I ended November’s blog with Darley and we return to Jonabell this week for the first blog in the Beyond The Lens: January Stallions series!
Also included in this blog are photos from Coolmore America, including fan favorites such as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and four-time Grade 1 winner Tiz The Law. Sit back and enjoy the ride as I give you some fun facts and photos from the week.
American Pharoah had only returned to the United States a few weeks before the Open House and still had dapples from his time in Australia. One of the best young sires in the world, just last week American Pharaoh saw son Café Pharoah win his second Grade 1 race.
The sire of three Grade 1 winners and 24 stakes winners overall, American Pharoah has found a lot of luck with More Than Ready and the A.P. Indy line. More Than Ready is the damsire of both Café Pharoah and American Pharoah’s G2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive from seven runners. A.P. Indy sons have produced five of his stakes performers with the group led by multiple graded stakes winner Merneith with Grade 1 winner Harley’s Lil Goil leading those out of A.P. Indy great-granddaughters.
Sadler’s Wells is the damsire of American Pharoah’s Group 1 winning Van Gogh with that stallion also the grandsire of the dam of Group 2 winner Pista and four other stakes performers. American Pharoah stands for $80,000 this year.
Another who had recently returned from Australia was Darley’s second crop stallion Astern. An Australian native, Astern is the sire of G2 Miss Grillo winner Sail By and four other U.S. stakes performers from his first American crop with 10 stakes performers overall including his Australasian runners.
Not surprisingly being from Australia, Astern has had success with Danehill with two of his stakes winners out of mares hailing from that line, one through a grandson and one through a son. Danehill’s sire Danzig is also the grandsire of one of Astern’s Group 2-placed runners. Closer to home, Mineshaft is the damsire of two of his U.S. stakes performers – Grade 3-placed Mainstay and stakes-placed C J’s Cat Five – from three runners bred on the cross.
Astern is standing for $10,000 this year in Kentucky.
My personal favorite Caravaggio again stands in the United States this year after making his U.S. debut in 2021. As was expected, his first crop came out running with his eight stakes performers led by Group 1 winner Tenebrism and Group 2 winner Agartha.
Caravaggio has two named foals out of Kodiac mares and both are stakes performers – stakes winner Dizzy Bizu and multiple-stakes placed Silver Surfer. In addition to the Kodiacs, the Danehill granddaughter cross also includes Agartha and one other stakes performers from 10 runners with seven of them winning at least one race.
Breeding 178 mares in his first Kentucky season, Caravaggio stands for $35,000 in 2022.
Possibly the best value among any of the young stallions standing is Cupid, whose runners have been flying the first part of this year. A $5,000 stallion in 2022, Cupid leads all second crop stallions by this year’s winners with 14 in 2022, topped by a stakes winner and two stakes performers. In all, Cupid is the sire of 30 Northern Hemisphere winners – good enough for fifth among all U.S. second crop stallions.
A son of Tapit, Cupid has three stakes winners and five stakes performers overall with the group all having broodmare sires branching from different lines. The Storm Cat sireline has proven to be a good match for Cupid thus far with the six winners out of his granddaughters including G3 Grey Stakes winner God of Love. Storm Cat’s great-granddaughters have also produced four winners from five to race by Cupid.
One of three second-crop sires standing for $5,000, Cupid’s fee is the second lowest advertised fee of all Kentucky second crop stallions with only Mr. Z standing for less.
A successful Grade 1 winner as a racehorse, Echo Town received a timely boost going into his second season at stud with his half-sister Echo Zulu tearing up the track.
Starting the 2022 breeding season only days after Echo Zulu was officially named last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, Echo Town is also a half-brother to Grade 3 winner J Boys Echo and two other stakes performers out of the Grade 3 winning Letgomyecho. A Grade 1 winner with top three finishes in eight of 10 starts, Echo Town is by successful stallion Speightstown, whose best son is Echo Town’s stablemate Munnings.
