NEW US SIRES 2018

PULLOUT PREVIEW Friday, December 8, 2017

NEW US SIRES 2018

The big three – Gun Runner, Arrogate and Classic Empire – set to blaze a trail at stud Michele MacDonald's review of new sires Nancy Sexton on Gun Runner’s swansong before retirement

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018 And now for something completely new . . .

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ELCOME to the Racing Post Bloodstock’s US New Sires Supplement for 2018. Our European equivalent publication has been a staple for many years, and this US edition follows on the heels of our inaugural Australasian version.

In American Pharoah – the first US Triple Crown winner to stand in Australia – our Australasian edition could not have asked for a better flagship. In the United States, we started the season with a horse seemingly destined to rival the great Pharoah – Arrogate – only to find by the end of the year we had a rival enter the equation in the form of Gun Runner.

It would take a serious judge to split the Gun Runner of late this season with the Arrogate we all knew and loved from late 2016 and early 2017.

The good news for breeders is they do not need to. They can avail themselves, subject to acceptance of course, to both and they are seriously exciting additions to Three Chimneys’ and Juddmonte’s rosters respectively.

Among the supporting cast, the potential is obvious and the storylines plentiful. Classic Empire follows in the footsteps of many a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner before him at Ashford and, in the process becomes the second son of Pioneerof The Nile since 2016 to retire to Coolmore. At the same time Coolmore add a different strand of the Storm Cat line, in the form of Into Mischief’s Hopeful and Champagne Stakes winner Practical Joke.

Darley offer US breeders access to possibly Medaglia D’Oro’s best son in the form of Aussie shuttler Astern. At Lane’s End and Calumet, a pair of Curlins retire with serious scalps to their name at one stage or another.

Connect isn’t the last horse aside from Arrogate to beat Gun Runner, but he very nearly is (Tamarkuz is the answer for any Christmas trivia). Keen Ice lowered American Pharoah’s colours in the 2015 Travers.

At the same time, Curlin’s burgeoning stud record and emergence as a sire of sires is a fillip for WinStar’s Dirt Mile winner Battle Of Midway. Both are sons of the sorely missed Smart Strike.

There’s more. Spendthrift welcome Grade 1 winners Lord Nelson and Gormley, son of their very own Malibu Moon. In a happy symmetry, Gormley starts his second career at the same fee as his father did nearly 15 years ago, albeit with a significantly more accomplished racing career.

There’s so much to look forward to.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Matt Camacho Racing Post bloodstock director

CONTENTS 4-5 Nancy Sexton on Gun Runner 6-7 The big three 8-14 A-Z of new US sires 15 The resurgence of Juddmonte in the US

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018

Primed to be a hit in new role after final fling on the track

Nancy Sexton Gun Runner and the world’s richest race

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RADITION dictates that a celebrated stallion prospect is safely ensconced at stud by the time the new year opens. But the landscape of racing is ever changing and in 2017 there came the launch of a race that challenged convention, its incentive so great that it successfully prompted a major

stallion operation, Taylor Made Farm, to delay the retirement of their star recruit California Chrome.

The race in question is the Pegasus World Cup, the world’s richest race that sits perilously close to the covering season.

Run in 2018 on January 27 at Gulfstream Park and the brainchild of the Stronach Group, it offers a purse of $16 million and has caught the imagination by its very structure – 12 shareholders each pay $1m to purchase a slot, which is then theirs to either use, lease, contract, share or sell.

Each of the 12 slots for the inaugural running were sold within a week of the race’s launch in May 2016.

Top of the list of investors were California Chrome LLC, the ownership group behind the popular Art Shermantrained Kentucky Derby winner. Coolmore were also quick to purchase a slot, which they subsequently sold to Juddmonte Farms, owners

of the eventual winner Arrogate.

Race organisers couldn’t have asked for a better way to launch the Pegasus than by offering fans another showdown between Arrogate and California Chrome, particularly as the latter was slated to begin his stud career several weeks later in Kentucky at Taylor Made Farm.

And this year, it has attracted another star in Steve Asmussen’s Gun Runner, the outstanding four-year-old of 2017 who romped home in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

As with California Chrome, the Pegasus is set to serve as Gun Runner’s swansong, with the son of Candy Ride scheduled to stand the 2018 season at Goncalo Borges Torrealba’s Three Chimneys Farm.

Such a short turnaround between racing and stud duty could be challenging for some horses. That window between retirement and the start of the

Breaking from the stalls in last year’s Pegasus World Cup and (right) Gun Runner, who will head to Gulfstream Park next month before taking up his new role

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Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

covering season often provides ample time for the horse to let down and adapt to a different life, while for breeders there is that valuable chance to view new horses; a number of farms would probably agree that the open houses during the winter breeding stock sales are one of the most productive times for business.

But there are the rewards to consider; in the case of California Chrome, victory would have pushed

him over a whopping $21m in earnings. In the event, he turned in a rare off-the-board finish behind the impressive winner Arrogate.

Almost a year on and breeders are eagerly awaiting his first crop of foals. The son of Lucky Pulpit ended up covering 145 mares at Taylor Made at a fee of $40,000 and later shuttled to Haras Sumaya in Chile, where he has been similarly well received. On the face of it, delaying his retirement to take in the Pegasus made little difference to the horse but his successful transition was also the result of careful management.

“The horse was at Taylor Made for a period before he went back into training for the

race,” says Ben Taylor, vice president of Taylor Made Stallions, “and we knew by his behaviour then that he was interested in mares.

“It was also around that time that a lot of people were able to view him. And when he went back into training, we were still able to interact with clients via the video shots we’d taken.”

The fact that Taylor Made is home to such a large and varied band of mares also helped, as Taylor explains.

“We had mares at Taylor Made lined up for him – they were mares we knew well, we knew their history and they would be easy enough to breed.

“One thing about such a short turnaround is that if you end up having a shy breeder, you might miss mares. And we did warn breeders for the first few weeks that we might not breed maidens unless he took to it straight away. But it went about as well as you could hope for. He didn’t miss a beat.

The thing about this horse is that he’s so smart and it showed straight away.”

Gun Runner was denied the chance to contest last year’s Pegasus World Cup when caught up in the EHV-1 outbreak that paralysed the

Louisiana track Fair Grounds last January.

The four-year-old, who is owned in partnership by Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm, swiftly made up for lost time, however, winning the Stephen Foster Handicap, Whitney and Woodward Stakes en route to his win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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RMED with earnings of just shy of $9m, he deservedly takes top billing among the potential Pegasus field. All the while, Three Chimneys are putting together a first book of mares worthy of a horse whose talent is also supported by an excellent family – from a noted Edward P. Evans line, he is out of a half-sister to champion Saint Liam, who sired Horse of the Year Havre De Grace in his sole crop.

“Targeting the Pegasus was an easy decision with the timing and race conditions,” says Chris Baker, the chief operating officer of Three Chimneys. “The hard part was deciding to breed Gun Runner versus race him for 2018. Both partners are racing men at heart and when you have a

sound, healthy and fast horse who is excelling at Grade 1 level, it’s tough to decide to stop.”

Plans call for Gun Runner to train with Asmussen at Fair Grounds up until the Pegasus.

Breeders did, however, have the chance to view Gun Runner at the farm during the Keeneland November Sale.

“We made the extra effort, with Steve Asmussen’s help, to show him to breeders the week after the Breeders’ Cup and it was well worth it since breeders will not get to see him while he trains for the Pegasus,” says Baker.

“The reaction from breeders was overwhelmingly positive.

His accomplishments on the track are easy to appreciate and are well known. But when breeders got to see how well balanced, athletic, clean limbed and attractive he is, along with his fluid movement and extension, it really hit home as to why he’s been such a sound, durable and fast racehorse.”

