Breeding Watch, August 8

Posted on by DerbyMateo

In a day and age when most Thoroughbreds are raised for the commercial market, seven-figure yearlings might as well count as Grade 1 winners on a stallion’s resume.

Storm Cat, for example, was able to command a $500,000 stud fee in the 1990s not only because of a long line of top class runners, but because he also rained down good-looking and pricey yearlings. On the other end of the spectrum, a prolific stallion like Dynaformer only saw three of his yearlings sell for $1 million or more and none until his 15th crop went through the ring.

Of course it’s a different world now than Storm Cat’s heyday, but it will be very interesting so see what Gainesway Farm does with Tapit’s 2015 service fee, especially after his two yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings sold for $1.15 million and $1 million, respectively.

Tapit stood the 2014 season for $150,000, his runners already do everything on the track and he’s odds-on to earn his first North American general sire title title at year’s end. Now the commercial market has jumped on board with both fists (full of cash), a trend that actually started last September when four Tapit yearlings commanded seven figures.

Another $150,000 stallion, War Front, sired the Saratoga sale topper with a filly out of Charming, by Seeking the Gold, going to Willis Horton for $1.25 million. That’s the fourth seven-figure youngster in six crops by the Claiborne Farm-based son of Danzig and his first to pass through the historic Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.

Just down the street and across Union Avenue at the even more historic Saratoga Race Course, half brothers City Zip and Ghostzapper pulled off a rare Grade 1 double Aug. 2. City Zip’s Palace zipped home in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap in 1:08.56. Then, a little more than 90 minutes later, the Ghostzapper gelding Moreno got his Grade 1 in the Whitney Invitational Stakes.

Lane’s End Farm’s City Zip is no stranger to pulling off rare feats as he’s the last (and likely last) horse to sweep all three of the Saratoga graded races for juveniles. He’s also the unique stallion to have started his second career in New York before moving to Kentucky.

Palace is his fourth Grade 1 winner and is out of a mare by End Sweep, a son of the good Mr. Prospector stallion Forty Niner. That means he’s inbred tail-male to Mr. Prospector at 3×4. This pattern has been beneficial for City Zip as at least nine of his 51 career stakes winners are out of Mr. Prospector-line mares. The others include Grade 1 winner Bustin Stones (dam by Prospector’s Gamble) and Grade 2 winner/Grade 1-placed Reneesgotzip, who is out of a mare by Forty Niner’s top son Distorted Humor.

Adena Springs’ Ghostzapper was finishing up his Hall of Fame career in the 2005 Metropolitan Handicap about the time the first City Zip runners were hitting the races. He stood for $200,000 upon his retirement but that fee tumbled to as low as $20,000 before a steady stream of stakes winners began to emerge. He was represented by 16 stakes winners in both 2012 and 2013 and Moreno is among his 10 so far in 2014.

Out of a mare by A.P. Indy, Moreno is Ghostzapper’s seventh winner at the highest level from his first five crops to race. So far City Zip and Ghostzapper have sired a combined total of 91 stakes winners.

Classic winners Lookin At Lucky (Ashford Stud) and Super Saver (WinStar Farm) have been climbing up the first crop sire chart in recent weeks and both were represented by their first stakes winners Saturday.

Super Saver’s Hashtag Bourbon could do no better than third behind Zayat Stable’s Malibu Moon colt Mr. Z in a June 28 maiden at Churchill Downs. But that didn’t deter trainer Kellyn Gorder and owner Bourbon Lane Farm from trying Saturday’s $100,000 Mountaineer Juvenile. The $130,000 OBS March graduate rewarded that faith with a 4 1/2-length tally in the 6-furlong affair. Hashtag Bourbon is out a mare by Robyn Dancer, a son of Crafty Prospector, broodmare of the Grade 3 winner Whimsy by Super Saver’s sire Maria’s Mon.

We could well be reporting on Super Saver again the coming weeks after his high-priced Saratoga maiden winners High Dollar Woman (a $675,000 OBS March juvenile) and Competitive Edge ($750,000 Fasig-Tipton February purchase) run in the upcoming juvenile fixtures at the Spa.

Back in 2010, Lookin At Lucky avenged a troubled sixth-place Kentucky Derby finish behind Super Saver by running off with the Preakness Stakes. His first stakes winner is Four Leaf Chief, who remained undefeated in two starts with a 2-length score in the $50,000 Louisiana Cup Juvenile Stakes. He’s out of a mare by Cure the Blues and is the first stakes winner by Smart Strike or his sons on this cross so far.

