Bred by Alfredo Gastaneta, the bay colt is out of the Declaration of War mare Andavete, a half-sister to 2020 GI Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Mr. Big News (Giant's Causeway) and hailing from the immediate family of champion sire Saint Ballado.

“This is a good size colt with good bone and leg underneath him,” said Fernando Macchiavello, agent for Alfredo Gastaneta. “He looks like an Uncle Mo, with that hip and balance and long legs. He has that look to him.”

Mo Donegal joined Nyquist as classic-winning sons of leading sire Uncle Mo when he captured his biggest win in the 2022 GI Belmont S. Campaigned by trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Repole Stable and Donegal Racing, Mo Donegal also won the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct, defeating Grade I winner Zandon (Upstart), and the GII Wood Memorial S. over classic winner Early Voting (Gun Runner).

Mo Donegal retired to Spendthrift with earnings of $1,511,800. He bred 186 mares in his first book in 2023 and is set to stand his second season for a fee of $15,000 S&N.

For more information about Mo Donegal, please contact Des, Mark, Brian or Daniel at 859-294-0030, or click here.

The post Classic Winner Mo Donegal Celebrates A Colt As His First Foal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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TAIBA (5, Gun Runner – Needmore Flatter, by Flatter)

   Standing for an introductory fee of $35,000, this son of Gun Runner trained by Bob Baffert and campaigned by Zedan Racing Stables was a leading 3-year-old in 2022 with three Grade I victories on his resume.

KP: A seven-figure 2-year-old and a TDN Rising Star in his debut, it's fair to say that expectations were high for Taiba from the start. How did he rise to those?

MT: Taiba certainly got the whole racing world on edge when he brought $1.7 million at the 2-year-old sales. Being by Gun Runner out of a Flatter mare, he is a gorgeous horse. He probably has more bone and body than any Gun Runner that I've seen.

Taiba got off to such a start as a TDN Rising Star. It was just one of those races that gives you chill bumps. He won so effortlessly and so easily that day and then to come back in start two in the GI Santa Anita Derby, doing something he'd never done before going a mile and an eighth, and be able to win the way he did just lets you know right off the bat that this horse is as talented as maybe anything we've seen in a while.

From there, he would go on to win the GI Pennsylvania Derby in impressive fashion and he closed out his 3-year-old year with a win in the GI Malibu S. He was a very talented horse to be able to do what he did early on, but still be good late in the year. It was asking a lot of him, but it tells you how mentally tough that horse was.

KP: You said he stands out from other progeny of Gun Runner physically. How so?

MT: I think it's just his body. He's got a great way of moving, but he's got a lot of bone and a lot of muscle. I've had many people out here tell me that they've not seen another Gun Runner with a body like that.

His dam was in the Night of the Stars Sale. She was a mare that had tons of bone and tons of substance to her. Anybody out there that got a chance to peek at her can see what Taiba got.

KP: Last year you added dual Grade I winner Cyberknife to your roster and now this year you have Taiba. What has the demand been like in offering two new sons of Gun Runner to breeders within two years?

MT: Well we say around here that you can't have too much Into Mischief blood, but you also can't have too much Gun Runner blood.

When we had a chance to go get these two horses, we bought them both during the same year. We knew they wanted to run Taiba again as a 4-year-old and so that fit our program fine with them doing that. We were able to get Cyberknife 223 mares last year. He was a great breeder, a very fertile horse. Now we have Taiba standing for $35,000 and he sold out in about an hour. It was crazy, the demand for him. We've got him at 180 mares. We'll get to mid-April and see how he's breeding and if it's going well, we'll slide some more in.

Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in 2024 | Sarah Andrew

ARABIAN LION (4, Justify – Unbound, by Distorted Humor)

   This speedy son of Justify was his sire's first Grade I winner when he edged away to win the 2023 GI Woody Stephens. Another TDN Rising Star for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables, Arabian Lion will stand for $30,000 in his debut season.

KR: Speaking of red hot stallions, this year you have the first son of Justify to retire in Kentucky.

MT: We were so excited to be able to get Arabian Lion because of him being a son of Justify. We have Bolt d'Oro here that was in a great battle with Justify and Good Magic for leading freshman sire in 2022. We were thrilled that Bolt wound up coming out on top and then in 2023, it was all just Justify, Justify, Justify. So you tip your hat to that horse on the year that he's had that culminated with what he did out at the Breeders' Cup.

For us to be able to go out and get a Grade I-winning son of one of the hottest stallions here in North America–plus the success he's had in Europe and Australia–it's a very cool thing. But what makes him even more special is that his female family is all a Phipps family. His mother is a Distorted Humor mare that was stakes placed. His third dam is the great Personal Ensign. So when you back up that this horse ran a 109 Beyer when he won the Woody Stephens and he's by Justify and out of a Phipps family that's as deep as you could ever hope for, it gives you a lot of hope that five years down the road, what could he be standing for? We've seen what Justify started out at and where he's at now and we're hopeful to have a son that can go follow in his footsteps. We were overwhelmed with interest in him and he sold out extremely quickly.

KR: That 109 Beyer Speed Figure was one of the best numbers on the year in 2023. How does that speak to Arabian Lion's talent?

