Stallions | Horse Racing Free Tips

The 2022 Foal Crop Dips Again, by 2.2%

The Jockey Club (TJC) announced Wednesday that breedings in 2021 have resulted in 18,609 live foals of 2022. At this same time last year, The Jockey Club reported that the breedings had resulted in 19,021 live foals, which marks a year-over-year decline of 2.2%. The foal crop has declined every year since 2015 and was at 35,274 as recently as 2008.

The Jockey Club estimated that the number of live foals reported so far is 85-90% complete.

In total, 1,303 stallions covered 29,065 mares, according to statistics compiled through Oct. 6. The number of stallions declined from the 1,447 that were active in the preceding year, a drop of 10%, and the number of mares bred declined by 2.1%.

Kentucky was once again the runaway leader when it comes to Thoroughbred breeding activity, accounting for 57.8% of the mares reported to be bred in North America and 61.6 % of the live foals. A total of 16,796 mares were bred to 207 different Kentucky-based stallions, producing 11,460 live foals, for a 0.7% decrease over figures from the previous year. However, the number of mares bred to Kentucky stallions showed a slight increase of 1.9%.

Among the 10 states and provinces that were among the top 10 in terms of mares covered, four–California, Ontario, Oklahoma and Indiana–produced more live foals in 2022 than in 2021. Indiana had the biggest gain, with the number of live foals reported going up by 20.3%.

Outside of Kentucky, California was the leader in number of mares bred with 1,939. Florida was next with 1,617.

The Coolmore stallion Practical Joke (Into Mischief) led all stallions in the category of mares bred. He was bred to 231 mares. Second on the list was Goldencents (Into Mischief) at 230. Showing the popularity of sons of Into Mischief, Authentic (Into Mischief), in what will be his first crop, was next at 229 mares. Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}), also a first-crop sire, came in fourth, having been bred to 222 mares. Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor) was next at 221, making a remarkable jump after being bred to 57 mares the prior year.

Still another son of Into Mischief (Honest Mischief) led the way in the category of non-Kentucky-based sires. Standing in New York, he was bred to 127 mares.

Twelve stallions were bred to 200 or more mares and 43 were bred to 140 or mares, which exceeds the cap The Jockey Club had attempted to impose to encourage diversity in the breed.

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Claiborne’s First-Crop Sires Send Strong Contingent to Keeneland

Following the passing of world-renowned international stallion More Than Ready this summer, four of his sons now stand in Kentucky in the hopes of carrying the torch for their accomplished sire.

Among them, Catholic Boy holds the distinction of earning Grade I victories on two surfaces. After collecting six graded wins over his three-year racing campaign, Catholic Boy launched his stud career at Claiborne Farm in 2020. The farm's Walker Hancock said that the $2.1 million earner, who is out a daughter of productive broodmare sire Bernardini, has all the criteria to replicate his sire's success.

“He has turned into a really gorgeous sire,” Hancock said. “He has the perfect mix of More Than Ready and Bernardini, which I think is appealing to breeders. He really fits the mold of a great stallion and we look for him to continue More Than Ready's legacy.”

The picture of versatility on the racetrack, Catholic Boy won the GIII With Anticipation S. at two in his second career start for Jonathan Thomas and then switched to dirt to take the GII Remsen S. As a sophomore, he tallied turf scores in the GIII Pennine Ridge S. and GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. and got his signature dirt Grade I in the 2018 Runhappy Travers S. He returned to the grass at four to take the GII Dixie S.

Launched at a stud fee of $25,000, Catholic Boy bred over 130 mares in his debut at Claiborne. This year his first crop of yearlings will go through the sales ring, but which surface will they ultimately excel on?

“They're kind of across the board,” Hancock explained. “They're a bit like More Than Ready in that you can get bay and chestnut, big and small. You can look at one Catholic Boy and say that this one looks like it's going to be dirt and then you look at the next one and say this one is going to be turf. He's really providing that versatility through his offspring that we saw him have on the track.”

At the breeding stock sales, Catholic Boy's first weanlings averaged over $60,000. With 20 of 24 sold, five youngsters sold for six figures. The Claiborne sire will be represented by nearly 60 yearlings at the Keeneland September Sale. Within that group, Claiborne will offer two in Book 2. Hancock said the pair is an accurate representation of the versatility Catholic Boy seems to be throwing.

Hip 714, a Catholic Boy colt out of Line (War Front) | Sara Gordon

Hip 638 is a filly out of the winning Speightstown mare Fashion Week. The yearling's second dam is Grade I-placed Theyskens' Theory (Bernardini), a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion Stevie Wonderboy (Stephen Got Even).

