PULLOUT PREVIEW Monday, December 10, 2018
NEW US SIRES Your guide to the 2019 intake headed by Triple Crown hero Justify
Featuring a comprehensive assessment of the stud arrivals and an interview with Mill Ridge Farm, who are launching Oscar Performance
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019 Search for ‘Hollywood the next star’ Oscar big thing puts historic starts here
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ELCOME to the Racing Post Bloodstock guide to the new names in the North American stallion ranks in 2019. It is almost certain to contain sires of future superstar racehorses in Britain and Ireland, and many of them will be available at affordable fees in their early years at stud. Kitten’s Joy – the source of Roaring Lion, this year’s Cartier Award-winning horse of the year in Europe – was introduced to Ramsey Farm in Kentucky at $25,000 but is now priced at $60,000 after proving himself one of the best turf sires worldwide. War Front, who supplied 2017 European champion two-year-old and this year’s July Cup hero US Navy Flag as well as Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Lancaster Bomber, retired to Claiborne Farm in Kentucky at $12,500 but his patrons now have to pay $250,000. Exchange Rate, whose son Thundering Blue has developed into a popular globetrotter, stood at Padua Stables in Florida in his first season at $12,500 before being snapped up by Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, where he would command a fee as high as $30,000. And then there was Scat Daddy. The late sire sensation, who delivered numerous Royal Ascot winners and this year’s Triple Crown laureate Justify, was introduced to breeders at Ashford Stud in Kentucky at $30,000 but was down to $10,000 by his fourth season. The only trouble is picking which of the intake in 2019 will be the next War Front or Scat Daddy. Michele MacDonald puts all of the new recruits under the microscope, from cheaper options to champions like Justify, from page 6 onwards. She also talks to Headley Bell, whose Mill Ridge Farm in Kentucky is getting back into the stallion game in some style as it prepares to launch the second career of Oscar Performance, a four-time Grade 1 winner by Kitten’s Joy. We’ll be back in the new year with another supplement looking at the newly retired colts in Europe.
Martin Stevens
‘Kitten’s Joy was introduced at $25,000 but is now priced at $60,000 after proving himself one of the best turf sires’
farm back in the game Michele MacDonald FOCUS ON MILL RIDGE
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HE world is a far different place than it was a decade ago. In 2009 the global recession had seeped into the veins of racing and breeding like a paralysing narcotic. Glory days faded into bygone eras, sometimes rapidly, such as when Mill Ridge Farm’s prominent sire Gone West drew his last breath following colic surgery not long after he had been pensioned. Just like that, Mill Ridge – which had also stood the hardy Diesis prior to his death three years earlier – was out of the business of standing highprofile stallions with the capability of siring elite winners around the globe. Headley Bell, who manages the family establishment, aspired to acquire another stallion, but he chose to wait and watch over the subsequent years. Slowly but steadily, economics began to improve, while the pendulum of what had been a sharp American market bias in favour of precocious dirt horses began to swing back towards longerterm value and versatility. Then along came recordsetting, multiple Grade 1 winner Oscar Performance.
Bell believes the nearly 16.2hh son of Kitten’s Joy, the sire who was leading his North American peers by progeny earnings through early December while also having European Horse of the Year Roaring Lion and Dubai Sheema Classic victor Hawkbill to his credit, has the credentials and the support to try to follow in the historic hoofprints Gone West and Diesis left at Mill Ridge. “That’s our hope,” Bell says in contemplating the future for Oscar Performance, who will stand his first season at the farm in 2019 for a fee of $20,000. “We were waiting for the right horse and the right opportunity. We really feel Oscar Performance is that in every way,” he reflects on getting back into the business of standing promising stallions. “We don’t want to just do it for the business, we want to make a difference for the breed, if we can. Thankfully, Gone West and Diesis contributed to the breed, and we think this horse can do the same.” As Mill Ridge rejoins the ranks of commercial stallion stations, Oscar Performance is getting reacquainted with his birthplace. Foaled on April 6, 2014, at the farm, which is nestled alongside Sheikh Mohammed’s Jonabell Farm in a rolling, picturesque corner of Lexington, Oscar Performance was bred and raced by Mill Ridge clients John Amerman, the former chief executive of the Mattel toy company, and his wife Jerry. The ties with the Amermans, which go back to the days when the late trainer Bobby Frankel introduced Mill Ridge
founder and Bell’s mother, Alice Headley Chandler, to the California-based owners, provide a nostalgic angle to the story. “They really are kindred spirits. Jerry is truly a horseman, and she and Mom really connected very well,” Bell says. “When the Amermans moved their mares here to the farm – they’ve been boarding here probably 12 years or so now – we assisted them with their matings and picked up the relationship from there. It’s been terrific. They’ve raised two Grade 1 winners here in Coffee Clique and Oscar Performance and so it’s been very, very special.” Oscar Performance has much to offer breeders: his racing exploits feature four Grade 1 victories including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf over three seasons; his pedigree blends Northern Dancer’s sons Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev and Danzig and features multiple lines each of outstanding mares Rough Shod II and Special; and his physical characteristics are likened to those of a “Hollywood star” by Bell. “He’s done something few horses have done – win a
‘Gone West and Diesis contributed to the breed and we think this horse can do the same’ Headley Bell
Oscar Performance lands the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita in 2016, the first of four Grade 1 wins for the new Mill Ridge stallion (far right)
Grade 1 at two, three and four. That demonstrated his talents,” Bell says, noting such a feat is the hallmark of special horses of the calibre of Frankel, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid.
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ELL says Oscar Performance jumped on the Mill Ridge radar as a stallion prospect as soon as he won a two-year-old maiden race at Saratoga by ten and a quarter lengths and followed that with victory in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes. The colt underlined his talent with his 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf victory in 1:33.28 for the mile at Santa Anita. “We expressed our interest from the early days and then just let that be it, really. We weren’t on the hustle. We wanted the Amermans to have full opportunity to consider any options they wanted to consider,” Bell recalls of how Oscar Performance came to stand at Mill Ridge. As a three-year-old Oscar Performance won both the Grade 1 races on the American calendar limited to his generation on turf, the Belmont Derby Invitational and the Secretariat Stakes, each at a mile and a quarter. Having been unplaced in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Turf won by Talismanic over a mile and a half, Oscar Performance vvContinues page 4
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019 returned at four to break Elusive Quality’s 20-year-old Belmont Park course record for a mile in the Grade 3 Poker Stakes, flying home in 1:31.23. That time also reportedly tied the world record for the distance. In the weeks following the Poker, Bell worked to sell 15 shares in Oscar Performance and let the word out that the horse would be coming to star in the new chapter about to unfold at Mill Ridge. On his next start, in the Arlington Million, Oscar Performance was pulled up when jockey Jose Ortiz felt him take a bad step, but the colt was unharmed and bounced back with a wire-towire romp in the Woodbine Mile, which he accomplished in 1:33.12. He closed out his career with an unfortunate mishap in the Breeders’ Cup Mile when he was slow to leave the gate as the favourite in the race, which was won by Juddmonte Farms’ Expert Eye. With a record of eight wins in 15 starts and earnings of $2,345,96, Oscar Performance was ready to start a new career.