Three Chimneys expect Gun Runner to breed around 150 mares during his first season and both partners have pledged to support him with numerous Graded stakeswinning and producing mares.

Baker adds: “As Three Chimneys is in a bit of a

renaissance under new ownership and management, building on the Seattle Slew, Rahy, Dynaformer days of the past, we see the addition of Gun Runner on top of leading young commercial sires like Will Take Charge and Strong Mandate as another leap in the right direction.

“In the modern, polarised world of thoroughbred breeding and racing where quality is sought after and appreciated in both sales and racing, Gun Runner has it all – he’s an outstanding physical specimen who will suit a broad range of mares on phenotype, he has an extremely deep yet current pedigree and he’s a five-time Grade 1 winner who won and competed in stakes races at two, three and four years. What more could you ask for in a stallion prospect?

“Gun Runner is the horse who can take Three Chimneys to great places as a stallion just as he has done as a racehorse.

We recognise this opportunity and will give him every opportunity to reach his full potential at stud.”

The scene is set at Three Chimneys. Now it remains for Gun Runner to consolidate his position as the leading US runner in the world’s richest race.

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NEW US SIRES 2018 THE

THREE

is rilliance on the trac is rein orced with a edi ree that’s ll o lac t e’ CLASSIC EMPIRE

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Bred along similar lines to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Classic Empire duplicated that previous champion’s achievement of reigning as America’s best two-year-old colt. His brilliant 2016 season was marred only by his wheeling at the start of the Hopeful Stakes, which caused him to lose his jockey; otherwise he was unbeaten last year.

Although compromised at three by hoof and back problems, Classic Empire prevailed in the Arkansas Derby, earning that Grade 1 trophy to embellish a record already strong enough to land him a job as the latest champion juvenile to stand at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud.

Seven of the last eight entire males to earn the juvenile title have begun their stud careers at Ashford, and Classic Empire is set to take up duty at a fee of $35,000.

The 16.1-hand son of Pioneerof The Nile and the Cat Thief mare Sambuca Classica demonstrated that he could press a quick early pace and finish resolutely to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and he flashed a notable turn of foot when

Classic Empire (right) caps his two-year-old season with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita

rallying from farther back in Arkansas.

Classic Empire finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby after getting slammed at the start and then ran valiantly when just edged out by Cloud Computing in the Preakness Stakes. Unfortunately for his connections and for racing fans, the Preakness would prove to be Classic Empire’s last run, but racing’s loss is breeding’s gain.

A half-brother to two stakes winners, Classic Empire is from the female family that produced the grandsire of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, who in turn sired A.P. Indy. The female family also yielded influential sire Harlan’s Holiday as well as Ride The Rails, sire of Candy Ride, so there is plenty of genetic firepower on both sides of his pedigree.

Pioneerof The Nile has established himself as the

most potent son of Empire Maker, who, along with Unbridled’s Song, is one of the key links in the Classic-oriented sire line founded by Unbridled.

Since Classic Empire is inbred 5x4 to Mr Prospector and 5x5 to Northern Dancer, breeders will have many options with mares.

Trainer Mark Casse predicted that if Classic Empire can pass along the precocity he demonstrated as a juvenile and the quality he showed at three, he has tremendous potential as a sire.

“The indication is that he’s a great horse, a true athlete,” Casse said.

“His brilliance on the track is reinforced with a pedigree full of black type,” said Ashford director of sales Charlie O’Connor. “We couldn’t be more excited to be standing him.”

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Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

ARROGATE Champion Arrogate performed several feats that no other racehorse before him had been able to accomplish, running the fastest time for a mile and a quarter in 155 years at Saratoga, earning a total of $17,422,600 in prize-money – more money than any horse competing outside Japan – and winning the world’s first $12 million race.

In his new career as a stallion at Juddmonte’s Kentucky farm, Khalid Abdullah and his staff are trying to ensure the son of Unbridled’s Song can be just as outstanding.

Juddmonte has spent enviable resources collecting potential mates at the breeding-stock sales, including speedy and durable multiple Grade 1 winner Paulassilverlining. Added to the announcement that twice-champion Songbird will visit him when breeding season begins, and Arrogate will receive a first book that likely will be among the best of all Kentucky stallions, not just the newcomers to stud duty.

“We will select the highest quality of mares to offer Arrogate the best chance to be as great a sire as he was a racehorse,” declared Juddmonte’s American manager Garrett O’Rourke when announcing the horse’s initial stud fee of $75,000.

Arrogate, who was inspected by dozens of breeders after arriving at Juddmonte in early November, provides the Classic capability that has become the hallmark of the Unbridled sire line. He scored his three most significant victories at ten furlongs – the Travers Stakes in record time, the Breeders’ Cup Classic against older horses and the Dubai World Cup after rallying from last place in spectacular fashion to defeat Gun Runner and earn the top spot on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

Since Arrogate descends from champion juvenile filly Meadow Star, his great granddam, and as the Unbridled line has been responsible for recent juvenile champions

GUN RUNNER

e’ll e o ered the est chance to e as reat a sire as he was racehorse’ American Pharoah and Classic Empire, there is more than a modicum of potential for precocity, in addition to Classic prowess, in the genes he will pass along.

Standing at 16.2½ hands, the grey is “an imposing, masculine

individual who has a lovely temperament”, O’Rourke said.

While Arrogate is inbred 4x4 to Mr Prospector – grandsire of Unbridled and grandsire of Distorted Humor, sire of Arrogate’s dam, stakes winner Bubbler – he is free of Northern Dancer blood in the first four generations of his pedigree, thus opening up many possibilities. Those include Storm Cat line mares or others by sires such as Medaglia D’Oro, sire of Songbird.

Arrogate also offers an outcross to A.P. Indy, another strong Classic influence in America.

Juddmonte will limit Arrogate’s book to around 140 mares and supply 15 to 20 of its own mares, O’Rourke added.

Elegant and light on his feet, Gun Runner matured into a quintessential competitor who could leap to the front or race just off the pace, capable of setting fast fractions and still finishing strongly to win at a mile and a quarter.

After his game second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup, Gun Runner reeled off four consecutive Grade 1 triumphs including his convincing Breeders’ Cup Classic tour de force to undeniably merit the gold Horse of the Year trophy as the most consistent elite runner of any age or gender in 2017. Last season he also ranked among the best of his generation, finishing third in the Kentucky Derby.

As a medium-sized son of Candy Ride and out of a half-sister to 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Gun Runner is a genetic jewel and he will suit many types of mares with varied bloodlines, with the only notable limitation on close Storm Cat blood since his dam, Quiet Giant, is by Giant’s Causeway.

“Part of what makes him so appealing is that he suits a broad spectrum. Big mare, small mare, I don’t think it really matters,” said Chris Baker, chief operating officer of Three Chimneys Farm, which raced Gun Runner in partnership with Winchell Thoroughbreds and will stand the horse for $70,000.

“He is also fairly versatile from a breeding standpoint – Mr Prospector line, Northern Dancer line other than Storm Cat, A.P. Indy.

There’s a lot of options of what you can breed to him,” said Baker.

Three Chimneys and Winchell will launch Gun Runner’s new career, which will commence about two weeks after his scheduled start in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on January 27, with a book including some of their best mares. One of Gun Runner’s strengths has been the mental composure to handle change and travel, and Baker does not anticipate any problems with the transition to stud duty.

“I think the change of routine from racehorse to stallion can challenge any of them, but he’s smart enough and adaptive enough that we’re going to be fine,” he said.

