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Taking Stock: Gun Runner Flexes Candy Ride/Storm Cat Nick

Two sons of Candy Ride (Arg)–Gun Runner and Twirling Candy–were represented by three 2-year-old Grade l winners over the weekend, and do you know one thing they had in common? Each was produced by a Storm Cat-line mare. This affinity for the Storm Cat line was also an important feature of Candy Ride's own success, and breeders appear to be copying that formula with his sons. It's not surprising; it's something that usually happens when a stallion is successful with the females of another sire line, and this type of repetition of a successful pattern is what's known as a nick–something that's been around as long as people have been breeding racehorses.

Three Chimneys's Gun Runner, whose first crop is two, was represented by two of the top-level winners: Gl Hopeful winner Gunite, from black-type winner Simple Surprise, a daughter of Cowboy Cal (by Giant's Causeway, a son of Storm Cat); and Gl Spinaway winner Echo Zulu, out of Gll winner Letgomyecho, by Menifee (by Harlan, a son of Storm Cat).

Lane's End's Twirling Candy, the best and most proven son of Candy Ride to date, is the sire of Gl Del Mar Futurity winner Pinehurst, who's from unplaced Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway. Note that Twirling Candy's current Gl Preakness winner Rombauer is bred similarly. Rombauer's dam is by Cowboy Cal, who as noted above is by Giant's Causeway.

Giant's Causeway is also the broodmare sire of Gun Runner, making Gun Runner a product of the same Candy Ride/Storm Cat nick as his Grade l winners. However, when Gun Runner is bred to mares with either Giant's Causeway or Storm Cat in their pedigrees, a duplication to one or the other takes place. Essentially, breeders who send Storm Cat-line mares to Gun Runner are copying the pattern that produced him and are consciously inbreeding as well to Storm Cat, one of the great modern stallions, or to his best racing and sire son Giant's Causeway, if a mare by the latter or one of his sons is used.

Gunite is inbred 3×3 to Giant's Causeway, and Echo Zulu is 4×4 to Storm Cat.

Gun Runner's wins included the Breeders' Cup Classic during his 2017 Horse of the Year campaign | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

For Gun Runner, getting two Grade l-winning 2-year-olds in the first crop is a big deal, and this achievement marks the Horse of the Year, who was best at four and five, as something special. It's natural to expect that his offspring should continue to get better with age, giving him a high ceiling to anticipate.

But there's more to Gun Runner already. He also has two Grade ll winners, and their dam's pedigrees also contain Storm Cat. Pappacap, winner of the Gll Best Pal, is from a Glll-placed daughter of Scat Daddy (Johannesburg/Hennessy/Storm Cat), making him 4×5 to Storm Cat; and Wicked Halo, who won the Gll Adirondack, is out of the Tapit mare Just Wicked, who also won the Adirondack. Just Wicked's dam, black-type winner Wicked Deed, is by Harlan's Holiday (Harlan), and Wicked Halo, therefore, is 4×5 to Storm Cat.

Three of these four–Gunite, Echo Zulu, and Wicked Halo–are raced by Winchell Thoroughbreds, which raced Gun Runner in partnership with Three Chimneys. Winchell also raced Tapit, and it's no surprise that Wicked Halo is a homebred from a mare by their standout Gainesway sire. Winchell bred Gunite and bought Echo Zulu, a half-sister to Gl winner Echo Town (Speightstown) and Glll winner J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), for $300,000 as a Keeneland September yearling.

Steve Asmussen trained Gun Runner, and he trains the Winchell trio.

Sire Clusters

First off, let me say that by speaking of the stallions in a pedigree, I'm not diminishing the importance of physical attributes nor the contributions of the female family, which is as important. The dam of Echo Zulu, for example, was already an accomplished black-type producer before her Gun Runner filly won at the highest level.

And Gun Runner, an attractive and refined 16.2-hand specimen, himself is a product of a great female line that stretches back for generations full of high-class runners. Closer up, Gun Runner is from Grade ll winner Quiet Giant–a half-sister to Horse of the Year Saint Liam and fellow Three Chimneys stallion and Grade l winner Funtastic.

