bully for bourbon (county) as local stallion operations have impressive weekend successes

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blame, claiborne farm, curlin, hill 'n' dale, war front

Maybe it’s something in the water.

Whatever it is, the stallion operations in neighboring Bourbon County (northeast of Fayette County, which includes Lexington) have been ringing the bell repeatedly. Today, there are only two commercial stallion operations in Bourbon County: Claiborne Farm and Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa.

On Keeneland’s second day of racing this fall, in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, which is sponsored by Claiborne, the first two finishers were out of mares by 2010 champion older horse Blame (by Arch), who stands at Claiborne. Annapolis, winner of the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland, is by Claiborne stallion War Front (Danzig); Nagirroc (Lea) won the G3 Futurity Stakes in New York; and a few days earlier on the West Coast, Midnight Memories won the G2 Zenyatta Stakes to become the first graded winner for Claiborne stallion Mastery (Candy Ride).

In the Breeders’ Futurity, the winner was G1 Hopeful winner Forte (Violence) by a neck over Loggins (Ghostzapper). The sires of both stand at Bourbon County’s Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, which also stands Curlin (Smart Strike), the sire of Saturday’s G2 Vosburgh Stakes winner Elite Power. On Sunday, Curlin’s daughters Nest and First to Act finished one-two in the G2 Beldame Stakes, and later that day, the stallion’s Malathaat won the G1 Spinster at Keeneland.

Malathaat was last year’s champion 3-year-old filly, and Nest is a virtual certainty to win the Eclipse Award for that division this year after impressive victories in the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama, then a blowout victory in the Beldame against older fillies and mares.

Curlin stood the 2022 season at Hill ‘n’ Dale for $175,000 live foal, and with 89 stakes winners to date, including five G1 winners this year, Curlin is an eminently “proven” stallion. He, like Ghostzapper, won a Breeders’ Cup Classic and was named Horse of the Year, then followed up those racing performances by siring repeated successful performers at the top level of sport.

Violence, however, had a more limited racing career of four starts. The strikingly handsome dark brown won the first three of his races, then was second in the G2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream to subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon).

The handsome son of Medaglia d’Oro raced no more and was retired to stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale for the 2014 breeding season. He proved very popular with breeders, getting 119 and 116 named foals in his first two crops, which included G1 winner Volatile in the second crop. Overall, the stallion’s first two crops produced 84 percent starters to foals, compared to 61 percent for the breed overall; 71 percent winners (42 percent); and 7 percent stakes winners with 16, compared to 3 percent for the breed.

That counted as a positive start to a stallion career, and Violence is still standing in Kentucky to sizable books of good mares and stands for a fee of $25,000. The young Three Chimneys Farm stallion Volatile, along with third- and fourth-crop G1 winners No Parole (Woody Stephens) and Dr. Schivel (Del Mar Futurity; Bing Crosby Handicap), have been excellent indicators of what Violence is capable of siring, but the stallion needed a national champion, a home run colt, to break into the ranks of elite sires like Curlin, Tapit, or War Front.

Could Forte be that colt?

He is certainly talented, fast, and brave. When he ranged up outside of Loggins in the Breeders’ Futurity, it appeared the Violence colt would blow past his rival. Loggins had other ideas and never gave up, but at the wire, Forte was a neck in front of his rival and claimed the victory.

The third-place colt, Red Route One (Gun Runner), was seven lengths behind the winner.

The suggestion of the form is that both Forte and Loggins are quite good and that the future holds high promise for them both.

Bred in Kentucky by South Gate Farm, Forte has now won three of his four starts and is one of two juvenile colts with a pair of G1 victories. The other is Cave Rock (Arrogate).

Forte is out of the Blame mare Queen Caroline, a four-time stakes winner, and the colt’s second dam, Queens Plaza (Forestry), won the Sorority Stakes at 2. The third dam, Kew Garden (Seattle Slew), was only a winner, but her dam was the multiple graded stakes winner Jeano (Fappiano). Another daughter of Jeano, Contrive, produced the champion 2-year-old filly Folklore (Tiznow).

South Gate sold Forte for $80,000 as a weanling at the 2020 Keeneland November sale, and the colt was pinhooked into the following year’s September sale, where he brought $110,000 from Repole Stable & St. Elias Stable, which entities own and race the colt.

Forte’s dam Queen Caroline was purchased by Amy Moore of South Gate Farm for $170,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Queen Caroline won four stakes and $401,608, placing in four other stakes. Forte is the mare’s first foal, and she has a yearling colt by Uncle Mo who sold to Mayberry Farm for $850,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale. Earlier this year, Queen Caroline was bred to Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway), the sire of Epicenter and other good racers.

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northern dancer’s influence sweeps into the future with high-class performers, including graded winner stolen weekend

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northern dancer inbreeding, stolen weekend, war front

With thousands of airline flights canceled across the country over the past holiday weekend, many would-be vacationers can identify with the subject of this week’s column: Stolen Holiday.

This highly pedigreed daughter of leading sire War Front (by Danzig), however, isn’t a taker. She’s a giver, and she gave an impressive front-running performance in the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 18. The bay 5-year-old led at every call under Jose Lezcano, and after she had set opening fractions of :25.51 and :25.10, the message was clear to those chasing her: come with your running booties on.