The dams of champion La Verdad and sire Twirling Candy, as well as Grade 1 winners Pure Clan, Malibu Prayer and

t’s interestin to learn how a ealin he’s een to the ro eans’

Stopchargingmaria, will be in Gun Runner’s first book.

Many prominent horsemen came to inspect the horse during his brief stay at the farm following the Breeders’ Cup, including esteemed French breeder Alec Head.

“What’s been interesting to learn is how appealing he’s been to the Europeans. They love the way he moves,” Baker added.

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018 Michele MacDonald TRACK AND PEDIGREE PROFILES AN A-Z OF THE KEY SIRES IN 2018 Airoforce

4yo grey Colonel JohnChocolate Pop (Cuvee) Stands at Swifty Farms, Seymour, Indiana, at a fee of $2,500 Race record A versatile performer who won Graded events on dirt and turf as a juvenile, Airoforce retired with earnings of $679,130. He scored his biggest victory in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes over an impressive field that included Gun Runner and fellow subsequent Grade 1 winner Mor Spirit. That effort came just after Airoforce had battled Hit It A Bomb in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, losing that Grade 1 on yielding ground at Keeneland by only a neck.

Pedigree By Colonel John and out of the stakes-placed Cuvee mare Chocolate Pop, he is from the family of Grade 1 winner Sea Cadet and was most effective at distances around a mile. With his sire sold and now standing in South Korea, Airoforce will try to carry on for his sire while beginning his stud career in Indiana after being purchased at the Keeneland November Sale.

From Airoforce to War Correspondent via Connect, Cupid and Lord Nelson . . .

Aldrin

5yo chestnut Malibu Moon-Tap Your Heels (Unbridled) O’Sullivan Farms, Charles Town, West Virginia; $4,000 Race record A $1 million purchase as a two-year-old in training, Aldrin is a threeparts brother to three-time champion sire Tapit as well as to the dam of millionaire Grade 2 winner Madefromlucky. He won a mile maiden special weight race on turf at Tampa Bay Downs.

Pedigree Since Tap Your Heels has produced only three sons, with one a yearling of 2017, Aldrin represents a unique opportunity for regional breeders to access a close relation to Tapit at an economically advantageous fee. The strong female family that yielded Tapit and Aldrin has been prolific, producing many other high-quality individuals including champion sprinter and sire Rubiano, influential sires

Relaunch and Glitterman, and Belmont Stakes winner and sire Summer Bird.

Alliance 3yo dark bay or brown by Harlan’s Holiday-Life Happened (Stravinsky) Bonita Farm, Darlington, Maryland; $4,000 Race record As the only intact sibling to 2014 and 2015 champion turf mare Tepin, who made history by winning the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot after defeating males in the

Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland, Alliance offers a unique opportunity for breeders. Overall, Tepin won six Grade 1 races and recently sold to Coolmore for $8m while in foal to Curlin.

Pedigree Alliance, who was unraced due to injury, also is a three-quarter brother to millionaire and multiple Graded stakes winner Vyjack and is from the last crop by Harlan’s Holiday, who also sired champion and young sire Shanghai Bobby. Alliance’s pedigree will resonate with

regional breeders as his third dam is 1996 Maryland Broodmare of the Year Turn Capp and he is from the family of Maryland-bred champions and sires Smoke Glacken and Disco Rico. Alliance will join Grade 1 winner Dortmund and tough sprinter Kobe’s Back as new Bonita Farm residents.

American Freedom 4yo bay Pulpit-Gottcha Last (Pleasant Tap) Airdrie Stud, Midway, Kentucky; $10,000

Race record Trainer Bob Baffert described American Freedom, a Graded winner who earned $705,100 and who finished second to Arrogate in the latter’s record-setting Travers Stakes, as a “freak” with “more natural talent than most of the Grade 1 winners I’ve trained”.

American Freedom also finished second in the Haskell Invitational Stakes to Preakness winner Exaggerator, ahead of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and Gun Runner.

Pedigree From the final crop of

Pulpit, a strong sire of sires with his sons including Tapit and Sky Mesa, American Freedom is a handsome, 16.2-hand individual who commanded a yearling price of $500,000 from Gary and Mary West. The Wests have joined with Airdrie Stud to promote American Freedom by committing at least 120 mares to the horse in each of his first three seasons. Out of the stakes-winning Pleasant Tap mare Gottcha Last and a half-brother to multiple Graded winner Gottcha Gold.

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Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

has been received with enthusiasm by Kentucky breeders. He also possesses a strong female family as his fourth dam Triscay was a champion at two and three in Australia and produced Group 1 winner Baraka, his third dam. Astern’s dam has also excelled; his half-sister Alizee also is a Group 1 winner.

Bal A Bali (below)

7yo dark bay/brown Put It Back-In My Side (Clackson) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $15,000 Race record Bred in Brazil, Bal A Bali strode through a racing career that is worthy of a Hollywood movie. A Triple Crown winner and 2014 Horse of the Year in his native land, he was sold and sent to the US. He came down with a life-threatening case of laminitis but he not only survived, he went on to score his ninth consecutive win in the Grade 3 American Stakes and later earned two Grade 1 victories. Unleashing a devastating kick in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, Bal A Bali stopped the clock in 1min 32.22sec.

Pedigree His pedigree is familiar as his sire, the Honour And Glory stallion Put It Back, was a Grade 2 winner and sired Grade 1 winners In Summation and Jessica Is Back. Bal A Bali is bred 4x4 to Gonfalon, dam of Grade 1 winner and sire Ogygian and of Honour And Glory’s dam Fair to All.

Battle Of Midway (inset)

3yo bay Smart Strike-Rigoletta (Concerto) WinStar Farm, Versailles, Kentucky; $20,000 Race record Capping his brief racing career with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, his fifth win in ten starts, Battle Of Midway defeated some prominent adversaries including Grade 1 winners Mor Spirit, Cupid and Practical Joke. Purchased by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm for $410,000 as a yearling, Battle Of Midway was sold privately to Don Alberto Stable in partnership with WinStar Farm after his Santa Anita Derby runner-up effort and before his third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. The strongly made bay notched a vvContinues page 10

Arrogate (above) 4yo grey Unbridled’s SongBubbler (Distorted Humor) Juddmonte Farms, Lexington, Kentucky; $75,000 Race record During his meteoric career, Arrogate made history as the all-time leading earner outside of Japan, banking $17,422,600 while stringing together four of the most impressive wins a horse could amass. A $560,000 yearling purchase by Juddmonte, Arrogate began his stakes streak with a frontrunning Travers victory in the

fastest time over 1m2f at Saratoga in 155 years. He then defeated California Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic before easily annexing the inaugural $12m Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the $10m Dubai World Cup. Arrogate’s devastating last-to-first run in Dubai prompted Baffert to declare him “the greatest horse I’ve ever seen run”.

Pedigree By Unbridled’s Song out of multiple stakes winner Bubbler, Arrogate boasts champion Meadow Star as his third dam.

Astern

4yo bay Medaglia D’OroEassaouira (Exceed And Excel) Godolphin’s Jonabell Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $15,000 Race record A multiple Group stakes winner at two and winner of the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes at three, Astern is billed as Timeform’s highestrated son of Medaglia d’Oro. A handsome individual made in the image of his sire, Astern will take up reverse shuttling duty for his first Northern hemisphere season in 2018 after beginning his stud career

at Darley’s Kelvinside branch in New South Wales, Australia, in 2017.