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IS stallion life at Mill Ridge has begun without incident as he has settled happily into his own one-stall barn with a sumptuous four-acre paddock just a few strides away from the breeding shed. The balanced and chiselled bay, who is marked with a white stripe that curves distinctively around his left nostril, has a willing disposition and will become a focal point of Mill Ridge’s Horse Country tours for the public. With a few more shares still available, Bell says he has assembled “a fabulous core group of syndicate members in the horse”. Those investors include the breeders of Triple Crown winner Justify, John Gunther and Tanya Gunther; Coolmore affiliate Orpendale; international breeder and owner George Strawbridge; Craig Bernick’s Glen Hill Farm; Everett Dobson of Candy Meadows Farm and Cheyenne Stables; and bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, who is co-breeder of 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. The list goes on: William Shively’s Dixiana Farms; Richard Santulli of Colt’s Neck Stable, breeder of Preakness Stakes winner and sire Oxbow;
Oscar Performance at Mill Ridge last week with Headley Bell, and below in the paddock back at the farm where he was born and will stand at $20,000
Paramount Sales partner and Springhouse Farm owner Gabriel Duignan; LNJ Foxwoods, which raced Grade 1 winners Nickname and Constellation; Rene and Lauren Woolcott of Woodslane Farm, breeders of Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist and Kitten’s Joy’s Grade 1-winning son Sadler’s Joy, and longtime Mill Ridge client Audrey Otto of JAMM Ltd, co-breeder of Grade 1 winner Monba. The accomplishments of these breeders who are betting on Oscar Performance indicate that American attitudes no longer seem as skewed against a turf horse as they appeared to have been following the period when international stars such as Blushing Groom, Lyphard, Nijinsky, Riverman and Sir Ivor (the Epsom Derby winner who was bred by Chandler) commanded patronage in Kentucky. But every horse has to stand on his own, and the qualities possessed by Oscar Performance – as well as the structure Mill Ridge has formed for his stud career – are attractive in ncentives. “His pediigree blend is exceptional – he’s everything you could a ask for, truly,” Bell declares. “H He’s an outstanding horse and a an outstanding physical. He’s got more Nureyev, m more Theatrical, in him in hiis physical
‘His pedigree blend is exceptional – he’s everything you could ask for. Everybody whoo has come out to see hiim absolutely loves him’
appearance than just about anything. He’s got a great, great blend of pedigree.” Oscar Performance is out of the stakes-winning Theatrical mare Devine Actress, who has also produced his full-brother, multiple Graded winner and millionaire Oscar Nominated, who was claimed away from the Amermans in his third start by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. The Ramseys bred, raced and developed champion Kitten’s Joy into the top sire he has become and pay close attention to his racing offspring. There are gems in every part of Oscar Performance’s pedigree. He traces tail female to champion Lady Pitt, whose descendants include Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing Spree and other Grade 1 winners Furlough, Fantastic Find, Oh What a Windfall and champion Heavenly Prize. The
blue hen mares who show up several times in Oscar Performance’s pedigree left an indelible mark on the breed. He is 5x4 to Special, the dam of Nureyev and granddam of Sadler’s Wells. Oscar Performance also has three lines of Rough Shod II, the granddam of Special whose other descendants include champions Moccasin, Gamely and Thatch. In addition to her name figuring in his pedigree through Special, she produced Lt Stevens, who appears on the maternal side of Kitten’s Joy’s bloodlines through Group 1-winning Lear Fan. Other remarkable horses appearing more than once in Oscar Performance’s pedigree include Buckpasser, Native Dancer, Hail To Reason and Nashua. In shaping the young stallion’s future, Bell says Oscar Performance will be limited to 140 mares in his first book and will not shuttle to the southern hemisphere. Plans d b d on n an were made based be analysis of what would w he horse best for th and forr shareholders. “Because “ we’ve been w away a [from the [ commercial stalllion business] for a while, we were able to study it and really try to pick the best of what evverybody has done,” Belll says, g that Mill explaining Ridge’s experience e one West’s with Go Breedeers’ Cup Turf-wiinning son Johar led to the n against decision ng. shuttlin “Wee sent se Johar
to New Zealand and, nothing against it, but it changed his life. Thankfully, the Amermans care first and foremost about the horse, so it was an easy decision to keep [Oscar Performance] here. We think the world of Australian and New Zealand racing and breeding, but it just doesn’t suit what we are trying to do,” he says.
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S TO the shareholders, they will have access to two seasons a year for the first four years Oscar Performance is at stud. “You’ve got eight seasons in four years, and if your mare doesn’t get in foal from your season, you’re refunded the fee. So you’re either going to get a foal or a fee [refund] in the first four years, which essentially gets you out on the share,” Bell says, adding that the “no foal/refund of the fee is basically the Lane’s End programme”. Asked about Oscar Performance’s race record and pedigree being decidedly turforiented, Bell does not foresee that being a problem for breeders in today’s market. It’s clear that same kind of profile was no obstacle for Kitten’s Joy becoming a success. American breeders and owners have become keenly aware that approximately 40 per cent of prize-money on the continent comes from races run on grass, and they have noted sales ring success stories with European-oriented buyers such as Godolphin, Coolmore and Qatar Racing. Grade/ Group 1 winners such as Godolphin’s Hawkbill, Qatar Racing’s Roaring Lion and Coolmore’s Mendelssohn were sold at the Keeneland September yearling sale.
Oscar Performance’s future offspring have the potential to be attractive to European owners and others, including Japanese buyers, as well as Americans. “The proof’s in the pudding with the purses on offer with turf racing. There’s a significant amount of money available,” Bell says of the rich North American races on grass. Breeders beyond those who have invested in shares have seemed enthusiastic when they visit Mill Ridge to see Oscar Performance. “The response has been wonderful. Everybody who has come out to see him absolutely loves him,” Bell says. “This is a terrific opportunity,” he adds, looking ahead to the possibilities of reestablishing Mill Ridge as the home of notable sires. It was not so long ago that Mill Ridge’s breeding shed was the inception point for Gone West’s champions Speightstown and Zafonic as well as his dual Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Da Hoss, Belmont Stakes winner Commendable and influential sire son Mr Greeley, in addition to Diesis’s champion sons Halling and Elmaamul and European Classic-winning fillies Diminuendo and Ramruma. “Gone West and Diesis were so important for the farm, and we were waiting for the right opportunity to stand another stallion,” Bell says. “Oscar Performance was raised here and the Amermans believe in us, so this is the ideal opportunity. “With a family operation, this is all we do. Our greatest asset is our land. If you’re not planning on selling the land, you’ve got to figure out a way of staying in the business – and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019
TOP-DOLLAR COLLECTION Exciting intake – from Accelerate to West Coast Michele MacDonald TRACK AND PEDIGREE PROFILES AN A-Z OF THE KEY SIRES IN 2019 Accelerate
5yo chestnut Look kin At LuckyIssues (Awesome Again) A Stands at Lane’ss End, Versailles, Kentu ucky, at a fee of $20,000 Although he did not n win a race until his fourth sttart in midsummer at th he age of three, Acceleratee developed into one of the m most talented runners in North h America. As a five-year-old hee strung together four con nsecutive Grade 1 wins, cap pped by the Breeders’ Cup p Classic, and has been b kept in training to t pursue the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stak kes next month. The best son of champ pion Lookin At Lucky proved a creditable adverssary every year he ran. He fiinished third to Tamarkuz and d subsequent 2017 Horse of thee Year Gun Runner in the 20 016 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and d defeated champion Arroga ate the following year in n the San Diego Handicap. In 2018 he
won six of his seven starts and his Classic triumph left no doubt he was the best older horse in training on dirt. With earnings topping $5.79 million, Accelerate is a halfbrother to a pair of stakes winners and his family includes champion Smart Angle and Grade 1 winner Wagon Limit.
Always Dreaming
4yo dark bay/brown Bodemeister-Above Perfection (In Excess) WinStar Farm, Versailles, Kentucky; $25,000 From the first crop of Empire Maker’s brilliantly fast, Grade 1-winning son Bodemeister, Always Dreaming went one better than his sire’s secondplace finish when he captured the Kentucky Derby in 2017. A $350 000 yearling and a half $350,000 halfbrother to Grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick, Always Dreaming leaped from a maiden win in January of his threeyear-old season to
consecutive victories in an allowance race and the Florida Derby prior to his triumph in the Run for the Roses for trainer Todd Pletcher and a partnership group including St Elias Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds. Among those left in Always Dreaming’s wake as he dictated much of the Derby pace were champion Classic Empire, subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit and later Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victor Battle Of Midway. A descendant of America’s premier source of Classic performance, Unbridled, Always Dreaming offers breeders a pedigree that is a complete outcross in the first four generations.
