

Gift Box will be syndicated and available for inspection in the coming weeks at Lane's End Farm and a stud fee will be determined.

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