Pedigree With his sire so well established and continuing to yield top runners such as recent Breeders’ Cup winners Talismanic and Bar of Gold, Astern already

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018 pair of stakes victories before the Breeders’ Cup. Pedigree The son of Smart Strike – a top-quality sire of sires with the likes of champion sons Curlin, English Channel and Lookin At Lucky, as well as an influential broodmare sire – is the first foal out of precocious juvenile Grade 1 winner Rigoletta,

by Chief’s Crown’s son Concerto.

Behesht

6yo bay Sea The Stars-Behkara (Kris) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $5,000 Race record With trainer Dermot Weld doing the bidding, Calumet Farm paid €525,000 for the strapping Sea The Stars stakes winner Behesht from breeder The Aga Khan Studs at the 2014 Arqana Arc sale. The 1m4f specialist won three races over the trip between April and September in 2014, including a Listed contest at Saint-Cloud.

Pedigree His pedigree is deep and impressive as his dam, Group 2 winner Behkara, also produced his three-quarter brother Behkabad, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and French Group 2-placed stakes winner Beheshtam (later racing in Hong Kong as Carthage). His second dam is European champion Behera.

Behesht represents the singular approach to racing and breeding of Calumet owner Brad Kelley, who tends to seek stamina-oriented bloodstock and stands several European-bred and raced stallions including Irish Derby winner Grey Swallow at the historic Lexington farm. He is the only advertised son of Sea The Stars standing at stud in the United States.

Bird Song

4yo grey Unbridled’s Song-Bird Town (Cape Town) Gainesway Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $5,000 Race record Bird Song is Bird Town’s best offspring, and the son of Unbridled’s Song won two Graded stakes at around a mile in his four-year-old season while displaying natural speed. Potential best mates for Bird Song could include mares from Storm Cat lines who have worked well with Unbridled’s Song and his sons, producing about 40 stakes winners.

Pedigree Bred and raced by Marylou Whitney Stables, Bird Song is from the family developed by the breeder featuring his second dam, the Storm Bird mare Dear Birdie, who was honored as 2004 Broodmare of the Year. Dear Birdie delivered not only Bird Song’s dam, champion and Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town, but also Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, sire of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Belmont winner Summer Bird in his first crop.

Three more new sires to note (clockwise from above): Classic Empire, Danzing Candy and Cupid

Blofeld

5yo grey Quality Road-Storm Minstrel (Storm Cat) Murmur Farm, Darlington, Maryland; $4,000 Race record A multiple Grade 2 winner as a juvenile who also won a Grade 2 race at four, Blofeld is a product of the esteemed breeding program of the late Edward P. Evans, who also bred Quality Road and the dam of Gun Runner. With the rise of Quality Road as a leading sire of his generation with Kentucky Oaks winner Abel Tasman and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Caledonia Road among his offspring, his first accomplished sons to go to stud are likely to gain attention from breeders.

Pedigree Blofeld’s immediate family is high class; his third dam is Irish champion juvenile filly and multiple Group 1 winner Minstrella and his second dam is multiple Graded winner Colonial Minstrel.

Blofeld’s dam Storm Ministrel, was also a multiple stakes winner, and her yearling brother to Blofeld sold for $1m at Keeneland in 2017.

Chivalrous

6yo bay Street Cry-Tizso (Cee’s Tizzy) Bluegrass Equine Center, Salvisa, Kentucky; $2,500 Race record Won a maiden special weight race on dirt at Churchill Downs and as a sixyear-old, he landed two races on turf at Gulfstream Park.

Pedigree Good-looking enough to be sold for $1m at auction as a yearling, Chivalrous possesses plenty of star power in his pedigree. Bred by Diamond A Racing Corp and by the late Street Cry, he is out of Tiznow’s sister Tizso and thus is a half-brother to millionaire Grade 1 winner and young sire Paynter and to Grade 3 winner Tiz West. He is one of only four sons of Street Cry – sire of such outstanding champions as Zenyatta, Winx and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense – advertised as standing in Kentucky following the sire’s death in Australia in 2014.

Classic Empire

3yo bay Pioneerof The NileSambuca Classica (Cat Thief) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $35,000 Race record Undefeated as a two-year-old, excluding the Hopeful Stakes in which he wheeled at the start and unseated his jockey, Classic Empire proved the best of his generation that season, which he completed with a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory. He thus became the second champion juvenile colt in three years sired by Pioneerof The Nile, following 2014 leader and subsequent Triple Crown champion American Pharoah.

Although hampered at three by foot and back problems, Classic Empire won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and was just nipped in a game effort in the Preakness Stakes.

Trainer Mark Casse described the colt as extraordinarily talented with a smooth, feline stride. He earned over $2.5m.

Pedigree Bred on what is proving the powerful combination of Empire Maker’s son Pioneerof The Nile with Storm Cat line mares.

Connect

4yo dark bay/brown CurlinBullville Belle (Holy Bull) Lane’s End, Versailles, Kentucky; $20,000 Race record A top-class son of Curlin. Won the Grade 1 Cigar Mile and triumphed in six of eight starts including the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby over Gun Runner, Nyquist and Exaggerator. He stood to be a force in 2017 before incurring a soft-tissue injury during his easy win in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes in May. He was retired in July with earnings of $1.37m.

Pedigree Produced by the Holy Bull mare Bullville Belle, Connect is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Tani Maru and comes from a family that has turned out stakes winners on a regular basis.

Bullville Belle’s half-siblings include multiple stakes winners Morriston Belle and Native Regent, and the family includes Grade 1 winner Backseat Rhythm. Since Connect is free of A.P. Indy blood, mares from that line should suit him as they have worked well with Curlin.

Cupid

4yo grey Tapit-Pretty ’n Smart (Beau Genius) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $12,500 Race record A 16.2-hand, elegant son of Tapit, Cupid looked like a star from his earliest days, selling to Coolmore’s M. V. Magnier for $900,000 as a yearling. The grey delivered on his promise, winning a trio of Grade 2 races as a three-year-old and the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Park over 1m2f at four, amassing a bankroll of over $1.7m while trained by Bob Baffert.

Pedigree His dam, the Grade 2-placed Beau Genius mare Pretty ’n Smart, has been an outstanding producer with three additional stakes winners to her credit. She and Cupid have made a big impression on Coolmore as Magnier paid $2.7m for her 2017 yearling Tapit filly. Since Tapit has sired 14 Graded winners from Mr. Prospector line mares, Cupid also should work well with that cross, and his female family is free of Mr. Prospector.

Danzing Candy

4yo dark bay/brown Twirling Candy-Talkin And Singing (Songandaprayer) Rancho San Miguel, San Miguel, California; $5,000 Race record A strikingly handsome dark bay, Danzing Candy flashed overpowering speed early in his career,

leading wire to wire to win the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March of his sophomore season to defeat subsequent Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator and another future Grade 1 winner in Mor Spirit. Sent to the Kentucky Derby, he set blistering early fractions before tiring and afterward was transferred from trainer Clifford Sise Jr. to Bob Baffert.

Pedigree From the first crop of Candy Ride’s Grade 1-winning son Twirling Candy, Danzing Candy is out of Talkin And Singing, a Songandaprayer half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Better Talk Now. “Brilliant speed that carries over a mile and perfect conformation equals great stallion potential. He has both,” said Baffert, who saddled Danzing Candy for three wins from three starts in 2017, including the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes.

Divining Rod

5yo dark bay or brown by TapitPrecious Kitten (Catienus) Country Life Farm, Bel Air, Maryland; $5,000 Race record Won on his debut as a juvenile and proceeded to gain a pair of Graded stakes placings before winning the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and finishing third in American Pharoah’s Preakness Stakes. A consistent runner who finished in the top three in 14 of 17 starts, Divining Rod won the Polynesian Stakes and was just vvContinues page 12

Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

A

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Arrogate

The Richest North American Racehorse in History

$17,422,600

From the Travers (G1) in upstate New York to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in California to the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in South Florida to the World Cup in Dubai (G1), the gray son of Unbridled’s Song staged a tour de force for the ages.