Ami’s Flatter
6yo bay Flatter-Galloping Ami (Vi t G ll ) (Victory Gallop) a, Florida; Ocala Stud, Ocala $3,500 nly start at Winner in his on two for breeder os of Tall Ivan Dalo arm in Oaks Fa o, Ami’s Ontario Flatteer was bred to bee a Classicstylle horse d he and validated his oodlines blo by placing in ampa Bay the Ta Carpe Derby, won by C orida Diem, and the Flo ateriality. Derby, behind Ma Ami’s Flatter laterr transformed into a plucky sprinter who scoreed his n in the biggest career win de 3 seven-furlong, Grad kes at Commonwealth Stak Keeneland. Clearly vversatile, he scored on both dirrt and allgrandson weather surfaces. A g of A.P. Indy, Ami’s Flatter possesses a pedigreee full of Classic influences to complement his speeedy physique. Both his grrandsire and maternal grandssire won and he has the Belmont Stakes a
Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Accelerate (right) joins Lane’s End, while last year’s Kentucky Derby scorer Always Dreaming (below) will stand at WinStar Farm
two lines of Triple Crown winner Secretariat. He is also 4x5x5 to Northern Dancer and 3x5x4 to Mr Prospector. His dam was honoured as Canadian broodmare of the year in 2016 and also produced Canadian champion Ami’s Gizmo, and his family includes another Canadian champion, Ami’s Mesa.
Army Mule
4yo bay Friesan Fire-Crafty Toast (Crafty Prospector) Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, Lexington, Kentucky; $10,000 Undefeated in a brief but brilliant three-race career, Army Mule won his starts by a combined 22¼ lengths, capping his efforts by crushing an overmatched group of ten rivals in the Grade 1, sevenfurlong Carter Handicap at Aqueduct in April 2018 while stopping the clock in an impressive 1:20.94. John Sikura, who secured Army Mule for duty at his Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, compared him to two of the most successful sires he has started at stud. “When breeders see the horse in person, they will be overwhelmed by his presence and understand why he was the talk of the Maryland twoyear-old sale [where he sold for $825,000]. Undefeated, brilliant and beautiful, [he has] the same qualities we saw in Candy Ride and Maclean’s Music.” Trainer Todd Pletcher said he believes Army Mule could have carried his speed over two turns. Army Mule’s sire, a son of A.P. Indy, is a leader in Maryland and he and Army Mule are outcrosses for Mr Prospector-line mares.
Awesome Slew
5yo bay Awesome AgainSlewfoundmoney (Seeking the Gold) Ocala Stud, Ocala, Florida; $5,000 A multiple Graded stakes winner campaigned by breeder Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, Awesome Slew banked over $1.22 million while proving himself a tough sprinter-miler who raced over four seasons after winning his debut as a juvenile. He demonstrated his quality as a three-year-old, vanquishing a baker’s dozen of rivals – including subsequent Grade 1 winners Seeking The
Soul and Discreet Lover – in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones Stakes, winning by seven lengths after making all the running. The following season, Awesome Slew won a pair of Graded stakes and finished third behind winner Battle Of Midway in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile while far ahead of ninth-placed Accelerate, who would go on to establish himself as likely champion older male of 2018. Awesome Slew, who placed in two other Grade 1 events, is from a prolific female family: his first four dams were all stakes winners and have each produced at least two stakes horses.
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
EDWARD WHITAKER RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS
Bee Jersey
4yo chestnut Jersey Town-Bees (Rahy) Darby Dan Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $5,000 Undefeated in four starts in 2018, Bee Jersey ran the race of his life at Belmont Park in June to defeat a high-quality field including Grade 1 winners Mind Your Biscuits, Discreet Lover and Bolt D’Oro in the Metropolitan Handicap, regarded as a premier event for stallion prospects, in a sparkling time of 1:33.13 for the mile as he got home by a nose. Bee Jersey follows in the footsteps of his sire, Speightstown’s Grade
1-winning miler son Jersey Town, in starting stud duty at Darby Dan Farm. However, in an unusual twist, Bee Jersey began his racing career in Dubai, where he was second to this year’s Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow in the UAE 2,000 Guineas of 2017 for owner-breeder Charles Fipke. Bee Jersey is from the outstanding female family that has produced a number of prominent sires including A.P. Indy, Lemon Drop Kid and Raja Baba. Trainer Steve Asmussen described Bee Jersey as “a gorgeous, absolutely brilliantly fast horse with a great temperament”.
Bolt D’Oro
3yo bay Medaglia D’Oro-Globe Trot (A.P. Indy) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $25,000 By some measures the most accomplished member of his generation at two, when he won a pair of Grade 1 races, Bolt D’Oro stumbled at the start and raced wide when third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, allowing winner Good Magic – whose victory was his only win that year – to earn the votes as divisional champion. A $630,000 yearling bred by WinStar Farm from a Claiborne Farm female family, Bolt D’Oro earned more
than $1 million while winning half his eight career starts for owner-trainer Mick Ruis. As a son of prominent sire Medaglia d’Oro, Bolt D’Oro’s first book was filled shortly after Spendthrift announced he would stand his initial season in 2019. An outcross through five generations, Bolt D’Oro seems particularly suitable for Mr Prospector-line mares that have worked well with Medaglia D’Oro. “Bolt D’Oro is a big, scopey horse, and if you look at him, you would think ‘two-turn horse’. You wouldn’t necessarily think ‘precocious two-year-old’, yet that’s exactly what he was,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey.
Bucchero
6yo chestnut KantharosMeetmeontime (General Meeting) Pleasant Acres Stallions, Morriston, Florida; $5,000 Possessing all the qualities of a Hollywood hero, equine style, Bucchero rose from workmanlike beginnings as an Indiana-bred son of Kantharos who competed in restricted state-bred races to achieve multiple Grade 2 victories, demonstrating such admirable speed that he was sent to Royal Ascot. The striking chestnut marked with four white legs and a blaze wound up fifth in the 2018 King’s Stand Stakes
but verified his quality by finishing ahead of the likes of European champion Lady Aurelia and Coolmore’s multiple Group 1-placed Washington DC. Campaigned by Ironhorse Racing Stable, the durable Bucchero won 11 of his 31 starts and placed another nine times while earning $947,936. His versatility is such that he won stakes on dirt and turf and was stakes-placed on all-weather. A balanced 16hh and an outcross through four generations, Bucchero will suit many mares while offering the all-important characteristics of speed and soundness. vvContinues page 8
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019 EDWARD WHITAKER RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner City Of Light is due to contest the Pegasus World Cup next month before going to Lane’s End
City Of Light
4yo bay Quality Road-Paris Notion (Dehere) Lane’s End Farm, Versailles, Kentucky; $35,000 From the time he prevailed in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at the end of his three-year-old season, City Of Light was one of the most talented American runners of his generation and he embellished that reputation by winning two other Grade 1 races including the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Kept in training by owners William and Suzanne Warren to pursue next month’s $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, the $710,000 yearling will then join his sire, America’s 2018 leader by Grade 1 winners with five through late November, at Lane’s End. From the family of Grade 1 winners and sires Cacoethes and Subordination, City Of Light has an intriguing pedigree while 5x4 to Secretariat and 6x5x4 to Secretariat’s dam, broodmare of the year Somethingroyal, who also produced influential sire Sir Gaylord and Grade 1-placed sire Somethingfabulous. Trainer Michael McCarthy described City Of Light as having “all of the attributes of a successful stallion”.
Clearly Now
8yo dark bay/brown Horse Greeley-Bend (Arch) Clear Creek Stud, Folsom, Louisiana; $2,500 A hard-knocking multiple Graded stakes winner who captured a race every season from ages two to seven and who won or placed in 15 stakes, Clearly Now displayed quality speed in setting track records for seven furlongs on dirt at Belmont Park and Gulfstream Park. Bred by Claiborne Farm and winner of his first two starts at two at Woodbine in Ontario, Clearly Now advanced to win against some of the best of his generation. His victory in the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream, a Triple Crown prep, was scored against future Group 1 winner Undrafted. In perhaps his best performance, Clearly Now rallied from off the pace in his record-setting Belmont Sprint Championship, stopping the clock in a blistering 1:19.96 while defeating Grade 1 winners Palace, Salutos Amigos and Dads Caps. Raced later in his career by Evelyn Benoit’s Brittlyn Stables, Clearly Now will join her Star Guitar in standing at Clear Creek Stud.