(originally published on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

Breeding Watch – July 24

Posted on by DerbyMateo

It’s easy to take stallions like Lemon Drop Kid and Tale of the Cat for granted, but the last two weekends we were reminded that they’re still two of the most consistent and underrated sires and broodmare sires in North America.

Hangover Kid kicked off a sensational mini-run for Lemon Drop Kid when he earned his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap July 12 at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old horse is out of a mare by Rakeen, a Northern Dancer half-brother to Saint Ballado and Devil’s Bag, and he’s Lemon Drop Kid’s 33rd career graded stakes winner.

The following afternoon at Woodbine, Unspurned went gate-to-wire in the $250,000 Bison City Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown for fillies. Unspurned is her sire’s 77th stakes winner and is out of a mare by the Storm Cat grandson Snow Ridge (by Tabasco Cat).

Fast-forward to July 19 and it was Aurelia’s Belle who received her second graded stakes trophy in the Grade 3 Arlington Oaks and Somali Lemonade who reached the highest level in the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga. The latter makes it six Grade 1 winners for Lemon Drop Kid, who stands at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and she’s on the verge of becoming his third millionaire.

Somali Lemonade is out of a mare bred Nureyev over Mr. Prospector, the reverse of the cross that produced Lemon Drop Kid’s sire Kingmambo. She’s among 11 Grade or Group 1 winners around the world that show a double of Nureyev and one of the five total Lemon Drop Kid stakes winners that show this pattern.

Lemon Drop Kid’s 2014 scorecard reads: nine stakes winners, six graded stakes winners and a No. 4 ranking on the North American general sire list. It’s worth noting that in addition to Unspurned, another three of these stakes winners are also out of Storm Cat-line mares: Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap winner Lemon Drop Dream is out of mare by Storm Cat while graded stakes winner Kid Cruz and listed winner Candy Kitty are both out of daughters of the Storm Cat son Tale of the Cat. In fact, of the five foals by Lemon Drop Kid out of Tale of the Cat mares, all are winners, three are stakes winners (two graded) plus an additional Grade 2-placed runner.

Tale of the Cat, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, also added another Grade 1 winner to his resume during Saratoga’s opening weekend.

Repole Stable’s Stopchargingmaria (out of a Montbrook mare) was already a three-time graded winner when she broke from the gate in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks July 19. When she crossed the wire 5 lengths ahead of Unbridled Forever, she became Tale of the Cat’s 10th lifetime Grade 1 winner. Stakes winner Unbridled Forever (by Unbridled’s Song), incidentally, is out of Lemon Drop Kid’s Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever.

Tale of the Cat also figures prominently in the pedigrees of two big opening weekend winners across the country at Del Mar. His multiple Grade 1-winning son, Lion Heart, is the sire of Tom’s Tribute, who scored the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes July 20. The 4-year-old is the third Grade 1 winner for Lion Heart, who now stands in Turkey, and the sixth Grade 1 winner out of a mare by the late El Prado.

A day earlier down at old Del Mar, the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes fell to Istanford one of the 34 stakes winners so far out of mares by Tale of the Cat. Istanford is by the Airdrie Stud stallion Istan, a son of Gone West out of a mare by the Storm Bird stallion Bluebird. Tale of the Cat is a product of the reverse of this Mr. Prospector/Storm Bird cross and Istanford shows a double of Storm Bird at 4×4. She’s among the 77 stakes winners inbred to Storm Bird within four generations (3.5% from starters).

We saw Tiznow and Unbridled’s Song combine on a couple of stakes winners during the Opening Day card at Saratoga. Fashion Alert, by Unbridled’s Song’s very promising second crop son Old Fashioned, made it two stakes wins in two starts in Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes. She’s the third graded stakes-winning filly this year for the Taylor Made Farm stallion who ranks as the third leading second-crop sire in North America. Fashion Alert is among the six stakes winners and three graded winners out of mares by WinStar Farm’s Tiznow.

Later that afternoon at the Spa, Tourist, by Tiznow out of an Unbridled’s Song mare, navigated his way to the winner’s circle for the Sir Cat Stakes. He’s the first stakes winner from five starters on this cross along and is Tiznow’s 52nd lifetime stakes winner and the 68th for the daughters of the late Unbridled’s Song.

