Five Stallions to Watch at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga


One of the major social events on the United States bloodstock calendar every year, the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings sale is always a major draw for horsemen. This year, American Pharoah looks to be the star of the show with 15 offerings but he and his fellow first crop sires aren’t the only stars people will be watching on Aug. 6 and 7.

Here are five established sires – from a stallion making his return to the U.S. to a young stallion still making waves - to be aware of when you watch the sale this week.

Classic Empire, the half-brother to Hip 93
 Candy Ride’s (Ride the Rails) 2-year-old Grade 1 winner Separationofpowers couldn’t have better timing, winning her second Grade 1 than two days before this sale. The stallion is coming off a year where Gun Runner won Horse of the Year followed by a win in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational to push Candy Ride to No. 1 in the General Sires rankings.  But Gun Runner is far from his only graded stakes winner this year. Eleven of his 84 winners have won stakes races with nine others placing in stakes, led by Gun Runner and Separationofpowers.

Candy Ride has five offerings including a half-sister (Hip 93) to champion Classic Empire and colt (Hip 238) out of a multiple stakes winner. Candy Ride stood for $80,000 at Lane’s End in 2018.

Curlin (Smart Strike) had a timely update right before the sale when he sired the winner of the Grade 1 betfair.com Haskell Invitational (2YO champion Good Magic) and Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by NYRA Bets (Tenfold) in addition to the third-place finisher in the Jim Dandy. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for the stallion this year with 12 stakes winners and 11 stakes placers in the first eight months of this year. The stallion is a proven classic sire with at least one runner placing in a U.S. classic every year of his stud career and it looks to get even better from here.

Curlin has 11 hips in the sale (before outs), including a half-sister (Hip 20) to Grade 3 winner Leavem In Malibu (Malibu Moon) and Kentucky Derby runner Danzig Moon (Malibu Moon); a half-sister (Hip 96) to Grade 1 winner Salutos Amigos (Salute the Sarge); and a half-sister (Hip 106) to Grade 1 winner Power Broker (Pulpit). Curlin’s yearlings last year averaged $281,982 according to Blood-Horse, nearly two times his current $150,000 stud fee. This is his first crop conceived after moving to Hill ‘n’ Dale in 2016.

This is Empire Maker's first crop since
returning to the U.S.
Empire Maker (Unbridled) is in the unique position of being an established stallion but being absent from the U.S. yearling market for over five years. The stallion moved to Japan in time for the 2011 breeding season then was bought back by U.S. interests and came back in late 2015. The stallion’s sire credentials stand on their own with runners such as Royal Delta and Bodemeister just two of 11 Grade 1 winners. He’s also shown to be a sire-of-sires with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and a good broodmare sire with 22 stakes winners out of his daughters including Grade 1 winners Outwork (Uncle Mo) and Separationofpowers (Candy Ride).

Empire Maker has five hips in the sale including, a half-brother (Lot 86) to Grade 1 Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) and a filly (Hip 89) out of multiple champion Roxy Gap (Indian Charlie). He stands at Gainesway for $85,000 this year.

Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) gets better every year and buyers were reminded of that two days before the sale when Mia Mischief ran a close second in the Test Stakes two weeks after Sombeyay won the Grade 3 Sanford. Into Mischief has 12 stakes winners and 16 stakes placed horses so far this year on crops that have been bred on stud fees no greater than $20,000. The crop of yearlings going through the ring this week were bred on a $45,000 fee. Into Mischief’s fee shot up to $75,000 in 2017 and $100,000 in 2018.

Uncle Mo's first crop conceived after
 Nyquist's champion 2YO
season hits the ring this week
Into Mischief has 13 hips at the sale including a colt (Hip 169) out of a half-sister to champion Tepin (Bernstein) and Vyjack (Into Mischief), a colt (Hip 209) out of a half-sister to the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner By the Moon (Indian Charlie), and a half-sister (Hip 210) to Grade 3 winner Kitten Kaboodle (Kitten’s Joy).

The most successful freshman sire in years, Uncle Mo’s (Indian Charlie) continues to churn out graded stakes winners. This year he has 11 stakes winners and six graded stakes winners led by Grade 1 Apple Blossom winner Unbridled Mo. This is his first crop bred after Nyquist won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with this crop bred on a $75,000 stud fee.

Uncle Mo has 16 offerings in this sale including a filly out of a half-sister (Hip 125) to Grade 1 winner and sire Creative Cause (Giant’s Causeway), a colt (Hip 140) out of Canadian classic winner Unspurned, and a colt (Hip 255) out of a half-sister to multiple champion Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro). Uncle Mo stood for $125,000 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in 2018.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Impact of El Prado

Image
When El Prado (Sadler’s Wells) was imported to the United States after being purchased from Coolmore by Frank Stronach in the early 1990s, very few breeders were willing to give El Prado a shot.  "No one wanted a son of Sadler’s Wells in America,” Dermot Carty, who bought the horse for Stronach, told Blood-Horse when the stallion died. “Everyone saw him as just a grass horse, but now he’s a broodmare sire, a sire of sires, and he’s made history. It was a gamble … to buy a son of Sadler’s Wells was a major move, but it paid off." But over 20 years later, El Prado has made a major impact on the breed in North America. El Prado started his breeding career at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky for Stronach, who didn’t have a stallion operation at the time. Within a few years, Stronach’s opened up Adena Springs stallion facility and El Prado became one of the cornerstones of the operation.   Video courtesy of Thoroughbred Horses in Kentucky "He put us on the map,&q
Read more

North America's Champion Second-Crop Sire: Munnings

Image
Munnings When Coolmore’s Demi O’Byrne paid $1.7-million for Munnings as an early 2-year-old, expectation were high for the chestnut son of Speightstown. After winning three graded stakes races and finishing on the board in six others, Munnings retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for $12,500 (approx. €11,523/£8,792) in 2011. That crop produced 109 live foals with 53 of those making it to the track as 2-year-olds. Twenty-seven of those first 2-year-olds went to the winner’s circle with three stakes winners and one graded stakes winner in 2014, allowing Munnings to finish fourth by earnings behind Quality Road (Elusive Quality) on the Leading First-Crop Sires list.  Munnings also finished second behind fellow Ashford Stud Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) by winners and stakes winners (Super Saver (Maria’s Mon) tied with Lookin at Lucky at the top of the stakes winners list). But with 108 runners representing the stallion in 2015, the odds swung in his favor. Munnings had 32
Read more

Bargain Sire: Tale of the Cat

Image
Tale of the Cat in 2014 A Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs and Grade 1 placed at nine furlongs, Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) was more than useful as a racehorse. His successful racing career turned out to be a foreshadowing of his stud career when he joined the stallion ranks in 1999, retiring to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky for $25,000.  By a top sire in Storm Cat and from a strong female family that includes champion Johannesburg (Hennessy) (out of Tale of the Cat’s half-sister) and Pulpit (A.P. Indy), Tale of the Cat has constantly ranked in the top 30 on the General Sires list since graduating from the crop-specific lists (where he was ranked in the top five on the first, second and third crop sires lists). While never a leading General Sire, Tale of the Cat is more often than not seen in the top 15 with his best ranking on that list being a seventh. The stallion has also done well enough with his 2-year-olds to lead the Two-Year-Old Sires list in 2003 and to rank second o
Read more