new us sires Tamarkuz while taking the Kelso Handicap (G2) in near-record time, won the Westchester Stakes (G3) by 6l, and took second in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1). Yet another talented son of Tapit, Anchor Down is half-brother to Grade 1 winner Sweet Lulu, and out of graded winner Successful Outlook. Anchor Down’s half-sister Sweet Lulu is by Mr. Greeley, a son of Gone West, a strain that has done well under Tapit. Tapit has also done well with Mr. Prospector through Forty Niner and Carson City. From the Northern Dancer line, mares by Storm Cat, Deputy Minister, and Sadler’s Wells through El Prado. Tapit goes back to a sister to the successful sire Relaunch and has done well with mares carrying that strain.

BAL A BALI

Put It Back – In My Side (Clackson) Calumet Farm, Kentucky $10,000 From a southern-hemisphere crop by his sire, a Grade 2-winning sprinter by the Relaunch stallion Honour And Glory, Bal A Bali was Horse of the Year and champion three-yearold colt in Brazil. There he won 11 of 12 starts at two and three taking nine stakes events, three Grade 1s over 7f to 1m4f. Racing in the US, Bal A Bali won the American Stakes (G3). He has an interesting pedigree – Honour And Glory is a grandson of the mare Gonfalon, whose son Ogygian is sire of the second dam of Bal A Bali. Given that Bal A Bali is inbred to the family of Fappiano that strain is going into appeal, especially since Put It Back has a Grade 1 winner on the cross, as well as a graded winner out of a Songandaprayer mare. From the Mr. Prospector line, he also has a graded stakes winner out of a mare by Elusive Quality. In the US, Put It Back sired a Grade 1 winner out of a mare by Dayjur, a son of Danzig. He also did well with the Halo line stallion, Jolie’s Halo. He’s also worked well with Northern Dancer through Storm Cat, Deputy Minister and Dixieland Band.

EFFINEX

Mineshaft – What a Pear (E Dubai) Questroyal North, New York $10,000 Effinex is the only sire priced at $10,000 or

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Speightstown has done well over other branches of Mr. Prospector, so trying Smart Strike line mares isn’t out of the question with Speightster more to retire to stud outside of Kentucky for 2017. Unraced at two, Effinex progressed with age to become a top-class middle-distance runner, and retires as a winner of five graded stakes, and over $3,300,000 in earnings. His most prestigious victory came in the Clark Handicap (G1), and other successes included the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and back-to-back renewals of the Suburban Handicap (G2). He was also four times Grade 1 placed, including when second to American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Effinex is by Minsehaft, A.P. Indy’s Horse of the Year, and that fact is given additional interest when we note that Mineshaft’s son Dialed In earned honours as leading freshman sire in the US in 2016. Out of the stakes-winning Mr. Prospector grand-daughter What A Pear, Effinex traces back to the famed tap-root mare Best In Show. Effinex is inbred 3x3 to Mr. Prospector, so you probably don’t want to duplicate that strain too closely, although the Fappiano branch could be worth trying. Northern Dancer through Storm Cat and Deputy Minister line mares would appeal, as might the Roberto line.

SPEIGHTSTER

Speightstown – Dance Swiftly (Danzig) WinStar Farm, Kentucky $10,000 Speightster won the first three of four starts, scoring by 7l on his debut, beating subsequent Grade 1 winner Joking in a 6f100yds allowance race, then defeating a good field by 2l for the Dwyer Stakes (G3). Like Tamarkuz, a son of Speightstown, Speightster is half-brother to stakes winners

West Coast Swing and Paiota Falls, the dam of stakes winner Rafting. His dam Dance Swiftly is a sister to the US champion and Canadian Horse of the Year, Dance Smartly, herself dam and grand-dam of several notable runners. Dance Swiftly is also half-sister to Smart Strike, a two-time leading sire who was a son of Mr. Prospector, the great-grandsire of Speightster. Although he is a Mr. Prospector line stallion, Speightstown has done well over other branches of Mr. Prospector, so trying Smart Strike line mares here isn’t out of the with Speightster. Other Mr. Prospector branches that have worked under Speightstown include Kingmambo/Lemon Drop Kid, Seeking The Gold, Distorted Humor and Street Cry. From the Northern Dancer line, in addition to Danzig, the cross that produced Speightster, we can note Sadler’s Wells/El Prado and Deputy Minister (who did well with Smart Strike). It’s also possible to inbreed to Speightster family through Sky Classic or Regal Classic.

UPSTART

Flatter – Party Silks (Touch Gold) Airdrie Stud, Kentucky $10,000 Upstart was among the best of his crop at two, three and four. A stakes winner over 6f on his second start as a juvenile, he went on to take second in the Champagne Stakes (G1) and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). At three he took the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) by 5l over Frosted, and was three times graded placed, including when second in the Florida Derby (G1). At four he won the Razorback Handicap (G3) and was twice Grade 1 placed. Upstart’s sire Flatter, a son of A.P. Indy, is bred on the same cross as Pulpit, Malibu Moon and Mineshaft. He is also a brother to leading freshman sire Congrats. He started off in the bargain department, but has proven himself a very smart sire, and has 40 stakes winners to his name, including the Grade 1-winning Flat Out, Taris and Paola Queen. Upstart has done well with mares from the Fappiano line, and that looks a very strong prospect here, especially as Upstart’s dam is a half-sister to Josh’s Madelyn, a graded stakeswinning daughter of the Fappiano horse, Quiet American.