(originally published on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

Horse of the Week: Stopchargingmaria

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Owner Mike Repole has had good luck with at least two fillies named after his free-spending wife, Maria. The stakes winner Stopshoppingmaria earned nearly four times her $100,000 purchase price and ran second in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

Now comes Stopchargingmaria. This filly came to Repole Stables with a $220,000 price tag that now seems a bargain after her dominant score in the July 20 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga. The three-year-old miss now has four graded wins and $1,054,000 in the bank.

Winning a prestigous two-turn Grade 1 like the CCA Oaks didn’t seem likely early on based on Stopchargingmaria’s pedigree. She’s a daughter of Tale of the Cat, a speedy son of Storm Cat who is more known for siring speedy and early-developing runners. Stopshoppingmaria doesn’t get any stamina from her immediate female line either as she’s a daughter of the good sprinter and sprint sire Montbrook. In the CCA Oaks she came home in a respectable :13 and earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. She may really need to channel her second and third damsires, Kris S. and Sir Ivor, to capture he next expected assignment, the mile and one quarter Alabama Stakes (G1) on August 16.

Once consisdered a ‘classic’ for three-year-old fillies, the Coaching Club American Oaks has been won by such greats as Chris Evert, Ruffian, Davona Dale and Mom’s Command when it was still run at a mile and a half at Belmont Park. Stopchargingmaria is the fourth winner of the CCA Oaks in it’s current incarnation as a nine furlong event at Saratoga. The past two winners, Questing and Princess of Sylmar, have both gone on to capture the Alabama, the long-time Saratoga fixture for two-turn sophomore fillies.

While Stopchargingmaria will likely never be considered in the same class as Ruffian and Chris Evert etc., she has more than done her part to help keep Repole Stables in the black and to keep her namesake shopping and charging.

(originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com)

Breeding Watch, July 9

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Smart Strike owns two North American general sire titles and is the sire of more than 100 stakes winners, but the 22-year-old Mr. Prospector stallion isn’t done yet.

Smart Strike’s 3-year-old daughter Minorette (out of a dam by Sadler’s Wells) won the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational July 5, becoming her sire’s 14th Grade 1 winner. The newly reconfigured Oaks, formerly the Garden City Stakes, is a 10-furlong event on the grass and looking at Smart Strike’s pool of Grade 1 winners we find a remarkably diverse group.

The group features high-level juveniles like champions Lookin At Lucky and My Miss Aurelia, distance turf runners like champion English Channel, and sprinters and milers on dirt and turf like Fabulous Strike and Soaring Free. And of course Curlin, Horse of the Year at 3 and 4 and soon-to-be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Daughters of Smart Strike, who stands at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, are also doing well and produced two more stakes winners over the holiday weekend. The 3-year-old Stacked Deck won the Charlie Barley Stakes July 5 at Woodbine and the following afternoon, the 4-year-old Legacy was best in the Cypress Stakes at the inaugural Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meeting. Smart Strike now has 43 stakes winners as a broodmare sire, an impressive 8 percent from starters.

Stacked Deck helped keep his sire First Samurai one of the hottest sires in North America. He is one of two stakes winners in the first week of July for the Claiborne Farm-based son of Giant’s Causeway. The other, Grade 3 winner Northern Passion, annexed her fourth stakes victory in the Sweet Briar Too Stakes during the Canada Day program at Woodbine. Combined with a pair of new graded winners June 28, that’s four stakes winners now in seven days for First Samurai, three of them first-time stakes winners. He now has a total of eight stakes winners for 2014.

The late Pulpit stood alongside First Samurai at Claiborne and he also sired a pair of stakes winners on the Independence Day weekend here in the U.S., both bred on a familiar cross.

Mr Speaker is a member of Pulpit’s penultimate crop and added to his sire’s career Grade 1 tally by upsetting the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational July 5. The Phipps-bred colt is out of a daughter of Unbridled, and the great Personal Ensign, and is the same cross that produced Grade 1 winner and super sire Tapit. Mr. Speaker is Pulpit’s 11th Grade 1 winner.

Pulpit’s Tea Time is out of a mare by the Unbridled son Empire Maker and she got her picture taken after the Beautiful Day Stakes July 3 at Delaware Park, her second straight stakes triumph. Pulpit has also sired the Grade 3 winner Super Ninety Nine out a mare by Unbridled’s Song and Pulpit’s son Sky Mesa has sired Grade 1 winners out of mares by both Unbridled (Sky Diva) and Unbridled’s Song (General Quarters).

Tea Time is the first stakes winner from 51 starters so far out of daughters of the excellent sire Empire Maker. Like Empire Maker, Henny Hughes now stands in Japan but his first stakes winner as a broodmare sire emerged over the weekend.