Cloud Computing
4yo dark bay/brown Maclean’s Music-Quick Temper (A.P. Indy) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $7,500 From the first crop of Maclean’s Music, Cloud
Computing proved the highestpriced yearling in that initial group by his sire when purchased for $200,000 by agent Mike Ryan. The market’s valuation was an accurate guide to success as Cloud Computing went on to become his sire’s first Grade 1 winner and first Classic winner with his determined head victory over juvenile champion Classic Empire in the 2017 Preakness Stakes. Trainer Chad Brown, who gained his first Classic win with Cloud Computing, described the colt as “one of the best looking and classiestacting horses I’ve ever had”. Cloud Computing is out of the multiple Graded-placed mare Quick Temper, a daughter of Grade 1 winner Halo America, who also produced Grade and Group 1-placed stakes winner and sire Marino Marini. Raced by Klaravich Stables and William H Lawrence, Cloud Computing is the first Classic winner to retire to Spendthrift Farm since Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed in 1979 and 1980 respectively.
Collected
5yo chestnut City Zip-Helena Bay (Johannesburg) Airdrie Stud, Midway, Kentucky; $17,500 The most accomplished son of his late speed-oriented sire, Collected also proved the most versatile. Bred by Runnymede
Farm and Peter Callahan and trained by Bob Baffert for Peter Fluor and KC Weiner’s Speedway Stable, Collected debuted with a nose victory over 6½ furlongs on turf at two and at three recorded a trio of stakes wins on dirt topped by the Grade 3 Lexington and Sham Stakes. At four Collected found his best stride, winning four stakes consecutively with that streak including triumphs over Accelerate with a 14-length tour de force in the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes and, most significantly, over champion Arrogate in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes at 1m2f. In his next start Collected finished a game second after pushing eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner through the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The handsome chestnut, who is from the female family of champion and leading sire Blushing Groom, retired with earnings exceeding $2.97 million.
Conquest Farenheit
4yo bay Scat Daddy-Holy Smokie (Holy Bull) Ballena Vista Farm, Ramona, California; $3,000 A promising talent from his earliest days who won his debut at two by five lengths on turf, Conquest Farenheit followed with an admirable runner-up performance in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes to eventual multiple Graded
winner Good Samaritan while finishing ahead of future Canadian champion and Grade 1 winner Channel Maker. A $130,000 yearling who was resold for $735,000 at the end of his juvenile season as part of the Conquest Stables dispersal, Conquest Farenheit went on to win two stakes at Santa Anita Park in 2017 for Chad Littlefield and Rockingham Ranch while trained by Peter Miller. In both those races he flashed strong speed, taking the 6½-furlong Baffle Stakes in 1:12.83 and capturing the one-mile Pasadena Stakes in 1:33.58 after leading all the way. Bred similarly to Coolmore’s Group 1 winner and young stallion Caravaggio, with both by Scat Daddy out of Holy Bull mares, Conquest Farenheit joins repatriated dual Classic winner I’ll Have Another at Ballena Vista Farm in 2019.
Danish Dynaformer
6yo bay Dynaformer-Danish Wildcat (Danehill) Colebrook Farms Stallion Station, Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada; $2,500Can Canadian Classic winner Danish Dynaformer, a homebred racing for Charles Fipke who romped home by 7¾ lengths in the 1m4f Breeders’ Stakes on Woodbine turf after finishing second to Shaman Ghost in the 1m2f Queen’s Plate on the all-
weather track, brings a sharp pedigree along with his highquality race record to the Ontario stallion ranks. Born in the year his famed sire died at the age of 27, he is out of a Danehill full-sister to Grade/ Group 1-placed stakes winner Ivan Denisovich and his granddam is champion Hollywood Wildcat, who produced Breeders’ Cup Mile winner War Chant, a successful sire in America and Australia. Trained by Roger Attfield, Danish Dynaformer also won the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes over Grade 1 winner Hardest Core and fellow Breeders’ Stakes winner Ami’s Holiday. His pedigree is a throwback to earlier days when stamina was more prized as he is 2x4 to Roberto and 3x4 to His Majesty and thus offers depth to speedy mares from a variety of sire lines.
Destin
5yo grey Giant’s CausewayDream Of Summer (Siberian Summer) Sequel Stallions, Hudson, New York; $6,500 Missing out by just whiskers in the 2016 Belmont Stakes won by Creator, Destin represents one of the most outstanding stallion prospects – based on both performance and pedigree – to enter stud in New York. The track record-setting winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby while defeating a
pair of highly regarded subsequent young Kentucky stallions and Grade 1 winners in Outwork and Brody’s Cause, Destin is a full-brother to Grade 1 winner and successful young sire Creative Cause and to Grade 3 winner Vexatious. His dam was a Grade 1 winner and millionaire. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Destin further proved himself a staunch competitor by winning the Grade 2 Marathon Stakes at Del Mar during Breeders’ Cup weekend in 2017. Destin, who won five of his 15 starts while amassing earnings of $947,800, enters stud for a partnership including Gainesway Farm and Sequel Stallions and his racing owners, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables.
Dolphus
5yo chestnut Lookin At LuckyLotta Kim (Roar) Cabin Creek Farm, Bernville, Pennsylvania; $2,500 A half-brother to Hall of Famer and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, Dolphus was raced by his breeder, veterinarian Dede McGehee of Heaven Trees Farms, who named the colt in honor of Dolphus Morrison, breeder of both Dolphus’s dam and her champion daughter. Dolphus won on his debut as a twoyear-old at Fair Grounds and vvContinues page 10
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019
then won three more races prior to his best performance when runner-up at four to Grade 1 winner Shaman Ghost in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Handicap. “Dolphus exudes quality and class and has a great mind. He is very balanced and correct,” said Maria Vorhauer, Cabin Creek Farm general manager. Dolphus is a product of the classic blending of Mr Prospector and Northern Dancer blood as he is 3x4 to the former and 5x4 to the latter. His sire has gained prominence in 2018 with another son, Accelerate, speeding through a series of
Grade 1 wins topped by the Breeders’ Cup Classic in a season that is sure to earn him championship laurels.
Eastwood
8yo chestnut SpeightstownFifth Avenue Ball (Deputy Minister) Diamond B Farm, Mohrsville, Pennsylvania; $2,500 After winning his first two starts as a three-year-old and flashing serious speed in running six furlongs in 1:09.90 on his debut, Eastwood – who had been a $240,000 yearling purchase – was resold in July of that season for $800,000 to Town & Country Farms and
went on to race to the age of eight. Eastwood won four of his 12 starts and placed four more times with his runner-up effort at the age of seven in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Stakes at Santa Anita among his most notable efforts. Eastwood’s dam is a half-sister to Grade 1-placed stakes winner Shop Till You Drop. Although from the Mr Prospector sire line and 5x4x6 to Northern Dancer, Eastwood still gives breeders plenty of options with those names relatively far back in his pedigree. He joins Kentucky transplant Flashback, by Tapit, and young stallion Social Inclusion, the third-place
finisher in the 2014 Preakness Stakes who previously stood in Florida, as new on the Diamond B Farm roster this year.
Firespike
6yo bay Flower Alley-Fairy Valley (Dixieland Band) C&C Performance Horses, Rimbey, Alberta, Canada; $1,800Can plus $200 booking fee A $70,000 two-year-old-intraining purchase by trainer Mike Maker, Firespike won a maiden race on turf as a juvenile and added the mile Juvenile Turf Stakes over a mile at Gulfstream Park West.