Breeding 93 mares in his first season, Echo Town is standing for $7,500 this year.
I talked about Essential Quality in the last blog but with the colt being named Champion 3-Year-Old Colt last month, it fit to include him here again. He is only the 14th U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old to also win Champion 3-Year-Old in nearly 100 years and stands for $75,000 in 2022.
If you’d like to read more about him, click here to read Part 3 of the November blogs.
Another accomplished Tapit son is three-time Grade 1 winner Frosted, who has made an impact in both North America and Australia. Unfortunate to be born in American Pharoah’s crop, Frosted finished behind that stallion five times during his 3-year-old season – including directly behind him three times. The stallion came into his own as a 4-year-old with two Grade 1 victories that season.
As a stallion, Frosted has sired 18 stakes performers with the group led by four graded stakes winners – split two and two between the two continents. In North America, Distorted Humor has been a successful cross with two stakes performers from five runners out of that stallion’s daughters. In Australia, he has crossed well with both Lonhro and Exceed and Excel. Lonhro is the damsire of his Group 3 winner and multiple Group 1-placed Ingratiating and stakes-placed Translation and Exceed and Excel the damsire of Grade 3 winner Cloudy and Grade 3-placed Frost Flowers.
Out of a half-sister to Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Midshipman, who is further down the blog, Frosted stands for $20,000 this year.
Another just starting his second season is Maximum Security, the 2019 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. The Coolmore America resident officially won 10 of his 14 races for over $12 million in earnings and was also first past the post in the G1 Kentucky Derby. Among those 10 victories was seven stakes victories and Grade 1 wins at both three and four.
Breeding 135 mares in 2021, Maximum Security is standing for $15,000 this season.
The third most expensive new stallion in 2022 is Darley homebred Maxfield, who is by one of their stalwarts in Street Sense and out of a mare by their late Bernardini.
The winner of his first five races and eight of his 11 career starts with no finishes worse than third, Maxfield won the G1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity in his second start and ended his career with a win in the G1 Clark Handicap presented by Norton Healthcare. He raced exclusively in stakes after his maiden victory on debut with starts at six different tracks.
Out of a three-quarter sister to Grade 1 winner and successful sire Sky Mesa, Maxfield stands for $40,000 in his debut season.
A very useful sire, Midshipman has 16.7% worldwide stakes horses from 523 runners, led by four Grade 1 winners. That stallion has been very successful in his shuttling career in addition to producing horses such as Grade 2 winners Special Reserve and Princess Warrior in North America.
From the same family as Frosted, Midshipman crosses well with many different lines with Northern Dancer granddaughters producing a stakes winner and three other winners. Northern Dancer grandsons have played a big part in Midshipman’s stakes performers, however with nine stakes performers and 43 winners from 48 runners including Grade 2 winner Special Reserve and three other stakes winners.
Also the damsire of dual Breeders’ Cup winner Golden Pal from 31 runners out of his daughters, Midshipman is standing for $10,000 this year.
I fully admit that I’m biased in cheering for Mo Town to have success with his first crop this year but that’s for good reason. Not only is he standing for my client but I also worked with his dam for two foaling seasons. I also have the same connection to Justify so it’s setting up to be an exciting year for freshman sires.
Mo Town is one of those interesting racehorses who was a graded stakes winner on two surfaces – something we don’t see often these days. The colt also beat a pretty good group in the G1 Hollywood Derby with the field including Channel Maker, Big Score, Sharp Samurai, and Bowies Hero. If Mo Town becomes a successful stakes sire, he’ll join five other Uncle Mo sons who have sired stakes performers from six Uncle Mo sons with racing age foals.
The only Uncle Mo son with an advertised stud fee to have first 2-year-olds this year, Mo Town stands for $7,500.
One of the leading second crop sires both in 2022 and overall, Practical Joke has been a popular stallion since he retired and for good reason. Finding success in the sales ring with his first two crops, Practical Joke has done just as well on the track.