Highway Boss is the very first starter out a Henny Hughes mare and he took the Everett Nevin Stakes at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meeting July 6. The 2-year-old gelding is the second juvenile stakes winner already this year by the Darley USA stallion Street Boss.

Distorted Humor is the broodmare sire of 30 black-type winners and two of them, both by Gone West-line stallions, added stakes victories July 5.

Heart Stealer, a graded stakes winner in 2013 and 2014, found the competition a little easier in the $75,000 Pasaena Stakes at Gulfstream Park. She’s by the top Gone West stallion Speightstown, a barnmate of Distorted Humor at WinStar Farm. That same afternoon in South Florida, C. Zee took the $90,000 Cherokee Run Stakes. The 3-year-old colt is the only stakes winner so far by the Louisiana-based Elusive Bluff, a son of the top Gone West stallion Elusive Quality.

Daughters of Arch have already produced important runners like 2012 champion and dual classic winner I’ll Have Another (by Flower Alley), champion Uncle Mo (by Indian Charlie) and Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured (by Lion Heart). Clearly Now might be next in line. The 4-year-old colt is now a three-time graded stakes winner after his scintillating score in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship July 5.

A lot of good runners have raced 7 furlongs at Belmont Park over the years but the track record for the distance now belongs to Clearly Now. He zipped in 1:19.96 and proved his is clearly the best runner so far by Claiborne Farm’s third-crop stallion Horse Greeley, a Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed son of Mr. Greeley. Overall, Arch is the broodmare sire of 17 stakes winners, a sterling 8 percent from starters.

(originally published on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

The Mid-Year Awards

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We’re halfway through 2014 so it’s time for the Mid-Year Awards:

Older Male

Two-time defending Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Wise Dan earned a pair of Grade 1 victories in Kentucky this spring before his scary bout with colic. However, we’ll give this one to Palace Malice who has four graded wins this year by a combined 16 1/2 lengths. He overcome some trouble to conquer a stellar field in the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day and that win puts him over the top.

Older Female

The Belmont Stakes undercard had a very Breeders’ Cup feel to it and the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) essentially decided the Mid-Year Award in this division. Close Hatches fended off Princess of Sylmar with Eclipse Champion Beholder back in fourth. The First Defence filly is unbeaten in three starts this year, including another Grade 1 tally in the Apple Blossom Stakes (G1) at Oaklawn Park.

3YO Male

Three Grade 1 wins, including the Derby and Preakness make California Chrome a no-brainer here. But…we’ve always thought Shared Belief was a superstar and these two could meet twice later this year in California. It’s been over 40 years since a dual Classic winner didn’t get the Eclipse Award for champion 3YO male, but…

3YO Female

Untapable, no other filly is close. No other filly is a threat to her the second half of the year.

Sprinter

This division is very much up in the air. 2014 Grade 1-winning sprinters like Dads Caps (Carter S.) and Declassify (Triple Bend S.) don’t have an additional graded win to back up their claims. Dads Caps was in the field when Clearly Now dominated the Belmont Sprint Championship (G2) on July 5. There have been an awful lot of good horses who have run 7 furlongs at Belmont Park over the years but the track record for the distance now belongs to Clearly Now. Let’s give nod to him. Honorable mention goes to the three-year-old Bayern who posted perhaps the most impressive sprint performance of the year in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G2) on Belmont Day.

Turf

Two Grade 1’s for champ Wise Dan in 2014 keeps him on top of this division.

Filly & Mare Turf

A slight nod to the much-improved Coffee Clique here. Although both at a mile, she does have Grade 2 and Grade 1 wins over strong fields this year.

Horse of the Year

Califorina Chrome’s three important Grade 1 wins are certainly formidable but it’s hard to go with him when I think Palace Malice is simply a better horse. Palace Malice is the pick while for Mid-Year Horse of the Year while we look ahead to an exciting second half of 2014!

(originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com)

Breeding Watch, July 2

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The biggest events on the Prairie Meadows Racetrack’s racing calendar were carded last weekend and the progeny of Claiborne Farm’s First Samurai brought home a pair of graded stakes trophies.

Both are new stakes winners and are closely related products of a rich female line and the hugely successful breeding partnership between Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.

The 3-year-old First Samurai filly Size was up first, conquering last year’s adjudged Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Ria Antonia in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks. The victory made it three wins in four starts for the Bill Mott trainee. A little more than an hour later the 4-year-old gelding Carve gutted out a win in the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap for his first black-type win. The filly races for Claiborne-Dilschneider partnership, while Carve carries the colors of owner Michael Langford.