Stolen Holiday clearly had hers. The third and fourth quarters were raced in :23.61 and :22.37, with the final sixteenth in :05.71. In a beautifully ridden example of “waiting in front,” the Eatontown showed a pace profile very similar to a European event (steady early, fast late), and nothing got closer to Stolen Holiday than her stablemate Vigilantes Way (Medaglia d’Oro), who won this race a year ago and was a length behind at the wire this time.

Bred in Kentucky by Orpendale (one of the Coolmore associated entities), Stolen Holiday was sold for $750,000 out of the Denali Stud consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale. The Eatontown was the mare’s first stakes victory and her fourth success from 10 starts.

Owned by Annette Allen, wife of Joe Allen, who bred and raced War Front, Stolen Holiday was unraced at two, then won a maiden from a pair of starts at three. Patience paid off, however, and the athletic filly has progressed steadily for trainer Shug McGaughey to work through some conditions, place second in the Sand Springs Stakes at Gulfstream, and now become a graded stakes winner.

That credit on her record is extremely important because Stolen Holiday is the fourth stakes winner out of her dam, the Sadler’s Wells mare Silk and Scarlet. The mare’s earlier stakes winners are Minorette (Smart Strike), winner of the G1 Belmont Oaks; Eishin Apollon (Giant’s Causeway), winner of the G1 Mile Championship in Japan; and Master of Hounds (Kingmambo), winner of the G1 Jebel Hatta in the UAE and the G2 Topkapi Trophy in Turkey.

This is a family that has shown excellence quite literally all around the world, and that is surely a good part of the reason for the strong price paid for this mare as a yearling.

The dam of this quartet of achievers is Silk and Scarlet, winner of the G2 Debutante Stakes in Ireland and currently living in Kentucky at Ashford Stud. The mare’s most recent foal is a yearling filly by Justify likely to go in the September sale, and the mare was covered by Justify for 2023.

Silk and Scarlet is one of two stakes winners out of Danilova (Lyphard), and the unraced Danilova is a daughter of Ballinderry (Irish River), winner of the G2 Ribblesdale and third in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Ballinderry produced a pair of stakes winners, and the better of those was Sanglamore (Sharpen Up), winner of the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and second in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

Ballinderry herself is one of five stakes winners out of the marvelous mare Miss Manon (Bon Mot). In addition to Stolen Holiday’s third dam, Miss Manon produced Lydian (Lyphard), winner of the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and G1 Gran Premio di Milano; Sharpman (Sharpen Up), winner of the Prix Omnium, second in the G1 French 2,000 Guineas, third in the G1 French Derby; Mot d’Or (Rheingold), winner of the G2 Prix Hocquart and third in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris; and Miss Summer (Luthier), stakes winner and dam of multiple G1-placed Most Precious (Nureyev).

Stolen Holiday’s pedigree in itself is fascinating, and not least among its elements is that Northern Dancer, a foal of 1961, figures twice in her third generation. The 1964 Kentucky Derby winner is the grandsire of Stolen Holiday in the male line; he is also the sire of her broodmare sire Sadler’s Wells. Northern Dancer appears twice more in Stolen Holiday’s pedigree: in the sixth generation as the sire of Triple Crown winner Nijinsky and in the fourth generation as the sire of the second dam’s broodmare sire Lyphard.

The four presences of Northern Dancer are noteworthy, but the pair in the third generation are remarkable.

It is rare to find a horse from 60 years ago so close up in a contemporary pedigree, but Northern Dancer is no ordinary Thoroughbred. The repetition of his name in this pedigree is a reminder of the vast difference the small, Canadian-bred bay has made in the breed.

Inbreeding to a horse of lesser genetic significance would likely be discouraged but not so with the great little bay. Certainly, inbreeding to Northern Dancer 3×2, 3×3, and 3×4 has succeeded on the racetrack as seen with this mare, as well as with classic winners Enable and War of Will, G1 winners Hit It a Bomb, Brave Anna, Roly Poly, US Navy Flag, and others. The next question is whether horses with this kind of close-up inbreeding to Northern Dancer make a significant mark as breeding stock in the coming years.

leading sire war front set the pace in the sales lists at keeneland september in session one

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cathy sweezey, claiborne farm, mandy pope, war front, wayne sweezey, whisper hill farm

In a briskly successful first session of the Keeneland September yearling sale, the gross price rose 35 percent to $44.6 million, with an average price of $297,613. The top three prices at the opening session — $1 million and $1.45 million for two fillies and $900,000 for the top-priced colt — were paid for yearlings by Claiborne Farm stallion War Front (by Danzig).

The 12-year-old stallion, who looks so much like his sire that it’s a little spooky, enjoyed a fuller racing career than that great sire.

Whereas Danzig was unbeaten in three starts in fast time but no stakes, War Front raced three seasons and was first or second in nine of his 13 starts. The horse’s most important victory came in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga, with seconds in the Vosburgh, Forego, Tom Fool, Mr. Prospector, and Deputy Minister.

So War Front was a sprinter who didn’t win a Grade 1 stakes, the Vanderbilt was a G2 at the time he won it, and took a place at Claiborne because owner-breeder Joseph Allen and a group of syndicate members believed in the horse and supported him through his early seasons with useful mares.

As a result of that support and his own innate qualities, War Front has climbed the ladder of stallion success. From being an interesting stallion prospect, the brawny bay has become one of the most respected stallions in the world, and his offspring are highly sought at the sales.

Obviously.