However, stallions have exponentially more foals than mares, and sire patterns–not just nicks, or sire-line crosses, as they are also known, but also clusters of favorable sires–are more easily discernible in pedigrees.

Lane's End stalwart Candy Ride | Lane's End

Candy Ride is a Fappiano-line stallion from an unusual path (Ride the Rails/ Cryptoclearance/ Fappiano), and he's had success with other lines aside from Storm Cat, such as with A.P. Indy and Fappiano himself through other, more familiar branches.

Gun Runner, for example, is bred on the Candy Ride/Storm Cat sire-line cross, but his dam also has Fappiano in her pedigree, making Gun Runner 4×4 to Fappiano. Therefore, in his case, the cluster of Storm Cat and Fappiano form a favorable basis.

Current 3-year-old Candy Ride Grade l winner Rock Your World is from an Empire Maker (Unbridled/Fappiano) mare whose dam is by Giant's Causeway; therefore, he's also 4×4 to Fappiano with Storm Cat present in the pedigree though Giant's Causeway.

Grade l winner Mastery, a son of Candy Ride at Claiborne with first-crop 2-year-olds, is from a mare by Old Trieste (A.P. Indy) whose dam is by Storm Cat.

The aforementioned Gun Runner 2-year-old Grade l winner Gunite is from a Cowboy Cal (Giant's Causeway) mare and the next dam is by Pulpit (A.P. Indy).

And the Gun Runner filly Wicked Halo, noted earlier from the Tapit (Pulpit/A.P. Indy) mare, not only has Storm Cat in the pedigree but also Fappiano through Tapit's broodmare sire Unbridled, making her 5x5x5 to Fappiano in addition to 4×5 Storm Cat. She's got a three-strong sire cluster of Storm Cat, Fappiano, and A.P. Indy girding her pedigree.

Candy Ride Stallions

Earlier this summer, I wrote about the investment in Candy Ride stallions that stud farms in Kentucky and in regional areas have made. One of the stallions mentioned is Unified, who has his first 2-year-olds racing this year. The Lane's End-based sire is represented so far by two black-type winners, Roger McQueen and Behave Virginia. The former is out of a Storm Cat-line mare and has Fappiano in the dam's pedigree (5×4 Fappiano); the latter is from a Mineshaft (A.P. Indy) mare and also has Fappiano in the dam's pedigree (5×4 Fappiano).

I also wrote about the once-raced Candy Ride stallion Valiant Minister at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. Valiant Minister is the sire of Outfoxed, a filly who won the restricted $200,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Susan's Girl S. at the end of last month and looks like a future open company stakes winner. Though her sire stands for $3,000, she was a $360,000 OBS April 2-year-old. Her broodmare sire? It's former Florida stallion Kantharos (Lion Heart/Tale of the Cat/Storm Cat), who is a Storm Cat-line horse.

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

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Stallion Manager Bill Sellers To Retire From Lane’s End

Lane's End Farm's longtime Stallion Manager, Bill Sellers, will retire in September of this year after 39 years of service to the farm. Bill has overseen the management and care of influential Lane's End stallions including the legendary A.P. Indy, champion sires Kingmambo, Smart Strike, Dixieland Band, Gulch, Lemon Drop Kid, Mineshaft and City Zip in addition to current top stallions Quality Road, Candy Ride (ARG), Union Rags and Twirling Candy.

Bill has been a valued member of the Lane's End Farm team since 1982, when he was hired in a foreman capacity to work with the farm's first yearling crop and with mares and foals. He became stallion manager at the beginning of the development of the Lane's End stallion division in 1985. In this position, Bill established the foundation of best practices that would ensure the health and safety of the stallions and result in smooth management of the breeding shed.