While there are more races to conquer for Size, her breeders are no doubt anxious to see what she can do in the breeding shed. She is the first stakes winner out of the mare Extent, a daughter of Pulpit, who is bred on the A.P. Indy-Mr. Prospector cross.

Extent is out of the mare Limit, a stakes winner and graded stakes-placed runner and dam of a pair of stakes winners/graded stakes-placed runners. More importantly, Limit is a daughter of Bound and a sister to the dam 2010 Breeders’ Classic winner Blame. By Nijinsky II, Bound is daughter of the appropriately named Special, also the dam of Nureyev and grandam of Sadler’s Wells.

Carve hails from another offshoot of this highly prosperous female line. He is out the mare Apt, a daughter of A.P. Indy and Bound’s daughter Liable, by the Mr. Prospector son Seeking the Gold.

First Samurai went to stud with a glittering reputation. He was precocious, winning the Grade 1 Hopeful and Champagne over the speedy Henny Hughes before settling for third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He added the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at 3 and retired to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, as the first major son of Giant’s Causeway to stud in North America.

First Samurai ranked only 15th on the 2010 first-crop sire charts and lost one spot among second-crop sires the following year. Things began to turn around in 2012 and 2013, however, with runners like the Grade 1 winners Executiveprivilege and Justin Philip and graded stakes winners like Last Gunfighter and Swift Warrior. He added another Grade 1 winner earlier this year when Lea used a track record performance to win the Grade 1 Donn Handicap. With Size and Carve now on the ledger, First Samurai is siring nearly 7% stakes winners from foals in his first six crops.

Last week, we mentioned that Carson Jen put herself in the conversation for Broodmare of the Year honors with the emergence of Grade 2 Summertime Oaks winner Jojo Warrior, her fourth stakes winner and third graded winner.

Just a week later, it’s safe to assume that the French Deputy mare Champagne Royal is now the clear frontrunner for this honor. She’s not only the dam of Danza, winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and third in the Kentucky Derby, but she’s now the dam of Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita hero Majestic Harbor.

It’s also safe to say that she’s been doing the heavy lifting in this pedigree.

A minor black-type runner in Western Canada, Champagne Royal is a sister to a minor stakes winner and there was but one graded winner under the first four dams prior to Danza’s score on April 12. Majestic Harbor is the second Grade 1 winner for the late Rockport Harbor just as Danza is the second Grade 1 winner for his sire, the resurgent Street Boss.

Majestic Harbor joins Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap winner Moonshine Mullin as Breeders’ Cup Classic qualifiers via the ‘Win and You’re In’ program. Interestingly, Rockport Harbor stood next to Albert the Great, sire of Moonshine Mullin, at Pin Oak Lane Farm in Pennsylvania before succumbing to colic in August 2013.

Orientate is the sire of California’s other Grade 1 winner last weekend – Triple Bend Stakes winner Declassify.

Formerly at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, where he sired the Grade 1 winners Lady Joanne and Intangaroo, Orientate now plies his trade at Northview Stallion Station in Maryland. He ranks third in that state behind barnmates E Dubai and Not For Love.

Declassify is out of a mare by Tale of the Cat, who had a good weekend as a broodmare sire. Another one of his daughters, Perfect Story, is the dam of the Street Cry filly Street Story, who scored her third stakes victory and first graded win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes at Belmont Park.

Dams by Tale of the Cat are now responsible for a total of 33 black-type winners, including the multiple Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky.

(originally published on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

Breeding Watch, June 24

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Pioneerof the Nile kept hold of the top spot on North America’s second-crop sire list with a pair of stakes victories on a weekend that also saw some first-crop stallions start to assert themselves.

The Hollywood Oaks is now the Summertime Oaks and the Grade 2 race went to Zayat Stables Jojo Warrior last Saturday at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old filly is the fourth stakes winner from 94 first crop foals by Pioneerof the Nile, a multiple Grade 1 winner by the Unbridled stallion Empire Maker who stands at Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.

Another of those, Conquest Top Gun, is now a two-time stakes winner after conquering the feature at Woodbine the following afternoon. The 3-year-old colt took the Marine Stakes on May 25 and he easily vanquished three rivals in the Victoria Park Stakes Sunday. Conquest Top Gun is the second stakes winner out a mare by the A.P. Indy son Jump Start and is at least the 10th stakes winner bred on the larger Unbridled-A.P. Indy cross that’s also produced Empire Maker’s own multiple champion Royal Delta.

