Digging Into the Data: March 2020 Graded Stakes Update
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| Into Mischief had multiple graded stakes winners in March |
Despite racing
ceasing around most of North America in March, 29 graded stakes were run at seven
different tracks, including four different Grade 1s. With that in mind, let’s
look at the lucky winners who helped keep racing entertaining last month.
Surfaces
By The Numbers: Despite
many tracks cancelling some or all of their meets, 29 graded stakes races were
held in March to takes the total number of graded stakes 2020 up to 90.
The
majority of the graded stakes were run on dirt in March with 20 (68.97%) taking
place on that surface. Eight were run on turf (27.59%) while Turfway’s Grade
III Jeff Ruby Steaks was the only graded stakes run on a synthetic surface.
The percentage
of graded stakes run on dirt was up slightly from February where 24 of 39 took
place on the surface (61.54%) and 38.46 percent run on turf (15 of 39) with
none run on synthetic surfaces that month. Through the first quarter of the
year, 55 graded stakes have run on dirt and 34 on turf with only the Jeff Ruby run
on a synthetic surface.
Graded
Stakes Levels:
After
a month without any Grade I events in February, March’s racing had four with
three held on dirt and one on turf.
Only Gulfstream
and Santa Anita have run Grade I races this year with four of the six held on the
dirt and two on the turf. None of the Grade Is in 2020 have been run at less
than a mile with the 9 to 9 ½ furlong range the most popular at three races followed
by two one-mile Grade Is (one on dirt and one on turf) and the Grade I Pegasus
being the longest at 10 furlongs.
Grade III
races were the most popular in March with 13 followed closely by Grade IIs with
12. That follows the trend of the other two months with 54 Grade IIIs (60%) and
30 Grade IIs (33.33%) taking place in the first quarter.
Distances: If you have a graded
stakes level sprinter, you were limited in your options on where to run them
this month with only four of the 29 graded stakes (13.80%) in March run over a
sprint distance. One was run at 5 ½ furlongs, one at six, and two at seven. Those
who were looking for a one-mile graded stakes didn’t fare much better with just
four at that distance, though stretching an extra half furlong gave you an
added 10 options.
Eight and
a half furlongs was the most popular graded stakes distance run in March followed
by nine furlongs with six races at the distance. The furthest you could run in
March was 12 furlongs on the turf (Grade II Pan American) and 10 furlongs on
the dirt (Grade I Santa Anita Handicap).
Though a
common thought is that America is leaning more toward sprint races than route
distances, the early stakes schedule disputes that’s where the opportunities at
this level lays. Eighteen graded stakes have been held at less than a mile in
2020 (20 percent) with 11 of those at the Grade III level and none at Grade I.
Those who wanted to run at a flat eight furlongs had nearly as many choices (and more opportunities at Grade I and Grade II levels) as sprinters with 16 races run at eight furlongs (17.78%) and 8 ½ furlongs adding a further 29 opportunities to that (a combined 50%).
The 8 – 8
½ furlong range proved to be the most popular of all graded stakes in the first
quarter followed by 27 graded stakes run over nine furlongs or more (30%)
though all but one of the dirt graded stakes at route distances run over nine
or nine and a half furlongs. As is normal for its division, turf horses had
more opportunities to go longer with 9 of the 10 graded stakes going more than
9 ½ furlongs run on turf.
Santa
Anita:
Though Santa Anita was closed before it could run all its March stakes schedule,
it led all tracks by the number of stakes it held with eight, followed by
Gulfstream with seven.
Santa
Anita’s program proved to be the friendliest to sprinters in March with two
stakes run under eight furlongs (a 5 ½ furlong Grade III on turf and 7-furlong
Grade II on dirt) and also held the longest dirt race of the month with the 10
furlong Santa Anita Handicap.
Santa
Anita’s spring meet held 26 different stakes from January 1st to
March 21st with most coming between 5 ½ furlongs (four at the
distance) and 8 ½ furlongs (four at the distance).