A Grade 1 winner at two and three, Practical Joke’s own juveniles came out running with those runners including Grade 3 winner and Kentucky Oaks contender Girl With a Dream and Grade 3 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Wit among six stakes winners and eight stakes performers overall. An interesting cross to watch for with Practical Joke is El Prado granddaughters crossed on the stallion. Wit is out of a Medaglia d’Oro mare, as is one other winner, and stakes-placed Practical Coach is out of a Kitten’s Joy mare. Those who have Lookin At Lucky mares may want to consider his studmate. Practical Joke’s Chilean 2-year-olds include three juvenile winners from four runners out of Lookin At Lucky daughters.
Practical Joke didn’t suffer from that fourth year stallion slump that many have to deal with the year their first 2-year-olds hit the track, he bred 231 mares last year and stands for $35,000 in 2022.
A stallion having a resurgence is 18-year-old Street Boss, who has registered 12 stakes winners and 18 stakes performers in the Northern Hemisphere since January of 2021 and five group winners leading 12 stakes performers in Australia. His best runner in that time period has been dual Group 1 winner Anamoe, who was also second in some of the biggest races in Australia including the G1 Golden Slipper and G1 Cox Plate.
Street Boss has been a solid stallion throughout his career with 42 stakes winners and 78 stakes horses born in the Northern Hemisphere. That group includes five Grade 1 winners, led by G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia. Much of his stakes success has come courtesy of mares from the A.P. Indy line with his Grade 3 winner Hence out of an A.P. Indy mare and Cathryn Sophia one of four stakes winners and seven stakes performers out of Indy granddaughters. The success carries into the third generation as well with A.P. Indy grandsons also the damsire of the stakes winning New Boss.
The sire of the stakes winning Lady Edith and stakes performer Olympic Legend in the Northern Hemisphere already in 2022, Street Boss stands for $15,000 at Darley in 2022.
I’ve talked about three Tapit sons in today’s blog so it’s time to talk about his best grandson – Tiz The Law. One of three new stallions at Coolmore America in 2021, Tiz The Law retired after six wins in nine starts. His success started early when he won the G1 Champagne Stakes in his second start and he would go on to win three other Grade 1 races with three of them coming during a four race win streak in the spring and summer of 2020.
Easily winning the G1 Belmont Stakes, Tiz The Law was also second behind Authentic in that year’s G1 Kentucky Derby. Breeding 160 mares last year, Tiz The Law is standing for $35,000 for his second season.
Coolmore America has two Triple Crown winners on its roster but the King of Ashford is arguably Uncle Mo.
A champion juvenile, Uncle Mo was a successful racehorse who became a record breaking first crop sire by earnings (broken by Gun Runner last year) with his first juveniles including another champion juvenile in Nyquist and G1 Alcibiades winner Gomo. That first crop yielded 36 stakes performers and 25 stakes winners with 14 of the horses winning graded stakes. Since his first runners hit the track in 2015, his crops have produced 41 graded stakes winners, 77 stakes winners and 128 stakes performers with 10 Grade 1 winners.
Bernardini mares sent to Uncle Mo have produced five stakes performers led by his Grade 1 winning studmate and son Mo Town from 27 runners. But the Storm Cat line is even more successful.
Storm Cat granddaughters have produced 10 stakes winners and 14 stakes performers, led by multiple Grade 1 winner Nyquist. Storm Cat daughters have had their own success with that group of three winners including multiple graded stakes winner Ultra Brat and one other stakes performer and his great-granddaughters producing three graded stakes winners – including G3 Las Virgenes Stakes winner and Kentucky Oaks hopeful Adare Manor.
Uncle Mo has quickly become a sire-of-sires (see more information about that under Mo Town) but his daughters are also started to make an impact with their own runners. They have 40 winners from 84 runners with the group including three stakes winners and eight stakes performers, led by Grade 3 winner Major General.
Uncle Mo’s 2022 stud fee of $160,000 is the fourth highest fee in North America this year.
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