MT: He was always one that Bob had at the top of his list as a horse with tremendous talent. He ran a very good race at Keeneland when he was second in the GIII Lexington S. and Bob decided to go the conservative route and run him in the Sir Barton S. on Preakness day. He came out of that weekend with the fastest Beyer of anything that ran that weekend [103]. Bob said he probably should have run him in the Preakness and I think if they would have, he would have been a tough customer in there. To bounce out of that race and come back three weeks later on Belmont Day in the GI Woody Stephens, the horse just left there running and was in a great spot all the way around. When he made the lead, he was gone.

KR: This guy is built a bit differently than his sire. What type of horse do you expect him to throw?

MT: What's funny about Arabian Lion is that he looks very much like a Distorted Humor. He looks like his mother's side of the family. We have Jimmy Creed, who is a Distorted Humor, and Arabian Lion reminds me a little bit like Jimmy with the really good body and great hip. He looks like he would throw a precocious, fast, early horse–just like he was.

It'll be interesting to see what he throws when we start seeing the foals on the ground. We'll have to see when that chapter comes up in his career, but we're trying to breed mares to him with a little bit more stretch. I think that will suit him.

GI Blue Grass S. winner Zandon at Spendthrift | Sarah Andrew

ZANDON (5, Upstart – Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause)

About as consistent as they come, this Brereton C. Jones-bred placed in all but two of his 14 lifetime starts for trainer Chad Brown and owner Jeffrey Drown. Zandon was a leader on the Kentucky Derby trail as the winner of the 2022 GI Blue Grass S. and this year at four, he claimed the GII Woodward S. The $2.2 million earner will stand for $12,500.

KR: Zandon always caught my eye in the mornings, whether it was at Churchill Downs ahead of the Derby or this summer up in Saratoga. How have his looks factored into his resume as he launches his stud career?

MT: Well Zandon is Black Beauty. From the first time we saw him, he was a big, scopey, stretchy horse. He's an Upstart out of a Creative Cause mare. Mike Ryan, one of the best eyes of anybody in the horse business, bought him as a yearling out of the Airdrie consignment. It's an Airdrie family that Governor Jones and his son Brett have really cultivated for many generations. We're excited that they are doing the Share The Upside on the horse with us and so it's fun to have them involved.

I think he's at a price point at $12,500 where he fits a lot of breeders' programs. He gives them what they're looking for and hopefully will get them a gorgeous sale weanling or yearling.

KR: When you look back on his career, what do you think of as his best race?

MT: I think his best race was probably when he won the GI Blue Grass. He worked his way through horses in the stretch and when he finally found daylight, he was gone. I thought he showed a great turn of foot that day and it was an impressive trip to be able to work it out the way he did. Any time you win a Grade I right here in front of all the breeders at our home track, that gets your attention.

KR: He was on the board in 12 of 14 starts–all of those were graded after his debut win and half of his placings came in Grade I contests. For him to be so consistent at the top of the game at two, three and four, what does that indicate about his potential ability as a sire?

MT: Zandon was a very good 2-year-old and he had a great 3-year-old year–not only winning the GI Blue Grass S., but he ran a very good third in the GI Kentucky Derby. He's a horse that danced all the dances–on the board in the GI Travers and the GI Pennsylvania Derby. He's had a very good 4-year-old year. He was second in the GI Met Mile and the GI Whitney. He won the GII Woodward. We had big hopes for him out on Breeders' Cup weekend and unfortunately we didn't get the Cinderella ending we were hoping for. It was a tough track to close ground on out there on both days, but he ran hard. He always tries hard and so we were very proud of the horse to make $2.2 million. He was an extremely consistent horse that always gave his all. That's something that you can hang your hat on as a breeder. You know the horse had a lot of try in him and he was always going to come out there and compete as hard as he could.

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This time round, value feels likely to prove quite elusive. With the middle market increasingly porous, stud fees overall are at a challenging level. If they were driven up by a long bull run in international bloodstock, that appears to be tapering away and there's evidently going to be quite a lag before we see any kind of relief in fees.

Instead of assessing each annual intake, and judging how its members are meeting challenges particular to a phase of their career, this year we're going to tackle them by price bands. Previously a mediocre group has sometimes left us scratching around for a horse for the Value Podium, while much better sires in stronger year groups enjoyed no such elevation. So we're simply going to work to a budget, and the full range of options within it–which, after all, is what every breeder has to do. We'll start with sires below $10,000, and work our way up through the tiers.

The one exception comes today, when we acknowledge that new sires are always a class apart. On the one hand, they are priced to exploit commercial prejudice and seldom turn out to have offered value relative to their eventual competence. Almost all will turn out to be standing at a career-high fee; and many will be packing their bags, whether for overseas or Oklahoma, even before the claims now being made on their behalf are validly tested by mature crops. Nonetheless many breeders will be focusing all their attention on this group.

The defeat of the proposed 140 cap appeared to stimulate some pointedly unfettered books last time round, when a rookie turf sprinter covered 293 mares. Regardless of the merits of that debate, and indeed of that horse, it really can't be healthy for so many mares to be corralled by unproven stallions that will mostly fail. As we've often conceded, however, it's hard to blame either commercial breeders or the stallion farms. The former need to put bread on the table, never easy; the latter, equally, can no longer bank on market interest even into a second year. (In other words, if you want fees to come down, don't just flit from one new sire to the next.)