The stallion’s early yearlings looked the part, and buyers began picking them up early for good prices, which allowed breeders to continue to support him through the hard times of the bloodstock depression. Then when War Front’s first crops included major winners like The Factor (Malibu), Data Link (G1), Declaration of War (Juddmonte International and Queen Anne Stakes), and Summer Soiree (Del Mar Oaks), the breeders with foals and yearlings on the ground made a lot of money in times when they needed it.

And major breeders began flocking to the horse.

With first foals of 2008, War Front has risen to an advertised stud fee of $150,000 live foal, if you can find one. Nominations to the horse are tightly held by a syndicate. The syndicate is comprised of breeders who use their seasons. Getting one is about as easy as sneaking a gold bar out of Fort Knox.

That is, however, the traditional nature of a syndicate. And one of the virtues and privileges of being a member has traditionally been access. Yes, the right to breed to one of the best and most successful stallions in the world.

The mega-books approach to stallion management has diluted the concept of syndication out of all recognition for those of us with memories that extend past the last generation. But Claiborne Farm does have a long memory, both among the individuals responsible for its success and as a corporate body that has been a leader in bloodstock breeding in Kentucky for more than a century.

Claiborne Farm has long been a stick in the mud when it comes to newfangled ideas. And proud to be.

So now they have yet another world-class stallion.

And the world comes beating a path to their door in search of seasons to War Front or yearlings by the horse. Claiborne, as consignor, sold the $900,000 colt (Hip 106) and a $525,000 colt (Hip 109); Lane’s End, as consignor, sold the $1 million filly (Hip 99) and a $600,000 colt (Hip 182).

But Timber Town (Wayne and Cathy Sweezey), selling for major buyer and now breeder Mandy Pope (Whisper Hill Farm), put the ball out of the park with the session-topping yearling at $1.45 million. The filly is the first foal of the group-placed Galileo mare Betterbetterbetter, an Irish-bred half-sister to classic winner Yesterday and G1 winner Quarter Moon, and Betterbetterbetter was sold for $5.2 million carrying this filly at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale in 2013.

Betterbetterbetter did her job and produced a good-sized and robust foal on Jan. 16 last year who grew into a very appealing yearling. The session-topper responded well to the sales prep and presentation at the September sale by Timber Town, and her hammer price indicates how inspectors found her at the barn.

As a sales yearling and racing prospect for buyer Shadwell Farm, the War Front filly is a credit to all who knew her and helped her along the way.

pulpit, seeking the gold, and war front tie together claiborne connections

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claiborne farm, danzig, mr. prospector, Pulpit, seeking the gold, war front

The stakes over the weekend produced winners who had repeated ties to Claiborne Farm, as the Grade 2 San Vicente winner was Lord Nelson, a chestnut son of farm sire Pulpit (by A.P. Indy) out of African Jade, a mare by leading sire and broodmare sire Seeking the Gold. Lord Nelson defeated last season’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red by a neck in 1:22.15 for the seven furlongs of the San Vicente.

In Kentucky, the winner of one of Turfway’s preliminary stakes preps for the Spiral was the War Front colt The Great War, last seen finishing a respectable fourth in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile behind Texas Red and Carpe Diem. Already the sire of 33 stakes winners and 8 G1 winners, War Front (Danzig) is currently the most popular stallion at Claiborne.

The Breeders’ Cup form is further evidence of the quality that The Great War possesses, and he blew away his opponents at Turfway with a 7 ¼-length victory, going 6 ½ furlongs in 1:18.69 on Polytrack.

Bred by Claiborne, The Great War races for international racing and breeding giant Coolmore, which purchased the colt for $1 million at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale. The bay son of War Front is out of Guide, a daughter of Pulpit. A full sister to stakes winner Laity, Guide won a maiden among her eight starts, and The Great War is her first stakes winner. Guide is out of stakes winner Tour, a daughter of Claiborne’s champion Forty Niner (Mr. Prospector), and two of her siblings produced the major winners Zensational (Unbridled’s Song) and Departing (War Front).

Also winner of the Blenheim Stakes in Ireland, The Great War has won four of his nine starts and is now trained by Wesley Ward after doing his earlier training and racing with Aiden O’Brien at Ballydoyle.

At the same 2013 Keeneland sale, Lord Nelson sold for $340,000 to John Fort and races for Peachtree Stable. The chestnut colt was an outstanding representative for Pulpit, an important stakes winner from the first crop of A.P. Indy who was one early indicator of that stallion’s importance as a sire of racehorses and breeding stock. Pulpit was a high-class racehorse with speed and versatility, and as a sire he had success from the start, with his most important son being the immensely popular Tapit, a fetching gray who stands at Gainesway.

As an individual, Pulpit was a tidy bay of medium size who won four of his six starts, including the G2 Fountain of Youth and the Blue Grass Stakes and was second in the Florida Derby. The Blue Grass was his prep for the 1997 Kentucky Derby, in which he finished fourth behind Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit, and Free House.

At stud, however, Pulpit put his contemporaries in the shade, siring 77 stakes winners so far, and that number will grow. Lord Nelson is from Pulpit’s next-to-last crop, and there are 26 more in the stallion’s last crop, now 2-year-olds.

When Pulpit entered stud in 1998, he took up residence in the famed stallion barn at Claiborne like the great Mr. Prospector (Raise a Native), his important son Seeking the Gold, and Danzig (Northern Dancer), whose influence around the world is even greater than Mr. Prospector’s.