In January of his three-yearold season, Firespike rushed from last to victory in the OBS Championship Stakes on the all-weather track at the Ocala Training Center and later was third in the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. Firespike also finished second in the Listed Victoria Park Stakes at Woodbine and went on to race at four, five and six, retiring with a record of seven wins and 13 placings in 41 starts and earnings of $332,718. Firespike has three lines of Northern Dancer and his dam is 4x4 to the exceptional mare Almahmoud, granddam of Northern Dancer
and Halo. Additionally, his dam, Fairy Valley, is a halfsister to dual Canadian Classic winner and champion Basqueian and has also produced stakes-placed El Charro.
Forever D’Oro
5yo bay Medaglia D’OroLemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid) Hidden Springs Farm, Palmyra, Indiana; $2,000 Likely the most well-bred horse to come to Indiana for stud duty, Forever D’Oro is not only by one of America’s most outstanding sires, his dam is 2017 broodmare of the year
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES
Good Magic (left) and Girvin (below) are Haskell Invitational Stakes winners
two, Frank Conversation went on to score in the California Derby and Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby on the all-weather Golden Gate Fields track during his sophomore season. He closed out that year with a rallying victory in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on turf at Santa Anita and a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on grass at Del Mar. Frank Conversation went on to place in three more Graded events and banked a total of $520,965. Campaigned by Reddam Racing, he was produced by stakes-placed Rushen Heat, a full-sister to Grade 1 winners Golden Doc A and Unusual Suspect. With the rest of his immediate female family members bred in New Zealand, he offers outcross potential to many mates.
Free Drop Billy
3yo chestnut Union Rags-Trensa (Giant’s Causeway) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $10,000 A strikingly marked horse with liberal splashes of white, Free Drop Billy demanded attention from the time he debuted as a juvenile winner at Churchill Downs in June 2017. He next placed in two Graded events, including the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, prior to winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland by four lengths over Bravazo, who would go on to place in five Grade 1 races in 2018 including the Preakness Stakes. Free Drop Billy is another example of how the blending of Mr Prospector and Northern Dancer lines is racing alchemy; he is 5x4x4 to the former and 4x5x5 x5 to the latter latter. Bred by Helen G Groves, Free Drop Billy tracess back tail female to the greeat foundation mare Portage, frrom whom descend such sta ars as Dubai Millennium, Dix xie Union and Cozzene. His seccond dam is Grade 1 winner Serape and his multiple stakes-p placed dam has also produced G Godolphin’s multiple Group 1 winner and $4.77 millio on earner Hawkbill.
Funtastic
Lemons Forever, a Kentucky Oaks winner who has also produced champion mare Forever Unbridled and her Grade 1-winning full-sister Unbridled Forever. Bred and raced by Charles Fipke, Forever D’Oro rallied from last to win a maiden race at Belmont Park in his three-year-old season and went on to finish third in the Curlin Stakes, won by eventual Grade 1 winner Connect, at Saratoga. Accomplished breeder Fipke clearly believes in the cross of Medaglia D’Oro with this female family as he has bred Unbridled Forever three times to the sire, with a colt and a filly produced in
2017 and 2018 respectively, and he sent Forever Unbridled to the Darley stallion in 2018 for her first mating.
Frank Conversation
5yo bay Quality Road-Rushen Heat (Unusual Heat) Rockridge Stud, Hudson, New York; $5,000 With his sire on fire as America’s leader by Grade 1 winners with five in 2018 through late November, multiple Graded winner Frank Conversation will give New York breeders an attractive opportunity to tap into that line. Winner of his second start and Graded stakes-placed at
4yo grey More Th han Ready-Quiet Dan nce (Quiet American n) Three Chimneyss Farm, Midway, Kentucky; $7,50 00 Although lightlyy raced over two seasons, Grade 1 winner Funtastiic offers breeders a an intriguing pedig gree featuring three Horse of the Yea ar honourees in thee immediate family. By an intternationally prominent sire p perhaps best known for his prrecocious and speedy offspring g, Funtastic won the Grade 1 United Nations at 1m3ff on o tu o turf for
Three Chimneys and trainer Chad Brown. His extra dimension of stamina likely derives from his dam’s family as he is a half-brother to 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam (who sired Horse of the Year Havre de Grace in his only crop) and to the dam of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Both Saint Liam and Gun Runner won the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This family stems from the mighty mare Gallorette, a Hall of Fame honoree who defeated males in premier races and was the leading female earner of all time when she retired. Funtastic is 4x4 to both Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector and he has three lines of Nearctic and two of Dr Fager.
Girvin
4yo dark bay/brown Tale Of Ekati-Catch The Moon (Malibu Moon) Ocala Stud, Ocala, Florida; $7,500 One of the most talented runners to retire to Florida in recent years, Girvin was an early favourite for the Kentucky Derby after capturing the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby. Although he endured a troubled trip and was unplaced at Churchill Downs, he rebounded to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational Stakes with a furious finish that left him ahead of multiple Grade 1 winner Practical Joke and subsequent Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victor Battle Of Midway. Girvin earned more than $1.6 million and is a half-brother to juvenile Graded winner Cocked And Loaded. His owners, Brad and Misty Grady, joined with Kentucky’s Airdrie Stud in an arrangement to stand him at Ocala Stud. The Gradys bought 13 mares for a total of more than $1.25 million at the Keeneland November Sale in preparing to support Girvin. While Girvin is 4x5x4x5 to Mr Prospector, he also offers an unusual link to Sunday Silence as his sire is out of a mare by that legendary Japanese sire.
Good Magic
3yo chestnut Curlin-Glinda The Good (Hard Spun) Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, Lexington, Kentucky; $35,000 Bred and co-owned by Stonestreet Stable, Good Magic earned a single win as a juvenile, but since that victory came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and followed a Grade 1 placing in the Champagne Stakes, it earned him the coveted honour as two-yearold champion. He returned the following year to reinforce his standing in his division, winning the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes prior to finishing a game second to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in the Kentucky Derby. Good Magic challenged Justify early in the Preakness Stakes over a sodden track and, while ending up fourth, he was only a half-length and two necks behind. Rebounding smartly, Good Magic dominated the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational while defeating Preakness runner-up Bravazo. Hill ‘n’ Dale owner John Sikura describes Good Magic as “medium-sized, a great mover, and completely correct”. Trainer Chad Brown said “Good Magic showed incredible talent and durability as I put him through the most demanding campaign of any horse I’ve ever trained”.
Good Samaritan
4yo bay Harlan’s Holiday-Pull Dancer (Pulpit) WinStar Farm, Versailles, Kentucky; $12,500 An unusually versatile runner who captured Graded events on dirt and turf and who was prominent from the ages of two through four, Good Samaritan will try to enhance the legacy of his sire. Bred and co-raced by WinStar, Good S it was precocious, i Samaritan winning his debut and the Grade 2 Summer Stakes at two prior to finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. At three Good Samaritan placed in two Graded grass races prior to
establishing his quality by defeating Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness Stakes victor Cloud Computing while making his first start on dirt in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes. He later finished second in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap and went on to victory in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap at four while banking over $1.3 million. Good Samaritan possesses a sharp pedigree featuring two lines each of Triple Crown winners Affirmed and Secretariat and he is a direct descendant of foundation mare La Troienne, with his family including champions Buckpasser and Outstandingly as well as influential sires Bernstein and Sky Mesa.