“We've had buyers come to the farm over the last two weeks and every single one of them seem to really like her,” Hancock said of the filly. “She has a real presence about her. She's a really pretty individual and she looks like she'll hopefully be one of Catholic Boy's highest-priced yearlings.”

Hip 714 is a colt out of the winning War Front mare Line, who hails from a long line of Claiborne-bred broodmares. Line's dam Wend (Pulpit) was a three-time graded winner on grass.

“It looks like he'll have a little turf influence in his athletic abilities,” Hancock explained. “We're really pleased with how he has progressed. He has really blossomed with sales prep and I think buyers will be pleased with what they see.”

As the son of a War Front mare, this colt is a result of the matings that Claiborne envisioned when they brought Catholic Boy to the farm with the hope of supporting broodmares by their flagbearing sire.

“One of our draws with Catholic Boy was that we have a lot of War Front mares and More Than Ready crosses really well with Danzig,” Hancock noted. “[The cross] has had a ton of success in Australia especially and I think we'll see it more and more here in America hopefully in the next couple of years. It's a good cross because some of the War Front mares aren't the biggest and leggiest, but Catholic Boy is really providing the kind of size and leg they might need.”

Claiborne will showcase yearlings by a second first-crop sire at Keeneland September with Demarchelier, who has over a dozen youngsters cataloged for the auction.

A regally-bred son of Dubawi–and the only stallion in Kentucky by the globally-successful Darley sire–Demarchelier was a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut for Peter Brant and Chad Brown in his lone juvenile start. At three, he defeated allowance company on the Keeneland turf and then showed an impressive turn of foot to take the GIII Pennine Ridge S. After incurring a career-ending injury in his next start, he retired to Claiborne.

Demarchelier strikes a pose | Sara Gordon

Hancock said their team was not sure how the talented bay would be received by the market with his short-but-impeccable turf resume, but he shared that they were thrilled with how breeders responded to the new stallion, who has stood for a fee of $5,000 in his first three years at stud.

“Demarchelier bred 102 mares in his first crop, which we were more than happy with,” Hancock said. “[Despite] being a horse that was just three for three and with a very European pedigree, he really wasn't that hard of a sell thanks to Dubawi doing so well as an international sire. Peter Brant supported him heavily and he always told us that the horse had a ton of ability.”

While Catholic Boy seems to be throwing an array of types with his progeny, Hancock said that Demarchelier is definitely stamping his offspring.

“Every single one of them looks exactly like him. They're not the biggest, but they're really good movers. They look like they're going to be very turfy. If you've seen Dubawi, Demarchelier has a lot of his characteristics. Obviously Dubawi's sons are really excelling in Europe and we expect Demarchelier to do that here too. We have a lot of really good breeders behind the horse and I think when they hit the racetrack this time next year, they'll speak for themselves.”

For more TDN Features on first-crop yearling sires, click here.

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First-Crop Yearling Previews: Omaha Beach

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out past editions of our series here.

Omaha Beach (War Front–Charming, by Seeking the Gold) set the bar high for this year's class of first-crop yearlings stallions at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where five of his progeny sold and averaged $236,000. His top lot, a Spendthrift-bred daughter of Grade III winner Gas Station Sushi (Into Mischief), brought $410,000 and was the highest-priced filly by any sire at the one-day auction.

“When we went out to Fasig July, we were extremely happy with what we were seeing,” Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker reported. “It was fun for us to watch them. They were nice-sized horses–not overly big, but very correct with good bodies.”

Toothaker explained how he thinks of Omaha Beach as the first horse Spendthrift took a big swing for when they began seeking out some of the most in-demand stallion prospects in recent years. He remembers visiting the Fox Hill Farms-campaigned colt in the days between his nine-length maiden-breaking score and his victory over juvenile champion Game Winner in the GII Rebel S.

“When Richard Mandella told me that Omaha Beach was the best horse he'd ever had in his barn, it didn't take long to get back here and say that we needed to figure out a way to get this thing done,” Toothaker recalled. “With the amount of ability that this horse had to go along with his great looks and pedigree, Omaha Beach was just the entire package.”

The winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and morning-line favorite for the 2019 Kentucky Derby was sidelined before his Derby bid due to an entrapped epiglottis, but returned later in his sophomore season to defeat Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., run second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and cap off his career with an easy victory in the GI Malibu S.

Launched at a stud fee of $45,000, Omaha Beach bred 215 mares in each of his first two seasons at stud. Toothaker said that the initial demand for the regally-bred son of War Front was unprecedented in Spendthrift's history.