All
About March:
March again proved to be the busiest foaling month for graded stakes winners
with 12, the second straight month March has had the most graded stakes winners.
That was followed by April with seven graded stakes winners in March and February
– who led all months in January – with six graded stakes winners.
The
earliest foaled graded stakes winner in March was Grade III Appleton winner Social
Paranoia (Street Boss) with a January 21 birthday while Grade II San
Felipe winner Authentic (Into Mischief) was the latest foaled with a May
5 birthday – three days after Combatant’s (Scat Daddy) May 2nd
foaling date.
Leading
Sires:
Spendthrift
Farm’s Champion Sire Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) led all sires by
number of graded stakes winners in March with three – taking his total to five
different winners of seven graded stakes in 2020 (Authentic and Mischevious Alex
being his two repeat winners).
Four
different sires had two stakes winners apiece in March with two still standing
in the United States. Coolmore America’s Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) is proving
to have another top year with 3-year-olds after King Guillermo and Donna Veloce
both won classic preps with Lane’s End’s The Factor (War Front) proving
his runners are extremely versatile with Cistron and Factor This winning graded
stakes over 5 ½ furlongs and nine furlongs, respectively, on turf.
Former
WinStar Farm resident Daredevil (More Than Ready) is following the Murphy’s
Law of stallions performing well after leaving the country after relocating to
Turkey this year. The stallion had two Kentucky Oaks prep winners in Shedaresthedevil
and Swiss Skydiver winning for trainer Brad Cox in March.
Scat
Daddy (Johannesburg)
died in late 2015 but he is still proving to be a potent source of racing
success with two graded stakes winners in March. His son Combatant almost
certainly earned a place at stud with a Grade I win at Santa Anita while Mean
Mary continued to show she’s a real threat in the Female Turf division this
year.
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| Scat Daddy |
Repeat
Winners: Twelve
different horses have won two graded stakes this year with nine of them winning
one of those races in March.
Both Cheermeister
(Bodemeister) and Tonalist’s Shape (Tonalist) won both their stakes in the same
month with their victories coming on the exact same days – February 1 and February
29.
Stud
Fees: The
19 sires with March graded stakes winners standing for an advertised fee in 2020
is $44,849, a 100.77 percent increase from their average of $22,339 the year each
of their oldest graded stakes winner was conceived.
Hill ‘n’
Dale’s Curlin (Smart Strike) and Spendthrift’s Into Mischief saw the
biggest fee increases. Curlin stood for $35,000 when his Grade III Hurricane
Bertie winner Sally’s Curlin was conceived in 2015 and is standing for an
advertised fee of $175,000 this year. Into Mischief stood for $20,000 when Beema’s
Boy’s dam visited the shed in 2014 and is now at $175,000.
The 39
stallions standing for an advertised fee in 2020 who have had graded stakes
winners in the first three months of this year are standing for an average of
$45,877 in 2020, up 48.79 percent from the $30,834 they stood for the year
their oldest graded stakes winner was conceived.
Six of
the stallions who stood in the U.S. when their stakes winner was conceived have
been exported (two to Japan, two to South Korea, two to Turkey), one has been
pensioned, and seven have died.
Six graded
stakes winners were conceived out of North America with four of those stallions
having advertised stud fees both the year their winner was conceived and today
(their fees were calculated into U.S. dollars by using Google’s exchange rate).
The biggest increase of those stallions was Coolmore Stud’s No Nay Never (Scat
Daddy) seeing a 900 percent increase rising from €17,500
in 2016 to €175,000 in 2020.
Auctions: Twenty-four of March’s
graded stakes winners sold at public auction at least once with 13 selling
twice and two selling three times (one going through a horses in training sale
and one a 2-year-old sale.
The most
expensive of the 24 horses was the $800,000 2-year-old Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo),
who sold for $450,000 at Keeneland September. The least expensive was the $2,700
Keeneland September yearling Factor This (The Factor), who then sold as a
2-year-old for $11,000.
