us racing Major General (Constitution) wins the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes and books himself a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
The youth of today
As we close in on the pivotal Breeders’ Cup meeting, Melissa Bauer-Herzog runs her eye over some of the leading young sires and two-year-old performances in the US this autumn
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N WHAT COULD be described as a “golden era” of young sires in US racing, this season has proved jus what a strong bunch there is around with many of the major Breeders’ Cup juvenile prep races seeing top three finishes from runners by first, second, or third-crop sires. The third-crop sire Constitution has been in the headlines since Classic winner Tiz The Law was a top two-year-old from his first crop and the success is continuing in 2021. The WinStar Farm-based son of Tapit has had five juvenile stakes performers headed by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) contender Major General. That colt earned his spot in the Juvenile through the “Win and You’re In” berth
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offered with success in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in late September – a race in which he beat Tough To Tame, who is by second-crop sire Speightster, by a neck. Another young sire Connect was a stand-out on the same card – Hidden Connection romped home in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Lane’s End’s freshman sire Connect has made a tremendous impact in the juvenile divisions this year with Hidden Connection’s 9l romp over fellow first-crop sire Gormley’s Mama Rina just the start. Five days later people would have been excused for not paying much attention to Connect’s newest winner Rattle N Roll. He’d had a rough go of it at Saratoga on
his second start and was looking to break his maiden in his third start at Churchill Downs, the track where he had debuted. He won the September 23 race by 3l and impressed connections so much they decided to send him to the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) just two weeks later. That proved to be a fortuitous plan. Rattle N Roll made the Grade 1 success look even easier than his maiden-breaking victory with a 4l length victory. He has gained an automatic spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to give Connect at least two potential starters in the race. Multiple freshmen sires have made their impact felt this autumn, but none more than Gun Runner. He has a $500,000 lead over second-