Seeking the Gold was approximately midway in age between the old guard and Pulpit. A top-class racehorse, Seeking the Gold had finished second to Forty Niner in the Travers and to Alysheba in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. At stud, he proved himself an even better sire, getting champion fillies right away. That was just like Seeking the Gold’s broodmare sire Buckpasser, who also stood at Claiborne.

So Seeking the Gold was a hot young sire in 1998, and his international appeal accelerated rapidly over the next couple of years due to the exploits of his son Dubai Millennium. In 1999 and 2000, Dubai Millennium won nine of his 10 starts — including four G1s — and earned nearly $4.5 million.

Sire of 92 stakes winners (10 percent), Seeking the Gold’s fillies tended to fill up his stud record, but it also included top colts like Florida Derby winner Cape Town and Belmont Stakes winner Jazil, but none was better than Godolphin’s great performer Dubai Millennium. Of Seeking the Gold’s sons at stud, the most enduring has been Petionville, but the most influential once again was Dubai Millennium, who died after one season at stud. Dubai Millennium succeeded in getting a son, Dubawi, who has proven himself an outstanding sire in Europe.

Today, Seeking the Gold is still in his old stall in Claiborne’s stallion barn. Age 30, the bay has been pensioned from breeding for several years, but his legacy and influence on the breed live on.

* The preceding post was first published earlier this week at Paulick Report.

the factor and hansen: contemporaries continue competition as sires

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hansen, sires of stallions, Tapit, the factor, war front

Two competitors on the track, Hansen and The Factor, also have first-crop foals offered for sale at Keeneland November. The pair share some common traits, including a high turn of speed. Both are also gray, but more importantly, they are by two of the most important sires in America: Tapit and War Front.

True dominance in a sire attracts a host of breeders hoping to use him, but most of them cannot get a season, even in today’s exaggerated books. That reality pushes their interest toward the sons of highly favored stallions and makes those sons a stronger proposition for farms to stand.

In each stallion’s first season at stud in 2013, Hansen covered 147 mares who produced 102 foals, and The Factor covered 135 mares who produced 102 foals. In 2014, The Factor covered 151 mares as his second book, but we do not know the number of mares sent to Hansen because he was no longer available in Kentucky.

Both young sires had first-crop weanlings available in Book 1 at Keeneland November – but only a few — as well as a few at Fasig-Tipton. Hansen has two in Book 1, where The Factor has a trio.

Hansen was the first champion son of leading sire Tapit, winning the Eclipse Award as the top juvenile colt in 2011 after a game victory over Union Rags in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Acquired by Coolmore and retired to stud at Ashford in Kentucky, Hansen served only one season in the Bluegrass before he was sold to the Korean Racing Authority as a stallion for their breeding program.

As a result, the Hansen foals are a bit like collector’s items because we won’t be seeing any more after this crop.

The Hansen filly out of Allencat (by Storm Cat), Hip 26, is a half-sister to a pair of stakes horses, and Hip 182 is also a filly, a March 2 foal out of the Vicar mare R Lady Joy. The latter was a classy racehorse, winning the G2 Delaware Oaks and finishing third in the G1 Alabama.

Among Hansen’s appeals to breeders were his early maturity and status as a champion son of a leading sire who is very hard to get to. Likewise, The Factor is by one of the hottest international sires in War Front, and the latter is probably the hardest stallion in the world in which to acquire a season

The Factor’s three hips in Book 1 are also all fillies: Hips 269, 374, and 398. The first is a March 8 foal out of the End Sweep mare Charismatic Lady, and this filly is a half-sister to stakes winner Dad’s Crazy (Langfuhr), winner of the Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont. Hip 374 is out of stakes-placed Pastel Gal (Lemon Drop Kid), and Hip 398 is out of G2 winner Sayedah (Darshaan).

There were further foals by both stallions in later books, and the summary statistics for their first foal sales are below.

Hansen: indicating number through ring, sold, RNA, average, median, gross

Weanling

20

16

4

$45,438

$46,000

$727,000

KEENOV2014 Hip: 26 Weanling	Hansencat f., 2014	Hansen-Allencat, by Storm Cat	Valparaiso Enterprises	Pope McLean	$90,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 182 Weanling	R Lady Hansen f., 2014	Hansen-R Lady Joy, by Vicar		Pope McLean	($140,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 581 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Dixie Stamp, by Dixie Union		Pope McLean	($55,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 737 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Movie Star Magic, by The Cliff’s Edge	Bobby Flay	Pope McLean	$65,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 781 Weanling	Prince Hansen c., 2014	Hansen-Quickandquietqueen, by Quiet American	Walnut Hill Bloodstock	Pope McLean	$85,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1634 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-S D P Greedisgood, by Gone West	Amy Boulton	Pope McLean	$65,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1744 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Annie Goodtime, by Honour and Glory	Michelle Redding	Eaton Sales	$50,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2250 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Elusive Royalty, by Elusive Quality	J and R Bloodstock	Select Sales	$12,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2334 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-La Riviera, by Affirmed	Dr. Kendall Hansen Racing	Millennium Farms	$20,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2365 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Missing Miss, by Unaccounted For	Turnley Farms LA	Lane’s End	$25,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2412 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Que Bonita, by Meadowlake	Dr. Kendall Hansen Racing	Lane’s End	$45,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2454 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Slewville, by Petionville	Jim Perrone	Pope McLean	$47,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2924 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Turf Club, by Trust N Luck		Select Sales	($22,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2952 Weanling	Air Hansen c., 2014	Hansen-Airizon, by Boston Harbor	Dr. Kendall Hansen Racing	Taylor Made Sales Agency	$75,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 3036 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Diamond Donna, by Silver Deputy	Polo Green Stable & David Lashley	Select Sales	$5,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 3051 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Enticing, by Service Stripe	Academy Bloodstock	Pope McLean	$16,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 3179 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Nault, by Woodman		Pope McLean	($9,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 3603 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	Hansen-Primetime Cat, by Tale of the Cat	Bill & Corinne Heiligbrodt	Equus Farm	$37,000	Sold
FTKNOV2014 Hip: 36 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Palomanegra, by Grand Slam	Wild Card Bloodstock	Pope McLean	$75,000	Sold
OBSOCT2014 Hip: 99 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	Hansen-Havelsee, by Tiznow	Blue River Bloodstock	Kaizen Sales	$15,000	Sold

