Bloodstock Observations from the 2019 Breeders' Cup

American Pharoah sired a Breeders' Cup winner
in his first crop.

Understandably, the main headline in this year’s Breeders’ Cup will be the loss of Mongolian Groom Saturday night after his breakdown in the Classic. While his breakdown marred an otherwise good two days of racing, in the day and hours before that fateful race many different storylines were forming.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the breeding industry’s big moments (and one for a trainer) over the two days of racing at Santa Anita.

Spendthrift – Spendthrift Farm currently stands one of the top stallions in the industry with Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) and have followed him up with an exciting line-up of young sires quickly proving themselves with their first runners but the farm may have its best class of stallions added to the 2020 roster if this year’s Breeders’ Cup is any indication.

The farm announced in September that it will have five new stallions for 2020 with four of them running in the Breeders’ Cup this past weekend. Two of those – Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso (Curlin) and Sprint winner Mitole (Eskendereya) – won while Omaha Beach (War Front) was second in the Dirt Mile. Plans can always change before the breeding season begins but even if one of those horses remains on the track in 2020, Spendthrift will have a formidable freshman group next year.

American Pharoah – American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) was forced to scratch from the Juvenile due to an issue in his first attempt at the Breeders’ Cup (he would go on to win the Classic the next year) but his runners made up for it this year. The stallion has sired 20 winners from his first crop – including nine stakes horses – and three made it to the Breeders’ Cup starting gate. Four Wheel Drive kicked off the Breeders’ Cup festives with a win in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to lead home a 1-3 finish for the Triple Crown winner while a few races later Sweet Melania finished a good third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf to round out his first Breeders’ Cup.

Young Sires – Nineteen stakes races were held on the two Breeders’ Cup days at Santa Anita with four of them won by horses whose sires are first or second crop stallions (American Pharaoh (Pioneerof the Nile), Fast Anna (Medaglia d’Oro), Flashback (Tapit), Palace Malice (Curlin), Ruler of the World (Galileo)) with two others siring second or third place finishers. It was always known that we had some strong sire crops coming up but they proved it on the biggest stage for U.S. horses this week after making headlines all year.

Uncle Mo – In 2015 Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) made a huge entrance into the stallion world when he sired seven stakes winners, including that year’s Champion 2-Year-Old and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. He has had some relatively quiet (for his level of success those first two years) years since but he was back on the national stage this weekend. Not only did he sire Saturday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby winner Mo Forza, he was also the sire of the second and third place finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. With future crops coming from a much-increased fee from his first few years at stud and stronger books, Uncle Mo is posed to strike hard and fast in coming years.

Uncle Mo before his win in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Sharing – It’s not often you see a Breeders’ Cup winning sire or dam have a Breeders’ Cup winning foal but Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing (Speightstown) went one farther. Her sire is a Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, her dam (Shared Account) is a Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner, and her damsire is Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect) becomes only the fourth Breeders’ Cup winner to produce a Breeders’ Cup winner – joining Hollywood Wildcat, My Flag, and Personal Ensign while 22 sires have pulled off the feat. Sharing becomes the first winner whose sire and dam both won Breeders’ Cup races, though both My Flag (Easy Goer) and Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat) came close as their sires finished second in Breeders’ Cup races.

Joseph O’Brien – It’s rare to win two graded stakes races in one day on any continent and even rarer to win two in one week on two continents but Joseph O’Brien blew that stat out of the water on Saturday. His day started in Australia when Downdraft (Camelot) won the Group 3 Lexus Hotham Stakes, followed by a hurdle winner at Downpatrick before Iridessa (Ruler of the World) won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf to give the trainer his first Breeders’ Cup victory and the title of both youngest jockey (after his 2011 win in the Turf) and trainer to win races in Breeders’ Cup history.

More Than Ready – More Than Ready (Southern Halo) came into the race tied as the leading sire of winners and left as the sole leader. After playing part as the damsire of both Grade 2 Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor (Palace Malice), on Saturday he sired his seventh career Breeders’ Cup winner with Uni in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile. That victory put him one ahead of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) and Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled) for the leading sire title.

Uncle Mo

John Gunther – The breeder of last year’s Triple Crown winner, John Gunther had another huge day on Breeders’ Cup Saturday. It started when Gunther-bred Kenzai Warrior (Karakontie) provided his Gainesway sire a first stakes winner when winning the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes on Saturday morning (U.S. time). The victory was followed by a good third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile by Without Parole (Frankel), who was making his first start off a layoff for new trainer Chad Brown to give his dam a second Breeders’ Cup placing following Tamarkuz’s (Speightstown) win in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

But the biggest accomplishment of the day was Vino Rosso’s victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was the second Grade 1 of the year for Vino Rosso, who also provided Gunther a double last year when he won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on the same day Justify (Scat Daddy) won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2018.