Will Farish, Lane's End Farm owner, said: “Bill Sellers has contributed significantly to the success of Lane's End as a leading Thoroughbred breeding farm. Billy's exceptional diligence and hard work have been instrumental in building the Lane's End stallion division into a world renowned operation known for the highest level of horse care and management. We take this opportunity to thank Billy for dedicating his career to Lane's End Farm. We will miss him greatly and wish him the very best in his retirement.”

The post Stallion Manager Bill Sellers To Retire From Lane’s End appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Report: Preakness Winner Rombauer To Get Freshening, To Race As 4-Year-Old

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer, 3 1/2-length winner of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes on May 15, is being sent to Peacefield Farm in Temecula, Calif., for a freshening of at least 60 days, according to a report by Jay Privman in Daily Racing Form.

Trainer Michael McCarthy said of the Twirling Candy colt: “He just hasn't been as sharp coming out of the Belmont. We didn't think the right thing to do was push it. He's done a lot for us. We'll do whatever he needs.”

Rombauer has raced four times this year, starting with a victory in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California on Feb. 13. He shipped to Kentucky for the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 3, finishing third, then returned to his base at Santa Anita to train up to the Triple Crown races.

The Fradkins opted to skip the G1 Kentucky Derby and instead point Rombauer for the Preakness, where he defeated Midnight Bourbon and Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit with a powerful stretch run.

He then finished third, beaten 12 1/2 lengths, by Essential Quality in the G1 Belmont Stakes on June 5.

Rombauer returned to the work tab June 25, going a half mile at Santa Anita, then recorded two additional five-furlong breezes on July 2 and 9.

McCarthy told Daily Racing Form that Rombauer will return to training in the fall and be pointed for a 4-year-old campaign, with the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup early season goals for the Kentucky-bred colt.

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Taking Stock: Unified, Mohaymen, Gormley the Ones to Watch

I noted on Steve Byk's “At the Races” radio show last Wednesday that some stallions that enter stud for between $10,000 and $20,000 occasionally punch above their weight and find lasting success. The in-your-face examples of this are Into Mischief, Tapit, and War Front, three of the best and most expensive horses at stud, but others that have fit the profile through the years include Distorted Humor, Candy Ride (Arg), Elusive Quality, Munnings and Twirling Candy.

Twirling Candy, a son of Candy Ride, was recently profiled in this space along with other Kentucky-based sons of the Argentine import, including freshman sire Unified, who was represented by his first black-type winner on Saturday when Behave Virginia won the Listed Debutante S. at Churchill Downs.

A Grade ll winner at three and a Grade lll winner at four who was also Grade l-placed, Unified began his career for $10,000 like his sire and stands alongside him at Lane's End. So far, he's represented by only the one winner, but she's a good one and trainer Kenny McPeek, who has a way with fillies, has an eye on the Glll Pocahontas, the Gl Alcibiades, and the Gl Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Gormley, a Grade l winner at two and three, and Mohaymen, an undefeated multiple Grade ll winner at two and a multiple Grade ll winner at three who cost his connections $2.2 million as a yearling, are two others in the news that entered stud relatively inexpensively.

Standing at Shadwell, Mohaymen is a Tapit half-brother to Grade l winner New Year's Day, the sire of champion Maximum Security. He has five winners to date, including a maiden special winner at Laurel on Saturday. Mohaymen has stood for a $7,500 fee, and so far just the Scat Daddy horse Caravaggio, who began his career at Coolmore in Ireland for the equivalent of about $40,000 before moving this year to Coolmore America, has more winners, with eight. Three Chimneys-based Horse of the Year Gun Runner, another son of Candy Ride, also has five winners, but he covered mares in his first year for $70,000 and was the second-most expensive horse to enter stud in 2018, behind only the late Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) at $75,000.

Stallions like Mohaymen that begin for less than $10,000 tend to have a harder struggle to succeed than those between $10,000 and $20,000, but some active success stories to do so include Claiborne's Flatter, a son of A.P. Indy who started for $5,000; and Hill 'n' Dale's Maclean's Music, a son of Distorted Humor who began for $6,500.