The Factor: indicating number through ring, sold, RNA, average, median, gross

Weanling

26

20

6

$87,150

$77,500

$1,743,000

KEENOV2014 Hip: 269 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Charismatic Lady, by End Sweep	Fairwinter Farm	William B. Harrigan	$130,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 374 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Pastel Gal, by Lemon Drop Kid		Warrendale Sales	($140,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 503 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Ba Ba’s Bunch, by El Corredor	Nick de Meric	Select Sales	$130,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 509 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Bet On the Blue, by E Dubai	The Blind Tiger	Taylor Made Sales Agency	$70,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 521 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Broadway Lullaby, by Songandaprayer	JSM Equine	St George Sales	$85,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 617 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Gowestforgold, by Java Gold		Pope McLean	($65,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 669 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Jive Talk, by Kingmambo	Mayor Farm	Hunter Valley Farm	$27,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 699 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Lucky Slevin, by Two Punch	Nick de Meric	Pope McLean	$110,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 802 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Salvar, by Eddington	Springhouse Farm	Lane’s End	$115,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 808 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Seeking Silence, by Seeking the Gold	Bare Stables	Hunter Valley Farm	$67,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 923 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-At Risk, by Dixie Union	Third Street Stable	Clarkland Farm	$65,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1027 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Fun Given, by Point Given		Paramount Sales	($30,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1162 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Once Around, by You and I	Cedar Hall Farm	Warrendale Sales	$200,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1186 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Prevention, by Aptitude	Preston Stables	Paramount Sales	$90,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1390 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Dana Dew, by Fusaichi Pegasus	Blandford Stud	Lisa & Tim Turney	$45,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1448 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Friona, by Allen’s Prospect	Walter Bloodstock	Lane’s End	$75,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1529 Weanling	Smokin Hot Factor c., 2014	The Factor-Love Me Twice, by Not For Love		Sally Thomas	($57,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1560 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Motel Lass, by Bates Motel	Baccari Bloodstock	Hunter Valley Farm	$70,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1694 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Trippi Street, by Trippi	Walter Bloodstock	Burleson Farms	$62,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1787 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Cat Dance, by Forest Wildcat		Taylor Made Sales Agency	($95,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1791 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-Cedar Run’s Emblem, by Our Emblem	Tim Hamlin	James B. Keogh	$80,000	Sold
KEENOV2014 Hip: 1897 Weanling	UNNAMED c., 2014	The Factor-I Am Iron Woman, by Any Given Saturday		Paramount Sales	($19,000)	RNA
KEENOV2014 Hip: 2175 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Bertha Jo, by Banker’s Gold	Falguieres Bloodstock	Susan M. Forrester	$42,000	Sold
FTKNOV2014 Hip: 30 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Mining My Business, by Mining	Stonereath Stud	Darby Dan Farm	$130,000	Sold
FTKNOV2014 Hip: 53 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Super Cub, by Old Trieste	American Equistock	Romans Racing & Sales	$85,000	Sold
FTNMIX2014 Hip: 298 Weanling	UNNAMED f., 2014	The Factor-Divorce Settlement, by Stormin Fever	Palermo Farm	Sequel Stallions New York	$65,000	Sold

 

espn interview of “franks” offers a lead-in to the keeneland september sale

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barry abrams, frankie dettori, sid fernando, war front

Radio and internet sports broadcaster Barry Abrams interviewed me a few days ago regarding the Keeneland September yearling sale that begins on Monday, September 8. The podcast is a ‘frank’ assessment of the situation on the racecourse and at the sales, with star jockey Frankie Dettori leading off the program.

Abrams chats with Dettori about his international successes in Europe and the Near East, as well as his venture into riding at Saratoga this summer. Then the interviewer switches horses and asks for my views on the upcoming yearling sales scene.

Readers can access the podcast from ESPN Sports here.

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In another piece on notable information from the net, Sid Fernando has a pair of recent updates to the “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not” blog originally penned by Jack Werk. As the current president of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Fernando has his finger on the pulse of the breeding business, and he offers a clarity and insight on bloodstock that is much needed.

Fernando’s most recent piece, which you can read here, is an assessment of War Front’s position in the stallion market, where the Claiborne Farm sire’s NO GUARANTEE seasons are selling for $250,000 to $300,000.