Hoppertunity
7yo bay Any Given SaturdayRefugee (Unaccounted For) Northview Stallion Station, Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania; $5,000 One of the most popular, durable and consistent runners of recent years, Hoppertunity needs little introduction and represents a major acquisition for stud duty in the midAtlantic region. As a multiple Grade 1 winner and earner of over $4.7 million, Hoppertunity ran with and defeated some of the best during each of his five seasons of competition that spanned 34 starts and included 22 firsts (eight in Graded stakes), seconds or thirds. “Speed, class, stamina and soundness will make you a multimillionaire in this business. Hoppertunity has them all,” observed trainer Bob Baffert. Hoppertunity won his first Grade 1 when taking the Clark Handicap at three. He also won the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2016, the year he finished third to California Chrome in tthe Dubai World Cup. A handsome, well-made h individual, Hoppertunity is 4x3 to Danzig and claims 4 Calumet Farm champion and C Hall of Famer Davona Dale as H his third dam. He is also a halfh brother to Grade 1 winner b Executiveprivilege. E
II’m Lock N Load
7yo bay War Front-Mistical Bel 7 ((Bel Bolide) Blue Diamond Horseshoe, B Aguanga, California; $2,500 A A half-brother to Grade 1 winner Mistical Plan and w sstakes winner Elegant Bel, I’m Lock N Load won a maiden L rrace and placed twice for owner-breeders Carol and o JJerry Anderson. Capturing a ssix-furlong maiden event on tthe all-weather track at Golden Gate Fields in what was his G ssecond start as a five-year-old, II’m Lock N Load subsequently placed in an allowance at the same distance. He is one of only two stallions by leading international sire War Front who are listed as standing at stud in California, joining multiple Group-placed War Envoy. War Front is tied with the late Scat Daddy as vvContinues page 12
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North America’s leading sire of black-type winners with 18 in 2018 through late November and the Claiborne Farm stallion by Danzig is one of the most expensive in the world with a fee of $250,000. I’m Lock N Load joins five other stallions advertised under the banner of Michael and Debbie Tippett’s Blue Diamond Horseshoe.
Irish War Cry
4yo chestnut Curlin-Irish Sovereign (Polish Numbers) Northview Stallion Station, Chesapeake City, Maryland; $6,500 Bred in New Jersey and raced by breeder Isabelle de Tomaso, Irish War Cry displayed ability
immediately, winning his first three starts beginning with a maiden race and Listed stakes at Laurel Park followed by the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Leading all the way in the 1m½f Holy Bull, Irish War Cry made himself a horse to watch in the Classics, defeating 2016 juvenile champion Classic Empire and multiple Graded winner Gunnevera. Irish War Cry also won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes before finishing mid-pack in the Kentucky Derby. He returned to run a strong second to Tapwrit in the Belmont Stakes. At four Irish War Cry prevailed in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Handicap and concluded his
career with more than $1.25 million in the bank. A halfbrother to Grade 3 winner Irish Strait, Irish War Cry “has such a presence and is so beautifully balanced,” said Northview Stallion Station general manager David Wade.
Justify
3yo chestnut Scat Daddy-Stage Magic (Ghostzapper) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $150,000 Much has been written about Triple Crown winner Justify but the overarching fact is that he accomplished what no other horse in history has been able to achieve as an unraced juvenile. Beginning in February 2018, he sped
through six races undefeated in a lightning streak of 112 days that included the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes wins over sodden tracks and a front-running tour de force in the Belmont Stakes. Nearly 17hh and classically handsome, Justify also possesses invaluable genetics as a son of the late internationally superior sire Scat Daddy. That bloodline was a factor in Coolmore investing an estimated $75 million in breeding rights to Justify. Trained by Bob Baffert and a $500,000 yearling purchase by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, Justify is 5x3x5 to Mr Prospector, 4x5 to Nijinsky and
5x5 to Narrate, the Grade 3-winning Honest Pleasure mare who produced the granddam of Scat Daddy’s sire, champion Johannesburg, and Grade 1 winner Preach, dam of Pulpit, who sired Tapit and features in Justify’s female family.
Long On Value
7yo bay Value Plus-Long Message (Orientate) Pleasant Acres Stallions, Morriston, Florida; $2,500 The kind of horse who represents the dreams of many owners, Long On Value rose from being a $3,000 yearling to achieving a Grade 1 victory, and he was so speedy that he was invited to race
internationally. While trained by Bill Mott, Long On Value just missed by a nose when taking on top competition in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on turf on 2017 Dubai World Cup night. Offered at the Keeneland November Sale that year, Long On Value was purchased for $100,000 by trainer Brad Cox for a partnership and he proceeded to win both his subsequent starts, an overnight stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes over 6f on the Woodbine turf. Long On Value rushed from the back of the field to win the Highlander in a sizzling time of 1:07.13. He retired with earnings in excess of $1.13
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
EDWARD WHITAKER RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS
Clockwise from left, Triple Crown winner Justify in his paddock at Ashford Stud; UAE Derby sensation Mendelssohn, another new Ashford resident; Mor Spirit, the brilliant Metropolitan Handicap winner who is standing at Spendthrift Farm
Mendelssohn
3yo bay Scat Daddy-Leslie’s Lady (Tricky Creek) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $35,000 Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf over a talented field that included future Epsom Derby winner Masar, Travers Stakes winner Catholic Boy and British Champions Sprint Stakes victor Sands Of Mali, Mendelssohn uncorked one of the world’s most explosive performances of 2018 when shattering records in the $2 million UAE Derby on dirt. He placed in the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup to add to his dirt record and also won a Listed stakes on an all-weather surface in Ireland as the epitome of versatility. By the late internationally superior sire Scat Daddy, Mendelssohn offers an all-round superstar pedigree since he is a half-brother to phenomenal sire Into Mischief and to multiple champion Beholder. While he is 4x5 to Nijinsky, he will suit many mares. At nearly 16.1hh, Mendelssohn is a “magnificentlooking horse,” said Ashford manager Dermot Ryan. He retires with earnings exceeding $2.54 million to join Triple Crown winner and paternal half-brother Justify at Ashford.
Mo Town
million and eight stakes wins, including the Grade 2 Twilight Derby over 1m1f at Santa Anita.
Long River
8yo chestnut A.P. Indy-Round Pond (Awesome Again) Anchor & Hope Farm, Port Deposit, Maryland; $5,000 Bred in Kentucky by Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Long River seemed destined for success as a son of leading sire A.P. Indy out of multiple Grade 1 winner Round Pond, a $5.75 million broodmare acquisition. Beginning his racing career in America, Long River won a maiden race as a juvenile and progressed to win back-to-back stakes at Aqueduct in late 2013
and early 2014 for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin prior to placing in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. After also placing in the Grade 2 Hagyard Stakes, Long River was sent to Dubai. In 2017, carrying the colours of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Long River prevailed in the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 after finishing second in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1. With his third dam being French Group 1 winner Coral Dance, Long River is from the outstanding family of Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Black Minnaloushe, Grade 1 winner Nasr El Arab and 2,000 Guineas winner Pennekamp.
McCraken 4yo bay Ghostzapper-Ivory Empress (Seeking The Gold) Airdrie Stud, Midway, Kentucky; $10,000 Unbeaten at two when his three wins included the Street Sense Stakes and the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, McCraken began his threeyear-old season with a trackrecord setting triumph in the Grade 3 Sam F Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The victory is more impressive in retrospect as McCraken ran past subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit in the stretch while giving that rival 6lb. McCraken finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes and
endured a bumpy trip when eighth behind Always Dreaming in the Kentucky Derby but rebounded to win the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes and missed by whiskers in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational captured by Girvin. Produced by a Graded stakes-placed half-sister to Grade 1 winner Mea Domina, McCraken is a half-brother to multiple Graded-placed winner Bondurant. He won six of his 14 starts and earned $869,728 for owner-breeder Janis Whitham and trainer Ian Wilkes, who also campaigned Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Fort Larned. Wilkes said McCraken’s “turn of foot was second to none”.
4yo bay Uncle Mo-Grazie Mille, (Bernardini) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $12,500 Combining precocity and versatility, Mo Town could be an attractive option for breeders seeking to access some of the success synonymous with Uncle Mo, the champion freshman sire of 2015 whose fee has risen to $125,000. Mo Town won two of his first three starts as a juvenile, including the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes on dirt, and at three captured the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on turf while defeating Canadian champion and subsequent Grade 1 winner Channel Maker. A torn suspensory ligament led to his retirement at four with a record of four wins in ten starts and $519,600 in earnings. Mo Town was bred, raised and sold by the breeders of Triple Crown winner Justify and his second and third dams, Molto Vita and Princess Polonia, are Graded winners while his fifth dam, My Sister Kate, is a full-sister to Raise A Native. Trainer Anthony Dutrow described Mo Town as “simply awesome”, while Ashford manager Dermot Ryan said the 16.2hh horse “is very much in the mould of his sire”.