Speaking of cheap fees, Spendthrift's Gormley is by the farm's recently deceased A.P. Indy horse Malibu Moon, who was a foundation stallion for B. Wayne Hughes and the sire of Gl Kentucky Derby winner Orb. Malibu Moon initially stood for $3,000 at Country Life in Maryland. Gormley started for $10,000, and, like Unified and Mohaymen, had a winner on Saturday, in a maiden special at Belmont. He has four winners to date.

Stud fee, of course, is a reflection of mare quality, and in broad terms a stallion's short- and long-term success is dependent on good books of mares that complement the horse by physique, race record, and pedigree. You never know until it happens which stallions have the ability to upgrade their mares, but one early sign is a relatively inexpensive horse hitting with quality maiden special and stakes winners, and this is notable because it happens infrequently. Sometimes, these types of horses will also telegraph a year or two earlier what's about to come with expensive yearlings or juveniles far above what's expected on stud fee.

Gormley, for instance, had juveniles sell this year for $550,000, $450,000, and $425,000. The highest priced of these is Headline Report, who won an April maiden special at Keeneland for owner Breeze Easy and trainer Wesley Ward and just registered a bullet five-furlong breeze at Keeneland on Monday. Ward must like Gormley, because he also owns and trains the 2-year-old filly Guajira, who won a $50,000 maiden claimer at Churchill in May. And Guajira, in contrast to Headline Report, was a $3,000 yearling, showing that Gormley can hit from both ends of the spectrum.

Unified had two juveniles bring $530,000 and $400,000, and last year had a yearling make $450,000, though that colt has since died. His stakes winner Behave Virginia was successfully pinhooked from a $30,000 weanling to a $115,000 yearling and is now the winner of both her starts.

Mohaymen didn't have the big-priced 2-year-olds, but he did have five that made six figures, and his 25 juveniles to sell averaged $70,600, which is certainly respectable for his stud fee.

Expensive horses get the best mares, and their success is almost always anticipated because of mare quality. Those that don't meet expectations with their first crops–and, let's face it, most don't–go down the drain fairly quickly, because their subsequent crops are almost always produced from lesser-quality mares. In other words, for most stallions it's easier to find success with the first of their first four crops, and first-crop success means that a stallion will be rewarded with better mares in his fifth crop as breeders patronize him after a successful first year of 2-year-olds, thereby giving him the ability to survive the vagaries of the commercial marketplace and extend his career. This is why stallion managers front load their first-season horses.

Obviously, it's way too early to tell if Unified, Gormley, and Mohaymen will be able to sustain the promise they are showing, but they'll be fun to watch as 2-year-old racing heats up in the second half of the season and the heavier hitters of the freshman class start to flex.

Khalid Mishref Alkahtani
Saudi Arabian Khalid Mishref Alkahtani is the breeder of Behave Virginia. He'd bought her dam, the Mineshaft mare She's Behaving, for $15,000 at Keeneland November 2018, while she was carrying the future black-type winner. She was one of 15 mares he purchased at the sale through agent Bruno DeBerdt, and another was the More Than Ready mare Quick Thinker for $45,000. That mare is the dam of the Gormley winner Think Blue, who he also bred. And Think Blue was an even cheaper yearling than Ward's Guajira, selling for $1,500. When the cheap horses win, the more expensive ones start to look better, don't they?

Khalid Mishref Alkahtani obviously likes young stallions in the $10,000 to $20,000 range, because he also bought the Paddy O'Prado mare My Miss Kallie for $37,000 carrying a foal from the second crop of Taylor Made's Not This Time (Giant's Causeway). That foal, now named Last Leaf, won a maiden special at Gulfstream a few weeks ago, and Not This Time now appears well on his way to a successful career after his first-crop 2-year-olds made the grade last season. In fact, his first-crop son Next, also trained by Ward, became a black-type winner for the first time on Saturday when taking the Listed War Chant S. at Churchill.

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

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