The situation is really driven by the agents and managers driving the spending at ringside. This series will hope to challenge the refrain that breeders have no choice but to roll the dice on newcomers because proven sires are too expensive. In fact, that's exactly why we're giving the newcomers separate consideration today: few, if any, would have had a prayer of making a Value Podium in a price band shared by stallions who have actually got horses out there winning stakes. The truth about buyers' behavior is evident from the way yearling averages tend to slide markedly in the second crop even for stallions whose first runners make a flying start-as happened this year, for instance, to all four of the sires who have dominated the freshman table! (Champion elect Mitole, for instance, processed his second crop at $48,423, down from $104,638 with his first.)

We'll leave for another day the puzzle why breeding “for the sale ring” should be any different from “breeding for the track.” As I'm always saying, there should be nothing more commercial than putting a winner under your mare. The only real argument for unproven sires is self-fulfilling, in that most will never again repeat the quality and quantity of their debut books. Otherwise, investment is being directed precisely where it is most likely to fail. But each to their own, right? There's a proving ground out there, with a wooden stick at the end, and this is a great environment for anyone mating a mare with the quaint objective of breeding a runner.

So let's immerse ourselves in this perilous whirlpool of new sires, and at least try to make the gamble affordable as we seek the handful that will eventually manage to swim clear and build a viable stud career in the Bluegrass.

As indicated, that won't be easy in the current market. For a sense of where the typical commercial breeder is operating, we can calculate the median fee of the top 10 new sires in each of the past six years. This was $22,500 in 2019; $27,500 in 2020; $25,000 in 2021, as farms made a pandemic gesture; $40,000 in 2022; $35,000 in 2023; and it is again $35,000 for this latest intake.

So the typical cost of using a new sire has gone up by over half (56 percent) in the last six years, during which time the average banked for a Keeneland September yearling has risen only 13 percent. And you still don't want to use a proven horse?

Well, okay, if you insist. Let's take a look at the class of '24. But remember that this whole exercise, while undertaken with every effort at objectivity, is just one guy's opinion. You know what your mare looks like-which should, after all, be the starting point for every mating-and you know what physique would complement her best.

OVERVIEW OF THE CLASS

The retiring cohort is led by two sons of Curlin who have given an extra twist of speed to his established influence. That said, both shared another of his trademarks by thriving with maturity. Both, indeed, required four sophomore starts to win a maiden, Elite Power in September and Cody's Wish in October. So we'll have to see whether or not their brilliance will express itself on a pattern more conventional for sons of Curlin out of Seattle Slew line mares.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Both those mares were elite runners themselves, of course, as a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up and GI Gazelle S. winner respectively. The latter, Dance Card, showed conspicuous speed for a daughter of Tapit when placing in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and had laid the ground for Cody's Wish by producing Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), the throwback talent who has this year won graded races in his sixth season. Elite Power meanwhile underpins his credentials with a half-sister to proven sire Dialed In as second dam, besides champion Eliza (Mt Livermore) as his fourth.

Both will take little finding but rather more funding, CODY'S WISH introduced at $75,000 and ELITE POWER at $50,000. While we all love a Met Mile winner, I'm not sure anyone could sensibly assert that there's a 50 percent difference in their potential at this stage.

GUNITE got a rear view of each, in his respective Breeders' Cup starts, but proved a handful for Elite Power in their two meetings in Saratoga this summer, running him to a head in the first and then beating him in GI Forego. And he has an edge in precocity, having won the GI Hopeful S. by nearly six lengths, enabling him to start at $40,000. His maternal family is seeded by some fairly arcane names, but the first three dams are stakes winners so it's demonstrably all working.

By the way, while we quickly learned to expect the unexpected from Gun Runner, perhaps we should pay more heed to the fact that Cody's Wish, Elite Power and Gunite were all presumably bred with two turns in mind. Quality tells, however it expresses itself. You want a Hopeful/Forego winner? Then you don't necessarily want to join a long line for a “commercial” sprinter.

Gunite | Sara Gordon

As for those who did end up with a Triple Crown agenda this year, we'll see who ends up with Eclipse laurels but the farms have meanwhile sought to anticipate the votes of breeders, with juvenile champion FORTE ($50,000) still ahead of ARCANGELO ($35,000), MAGE ($25,000) and TWO PHIL'S ($12,500).

The world was still at Forte's feet when he added the GI Florida Derby to three elite scores at two, but a couple of his contemporaries rather caught up with him. With hindsight, as the far less experienced horse, Mage's performance that day actually turned out to be the more significant pointer. But obviously commercial breeders will prize Forte's precocity, the Derby and Belmont winners both being later developers.

No newcomer has a better genetic base than Arcangelo, whose third dam is Better Than Honour, yet was found as a yearling for exactly the same price we must now pay for single cover! Hard to argue with that, given the way he followed up his Belmont breakout in the deepest sophomore field of the year at Saratoga.

Mage did not show his true colors there, but let's not lose sight of the historic level of talent required to progress so rapidly from a standing start, unraced until Jan. 28. He's gone to a farm that prices horses fairly without flooding the catalogue, and his brother's GII Remsen performance has meanwhile opened an exciting door.

That's the kind of thing that would help Two Phil's, who has an inescapably plain page. But you had to love the way he followed up a shatteringly game Derby effort on what sadly proved his only subsequent start, and the bottom line is that Danzig's last big star has covered a graded stakes sprinter and come up with something special.