Mor Spirit
5yo dark bay/brown Eskendereya-I’m A Dixie Girl (Dixie Union) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $10,000 A $650,000 two-year-old selected by trainer Bob Baffert, Mor Spirit gained two of the most coveted accomplishments breeders seek in a stallion prospect: he won a Grade 1 at two and followed up at three with a brilliant performance in the highly prized Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap over a mile. “Mor Spirit is the only horse in the last 25 years to win a Grade 1 at two and go on to win the Met Mile. That’s pretty remarkable and it speaks to his quality,” said Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey. In the Metropolitan, Mor Spirit pressed the early pace set by speedy Sharp Azteca and then drew off to win by six and a quarter lengths in 1:33.71. Overall he prevailed in five stakes, four Graded, and placed in four other Graded events including the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby won by Exaggerator and the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes taken by Hoppertunity. Mor Spirit earned more than $1.66 million while racing for Michael Lund Petersen.
Neck ’N Neck
9yo dark bay/brown Flower Alley-Bootery (Storm Boot) Breakway Farm, Dillsboro, Indiana; $2,000 A multiple Graded stakes winner who kept earning stakes cheques until the age of eight, Neck ’N Neck proved himself to be durable as well as precocious enough to win at two and capture a trio of significant Graded events at three while trained by Ian Wilkes. Neck ’N Neck scored his first victory at Churchill Downs in 2011 and won the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes and Ack Ack Handicap at that track the following season. In between those stakes, Neck ’N Neck earned the biggest win of his career when he rallied from next-to-last to defeat ten rivals, including the Bob Bafferttrained favourite Fed Biz, in the $500,000 Grade 2 Indiana Derby. Overall Neck ’N Neck earned in excess of $1.17 million and won or placed in 25 of his 45 starts over eight seasons of racing. His pedigree features the quintessential cross of Mr Prospector and Northern Dancer as he is 4x4x4 to the former and has four lines of the latter.
Noholdingback Bear
5yo bay Put It Back-Pleasant Quality (Elusive Quality) Colebrook Farms Stallion Station, Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada; $2,000Can A Grade 1-placed, Grade 3-winning sprinter, Noholdingback Bear demonstrated he could run with distinction on both dirt and all-weather surfaces. A debut winner at two at vvContinues page 14
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
NEW US SIRES 2019 Woodbine, he went directly into stakes competition, placing in three of his next four starts, including the Grade 3 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park, prior to winning Listed events at Woodbine and Presque Isle Downs. Noholdingback Bear finished third to eventual sprint champion Drefong in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga and then gave his best performance in winning the Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing over subsequent multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits. His efforts earned Noholdingback Bear the title of Canada’s champion male sprinter of 2016. From the In Reality sire line, the earner of $547,337 from the family of Grade 3 winner Gleam Of Hope, multiple stakes winner Saskawea and Canadian Oaks winner Forest Princess represents a speedy outcross for many potential mates.
One Mean Man
5yo grey Mizzen MastAbbeyville Miss (Grand Slam) Swifty Farms, Seymour, Indiana; $1,000 A debut winner at two who evolved into a multiple stakes winner under the handling of his co-breeder, trainer Bernie Flint, One Mean Man banked $556,609 in four years of racing. During his most successful season, at three, One Mean Man put together an impressive string in which he won four of his five starts, including the Grade 3 American Derby at Arlington Park and stakes at Churchill Downs and Canterbury Park. In his other race during that streak, he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes won by Beach Patrol while less than a length and a half behind the winner. One Mean Man defeated Grade 1-placed, multiple Graded winner Oscar Nominated in the American Derby on turf and showed his versatility by beating eventual Grade 1 winner Seeking The Soul in the Jefferson Cup p Stakes on dirt a at Churchill Downs. “He’s a great horse and has a big heart,,” Flint said of the full-brotherr to multiple Graded winnerr Mizz Money.
Oscar Perforrmance
4yo bay Kitten’ss Joy-Devine Actress (Theatrrical) Mill Ridge Far m, Lexington, Kentucky; $20 0,000 A four-time Gra ade 1 winner for owner-breeder Amerman Racing, Oscar P Performance returns to his birthplace b to become the first prominentt stallion at Mill Ridge in many years as he tries to take up the mantle of late ssires Gone West and d Diesis. By America’s leadiing sire of 2018 as of late Novem mber rankings by progeny ear nings, Oscar Performance trriumphed in three of his fou ur starts at two including the B Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. At three t ee Osca Oscar
Performance won the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge Stakes and the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and Secretariat Stakes in succession, with his front-running Belmont win at 1m2f coming over the likes of multiple Grade 1 winner Yoshida. At four Oscar Performance eclipsed an international field with a front-running win in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in 1.33.12, completing the last quarter in a blazing 21.63. While 4x4 to Northern Dancer, Oscar Performance’s pedigree features a 5x4 cross to the outstanding mare Special, who produced Nureyev and the dam of Sadler’s Wells.
Osiris Of The Nile
4yo bay Pioneerof The Nile-Here We Be (A.P. Indy) Blue Diamond Horseshoe, Aguanga, California; $3,400 While unraced, Osiris Of The Nile has bloodlines combining two of America’s most successful Classic sire influencers in Unbridled, through Pioneerof The Nile, and A.P. Indy. Unbridled, who won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic, and his sons are responsible for the likes of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, also by Pioneerof The Nile, and Derby winner Always Dreaming. Pioneerof The Nile’s progeny also have become known for brilliance, as both American Pharoah and Classic Empire earned the Eclipse Award as champion juvenile males of their generations. For his part, A.P. Indy sired Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini and Belmont winner Rags To Riches and is the grandsire of Tapit, whose sons Creator and Tapwrit won the Belmont. Osiris Of The Nile is 5x3 to Mr Prospector and has two lines of both Bold Ruler and Buckpasser. His female family produced Grade 1 winner Prize Spot and multiple Grade 1-placed Pass A Glance.
Prospect Park
6yo Tapity dark bay/brown y p Quiet Romance (Bertrando) Harris Farms, Coalinga, California; $2,500 A talented and wellbred half-brother to Grade 1 winner Silent Sighs and multiple Grade 2
winner Proposed, Prospect Park was put on the Triple Crown prep trail by his connections but became ill after finishing second and fourth respectively to Dortmund in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. After recovering, he finished second in two more Graded events, the Affirmed Stakes and Los Alamitos Derby, before switching to turf. Galloping past pacesetter and multiple Grade 2 winner Om, he won the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1m½f on grass at Del Mar. Third in the Del Mar Derby to close out his three-year-old season, he returned to dirt to finish third behind Grade 1 winner Collected in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at 1m½f as a five-year-old. Overall, Prospect Park won four of his 18 starts and placed ten times while earning $539,770.
Ransom The Moon
6yo bay Malibu Moon-Count To Three (Red Ransom) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $7,500 The newest member of the 23-horse roster of stallions standing under the umbrella of Brad Kelley’s Calumet Farm, Ransom The Moon won the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes over six furlongs on dirt at Del Mar. In each of those victories, Ransom The Moon ran down 2017 champion sprinter Roy H. Also among his six career victories was the 2017 Grade 2 Kona Gold Stakes and he placed in three other Graded races, closing his career with a third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Overall, Ransom The Moon won six of his 25 starts and placed nine times, banking $884,829. His dam is a stakeswinning full-sister to Grade 3 victor Think Red; his second dam is Grade 1 winner Countus In, and his female family includes 2018 Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Knicks Go. Calumet’ss Kentucky roster is Calumet headed by English
Channel, Keen Ice and Oxbow, and the farm also stands stallions in regional markets.