There are a couple of lessons to take from this. One is that top sires can come from nearly anywhere in the upper echelon of racehorses. War Front, for instance, was a good racehorse, but nobody ever mentioned him being in the same élite class as racehorses like Dayjur or Lure, to name two exceptional sons of Danzig.

Yet, War Front is hands down the more successful sire. (In fairness, Lure didn’t have much of a shot after his first season due to his raging subfertility and lack of access to better mares.)

The second lesson from War Front is that the demand for his seasons and the price of those seasons is the result from there not being an endless supply of seasons to the horse. Yes, he is a really good stallion, but if he were covering 200 mares in Kentucky, then shuttling to Australia or somewhere and covering a like number to “maximize” his value, just what would those seasons be selling for?

It is simply supply and demand.

war front showing his speed in a climb to the top

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claiborne farm, speed in the racehorse, war front

The following post first appeared earlier this week at Paulick Report.

In the great test of the racetrack, one thing is certain. Speed kills the opposition, and a stallion or broodmare who consistently transmits speed, whether quality front-running speed or powerful finishing speed, has a license to become a major influence in the breed.

Over the past 30 years, one of the most consistent sources of first-rate speed for front-running or finishing has been the great Northern Dancer stallion Danzig. An unbeaten and relatively untried racer, Danzig secured a place at stud through the confidence of the great horseman Woody Stephens and the faith that Claiborne Farm’s Seth Hancock had in the wisdom of the trainer of classic winners and champions.

Stephens brought Hancock together with Danzig’s owner Henryk de Kwiatkowski for lunch at Belmont Park, where the principals wrote out the syndication agreement on a napkin, and the rest is history.

Based at Claiborne for his entire career, Danzig became a sensation from his first crop of juveniles to race, which included 2-year-old champion colt Chief’s Crown, as well as Grade 1 winner Stephan’s Odyssey.

The dark bay horse with the white blaze slanting down his face became a sire of international renown with classic winners and champions, and over the past 20 years, Danzig has been the leading sire of stallions all around the world.

Now Claiborne Farm is standing the last internationally important son of Danzig, as the young stallion War Front has gone from strength to strength with his racing stock and appears to have caught the attention of breeders everywhere in a fashion similar to his famous sire.

And the reason for War Front’s transcendence in the world of breeding is speed. From the stallion’s early crops have come major winners like The Factor, who possessed the kind of speed that nearly burnt up the racing surface, and Declaration of War, a G1 winner in England with a furious finishing run who managed a close third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

An excellent example of the kind of speed that War Front can impart can be seen in the race his son Summer Front ran in the G2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park. After a toddling first quarter-mile in :25.19 and a half in :49, the contenders began to speed up, and the final five-sixteenths went in :29.92 for a good mile and a sixteenth time of 1:42.24.

Normally, good horses can’t finish that strongly if they have raced fast fractions during the first half of the race, and the race profile of the Ft. Lauderdale on turf resembled most races on that surface: moderate early, quickening late.

That is directly opposite the way most dirt races are conducted, with horses going fast early, then the winner slowing down the least in the final stages.

Much of the difference in the way races generally work out on dirt and turf is in the nature of the surface. Dirt is a consistent, durable material that will allow continued racing for weeks on end, but it will break away from a horse with great power. We can see this most often at the start, when horses with great power can sometimes push so hard that they cause themselves to stumble as the ground breaks away from them.

So the ideal dirt horse has power, but not too much of it, and also has great stride extension and rhythm that allows him to bowl along at a sharp pace.

In contrast, turf holds when a horse pushes against it, and the more power a horse has, the more he can accelerate. This allows the great change of pace we see in turf racing that is not usually possible with dirt racing.

So which kind of speed does War Front impart?

Like his sire and grandsire Northern Dancer, War Front can get both types of speed. Some of his offspring are notable for their smooth, efficient action; others are even more gifted with power. A good racer by War Front typically has a strongly muscled hindquarter, along with the length of body and hefty body that allows him to stretch out and cover the ground.

Those assets, allied with soundness and a great attitude for racing, have made War Front the next important American stallion to reckon with at the highest level of racing.

As evidence of both the demand for seasons to War Front and their lack of availability from his syndicate, the price of a 2014 season to War Front is $150,000 live foal. A sire generating this kind of interest is also sending sons to stud, such as The Factor at Lane’s End in Kentucky and Soldat in Florida. Now, Data Link, a G1 winner of $831,335, will be standing his first season at Claiborne this year for $7,500.

departing wins a derby, aims at preakness for claiborne and dilschneider

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adele dilschneider, claiborne farm, departing, homebred racehorses, war front

The following post first appeared at Paulick Report last week.

With the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby less than two weeks away, the Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and Illinois Derby at Hawthorne were essentially the final two preps for classic colts, especially since trainers apparently can no longer prepare a colt for the Derby on less than two weeks’ rest.

What would the great trainer Ben Jones think about this puzzle of highly trained and lightly raced colts?

All the thinkage may be moot, however, because neither winner of the weekend preps is likely to start in the classic at Churchill Downs.

The Lexington Stakes winner, Winning Cause (by Giant’s Causeway), is trained by Todd Pletcher, who already has five colts confirmed for the first classic (the highly rated and unbeaten Verrazano, as well as Revolutionary, Overanalyze, Palace Malice, and Charming Kitten). Pletcher noted after the race that Winning Cause had been entered for the Lexington because he had raced so well at Keeneland before, not because the connections were gunning for points to make the classic.