Getting back to Jojo Warrior, she’s the fourth stakes winner out of the Carson City mare Carson Jen, who now has to at least be in the conversation as a candidate for Broodmare of the Year honors. She’s already the dam of Bernardini’s first North American Grade 1 winner, 2010 Frizette Stakes victor A Z Warrior. Also to her credit are graded stakes-winning juvenile E Z Warrior (to the cover of the Storm Cat son Exploit) and the four-time listed winner J Z Warrior, who’s by the Storm Cat grandson Harlan’s Holiday. Jojo Warrior makes it 109 stakes winners for the daughters of the late Carson City, who stood alongside Storm Cat at the Young family’s Overbrook Farm in Lexington.

The first round of serious juvenile stakes are in the books in both North America and Europe and progeny of 2014 first-crop sires factored heavily in the results.

Lane’s End Farm’s Quality Road has been among the commercial leaders of his crop and is the first of his generation to sire a stakes winner. His son, the Wesley Ward-trained Hootenanny, took the Windsor Castle Stakes on the opening card of the Royal Ascot meeting. The bay colt is out of a mare by the Storm Cat son Hennessy, his 46th stakes winner as a dam sire.

Warrior’s Reward was mentioned in the June 11 edition of Breeding Watch after his three-winner outburst May 30. Two of those winners are now stakes-placed with Liatris (dam by A. P. Indy) finishing second in the Astoria Stakes June 14 at Belmont Park and Unbridled Reward (dam by Unbridled) the runner-up in the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs. The Spendthrift Farm stallion added another starter and winner to his burgeoning resume when Bad Read Sanchez romped by 10 lengths in his debut June 20 at Santa Anita.

We also saw the first black-type horses emerge by Darley’s and Sequel Stallions New York’s Desert Party (by Street Cry) and Airdrie Stud’s Majesticperfection (by Harlan’s Holiday).

Desert Party’s Rousanne, out of a daughter of Valiant Nature, earned the show spot in Churchill’s Debutante while Majesticperfection’s son Homer Matt, out of a daughter of Indian Charlie, placed third in the Santa Anita Juvenile. Lookin At Lucky leads all first-crop stallions with seven winners and we expect to report on his first black-type runners shortly.

The Texas-based Silver City has but 19 juveniles in his first crop but four of them have already graduated at the maiden special weight level.

Among those is the unbeaten Promise Me Silver, who proved best in the aforementioned Debutante going 6 furlongs. Based at Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Silver City won Oaklawn Park’s Dixieland Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2009 before completing an Unbridled’s Song-sired exacta behind Old Fashioned in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes. Promise Me Silver is the first stakes winner out of a mare by Macho Uno and is inbred to Blushing Groom at 4×4. There are now 99 black-type winners that show a double of Blushing Groom within four generations, about 4% from starters carrying this pattern.

The black-type winner strike rate for starters inbred to Storm Cat within four generations is closer to 3% but we can report the 21st such stakes winner – Mark My Way, winner of the male division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont. The 3-year-old gelding is out of a Storm Cat daughter and is by Noonmark, a son of Unbridled’s Song and the Storm Cat mare In The Storm, so he’s inbred to Storm Cat at 2×3. Noonmark previously stood at Becky Thomas’ Sequel Stallions New York before being sold to interests in the Philippines.

Horse of the Week: Jojo Warrior

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There’s no doubt that Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Untapable is the clear leader of the 3YOF division in North America. However, after her next start against fillies in the upcoming Mother Goose Stakes (G1) she may well take on the boys in the Haskell Invitational (G1) and/or Travers Stakes (G1). This would leave the door open for some other sophomore lasses to take down the summer Grade 1’s at Saratoga and Summertime Oaks (G2) winner Jojo Warrior is one of several nice fillies who could benefit from and absent Untapable.

Formerly known as the Hollywood Oaks, the Summertime Oaks was contested at 8.5F over the Santa Anita main track for the first time on Saturday, June 21. It was also the first two-turn race for the well-traveled Jojo Warrior. The Zayat Stables colorbearer made her first four starts from distances ranging from 5.5F to 7F at Del Mar, Oaklawn Park, Churchill Downs and Pimlico. She scored in her debut at Del Mar last September and picked up a couple of blacktype checks in Oaklawn Park’s Instant Racing Stakes and the Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Her only off-the-board finish was a fifth-place run in a deep edition of the Eight Belles Stakes (G3) on Kentucky Oaks Day.