Selling
for a combined total of $4,436,551 at their highest price, the 24 horses sold
averaged $184,856.30 with a median of $107,500.
Did you know Melissa offers
research services to the racing industry? Visit www.PyroisMedia.com to learn
more or send her an email at Melissa@PyroisMedia.com for more
information.
March 2020 Graded Stakes Winners
Date
|
Race
|
Grade
|
Horse
|
Sire
|
Dam
|
3/7
|
Frank E. Kilroe
|
1
|
River Boyne
|
Dandy Man
|
Clytha
|
3/7
|
Honeybee
|
3
|
Shedaresthedevil
|
Daredevil
|
Starship Warpspeed
|
3/7
|
Hillsborough
|
2
|
Starship Jubilee
|
Indy Wind
|
Perfectly Wild
|
3/7
|
Gotham
|
3
|
Mischevious Alex
|
Into Mischief
|
White Pants Night
|
3/7
|
San Felipe
|
2
|
Authentic
|
Into Mischief
|
Flawless
|
3/7
|
Florida Oaks
|
3
|
Ourburst
|
Outstrip
|
Daidoo
|
3/7
|
Santa Anita Handicap
|
1
|
Combatant
|
Scat Daddy
|
Border Dispute
|
3/7
|
San Carlos
|
2
|
Flagstaff
|
Speightstown
|
Indyan Giving
|
3/7
|
Tom Fool
|
3
|
Mind Control
|
Stay Thirsty
|
Feel That Fire
|
3/7
|
Challenger
|
3
|
Trophy Chaser
|
Twirling Candy
|
European Union
|
3/7
|
Tampa Bay Derby
|
2
|
King Guillermo
|
Uncle Mo
|
Slow Sand
|
3/8
|
Santa Ysabel
|
3
|
Donna Veloce
|
Uncle Mo
|
Coin Broker
|
3/14
|
Azeri
|
2
|
Serengetti Empress
|
Alternation
|
Havisham
|
3/14
|
Rebel
|
2
|
Nadal
|
Blame
|
Ascending Angel
|
3/14
|
Hurricane Bertie
|
3
|
Sally's Curlin
|
Curlin
|
Cabo Queen
|
3/14
|
Beholder Mile
|
1
|
Ce Ce
|
Elusive Quality
|
Miss Houdini
|
3/14
|
Jeff Ruby
|
3
|
Field Pass
|
Lemon Drop Kid
|
Only Me
|
3/21
|
New Orleans Classic
|
2
|
By My Standards
|
Goldencents
|
A Jealous Woman
|
3/21
|
Louisiana Derby
|
2
|
Wells Bayou
|
Lookin At Lucky
|
Whispering Angel
|
3/21
|
San Luis Rey
|
3
|
Ward 'n Jerry
|
Lucky Pulpit
|
Tamarack Bay
|
3/21
|
FG Oaks
|
2
|
Bonny South
|
Munnings
|
Touch The Star
|
3/21
|
San Simeon
|
3
|
Cistron
|
The Factor
|
Major Allie
|
3/21
|
Muniz Memorial Classic
|
2
|
Factor This
|
The Factor
|
Capricious Miss
|
3/28
|
Florida Derby
|
1
|
Tiz The Law
|
Constitution
|
Tizfit
|
3/28
|
Hal's Hope
|
3
|
Identifier
|
Creative Cause
|
Can't Catch Kate
|
3/28
|
GP Oaks
|
2
|
Swiss Skydiver
|
Daredevil
|
Expo Gold
|
3/28
|
Pan American
|
2
|
Bemma's Boy
|
Into Mischief
|
Arcing
|
3/28
|
Orchid
|
3
|
Mean Mary
|
Scat Daddy
|
Karlovy Vary
|
3/28
|
Appleton
|
3
|
Social Paranoia
|
Street Boss
|
Shutterbug
|
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