If the Giant’s Causeway colt, now a winner in three of his seven starts, challenges for a Triple Crown race, it is more likely to be the Preakness, two weeks after the Derby and four weeks from the Lexington.

That race is also a possible target for Illinois Derby winner Departing (War Front). Although a winner in four of his five starts, Departing doesn’t have sufficient points to be in the top 20 among prospective Kentucky Derby starters, even if his seasoning suggested that he would benefit from the experience.

So few colts actually come out of the Derby better than they went in that the horsemen overseeing Departing’s development are more likely to choose a conservative course that will offer the gelded bay son of War Front the time to develop and show his ability through the season.

Bred in Kentucky by co-owners Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm (Departing races in the Claiborne colors), the son of War Front is the third foal of the Pulpit mare Leave. Unplaced in her only start, Leave is a full sister to Laity, winner of the Cradle Stakes and the John Battaglia Memorial. The mare is also a half-sister to the highly accomplished stakes winner Trip (Lord at War), who won a trio of G3 stakes and $888,773, and to the speedy stakes winner Joke (Phone Trick), who is also the dam of freshman sire Zensational.

Leave and her siblings are out of the stakes-winning Forty Niner mare Tour, and she is one of three stakes winners out of the Full Pocket mare Fun Flight, a stakes winner herself. This is a family known for its speed and quality, and Departing represents another generation of its success at Claiborne.

The first two foals out of Leave are solid winners by Claiborne stallion Arch, but Departing is a major step up in class from his siblings. A winner of his début on Dec. 22, Departing bowled over his opponents for his next condition with victory in a Feb. 1 allowance, both races at Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orléans. Departing became a stakes winner in his third start, the Texas Heritage Stakes at Sam Houston over a mile on March 2.

The gelding’s only loss to date was a third in the Louisiana Derby, and after four victories in five races, Departing’s earnings now total $628,000.

The Illinois Derby winner is by the Claiborne stallion War Front, a son of the great sire Danzig. War Front had a good weekend, when Departing ran successfully in Illinois and the year-older Summer Front won the Miami Mile at Calder.

The 11-year-old stallion has 20 stakes winners to date. A winner of the Alfred Vanderbilt and second in the Vosburgh, Forego, and Tom Fool, War Front had impressive speed. That is the signal quality of his offspring, allied with an enthusiasm for racing and class.

Speed and class such as that seen in the stallion’s sons The Factor and Soldat, and now in Departing, have made War Front one of the most prominent young stallions, and his offspring are in high demand, just like seasons to the stallions, who now stands for $80,000 live foal and is receiving stronger books of mares each year.

stay thirsty takes travers in campaign to win championship for 3yo colts

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andromeda's hero, bernardini, bernie sams, bloodstock selection, broodmare success, claiborne farm, darley stallions, del mar racetrack, demand for stallion access, jim dandy stakes, jockey club gold cup, john gunther, jonabell, leading sires, marozia, pat o'brien, saratoga racecourse, second-crop sires, speed and sire success, stay thirsty, storm bird, stud fees and demand, successful breeders, superfly, the factor, travers stakes, war front

The following post appeared earlier this week at Paulick Report.

While fans and professionals have been waiting for one 3-year-old colt to establish himself as the dominant force in the division this season, two more colts joined the group that each have won a single Grade 1 race in 2011. On Saturday at Saratoga, Stay Thirsty (by Bernardini) improved off his victory in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy to win the G1 Travers, and the following day, The Factor threw fast fractions at his elders in the G1 Pat O’Brien and took an impressive victory at Del Mar.

Stay Thirsty was bred in Kentucky by John Gunther, who was at Saratoga for the Travers to watch the scopy bay by Preakness and Travers winner Bernardini perform. Gunther was impressed by the condition of Stay Thirsty and said, “He’s filled out and matured a lot since the Derby coming to the Travers. He seems to have more weight through the body and be more mature-looking.”

Stay Thirsty looked like his sire at the Spa. That was important to his breeder, who said that “when I went to see Bernardini at Jonabell, I just loved his looks, and I bred two mares to him the first year, three the second year, and it looks like he’s going to be a good sire.”

According to the current stallion progeny earnings list, Bernardini, an 8-year-old son of A.P. Indy, is the leading second-crop sire, with The Factor’s sire, the 9-year-old Danzig stallion War Front, in second. As a classic winner with a classic pedigree and an elegant physique, Bernardini was notably impressive to breeders, who sent him some outstanding broodmares.

Among the first-crop mates for Bernardini was Gunther’s Storm Bird mare Marozia, who already had produced a pair of stakes winners.

Gunther recalled that he “bought Marozia at the November sale, she was barren at the time, and I paid $50,000 for her.” At the time of sale, the then-9-year-old daughter of Storm Bird had a pair of colts by Fusaichi Pegasus who were a yearling and a weanling. Subsequently named Andromeda’s Hero and Superfly, both became stakes winners. Andromeda’s Hero is a G3 winner who ran second in the Belmont Stakes, and Superfly won a minor stakes and ran third in the Champagne.

Stay Thirsty had made this a trio of G1-placed offspring for Marozia with his seconds in the Hopeful last year and more recently in the Belmont Stakes, but the good-looking bay took the step into the winner’s circle as a G1 winner at Saratoga, which seems to be the colt’s favorite racetrack.