Trainer Bob Baffert put blinkers back on Jojo Warrior for her two-turn debut which may have helped her focus and harness her natural speed. Under Martin Garcia, JoJo Warrior went right to the front after the break in the Summertime Oaks and there was no catching her from there. The final margin of victory was 5 1/4 lengths.

The filly is the fourth stakes winner from 94 first crop foals by Pioneerof the Nile, a multiple Grade 1 winner by Empire Maker, who too raced in the powder blue and yellow Zayat Stables silks. Jojo Warrior is also the fourth stakes winner out of the mare Carson Jen, who now has to be considered a major contender for Broodmare of the Year honors. She’s already the dam of Bernardini’s first North American Grade 1 winner, 2010 Frizette Stakes (G1) victress A Z Warrior. Also to her credit is the graded stakes-winning juvenile E Z Warrior (by Exploit) and the four-time listed winner J Z Warrior (Harlan’s Holiday).

Behind Jojo Warrior on Saturday were a couple of other well-bred fillies. Runner-up Live for Now is by Tiznow out of the mare Turko’s Turn, making her a half-sister to 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given. Third-place finisher Front Range is a daughter of three-time leading sire Giant’s Causeway out of the multiple Grade 1-winning Seattle Slew mare Lakeway. Lakeway, in fact, took the 1994 edition of Hollywood/Summertime Oaks when it was still rated a Grade 1.

Surprisingly, the Summertime Oaks is the last main track Graded stakes in Southern California for sophomore fillies. With this being the case we’ll likely see Jojo Warrior hit the road once again to Saratoga where Baffert will have the option of keeping her at two turns in races like the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) or target Grade 1 sprints like the Prioress Stakes and Test Stakes. Much will likely depend on where Untapable ends up and Baffert and the Zayats are no doubt hoping that filly tries her mettle against the boy

Originally published on http://www.MyFantasyStable.com

Breeding Watch, June 19

Posted on by DerbyMateo

The *Ribot sire line is hanging on by a thread North America, but last weekend’s results reminded everyone that it’s not gone the way of the dodo quite yet.

Moonshine Mullin continued his spring bloom by earning his fifth straight win in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. The 6-year-old is by Albert the Great, a son of 1994 Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin, who traces back to *Ribot through Cormorant and His Majesty. A leading runner of his generation for owner Tracy Farmer and Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, Albert the Great won the 2000 Jockey Club Gold Cup and placed in six other Grade 1 events, including the Breeders Cup Classic.

Albert the Great started his stud career in Kentucky and now stands at Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Pennsylvania. While he’s averaged only a single stakes winner in each of his first nine crops, Moonshine Mullin is Albert the Great’s third career Grade 1 winner after Wood Memorial Stakes winner Nobiz Like Shobiz and Donn Handicap and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Albertus Maximus. The former is out of a mare by Storm Cat and the second dam of Moonshine Mullin is by Storm Cat’s sire Storm Bird.

The Stephen Foster winner is also the eighth Group or Grade 1 winner out of a mare by the former Juddmonte Farms Mr. Prospector stallion Distant View. Among the other Grade 1 winners produced by Distant View daughters is Afleet Alex’s 2013 Travers Stakes hero Afleet Express.

Afleet Alex sired another Grade 1 winner and his third overall Saturday when Iotapa took home the Vanity Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Afleet Express and Iotapa are both out of mares bred Mr. Prospector over Icecapade. Afleet Express’s second dam is by the Icecapade grandson Phone Trick. Iotopa is out of the mare Concinnous, by Mr. Prospector’s great grandson El Corredor and her dam is a daughter of the good Icecapade stallion Wild Again.

Afleet Alex’s sire, Northern Afleet, was one of three North American stallions with two stakes winners on their ledgers last week. His sophomore daughter Saintly Joan (dam by El Corredor) took Saturday’s Little Silver Stakes at Monmouth Park. The following afternoon the 4-year-old colt Fuzzy Dee Jay (dam by Academy Award) won the Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap for Ohio-breds at Belterra Park, formerly known as River Downs. The wins were the first black-type scores for both and gives the Taylor Made Farm stallion a total of 47 stakes winners in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sharp Humor was exiled to South Korea a few years ago but his progeny have been running well of late around North America. His Sharp Sensation (dam by Royal Academy) and Angelica Zapata (Evansville Slew) both won minor listed stakes last week. That makes it five stakes winners since April 12 for the son of Distorted Humor. Among the others is Marchman (dam by Indian Charlie), victorious in a pair of graded turf sprints and runner-up in another in that span.