Another star sophomore entering the ranks is ARABIAN LION, at $30,000. He's surely set for pinhooker shortlists as a $600,000 2-year-old who followed through to clock big numbers in the GI Woody Stephens, but those taking a longer view will also be satisfied to find Justify underpinned by Personal Ensign as third dam.

Pappacap | Sarah Andrew

TAIBA was an even more spectacular pinhook ($140,000 to $1.7 million) and paid it all back on the racetrack, winning the GI Santa Anita Derby off a maiden win and flaunting his speed when dropping back for the GI Malibu. Sticking around to run in the desert did not pay off, except maybe for breeders who might conceivably have been asked for a little more than $35,000 a year ago. Like Gunite, Taibia suggests the upgrading powers of their sire: his family owes most of its distinction to Ohio-breds, but his dam's 17 wins would be pretty remarkable in any currency.

PROXY, like Taiba, ran third in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and that was a fitting conclusion to four seasons of set-your-clock Tapit action that left him just a tick below the very best (starts on $25,000) while thoroughly deserving his Grade I in the Clark. That hard-knocking profile befits the combination of his sire-line with a third dam also by Seattle Slew, and his dual Grade I-winning dam Panty Raid (Include) has corroborated her genetic input–sister a GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up–with a Grade II-winning daughter.

Among the more affordable newcomers, ZANDON appeals strongly at $12,500 as a horse rather more talented than generally appreciated. That's a curious suggestion of one whose consistency banked over $2 million through three campaigns in the best company, but he seldom found the right scenario to showcase that turn of foot. Even as it stands, he looks a lot of horse for this kind of money. I guess someone who could stretch for his aptly-named sire should still do so, but at this level Zandon is entitled to give Upstart fresh kudos.

DR. SCHIVEL will be in commercial demand at the same fee, as a Grade I winner at two and then also in the GI Bing Crosby S. He was beaten only two heads in his defense of that trophy, and only by a nose in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in between. His family carries a few faded names, but his dam is a half-sister to a Grade I winner and the blood was plainly functioning in a horse so consistently fast.

The Walmac revival meanwhile gains ground with a couple of eligibly priced recruits. PAPPACAP is assured traffic at $12,500 as a precocious son of Gun Runner, while FULSOME gives bargain access to Into Mischief at $7,500 after converting his Juddmonte page to the margin of elite performance.

War Horse Place is also showing ambition, bringing Classic winner Rombauer in from the cold at $6,000, while SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT has every right to sire runners at a bargain $3,500. This teak-tough and classy horse definitely warrants a look, having repeatedly missed adding to his solitary Grade I score only by narrow margins, including a head, a neck (twice), and half a length. He earned $1.8 million across four full campaigns and has a bunch of top runners and producers under his third dam. Do not make the mistake of assuming that his basement fee limits the kind of breeder who should be interested in recycling his merit in an expanding turf program.

VALUE PODIUM
Bronze:
UP TO THE MARK (Not This Time–Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper)
Lane's End $25,000

Up to the Mark | Coady Photography

Here's a horse that taught a couple of valuable lessons for anyone smart enough to heed them. One is that the fearless approach can pay off even if you're beaten: the decision to risk a new distance at the Breeders' Cup, against a vintage group of Euro raiders, was arguably only thwarted by a dream trip for the winner and enabled Up to the Mark to tell us something new about himself–something that made us all think still more highly of him. Meanwhile the GI Mile was won by a horse he had nailed in their previous start, confirming his caliber at that trip.

But a still more important lesson concerned a different type of versatility. Because our horses will only expand their boundaries if we push our own, and Up to the Mark's career confirms what has long been obvious to any student of pedigrees: even when horses might have an obvious surface, on paper, we have to remember that races aren't staged on paper. How many other talents remain unfulfilled, you wonder, because they are campaigned in prescriptive fashion?

As it is, the slavish orthodoxies of our business have created a dividend for more imaginative breeders. Because the discovery that Up to the Mark was an elite performer on grass means that we get a much milder fee than would be the case for a dirt horse so narrowly denied a fourth consecutive Grade I success. And yet the pedigree that made it perfectly logical to start him on dirt–first four dams are by Ghostzapper, Capote, Fappiano and Key To The Mint–could easily filter into his second career.

After all, Not This Time himself in this instance appears to have served as a conduit for the flexibility trademarked by Giant's Causeway. Maybe Up to the Mark can now emulate his grandsire by helping breeders to overcome their prejudices, especially in an era when the American turf program is growing far faster than the available pool of talent among Kentucky stallions.

There's room at the top, after all, after the loss of Kitten's Joy and English Channel. And those who are squeamish about chlorophyll will surely be comforted that Up to the Mark's grandam Capote Bell won elite dirt dashes in the GI Test and GII Prioress. If he can breed a few to start their careers like he did, impressive in a Saratoga dirt sprint, then perhaps they will also emulate the kind of money he made as a $450,000 Book 1 yearling.

Silver:
COUNTRY GRAMMER (Tonalist–Arabian Song, by Forestry)
Winstar $10,000

Country Grammer | Benoit

This horse was one of the great auction steals at just $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. It tells you a lot about our business that he had brought four times as much as a 2-year-old, at OBS April, yet had since won the GIII Peter Pan S.! He was chased home there by Caracaro (Uncle Mo) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), respectively GI Travers runner-up and GII Jim Dandy winner on their next starts. Though it was a poignant dispersal that put him into the ring, only WinStar were wide awake. The rest of us must keep going to work!