Sharp Azteca
5yo dark bay/brown Freud-So Sharp (Saint Liam) Three Chimneys Farm, Midway, Kentucky; $10,000 Blessed with a deep pedigree featuring two blue hen mares, Sharp Azteca proved a game miler who won five Graded races at about that distance and placed in three more. A son of Giant’s Causeway’s brother Freud, Sharp Azteca reached the pinnacle of his career with a runaway triumph over multiple Grade 1 winners Mind Your Biscuits and Practical Joke while carrying top weight in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct in 2017. Sharp Azteca’s other big wins came in the Grade 2 Hardacre Mile and Kelso Handicaps and the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile and Monmouth Cup Stakes. He finished second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and was third in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan. Sharp Azteca descends tail female from broodmare of the year Kamar, who produced Grade 1 winners Seaside Attraction and Gorgeous as well as the dam of international champion Fantastic Light. He is also 5x4 to Ballade, dam of Saint Ballado and granddam of Rahy.
Smokem
3yo dark bay/brown Union Rags-One Smokin’ Lady (Smoke Glacken) Lovacres Ranch, Warner Springs, California; $5,000 A homebred racing for Lovacres Ranch owner Terry Lovingier and partners, Smokem flashed immediate talent, winning a 5f maiden race for California-breds at Del Mar in 2017. In four subsequent starts, Smoken ran only in stakes, each time finishing second. He just missed by a head when rallying in the 6½f Barretts Juvenile Stakes and, in his final start, his closing kick left him only a nose short of winner Bookies Luck in the seven-furlong Golden State Juvenile Stakes. Produced by multiple stakes winner One Smokin’ Lady, Smokem is from the family of Grade 1 winner Lovelier Linda, dam of multiple Grade 2 winner and sire Old Trieste, Grade 3 winner Sensational Guy and multiple stakes winner Summer Time Guy. Smokem’s pedigree also features four lines of Northern Dancer, three of Mr Prospector and two each of Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Seattle Slew. He is advertised as the only son of successful young sire Union Rags standing in California.
Tale Of Verve
6yo bay Tale Of Ekati-Verve (Unbridled) C.F. Farms, Paris, Kentucky; $2,000 Bred and raced by Charles
Fipke, whose programme also produced other new 2019 stallions Bee Jersey, Forever D’Oro and Danish Dynaformer, Tale Of Verve burst out of a maiden win at three to finish second in Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s Preakness Stakes. In that rainy Classic, Tale Of Verve finished ahead of Kentucky Derby placegetters Firing Line and Dortmund in an effort that proved the best of his career. Fipke will stand the son of his homebred Grade 1 winner Tale Of Ekati at his own farm. Tale Of Verve, who earned more than $500,000 in a 20-race career that yielded two wins and four placings, has three lines each
of Mr Prospector and Northern Dancer. He is 4x4 to Nijinsky through that stallion’s daughters Maplejinsky, a Grade 1 winner and his sire’s granddam, and Dancing Slippers, a stakes winner from the family of champions Swale and Forty Niner who is his third dam.
Tapwrit
4yo grey Tapit-Appealing Zophie (Successful Appeal) Gainesway Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $12,500 Handsome enough to be the third-highest-priced yearling of the 2015 Saratoga select sale and talented enough as a juvenile to win two of his three
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Racing Post Monday, December 10, 2018
EDWARD WHITAKER RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS
West Coast (left), the outstanding three-year-old male of 2017, joins the Lane’s End roster; Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap winner Sharp Azteca (below left) will stand at Three Chimneys
wide variety of mares.
Weekend Hideaway
8yo chestnut SpeightstownApocalyptical (Wiseman’s Ferry) Irish Hill & Dutchess Views Stallions, Stillwater, New York; $2,500 A stalwart campaigner who ran from the age of two until he was eight, New York-bred Weekend Hideaway won trophies in nine stakes events over a seven-year span. While many of his best efforts came in restricted, state-bred company, he proved his quality by finishing third in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park in 2016, and, as a juvenile, he finished third in a competitive running of the Grade 2 Futurity Stakes. The son of Speightstown went to post a remarkable 49 times, winning 13 races and placing in 17 other events while amassing more than $1.14 million for Red and Black Stable and trainer Phil Serpe. In 2017 the sprinter set all the pace and then held off Grade 1 winner Diversify to capture the restricted Commentator Stakes over a mile for his second victory in that race. Weekend Hideaway is 3x4 to Storm Cat and 5x5 to both Buckpasser and Nashua.
West Coast
starts, including the Pulpit Stakes, Tapwrit rose to his full potential at three when he followed up his Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby win with victory in the Belmont Stakes. Gainesway Farm, which stands sire Tapit, has joined with Bridlewood and Whisper Hill farms to stand Tapwrit and the partnership bought 17 mares for a total of $1.43 million at the Keeneland November Sale to support him. “Physically, Tapwrit is as impressive a stallion as you will find,” said Gainesway’s Antony Beck. Tapwrit, whose dam Appealing Zophie was a Grade 1 winner and also producer of Grade 2 victor Ride A Comet, is 4x4 to
Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and 5x4 to In Reality. Tapwrit was bred by My Meadowview and trained by Todd Pletcher, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta were involved in racing him.
The Lieutenant
5yo bay Street Sense-Stage Magic (Ghostzapper) Sequel New York, Hudson, New York; $6,500 New York breeders received an unexpected holiday gift when it was announced in early December that The Lieutenant, a Grade 3 winner and halfbrother to Triple Crown winner Justify, would stand in
the Empire State. A $185,000 juvenile purchase by trainer Michael McCarthy, The Lieutenant did his best running in 2018 when he captured the Grade 3 AllAmerican Stakes at a mile on the all-weather surface at Golden Gate Fields in between finishing third in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita and the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park. The Lieutenant earned his stripes in the Suburban, finishing ahead of Grade 1 winners Discreet Lover, Hoppertunity and Tapwrit. “His looks, mechanics and desire to train reminded me of some of the most talented
horses I had ever been around, before an unfortunate injury after the Suburban ultimately curtailed his career,” McCarthy said. Winner of four of his 15 starts and $345,882, The Lieutenant joins Giant’s Causeway’s successful brother Freud and six others at Sequel.
Wait
4yo grey Distorted Humor-Wait A While (Maria’s Mon) Arindel Farm, Ocala, Florida; $2,500 Winner of two of his six starts for his owner and breeder, Arindel Farm, which will stand him at stud, Wait has a stellar pedigree as he is by a leading sire and out of a champion
mare. Wait won a 6f maiden race on dirt at Gulfstream Park as a three-year-old and returned about three months later to win an allowance optional claiming event over the same track and distance in the sparkling time of 1.08.76. Wait’s dam, Wait A While, was exceptionally versatile, winning the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes by 14 lengths on dirt and placing in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and Ashland Stakes prior to launching the stage of her career that took her to even greater exploits as a multiple Grade 1 winner on grass. Wait is an outcross through five generations and thus will be likely to suit a
4yo bay Flatter-Caressing (Honour And Glory) Lane’s End, Versailles, Kentucky; $35,000 Champion West Coast began his racing career at three and made the most of his opportunities that season. Produced by a juvenile filly champion, he kicked off a five-race win streak in late May that carried him through the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby, with the former accomplished in frontrunning style over Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, Preakness Stakes victor Cloud Computing and Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit. West Coast’s status as the outstanding three-year-old male of 2017 was confirmed when he finished third, best of his age group, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic won by Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Although West Coast did not win at four, he banked $3.7 million with runner-up efforts in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes and the Dubai World Cup, pushing his career total over $5.8 million with six wins in 13 starts. Trained by Bob Baffert for Gary and Mary West, West Coast is his sire’s best son and is 4x4 to Raise A Native while otherwise an outcross.
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Monday, December 10, 2018 racingpost.com
ACCELERATE Lookin At Lucky - Issues, by Awesome Again
FIVE GRADE 1 VICTORIES IN 2018 Never off the board in 7 starts and over $5,000,000 in earnings
BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC (G1)
$20,000 lanesend.com | t: 859.873.7300
Month
Race
Beyer
Feb
San Pasqual S. (G2)
101
Mar
Santa Anita H. (G1)
110
Apr
2nd Oaklawn H. (G2)
107
May
Gold Cup at Santa Anita S. (G1)
111
Aug
Pacific Classic S. (G1)
115
Sep
Awesome Again S. (G1)
100
Nov
Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)
105