Hall of Famer Ghostzapper has made everyone forget about the sluggish start to his second career and is another with two stakes scorers last week.

Like Moonshine Mullin, the 4-year-old filly Molly Morgan has gotten good this spring at Churchill. After a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 La Troienne on Kentucky Oaks Day, the Dale Romans-trainee was much the best in the Grade 2 Fleur De Lis Handicap Saturday. Out of a mare by the Forty Niner stallion Distorted Humor, it was the first stakes triumph for Molly Morgan.

The Adena Springs-based Ghostzapper has sired two other Grade 2 winners out granddaughters of Forty Niner: Arena Elvira (dam by Twining) and Hear the Ghost (dam by Coronado’s Quest). About half of Ghostzapper’s career stakes winners are out of Mr. Prospector-line mares, including Ghost Is Clear, who added his second stakes win in the Dark Star Stakes Sunday at Canterbury Park. The 6-year-old is out of a mare by Gulch.

Ramsey Farm’s Kitten’s Joy has been incredibly productive with daughters of the Gone West son Grand Slam – four stakes winners (three graded, two Grade 1) from just 11 starters. He sired another stakes winner out of a Gone West granddaughter when Proud Azteca strolled home in the English Channel Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Indiana-bred colt is out of a mare by Proud Citizen, a Grade 2 winner and classic-placed son of Gone West who stands at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky. That puts Kitten’s Joy’s strike rate with all granddaughters of Gone West at 18% (from 28 starters). Proud Azteca also signals that Proud Citizen is off to a promising start as a broodmare sire as he’s the third stakes winner from the first 36 starters out of his daughters. The others are by Indian Charlie and Cape Cross, a son of the Danzig stallion Green Desert.

(originally posted on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

Horse of the Week: Moonshine Mullin

Posted on by DerbyMateo

While rumors swirl over exactly where the Breeders’ Cup will be held after 2014, we know for sure that this fall the big event will be held at Santa Anita. And we also know that Moonhine Mullin has already earned a berth in the Classic field after his gutsy win in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) on Saturday night.

The modestly-bred Moonshine Mullin has run for $40,000 claiming tag year but was a runner with apparent promise earlier in his career. After breaking his maiden in his second start as a juvenile in November of 2010, he was runner-up in the Display Stakes in his next outing. During his sophomore campaign he was the winner of the Victoria Park Stakes by a nose over eventual Sovereign Award winner Alpha Bettor. His following start was a second place finish (at 37-1) to multiple Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty in the Jim Dandy S. (G2) at Saratoga. For the next two-plus seasons, though, the bay horse could manage only a pair wins at the Allowance/Optional Claiming level.

Then the calendar turned to 2014 and Moonshine Mullin turned into a monster. 

On January 20 the Randy Morse-trainee placed third in an Optional Claimer at Oaklawn Park. He hasn’t lost since, winning an Optional Claimer next time (in which he was entered for a $40,000 tag), then a straight $80,000 claimer, then another Optional Claimer (no tag this time). Then came the stakes races. There were two Grade 1 winners and two more Classic-placed runners in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) on Kentucky Oaks Day but Moonshine Mullin beat them all. Those two Grade 1 winners, champion Will Take Charge and fellow Travers Stakes (G1) winner Golden Ticket, were back again for the Stephen Foster along with multiple Graded winners like Revolutionary and Departing. Moonshine Mullin again used his speed and grit under jockey Calvin Borel to repulse all challengers to get the money. His speed and courage are traits he likely inherited from his sire.

Moonshine Mullin is by Albert the Great, a son of 1994 Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin. A leading runner of his generation for the owner/trainer combination of Tracy Farmer and Nick Zito, Albert the Great won the 2000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and placed in six other Grade 1 events, including the Breeders Cup Classic (G1). After spending his early days at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky he now stands at Pin Oak Lane Farm in Pennsylvania. While he’s averages but a single stakes winner in each of his first nine crops, Moonshine Mullin is Albert the Great’s third career Grade 1 winner after Wood Memorial winner Nobiz Like Shobiz and Donn Handicap/Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Albertus Maximus. 

The Whitney Handicap (G1) is the next logical spot for any top handicap horse in the midwest and east coast. Moonshine Mullin has proven he belongs in a race like that and, more importantly, he’s proved he’s Breeders’ Cup-worthy.

(originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com)