Country Grammer now gets the chance to top up his earnings since–enormously inflated in the desert, but also very respectable in the best Californian company–at what could prove another bargain price.

It's unsurprising to be reminded that this tremendously game animal draws on two doses of Pleasant Colony, responsible for the dams of both sire Tonalist and damsire Forestry. Tonalist may be keeping his price down but remember that Country Grammer's sire is himself extremely well-bred, while the second dam is a half-sister to a brilliant dasher in Etoile Montante (Miswaki) and granddaughter of the Juddmonte foundation mare Nijinsky Star (Nijinsky). The continued efficacy of this branch has been confirmed by both his granddam (produced a very fast juvenile in Britain) and his own mother, whose daughter by Runhappy banked over half a million with multiple graded stakes placings.

On pedigree as well as performance, then, Country Grammer is absolutely entitled to sire an elite runner like himself, and you can't say that of many horses standing at this kind of money. Personally, I wouldn't labor the point about his earnings: nobody is going to deceive themselves that this is the third best American Thoroughbred of all time, and the real point of his Dubai win was that he had too much for the likes of Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow). And pinhookers should note the progress he made, admittedly as a May 11 foal, from $60,000 September yearling to his bullet breeze in Ocala.

Gold:
LOGGINS (Ghostzapper–Beyond Blame, by Blame)
Hill 'n' Dale $7,500

Loggins | Coady Photography

Like everybody else, and far more than many, I'm just guessing with all these horses. But every now and then even I can strike lucky and that was certainly the case with Not This Time. I was in his corner from the moment he went to stud in 2017 at $15,000-a fee he has meanwhile increased tenfold-and I feel there are striking echoes about this fellow, who starts at half that price.

Both ran the subsequent champion juvenile to a neck on what unfortunately proved to be their final start, and in each case their connections were entitled to hope for revenge next time. At the Breeders' Cup Not This Time had to concede first run to Classic Empire, who exploited his cleaner trip but was all out to hold on. Loggins, in contrast, was exposed to a hot pace in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, and yet rallied bravely as Forte picked up the pieces. Moreover, the winner jostled him towards the rail sufficiently for a rider objection, albeit one that was ultimately not sustained. Regardless it was a remarkable effort, against the GI Hopeful winner, from a horse that could not have learned too much when breaking his maiden by over eight lengths on debut.

He now enters competition with Mystic Guide for what remains a slightly alarming vacancy as a worthy heir to their sire, who's plainly in the evening of his career as he welcomes Loggins to the barn. It would be a shame if such a flamboyant talent failed to secure a male conduit for genes that have already served Justify and Up to the Mark so well, through their dams.

Loggins himself shared a damsire with Forte, in Blame. My feeling is that Blame's precocity in this capacity channels the quality both of his own maternal line, and that of his sire Arch. Now Loggins can combine that legacy with Ghostzapper's prowess as a broodmare sire, typical of the Deputy Minister sire-line. As such, any breeder who wouldn't mind retaining a filly would be well advised to consider Loggins.

He was a $460,000 Saratoga yearling, remember, as the first starter for a graded stakes winner out of a half-sister to two others. The next dam is a dual Grade II-placed Unbridled's Song half-sister not only to Street Boss but also to the dam of another elite sprinter in Jack Christopher (Munnings).

As the rest of this podium demonstrates, we'd appreciate rather more proof of soundness. But the bottom line is that a raw Loggins had shown himself to be nearly Forte's equal, forcing him seven lengths clear of smart horses like Red Route One (Gun Runner), Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), Newgate (Into Mischief), Two Phil's (Hard Spun) and Funtastic Again (Funtastic). All served as complimentary proxies on the Derby trail after Loggins was derailed.

Forte obviously achieved a much deeper body of work, but that's why he's basically seven times the price. Loggins has gone to a farm that has excelled with these brief meteors and its owner must have been very keen, given that Spendthrift was in the ownership group that made a deal to send him here. In the current fee climate, he has been priced with unbelievable generosity. That will surely secure the kind of volume that can help Loggins make his second career far more sustainable than his first.

The Value Podium: New Sires

Gold: LOGGINS. $7,500 Hill 'n' Dale.

• Reminiscent of Not This Time.

Silver: COUNTRY GRAMMER. $10,000 WinStar.

• Modern career, old school merit.

Bronze: UP TO THE MARK. $25,000 Lane's End.

• Turf discount but potential for any surface.

Check out our breeders picks for their value sires of 2024.

The post Kentucky Value Sires for 2024, Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We are excited about Zandon and the ability to offer a Grade I winner with his physical through our Share The Upside program. He's what they should look like,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “You won't find many Grade I winners in town that look and move the way he does. He's a big, classy individual with a beautiful, smooth gait, which is likely why he was able to remain so sound through the rigors of competing against the best of his generation for two straight years. We believe breeders are really going to like him, and we invite them to come out and see for themselves.”

Bred by the late Brereton Jones, the dark bay brought $170,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and was put into training with Chad Brown. A winner of his Belmont debut, the Jeff Drown runner was also second in the GII Remsen S. as a juvenile and was third in the GII Risen Star S. in his 3-year-old bow. A winner of the GI Blue Grass S., he was favored in the GI Kentucky Derby and would go on to place third in May of 2022. Throughout the rest of the year, he would add three more graded placings in the GII Jim Dandy S., GI Travers S., and the GI Pennsylvania Derby.