Mill Ridge Farm's Saratoga-bound Omaha Beach colt out of Savannah Sky | Sara Gordon

“We've never had a horse have 600 requests for seasons in his first year,” Toothaker explained. “I don't know that we've ever had a horse get that kind of book to get them started. With the type of mares that he got in his first year, there's no telling what this first crop can do because the potential is crazy.”

Omaha Beach's first crop was in demand as weanlings, with 19 of 24 selling to average $112,736 and stamp their sire as the number one freshman stallion by weanling average. His top-selling weanling, a colt out of stakes producer North Freeway (Jump Start), sold for $200,000.

At next week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Omaha Beach will be represented by six yearlings. The first to go through the ring will be Hip 36, a filly out of Peter Blum's stakes-placed homebred Night Time Lady (Midnight Lute).

“She was a late foal, but she still has lots of size,” agent Bridie Harrison said of the late April-foaled yearling. “She has great bone, great substance and a really good walk. We like her a lot.”

Harrison reported that Blum has been a strong supporter of Omaha Beach throughout the stallion's first years at stud.

“Peter fell in love with Omaha Beach when he saw him in Richard Mandella's barn in California,” she said. “He thought he was a big, strong, beautiful horse with a great temperament. We bred a few mares to Omaha Beach and I like all the foals. Omaha Beach added a lot of size to our mares. Every one of our Omaha Beach foals are taller than most of the mares' other foals. They have lots of substance and bone and they're strong, rangy-type horses.”

Also during the first session of the Saratoga Sale, Mill Ridge Farm will send Hip 67 through the ring. The Omaha Beach colt out of the winning Sky Mesa mare Savannah Sky was a $140,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Sale.

“We liked this colt from the get-go,” Mill Ridge's Headley Bell explained. “His presence and athleticism was really everything that you look for in a horse. We couldn't be more pleased with him. We've always been big fans of Omaha Beach. Two years ago, we bred 12 mares to the horse with our clients.”

Other yearlings by Omaha Beach at the same sale include Hip 41, a half-brother to GSW & MGISP Pappacap (Gun Runner); Hip 93, a New York-bred half-sister to MGSW Highway Star (Girolamo) and MSW Captain Bombastic (Forty Tales); Hip 196, also a New York-bred and a half-sister to MSW Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible) and current stakes performer Venti Valentine (Firing Line); and Hip 205, a filly out of Hot Water (Medaglia d'Oro), the dam of this year's GIII Ben Ali S. and GIII Michelob Ultra Challenger S. winner Scalding (Nyquist).

Omaha Beach will have four additional yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale.

As the young stallion's first crop begin to make their way to the track next year, Toothaker said he looks for Omaha Beach's progeny to show speed right out of the gate as juveniles.

“With his speed, he was able to win a Grade I going six furlongs and also lay very close in all of his two-turn races. With his pedigree, your hope is that he turns out to be a Classic sire, but that he's also going to be able to throw horses with enough speed that I think you'll see plenty of them be well received at the 2-year-old sales.”

Hailing from one of the most influential dirt families in recent years, Omaha Beach is a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). His second dam, 2013 Broodmare of the Year and MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), has now produced three Grade I winners while her daughter I'll Take Charge (Indian Charlie) is the dam of recent GIII Dwyer S. winner Charge It (Tapit).

“It's one of those female families that is just going to keep getting bigger and better,” Toothaker said. “It's as good as there is in the stallion book. Omaha Beach was a really good dirt horse out of a really good dirt female family, but he's by one of the best sprinters and now turf sires out there. It's an interesting combination and we look forward to seeing what they do on the track.”

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Nine Wild Cards Added To Arqana Summer Sale

The Arqana Summer Sale grew by nine lots, as more wild cards were added on Tuesday. One of the new lots, the Bated Breath (GB) horse Makaloun (Fr) (lot 236a), will be offered by The Aga Khan Studs. The dual Group 3 winner was also third in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Haras des Capucines will send Tosia (Ger) (Big Shuffle) (lot 295A) through the ring. She is already the dam of listed winner Think of Me (Ger) (So You Think {NZ}) and the 14-year-old is in foal to Zelzal (Fr). Another wild card is the Listed Prix Isonomy runner-up Saving Grace (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) (lot 440) from the Fabrice Chappet yard. Rounding out the Flat lots is Style Beauty (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}) (lot 441), who was second in the Listed Prix Caravelle. Consigned by Satoshi Kobayashi, she is from the family of Grade I winner A P Valentine (A.P. Indy).

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