From Aug. 27, 2016, when he broke onto the national scene by dashing the fastest mile and a quarter since iconic Saratoga Race Course opened in 1863, through his Dubai World Cup victory when he seemed hopelessly beaten at the start only to recover for an unforgettable last-to-first triumph, Arrogate secured a prominent place in history.

Tom Pedulla from TDN Weekend LGB, LLC 2017 / Eclipse Sportswire

Juddmonte

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018

Dortmund banked nearly $2m in a fine career on the track

edged by a head in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap in 2016 while banking $882,604 in his career.

Pedigree Possesses an outstanding pedigree. By record-setting, three-time leading sire Tapit, he is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Precious Kitten, a half-sister to internationally successful sire Kitten’s Joy. Champion juvenile filly Dreaming Of Anna and Grade 1 winner Down The Aisle also feature in his female family.

Dortmund

5yo chestnut Big Brown-Our Josephina (Tale Of The Cat) Bonita Farm, Darlington, Maryland; $7,500 Race record A multiple Grade 1 winner with speed and power, Dortmund banked $1,987,505 for owner Kaleem Shah while conditioned for most of his career by Bob Baffert.

Unbeaten in his first six starts, including the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity as a juvenile and the Santa Anita Derby the following season, Dortmund set the pace in the Kentucky Derby and finished well, even after being pressured most of the way, to be third to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Dortmund won two stakes later that season and returned the following year to give Horse of the Year California Chrome all he could handle in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap and in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes, finishing second both times.

Pedigree By Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, Dortmund claims champion Lakeville Miss as his third dam and is 3x3 to Danzig.

Eagle

5yo chestnut by Candy Ride-Sea Gull (Mineshaft) Valor Farm, Pilot Point, Texas; $5,000 Race record Won at first asking at two and became a multiple stakes winner. His major achievements included winning the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland over Grade 1 winner Noble Bird and finishing second by a neck in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs

to Bradester, who will be a fellow resident at Douglas Scharbauer’s Valor Farm. The five leading active sires in Texas stand at Valor: Too Much Bling, Grasshopper, My Golden Song, Congaree and Early Flyer.

Pedigree By Candy Ride, sire of likely 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, Eagle comes from the female family of Mt. Livermore, sire of sires and major runners including champion Housebuster, Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks And Valleys, Orientate and Subordination. Eagle’s second dam is multiple stakes winner Exclusive Bird, who produced stakes winner Private Ryan in addition to Eagle’s winning dam Sea Gull.

Editorial

3yo bay War Front-Playa Maya (Arch) Roland Farm, Warwick, Maryland; $3,500 Race record Bred by a Coolmore partnership and campaigned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Sue Magnier while trained by Todd Pletcher, Editorial finished second on his debut as a threeyear-old in 2017 and returned to win his next start as the heavy favourite in a maiden special weight event over 7½f on the Gulfstream Park turf.

Pedigree Lightly raced Editorial offers breeders in the midAtlantic region one of the most commercially exciting pedigrees among new sires for 2018. By internationally prominent War Front, Editorial is out of the Arch mare Playa Maya and thus is a half-brother to champion and top young sire Uncle Mo. He is 2x4 to Danzig and 3x4x5 to Danzig’s sire Northern Dancer but would be a suitable mate for A.P. Indy and Mr. Prospector line mares in particular.

General A Rod

6yo dark bay/brown Roman Ruler-Dynamite Eyes (Dynaformer) Hidden Springs Farm, Palmyra, Indiana; $3,500 Race record After demonstrating talent on his two-year-old debut with a convincing come-from-behind win in a maiden special weight

race at Keeneland, General A Rod progressed to become a Classic candidate at three by beginning that season with victory in the Gulfstream Park Derby. He went on to place in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Grade 1 Florida Derby, sparking a private acquisition by Skychai Racing and Starlight Racing. For those connections he raced through the Triple Crown, with a fourth in the Preakness Stakes his best showing before winning a stakes the following season at Tampa Bay Downs.

Pedigree General A Rod descends from Gay Hostess, dam of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Majestic Prince and British champion juvenile Crowned Prince. His fourth dam produced French champion Caracolero.

Gentlemen’s Bet

8yo dark bay/brown Half OursLady Of Sun (Gentlemen) Journeyman Stud, Ocala, Florida; $3,000 Race record If speed is what Florida breeders seek, they will find it in Gentlemen’s Bet, billed as the fastest horse standing in the state for 2018.

A multiple Grade 1-placed stakes winner who won a 6f allowance in 1:07.90 at Churchill Downs, missing the track record by only 0.35 seconds after zipping through the first quarter-mile in 21.12sec, Gentlemen’s Bet went on to compete admirably in top company. The son of the Unbridled’s Song stallion Half Ours finished third in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint ahead of Trinniberg, the 2012 winner of the race and other Grade 1 winners Justin Phillip, Private Zone and The Lumber Guy. Gentlemen’s Bet later won the Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash Stakes on a disqualification after rough trip.

Pedigree From the female family of Grade 1 winner Consolidator, Gentlemen’s Bet is 3x3 to Storm Cat and 5x5x5 to Northern Dancer.

Gormley

3yo bay by Malibu Moon-Race To Urga (Bernstein) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $10,000 Race record Two-time Grade 1 winner Gormley will join his sire, Malibu Moon, in standing at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, and since Gormley possesses strong credentials in racing and pedigree, Spendthrift undoubtedly hopes he can be his sire’s heir. A debut winner at two, he advanced to victory in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes.

He began his three-year-old season with a win in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes and later prevailed in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. Overall, he won four of nine starts and $1,026,000.

Pedigree Gormley’s fifth dam is multiple stakes winner Klepto, who produced champions

Criminal Type and Estrapade, with the latter Gormley’s fourth dam. His granddam, the Kingmambo mare Miss Mambo, was a stakes winner in Ireland and third in the French classic Poule d’Essai des Pouliches before producing Gormley’s dam, the Bernstein stakes-winning mare Race to Urga. Gormley is 3x4 to Mr. Prospector.

Greenpointcrusader

4yo dark bay/brown Bernardini-Ava Knowsthecode (Cryptoclearance) Ocala Stud, Ocala, Florida; $5,000 Race record A winner second time out at Saratoga, Greenpointcrusader rallied from near the rear of the field to outclass rivals in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes.

That juvenile race has a history of showcasing colts who went on to be notable sires, with winners including Scat Daddy, Uncle Mo, Union Rags and Shanghai Bobby. Although his racing career was curtailed by injuries, Greenpointcrusader, a $575,000 yearling, retired with three wins in nine starts.

Pedigree A handsome son of Bernardini, Greenpointcruader offers breeders many qualities in one package. He has a Classic-oriented pedigree and is from a vibrant family, with his dam producing two promising young sires already at stud in Kentucky. His brother Algorithms stands at Claiborne Farm and his halfbrother, Grade 1 winner Justin Phillip, stands at Castleton Lyons.

Gun Runner

4yo chestnut Candy Ride-Quiet Giant (Giant’s Causeway) Three Chimneys Farm, Midway, Kentucky; $70,000 Race record The rare horse who is an elite competitor over three seasons, Gun Runner will likely be a unanimous choice as 2017 Horse of the Year following his brilliant success in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gun Runner displayed heart-stopping speed and the courage to carry it 1m2f while defeating old rival Arrogate.