He rolled a trio of twos in his first three starts this term, in the GIII Westchester S., GI Metropolitan H.  in June, and in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga in August. The GII Woodward S. went his way in October, and he was retired after a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a record of 14-3-6-3 and $2.2 million in earnings.

The second foal and one of three winners for his unraced dam, Zandon is a half-brother to Panamanian Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Sol Principe Gris (Summer Front). His dam is a half-sister to MGSW and MGISP Cairo Memories (Cairo Prince), as well as the SW Cariba (Cairo Prince). Under the third dam is Grade II winner Hello Liberty (Forest Camp), who was second in the GI Acorn S.

Spendthrift announced in September that Zandon would join Taiba (Gun Runner) and Arabian Lion (Justify) as new stallions at their Kentucky base in 2024.

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Not seen in the winner's enclosure since a victory in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail, the 4-year-old continued to throw good performance after good performance throughout the rest of last year and into his season's campaign. Just this year alone, he's finished behind the likes of Sunday's GII Vosburgh S. winner Cody's Wish (Curlin), runaway GI Whitney S. hero White Abarrio (Race Day) and MGSW Repo Rocks (Tapiture). Always just a step after some of the best of his generatio, Zandon seemed poised to deliver when bet down to even money Sunday.

Away in orderly fashion under jockey Flavien Prat, the Chad Brown trainee was caught in a mid-pack scrum into the first turn and had to check back off of heels while in tight between horses. Taken back to race a solo sixth, Zandon chased in pursuit of pacesetter Pipeline (Speightstown) up the backstretch as the opening half went in :46.66. The field stayed together with only one trailing runner with four furlongs to run but Prat stayed motionless until the quarter pole when, still faced with a wall of horses in front of him, Zandon began to pick up the bridle. Angled outside of the frontrunners at the head of the lane, the favorite got clear running room and made the most of it, striking the front at the sixteenth pole and opening up daylight on a pair of closing longshots to win going away.

“He's been a horse that's been knocking on the door and he's had a little bit of bad luck running into really, really top horses in some of these races,” said winning trainer Chad Brown. “I felt a little bad for him because he's run such fast numbers in defeat that would have been good enough to win a lot of these races any other year when you really look at it. He's always run into really top class horses along the way. Like I've said before, one thing I'll always point out is even in a lot of runner-up finishes, look at the horses that were behind him. I mean, he's beat a pile of good horses in those valiant runner-up races. This horse is a really consistent horse and has been a pleasure to train.”

“He'll probably have his last career start in the Breeders' Cup Classic,” Brown continued. “Obviously, it's going to be a much, much tougher race than today, but at least we're going in off of a decisive victory and a horse that's had a very consistent year. That's all you can ask for and anything can happen in a horse race.”

Saturday, Belmont at the Big A
WOODWARD S.-GII, $400,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.48, ft.
1–ZANDON, 122, c, 4, by Upstart
                1st Dam: Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause
                2nd Dam: Incarnate Memories, by Indian Charlie
                3rd Dam: Witness Post, by Gone West
($170,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Jeff Drown; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $220,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 13-3-6-3, $2,140,000. *1/2 to Sol Principe Gris (Summer Front), Ch. 2-year-old Colt-Pan, MSW-Pan, $102,210. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Film Star, 122, c, 4, Flatter–Rebelle, by Hard Spun. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Ronald P. Stewart; B-Indian Creek & Mill Pond Bloodstock (KY); T-Linda Rice. $80,000.
3–Law Professor, 122, g, 5, Constitution–Haunted Heroine, by Ghostzapper. O/B-Twin Creeks Farm (KY); T-Rob Atras. $48,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, NK, 1. Odds: 1.00, 13.20, 17.10.
Also Ran: Charge It, O'Connor (Chi), Tyson, Costa Terra, Pipeline. Scratched: Algiers (Ire), Un Ojo.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

ZANDON wins the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes with Flavien Prat aboard for trainer Chad Brown! pic.twitter.com/3smBfgTGU8

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) October 1, 2023

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The turf wordsmith revealed his intent in the Preface when he said, “I shall show that, owing to want of popular support, racing had fallen so low, and so infrequent, as to excite little or no interest.”

What he was talking about was a sport in crisis, as progressive forces in America drove racing to the edge of extinction. With renewed governmental support from states and a bit of luck from private sources in the 1920s, everything began to turn around. Investment coupled with excitement, revived American competition.

It's a cycle of precipices Thoroughbred racing has continued to weather to this day.

In the current era, one of the sport's greatest innovations, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, is set for its 40th edition in November. As we celebrate the final month of the Challenge Series, here's a preview of all the weekend graded activity which will leave the station at Churchill Downs, Santa Anita, and Aqueduct.

Next Stop, Churchill

Chugging into Louisville, the Saturday action lands under the Twin Spires for the GIII Ack Ack S. going a mile around one turn. With a trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile up for grabs, GII Louisiana Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) will serve as the 6-5 morning-line favorite. The Brad Cox trainee was last seen running fourth in the GIII Philip Iselin S. Aug. 19 at Monmouth Park.