The expectation is that Stay Thirsty will contest the Jockey Club Gold Cup prior to the Breeders’ Cup Classic as part of a program that might make him champion of his division and a Horse of the Year contender. Those races will test both the colt’s apparent maturity and his rise up the class ladder when he tackles older horses for the first time.

One colt who has already put the elders in their place is The Factor, a gray son of Claiborne Farm stallion War Front. A very powerful colt with fluent action, The Factor became one of the favorites for the classics this spring with facile victories at up to a mile and a sixteenth.

According to trainer Bob Baffert, however, the blazing gray does not want any part of rating and will likely be kept to distances of a mile or less. The Factor endorsed that program with his performance in the O’Brien, scorching away in front with G1 winner Smiling Tiger and pulling away to win by a length and three-quarters.

The speed that The Factor uses so effectively is part of the arsenal that sire War Front gives to many of his offspring, and breeders have been so pleased with the results that they are already clamoring about seasons to the stallion for next year.

Bernie Sams of Claiborne Farm said the syndicated stallion covered 103 mares this year and got 97 in foal. With more stakes winners to date than any other second-crop stallion, War Front will be in high demand, and the stud fee for the horse will rise for the 2012 season, although the fee has not yet been decided.

valerio found a gem in the factor

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barretts may sale, barry eisaman, bob baffert, claiborne farm, classic candidates, danzig, developing 3yos, early training of thoroughbreds, fasig-tipton sales, fog city stable, fountain of youth stakes, george bolton, h & w thoroughbreds, keeneland sales, kim valerio, michael shustek, Oaklawn Park, physique as a guide to selection of racing prospects, psychology and sales, rebel stakes, sales of 2yos in training, selecting horses at auction, soldat, stockplace, the factor, tom van meter, war front

The following post appeared earlier this week at Paulick Report.

With his powerful victory in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, The Factor put the spotlight on himself in the run-up to the Kentucky Derby. The colt’s success is further gratification for trainer Bob Baffert and owners George Bolton and Fog City Stable.

The good-looking gray is also the second son of the Claiborne Farm stallion War Front who has won a major Kentucky Derby prep and is highly ranked by most Derby handicappers. (The other is G2 Fountain of Youth winner Soldat.)

And all the people who have had a share in the breeding and development of The Factor also are basking in the reflected glory of the colt’s achievements.

The Factor was bred in Kentucky by H & W Thoroughbreds. Their sale of first the colt at the 2008 Keeneland November sale for $50,000 and then the dam in a private transaction was chronicled in an earlier column.

Between the November sale and the following year’s July sale of selected yearlings at Fasig-Tipton, the sales market slumped even further, and The Factor resold as a yearling for only $40,000 in 2009.

The buyer was show horse veteran Kim Valerio, acting for Mike Shustek. Valerio said, “Until last year, I bought only two to four yearlings a year. In 2009, I bought three, including The Factor.”

Part of the reason she was drawn to the colt by the good but not famous Danzig stallion War Front was physique. Valerio said, “I come from a horse show background, where a lot of the best horses have Northern Dancer in them, and I love the Danzig line and the long, curvy look those horses get from Northern Dancer. At the time of the sale, his neck was longer in proportion to his body, but as he’s matured, his shoulder has filled in more.”

Another of the trio of yearlings that Valerio bought in 2009 is a Dynaformer colt named Wegner, who won a good maiden at Santa Anita earlier this year, then was unplaced to Anthony’s Cross and Tapizar in the G2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February.

Valerio said, “Both colts were purchased for a gentleman (Shustek) who puts up the money and then decides what to do with the horses. Typically, they are bought to race.”

But in this case, Shustek chose to retain Wegner and sell The Factor. The gray went through the ring at the 2010 Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training and brought $250,000.

The process from yearling sale to in-training auction was not a hurried one for The Factor, however. Valerio said, “After the July sale, he was turned out at Tom Van Meter’s farm outside Lexington in a field with a group of yearlings. They didn’t go to Florida till January, and Barry Eisaman broke both of them and put them into early training.”

Both the Dynaformer colt and his War Front companion progressed so well that “they never missed a beat, and we didn’t even breeze them until March. That’s what decided us on sending The Factor to the (May) Barretts sale.”

“I loved that colt,” Valerio admitted. “He was the only colt I bid on at the July sale, and I wanted him to go into the right hands. So I kind of nagged Bob Baffert about buying him. We went to breakfast and he was asking, ‘Who is War Front?’ That guy is such a bluffer. Not two seconds after the hammer falls at the sale, he calls me and says, ‘I bought your horse! I bought your horse!’

“And I told him ‘You’re such a bluffer. If I’d known you were on him, I’d have set the reserve higher,’” Valerio concluded.

Valerio has never regretted the sale because Baffert has gotten so much out of the colt. Now the winner of three consecutive races in fast time, The Factor would become the fourth Kentucky Derby horse that Valerio has been connected with in the last eight years.

She selected Magna Graduate, who was eligible on earnings for the Churchill Downs classic, but the colt’s connections opted not to rush their horse into the Derby. Valerio “selected Scat Daddy and privately bought Joininthedance,” who led the 2009 Kentucky Derby won by Mine That Bird.

If The Factor goes in the Derby, he is almost certain to lead part of the race. The exciting question is, “Which part?”