Winner of his first two starts as a juvenile, Gun Runner ascended toward the top of his generation at three with wins in four Graded stakes topped by his Grade 1 Clark Handicap over older rivals. At four, the Candy Ride colt finished second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup but then was unbeatable, blasting to four consecutive Grade 1 victories.

Pedigree His pedigree is topnotch. His dam Quiet Giant is a half-sister to 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, who sired another Horse of the Year, Havre De Grace, in his only crop.

Race record Emerged as a competitive sprinter during four seasons of racing. Trained

by Steve Asmussen, he won his initial start at two by more than ten lengths at Churchill Downs and earned three consecutive stakes victories at three including the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga before finishing third in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes to champion Runhappy. The following season Holy Boss finished second in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, and he went on to win a stakes at five in 2017.

Pedigree Bred by Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs from the Holy Bull mare Holy Grace, whose three-year-old daughter Holy Helena won the Queen’s Plate Stakes in Canada over the males in 2017, Holy Boss possesses a pedigree free of any inbreeding through the first five generations. His extended family includes leading sire Raja Baba, champion sprinter Plugged Nickle, Grade 1 winner and sire Sauce Boat and French champion and sire Gay Mecene.

Keen Ice

5yo bay Curlin-Medomak, (Awesome Again) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $20,000 Race record There will always be a place in history for Keen Ice, who rallied from far back to catch Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers Stakes, a race that marked the only loss the champion suffered in his sophomore year. Ambitiously placed throughout his career, Keen Ice regularly finished among the top three in races including the Belmont Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Classic, Whitney Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, gathering more than $3.4m in earnings.

Pedigree By Curlin, Keen Ice is from the top-class family developed by Emory Hamilton from blue hen and Grade 1 winner Too Chic that includes a bevy of Grade 1 winners such

as Verrazano, Hamonize and Somali Lemonade. A big, solid individual, Keen Ice was produced by the Awesome Again mare Medomak; he is 3x3 to Deputy Minister and 3x5 to Mr. Prospector.

Kiss The Ghost

3yo dark bay/brown Ghostzapper-Kiss The Devil (Kris S) Poplar Creek Horse Center, Bethel, Ohio; $1,500 Pedigree A 16.2-hand son of Ghostzapper, Kiss the Ghost was unraced but offers a pedigree full of stakes performers. His dam, the Kris S. mare Kiss the Devil, was a Grade 3 winner before producing Grade 3 winner Kiss Moon, by Malibu Moon and an earner of $535,969, and multiple stakes winner Kiss Mine, by Mineshaft and an earner of $489,862. Kiss The Devil produced two other fillies that went on to deliver stakes winners, including Dixieland Kiss, dam of multiple group winner Besharah, who finished third in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes in 2015 while only three-quarters of a length behind winner Lumiere.

This is also the family of leading Italian sire Love the Groom. Kiss The Ghost will be an outcross for A.P. Indy, Mr. Prospector and Storm Cat line mares.

Klimt

3yo bay by Quality RoadInventive (Dixie Union) Darby Dan Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $10,000 Race record A Grade 1-winning two-year-old from the family that produced Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Concern, Klimt is one of the first sons of rising young sire Quality Road to retire to stud. Selected as a juvenile for $435,000 by Bob Baffert, Klimt won three of his first four starts for the trainer and owner Kaleem Shah, capturing the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes and the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in succession, with the latter in quick time of 1:21.80, while clearly among the best of his generation. A

Holy Boss

5yo chestnut by Street Boss-Holy Grace (Holy Bull) Anchor & Hope Farm, Port Deposit, Maryland; $4,000

Keen Ice beat American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers Stakes

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Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

closing second in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes, Klimt was unplaced in Classic Empire’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but returned at three in 2017 to finish second to likely divisional champion West Coast in the Los Alamitos Derby after transferring to trainer Art Sherman.

Pedigree Klimt is 4x5 to Mr. Prospector, 5x4 to Northern Dancer and 5x5 to Secretariat.

Ko e’s Bac

2011, grey by Flatter-Well (Well Decorated) Bonita Farm, Darlington, Maryland; $3,000 Race record One of three prominent new stallions to take up duty at the Boniface family’s Bonita farm in 2018, Kobe’s Back is a multiple Graded winner and earner of over $1m. Famed for his scintillating turn of foot that he called on to catapult from last to first in his best races, Kobe’s Back captured the Grade 2 Palos Verdes and Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes back to back in 2016, winning the former in 1:08.70 for 6f.

Remarkably, Kobe’s Back never ran in any races other than stakes, winning the Willard L. Proctor Memorial Stakes on his debut at two, and placing three times in Grade 1 events, including his second by a neck in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

Pedigree Kobe’s Back will be an outcross to many mares – other than those from the A.P. Indy line of sire Flatter – as his pedigree is 5x4 to Bold Ruler and 4x5 to Raise A Native.

ord elson

5yo chestnut by Pulpit-African Jade (Seeking The Gold) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington Kentucky; $25,000 Race record After surviving a battle with laminitis that delayed his stud career by a year, speedy three-time Grade 1 winner Lord Nelson is due to begin duty in 2018 while standing for $25,000 at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington.

By sire of sires Pulpit, Lord Nelson was one of the favorites for the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Sprint after winning three consecutive Grade 1 races.

However, a few days before the Sprint, a cut on his right foreleg became infected and he was scratched, and the subsequent onset of laminitis required months of treatment.

Pedigree Produced by a daughter of Argentine champion and American Grade 1 winner Miss Linda, Lord Nelson will offer breeders the precocity of a juvenile stakes winner and the durability he displayed while adding more stakes wins at three and four.

Lord Nelson, who is 3x3 to Mr. Prospector and 5x4 to Buckpasser, recorded some brilliantly fast times, winning the 6f Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes in 1:07.65.

ade romluc y

5yo chestnut Lookin At LuckyHome From Oz (Pulpit) Northview Stallion Station, Chesapeake City, Maryland; $5,000 Race record As a son of twice champion Lookin At Lucky out of a full sister to three-time leading sire Tapit, Madefromlucky possesses genetics that are intrinsically valuable.

Add to that his strong race record, which features a pair of Grade 2 wins, and it seems likely he will be a well received

addition to the growing MidAtlantic stallion ranks. A maiden winner at two, Madefromlucky went on to quickly establish himself as competitive with the best at three, finishing second to eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes. After skipping the Kentucky Derby, he won the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes, finished sixth in the Belmont Stakes and then captured the $750,000 West Virginia Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Pedigree Since he is 3x4x5 to Mr. Prospector, he seems particularly suited to Storm Cat and other Northern Dancer line mares.

ar et Rally

4yo chestnut by Unbridled’s Song-Boodles (Mr. Greeley) Irish Hill Century Farm, Stillwater, New York; $3,000 Race record Bred in Kentucky and a handy winner of his debut at Monmouth Park, Market Rally was sold afterward to race in Dubai. He recorded brilliant victories in two of the UAE classic races in 2016, taking the Grade 3 2,000 Guineas by six lengths after setting the pace. Trained by Dhruba Selvaratnam for Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, he went on to capture the 1900m Al Bastakiya by 4¾ lengths. That race would prove to be Market Rally’s final start in an unfortunate twist of fate; he was reportedly bitten by a poisonous spider, with resulting damage to soft tissue in his afflicted leg too extensive for him to continue racing.

Pedigree A half-brother to multiple stakes winner Watchyourownbobber, Market Rally is from the family of Canadian champions A Fleets Dancer and Bessarabian. He

is 4x4 to Mr. Prospector and will be suitable for many mares in the lucrative New York breeding program.

astery

3yo dark bay/brown Candy Ride-Steady Course (Old Trieste) Claiborne Farm, Paris, Kentucky; $25,000 Race record In one brief, shining moment, Mastery appeared to have the world under his hooves, skimming to the easiest of victories in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes while stamping himself as the most electrifying member of his generation prior to the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Yet his chances for classic glory were lost in the strides after the wire as he sustained a careerending condylar fracture.