Zozos | Horsephotos

The 4-year-old colt will face a number of challengers which includes MGSP O Besos (Orb), the last out winner of the GII John Nerud S. at Belmont Park Three Technique (Mr Speaker) and come from behind hero Aug. 13 of the R.A. Cowboy Jones S. at Ellis Park in 'TDN Rising Star' Stage Raider (Pioneerof the Nile).

Also scheduled is the nine-furlong GII Lukas Classic which pits GISP Rattle N Roll (Connect) against GI Cigar Mile champ Americanrevolution (Constitution). Shortleaf homebred Whelan Springs (Street Sense), who incidentally won the Iselin S., will look to upset both for trainer Lindsay Schultz.

Santa Anita, The Place To Be

The whistle stop tour of graded events doesn't stop there because Santa Anita Park begins its Autumn Meet with a number of key Saturday and Sunday races.

The GI Awesome Again S., which the TDN previewed and highlighted in a special edition of Friday's paper, will lead a packed weekend at 'The Great Race Place', as nine will face one another for the chance to line up in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

Three Grade II races compliment the Saturday card and it is going to be quite a duel in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. between former winner Dr. Schivel (Violence) and GI Woody Stephens S. hero and 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify).

Heading to the Downhill Turf Course, a competitive group of grass specialists will cross paths with one other led by MGSW Bran (Fr) (Muhaarar {GB}) from John Sadler's stable. The dark bay gelding will line up along the inside next to MGSP Sumter (War Front), who goes with the blinkers for Richard Mandella.

Staying on the grass, the GII City of Hope Mile S. wraps up the evening with a route as local favorite MGSW Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}) returns to a course where he has captured three wins in five attempts.

Arabian Lion | Sarah Andrew

The Sunday Santa Anita slate has its share of graded action as the GII Zenyatta S. marks the return of Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), who comes in riding a four-race win streak. Also featured will be the GIII Tokyo City Cup S. and the GII John Henry Turf Championship S.

Sunday's BAQ Forecast, Brighter Days Ahead

Speaking of the Jockey Club's New York historian and handicapper, William Vosburgh received a nod from the New York Racing Association when they named a race after him. Now moved to Sunday because of a deluge, the GII Vosburgh S. continues to be a mainstay on the NYRA stakes schedule and, with the Belmont Park construction, returned to Aqueduct last year for the first time since 1986. The seven-furlong event offers paid entry into the GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile champ Cody's Wish (Curlin) certainly impressed when the 5-year-old took home both the GI Churchill Downs S. and Belmont Park's GI Met Mile earlier this summer. Even though the stretch out in the GI Whitney H. at Saratoga did not yield a win, his ability is unmatched even over a wet surface against five others here.

“One turn and seven [furlongs] to a mile is good for him,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “We wanted to see if he could win the Whitney–it's a very important race and if he could win the Met Mile and the Whitney, those are two very big races.”

The Sunday BAQ card also sports three other graded races. Heavy morning-line favorite Caramel Swirl (Union Rags), who was a runner-up in last year's GI Ballerina at Saratoga, finished fourth this time around to MGISW Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). The 5-year-old mare will look to get back on track in the GII Gallant Bloom S. when she faces five others.

A soggy turf course at Aqueduct will not deter runners for the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. Going the distance will be MGISW War Like Goddess (English Channel), who faces the boys once again after she missed by just a neck against older females in the GII Glens Falls S. Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Also headed to the post will be GI Breeders' Cup Turf victor Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who last lost his rider in the GII Bowling Green S. July 30 at Saratoga. The dark bay gelding will not only have to contend with War Like Goddess but also MGISP Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and MGISP Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Algiers | Dubai Racing Club

Finally, a can't miss on this Sunday card is the GII Woodward S. 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), winner of the GII Suburban S. July 8 at Belmont, and GISW Zandon (Upstart), who will head to stud duty at Spendthrift Farm next year, will take on G1 Dubai World Cup runner-up Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal). The Simon Crisford trainee is making his first U.S. start after taking the summer off.

“It is a fact-finding mission,” said Ed Crisford, who shares a license with his father. “We want to see if he can handle the American dirt because it is different than Meydan. I do think the New York tracks are more similar to Meydan than some of the other tracks. We want to see what he can do against top American dirt horses. If he goes well, wins or runs very well, we can justify going to the Breeders' Cup. If not, we'll probably just take him back to Dubai. It all depends on what happens on the weekend.”

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Into Mischief is currently leading the general sires list for 2024 by a comfortable margin. His progeny for 2024 include 21 black-type winners, nine graded winners, and four Grade I winners, led by GI Kentucky Oaks winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous. His yearling average for 2023 of $746,854 also leads the nation.

“Into Mischief just continues to wade further and further into unchartered waters when it comes to the long and storied history of stallions in this industry,” said Spendthrift's general manager Ned Toffey. “Not only is he well on his way to capturing his fifth straight champion General Sire title, he is also backing up that success on the racetrack by breaking more records at the sales, and, perhaps most excitingly, as an emerging sire of sires. Into Mischief had 15 yearlings sell for a million dollars or more this year, breaking Storm Cat's record of 13 from 2005. And he has a great chance of having a champion freshman sire, as Maximus Mischief currently sits atop this year's list and Authentic looks poised to make a run next year. It truly is remarkable.”