Regardless, as an undefeated son of Candy Ride who won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity at two and whose combined margin of victory in four starts was nearly 20 lengths, Mastery offers breeders the potential of brilliance.

Pedigree His female family is deep, with the likes of international sire Miswaki and Mid-Atlantic standout sire Jump Start under his first four dams, along with European champion Tobougg and French Oaks winner Lacovia.

idni ht torm

6yo dark bay/brown Pioneerof The Nile-My Tina (Bertrando) Taylor Made Farm, Nicholasville, Kentucky; $12,500 Race record A tall, dark and handsome son of Pioneerof the Nile, Midnight Storm proved to be that rare kind of runner who could perform at the highest levels on dirt and turf and thrive over four seasons of competition. He won seven Graded stakes while displaying elite miler speed, recording a

trio of victories while stopping the clock in less than 1:34. He reeled off three consecutive Graded wins in 2016 topped by the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile Stakes on turf in which he set the pace and defeated eventual Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Tourist. Midnight Storm began 2017 with a front-running score in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes and then finished a close second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on dirt.

Pedigree Produced by the Bertrando mare My Tina, Midnight Storm earned $1.7m and will offer breeders outcross possibilities as he is 5x5 to In Reality.

ohaymen

4yo grey by TapitJustwhistledixie (Dixie Union) Shadwell Farm, Lexington, Kentucky, $7,500 Race record A $2.2m yearling purchase by Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Farm, Mohaymen was given a name that means dominant in Arabic. Winning his first five starts, including four Grade 2 events, he was true to that billing. Fourth in the Florida Derby to champion Nyquist on a sticky track, he returned to be an admirable fourth to that rival in the Kentucky Derby while just a head behind third-placed Gun Runner and in front of eventual Belmont Stakes winner Creator along with other Grade 1 winners Mor Spirit, Brody’s Cause and Outwork.

Pedigree By Tapit and out of multiple Grade 2 winner Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union, Mohaymen is a halfbrother to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day. Mohaymen’s pedigree repeats Mr. Prospector, Northern Dancer, Seattle Slew and In Reality top and bottom and he also is 5x5 to influential

mare Foggy Note, dam of Relaunch and the fourth dam of Tapit.

r

5yo chestnut Malibu MoonStormy Bear (Storm Cat) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $7,500 Race record Multiple Grade 1-placed Mr. Z, who began his career for Zayat Stables but was sold to Calumet Farm before the Preakness Stakes win by Zayat’s American Pharoah during that colt’s Triple Crown sweep, will be one of four new stallions set to begin stud duty at Calumet in 2018. Mr. Z won on his debut and captured the $500,000 Ohio Derby while setting all the pace. He earned over $1.17m in 25 starts while trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

Pedigree By Malibu Moon and out of Stormy Bear, a Storm Cat half-sister to turf champion and Canadian Horse of the Year Chief Bearheart, Mr. Z owns an intriguing pedigree.

His fourth dam is Gold Digger and that blue hen also figures in the fourth generation of his sire as she is the dam of Mr. Prospector. Mr. Z also is 4x4 to Secretariat.

o le Bird

6yo chestnut by BirdstoneAnyhow (Tiznow) Ocala Stud, Ocala, Florida, $5,000 Race record A bargain $105,000 yearling purchase by trainer Mark Casse for patron John Oxley, Noble Bird flourished as a four-year-old, just missing by a head in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes before triumphing over Lea, Hoppertunity and Majestic Harbor in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. The following season, Noble Bird trounced his competition in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Handicap with an 11¼-length victory margin and later the Lukas Classic and Grade 2 Fayette Stakes; he set a Keeneland track record in the Fayette with time of 1:47.75 for 1⅛ miles. He finished his career in 2017 with seven wins vvContinues page 14

Gun Runner: an elite performer over three seasons and boasts a top-notch pedigree

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Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

NEW US SIRES 2018

Set to shine in 2018 (clockwise from left): Practical Joke, Tom’s Ready (second right), Unified and Noble Bird

from 23 starts and over $1.32m in earnings.

Pedigree By Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, Noble Bird is out of the unraced Tiznow mare Anyhow, and Casse described him as “the toughest horse I’ve ever trained.”

Ocean Knight

5yo bay by Curlin-Ocean Goddess (Stormy Atlantic) Getaway Farm, Lowell, Florida; $4,000 Race record A debut winner at two for Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables, Ocean Knight annexed the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes in his next start over a talented field of 11 rivals and looked to be a promising Classic candidate before encountering some setbacks. He went on to win two more races and placed in the Grade 2 Kelso and Grade 3 Discovery Handicaps. The son of Curlin will stand at Manuel Andrade’s Get Away Farm, which is also home to Two Step Salsa, a top-ten sire in Florida for 2017, and Drill, whose first crop races in 2018.

Pedigree With a pedigree free of inbreeding through the first five generations, Ocean Knight will suit a wide variety of mares.

He is a half-brother to $950,000 yearling Nero, a Pioneerof The Nile colt who finished second by a nose in his August 2017 debut for Stonestreet and Coolmore partners while trained by Bob Baffert.

Practical Joke

3yo bay Into Mischief-Halo Humor (Distorted Humor) Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky; $30,000 Race record A winner of his first three starts at two, including the Grade 1 Hopeful and Champagne Stakes, Practical Joke finished third in Classic Empire’s Breeders’ Cup

Juvenile to firmly establish himself in the upper echelon of his generation. Second in each of two Grade 2 preps for the Kentucky Derby, he finished fifth in the Run for the Roses prior to collecting trophies for the Grade 3 Dwyer and the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes.

Pedigree His record and his status as one of the top two sons of hot young sire Into Mischief propelled Coolmore to acquire breeding rights.

Produced by the Distorted Humor mare Halo Humor, Practical Joke is 5x5 to Halo and is 16.2-hands tall.

Proceed

6yo bay Desert God-Annis, (Texas Glitter) A&A Ranch, Anthony, New Mexico; $3,500 Race record Six-time stakes winner and Sunland Park track record setter Proceed, honored as the champion three-year-old among New Mexico-breds in 2014, will begin his next career at A&A Ranch in Anthony, New Mexico. Never out of the money in 11 starts while winning eight times, Proceed romped victoriously through his first four career efforts including the Mine That Bird Derby, named after the upset Kentucky Derby winner, and the New Mexico Classic Cup Championship. He completed the Sunland Park Handicap in a record 1:47.37 for 1⅛ miles in 2015 after circling the field to win. By the Fappiano stallion Desert God, who also stood at A&A Ranch prior to his death, Proceed is from the female family that produced champion Ashado.

Pedigree He is a complete outcross through five generations and offers many possibilities to breeders. A half-brother to stakes winner Worthington.

Stanford

5yo bay Malibu Moon-Rosy Humor (Distorted Humor) Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Santa Ynez, California; $5,000 Race record As the second leading son of Malibu Moon by earnings and from a female family that has a strong history of producing sires, Stanford has the potential to be a significant addition to the California stallion ranks. After his purchase as a juvenile for $550,000 by trainer Todd Pletcher, Stanford raced for the partnership of Stonestreet Stables and Coolmore, winning six of 17 starts and finishing second five times while collecting over $1.38m.

He won his debut and collected six stakes wins, including the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in a handy front-running score.