The Spendthrift roster will be 26 strong for 2024, including three new stallions announced earlier this month: Grade I winners Taiba (Gun Runner), Arabian Lion (Justify), and Zandon (Upstart). The first two are also 'TDN Rising Stars'. Taiba is already available for inspection at Spendthrift, while Arabian Lion will make his next start in Saturday's GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship and Zandon in Saturday's GII Woodward S. Both colts are being pointed to the Breeders' Cup and will retire to Spendthrift at the end of the year. Their fees will be announced at that time.

“We are excited to announce our 2024 stallion roster and fees fresh off the strongest major yearling sales I can remember,” Toffey said. “The market for a racehorse is as competitive as ever, and that is a wonderful thing for breeders and the overall health of the breeding industry. It should give everyone confidence and optimism heading into 2024. At Spendthrift, we are constantly striving to provide the best opportunities for breeders when it comes to quality, value, and diversity of pedigree at all levels.”

Spendthrift's entire 2024 roster, with fees, appears below.

Into Mischief, $250,000

Bolt d'Oro, $60,000

Authentic, $50,000

Jackie's Warrior, $45,000

Taiba, $35,000

Cyberknife, $25,000

Yaupon, $25,000

Mo Donegal, $15,000

Vekoma, $15,000

Cross Traffic, $10,000

Goldencents, $10,000

Jimmy Creed, $10,000

Greatest Honour, $7,500

Known Agenda, $7,500

Rock Your World, $7,500

Basin, $5,000

By My Standards, $5,000

Coal Front, $5,000

Temple City, $5,000

Thousand Words, $5,000

Arabian Lion, TBD

Maximus Mischief, TBD

Mitole, TBD

Omaha Beach, TBD

Vino Rosso, TBD

Zandon, TBD

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“We are really excited to be bringing in three new stallion prospects of the caliber of Taiba, Arabian Lion and Zandon for the 2024 breeding season,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. “All three are superior physicals, and all three displayed immense talent in winning some of America's biggest 3-year-old races on dirt. Obviously, the Breeders' Cup is ahead and some of them will be looking to finish strong. These are the kind of stallion prospects we have looked to bring in and will continue to try to bring in at Spendthrift.”

Stud fees for all three horses will be announced at the end of their respective racing careers.

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Sales history: $7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR. O-C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano; B-Spendthrift Farm, LLC (KY); T-Richard Dutrow, Jr.

WHITE ABARRIO runs the race of his life in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes with @iradortiz up for Richard Dutrow! #Saratoga pic.twitter.com/igHIjLZyKG

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) August 5, 2023

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“I thought it was perfect. If there is such a thing as a perfect work,” trainer Bill Mott said. “Neil did a perfect job. The warm-up was good, the breeze went well, he went off easily enough. He was off in :12 and 2 or 3. He came home well. He let him off the bridle a little bit at the eighth pole and he finished up his last quarter very nicely. We didn't make him gallop out too much today, obviously. We're right on top of the race.”

Cody's Wish will be looking for his seventh straight victory while seeking his first win beyond a mile in the nine-furlong Whitney, which is a 'Win and You're In' challenge race for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. He is coming off a win in the June 10 GI Metropolitan H. and will look to be the first horse to record the Met Mile-Whitney double since fellow Godolphin colorbearer Frosted in 2016.

Another Mott trainee on a win streak, Elite Power (Curlin), who extended his string of victories to eight with a gritty victory in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. was doing well Sunday morning, according to his trainer.

“He looked great this morning,” Mott said. “I was very impressed just because I feel that when you have a sloppy or muddy track like that, it gives the advantage to the horse three in front turning for home. If you have to make up that much ground on a sloppy or muddy track, it can be difficult, so I give the horse a lot of credit for being able to do that. The horse he beat was running and he's a very good horse, too. He's in good form. I have to be pleased and I am pleased.”

Elite Power is expected to start next in the Aug. 26 GI Forego S.

Also exiting his victory at Saratoga Saturday in fine shape was GII Jim Dandy S. winner Forte (Violence).

“He came back very well and his energy level is good,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “He had a well-deserved nap this morning and I liked the way he looked last night after the race and this morning.”

Forte remains on target for the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. where he will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Pletcher's previous winners of the race, Flower Alley and Stay Thirsty, both of whom won the Jim Dandy before taking the Midsummer Derby.

“It's exciting and we've been fortunate that both our Travers winners came out of the Jim Dandy,” Pletcher said. “We'd love to do it again.”

Jeff Drown's Zandon (Upstart), also aiming for the Whitney, worked a half-mile in :49.24 (24/69) Sunday over the Spa's main track.

“The breeze went super and the horse is doing great. I'm looking forward to running him,” said trainer Chad Brown, who is in search of his first Whitney win.

Winner of last year's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and third in the GI Kentucky Derby, Zandon was second in last year's Jim Dandy and third in the Travers. He comes into the Whitney off a runner-up effort behind Cody's Wish in the Met Mile.

“I was very pleased with his effort [in the Met Mile],” Brown said. “He showed a lot of heart to be second. Clearly, he was second best in the race. Cody's Wish is arguably the best dirt horse in training in this country, so a lot of respect for him. Our horse is doing fine and I think he's better around two turns. He's got a tall order here. It probably won't be a big field, but it's a very strong field with Cody's Wish and some other top horses. He's got his work cut out for him, but I really like the way the horse is going and I like him at a mile and an eighth. I think that's his best distance. I'm just hoping he runs the race of his life and is able to spring an upset.”

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