Pedigree Out of the Distorted Humor mare Rosy Humor, Stanford claims the Ogygian mare Myth as his third dam; Myth produced international champion juvenile Johannesburg, who went on to sire Scat Daddy. Stanford’s fourth dam is a sister to the dam of Pulpit and she produced Tale of the Cat and Minardi. Stanford will stand for $5,000 at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, California.

Straight Fire

3yo bay by Dominus-Tricky Indy (A.P. Indy) Legacy Ranch, Clements, California; $3,500 Race record One of the best two-year-olds on the West Coast in 2016, Straight Fire won a maiden special weight event at Del Mar by 10½ lengths before placing twice in Grade 1 events for trainer Keith Desormeaux and a partnership including Jungle

Racing and LNJ Foxwoods. In the Del Mar Futurity, Straight Fire set a rapid pace before being caught by Klimt, and in the FrontRunner Stakes, he bided his time early in fourth and moved up to third without being able to catch Gormley, who led all the way.

Pedigree From the first crop of Smart Strike’s multiple Graded stakes-winning son Dominus, Straight Fire was bred by Spendthrift Farm from the A.P. Indy mare Tricky Indy, who is from the family of champion Heavenly Cause and Graded winners Quixotic Lady and Lady Dulcinea.

Texas Ryano

6yo chestnut by Curlin-Blending Element (Great Commotion) Ballena Vista Farm, Ramona, California; $3,500 Race record By Curlin and out of Irish-bred Grade 3 winner Blending Element, by Great Commotion, Texas Ryano took to the turf in becoming a consistent stakes performer in California for owner and breeder Warren Williamson.

The chestnut collected his biggest win in the Grade 2, 1m4f Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes in 2016, surging to the front in the stretch and prevailing over high class Graded winners Ashleyluvssugar and Flamboyant. He also won the 1m2f King Pellinore Stakes and placed in two Graded stakes.

Pedigree Texas Ryano is from the immediate family of the extraordinary Racing Hall of Famer and champion Dahlia, who won Grade/Group 1 races in the United States, Britain, Ireland and France. He also is a half-brother to stakes winners Tiz Elemental, Tiz A Blend, Holladay Road and Excessive Blend.

Tom’s Ready

4yo dark bay/brown by More Than Ready-Goodbye Stranger (Broad Brush) Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; fee to be announced Race record A four-time stakes winner who has earned trophies from multiple Graded stakes, Tom’s Ready proved versatile, beginning with his maiden win at two and runner-up efforts at three in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and Grade 3 LeComte Stakes.

The dark bay son of More Than Ready went on to annex the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes and the Grade 3 Ack Ack and Bold Ruler Stakes.

One of his best efforts came when he rushed from far back to gain third in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, and he was being aimed at the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in December 2017.

Pedigree Tom’s Ready was produced by the Broad Brush mare Goodbye Stranger, a great granddaughter of champion What A Treat, who foaled successful sire Be My Guest.

Unified

4yo bay by Candy Ride-Union City (Dixie Union) Lane’s End, Versailles, Kentucky; $10,000 Race record Winner of his first three starts at age three, with two of those wins in Graded stakes topped by the Grade 2 Peter Pan at Belmont Park, Unified returned immediate dividends for Centennial Farms, which bought the son of Candy Ride for $325,000 as a yearling. At four, Unified added the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes while holding off Grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits and he went on to just miss by a neck

in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs. Unified’s dam, the Dixie Union mare Union City, was stakes-placed for late owner and breeder Edward P. Evans and is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Dixie City.

Pedigree This is the female family that produced champion and sire Dehere.

Unified will stand for $10,000 at Lane’s End in Versailles, Kentucky, and farm owner William S. Farish said his performance and pedigree could make him an effective “speed and two-year-old sire”.

War Correspondent

7yo bay by War Front-Tempo West (Rahy) Calumet Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; $7,500 Race record The younger full brother to multiple Group 1 winner and young Coolmore sire Declaration Of War, War Correspondent began his racing career in Europe for owner and breeder Joseph Allen with a handy debut victory as a three-year-old at Deauville. Transferred to America, War Correspondent scored in an allowance at Monmouth Park before a runner-up effort in a Grade 2 race followed by a strong rallying third in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap. He later added a pair of Grade 3 victories, with the 2017 Miami Mile Stakes achieved for Calumet Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Sagamore Farm.

Pedigree War Correspondent has a particularly strong pedigree, with his dam, the Rahy mare Tempo West, a half-sister to leading young sire Union Rags. He is 3x5 to Northern Dancer and 5x4 to Mr. Prospector.

15

Racing Post Friday, December 8, 2017

Michele MacDonald on how the 2017 Horse of the Year has sparked a renaissance at Khalid Abdullah’s US bloodstock empire

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EFORE covering a single mare, Arrogate has already jumped to a brilliant start in his new career at stud for Juddmonte Farms in Lexington, continuing to spark a dramatic revitalisation of the American branch of Prince Khalid Abdullah’s bloodstock empire.

When Mandy Pope decided to breed her recent $9.5 million acquisition, two-time champion Songbird, to the champion son of Unbridled’s Song, there could not have been a more emphatic endorsement, particularly considering that Pope had thought about choosing Galileo, Tapit or Frankel.

“It’s very exciting and I think it illustrates what people hope and expect from breeding to Arrogate,” says Juddmonte’s American manager Garrett O’Rourke.

“They hope to get what he was when he was a racehorse – his absolute dominance and absolute brilliance.

“There are a lot of people who are submitting Grade 1-calibre mares – speed, dirt mares who will hopefully breed Breeders’ Cup Classic winners and Kentucky Derby winners. That would be the goal.”

Arrogate, ranked as the top racehorse in the world for 2017 due to his stunning triumph in the Dubai World Cup and America’s best three-year-old in 2016 after his Breeders’ Cup Classic victory, accomplished a great deal in his relatively brief racing career. Perhaps one of his most striking feats, however, is the renaissance of Juddmonte’s American base.

The farm had not offered a new stallion since homebred First Defence went to stud in 2009 and it had not raced such a high-profile horse on dirt since Empire Maker won the Belmont Stakes in 2003.

With First Defence sold to Saudi Arabia in 2016 and longtime stalwart Mizzen Mast – the only stallion left at the farm until Arrogate’s arrival – about to turn 20, Juddmonte has embarked on a new chapter of its American story.

Arrogate was also the pacesetter for Abdullah’s plan to develop top dirt runners with trainer Bob Baffert, and he was purchased as a yearling for $560,000 at Keeneland from breeder Clearsky Farms.

Arrogate’s racing brilliance inspired Juddmonte to begin collecting broodmare prospects with outstanding credentials in dirt racing, led by Grade 1 winner Paulassilverlining. The farm also recently hired a stallion season coordinator, former Taylor Made Sales Agency portfolio manager Leif Aaron, and launched dramatic advertising efforts.

Massive billboards on main Lexington roads were part of the initiative.

The only components on one billboard were “1:59.36” and the words “fastest in 155 years” in bold lettering over a subtle image depicting Arrogate and jockey Mike Smith from their record-setting Travers

Exciting times ahead as Arrogate signals a new chapter for Juddmonte Stakes win in August 2016.

Another billboard included an image of Arrogate with the amount $17,422,600, representing his record earnings, the most amassed by any horse outside of Japan.

“You have to be competitive with all the other stud farms that are aggressive in their advertising,” O’Rourke says of those efforts.

Juddmonte has also enticed breeders with personal touches in marketing Arrogate, who will command an advertised fee of $75,000, the highest of the new stallions in America for the coming year. When the farm began showing Arrogate soon after he arrived in early November, staff offered visitors a gift bag as well as coffee and shortbread cookies emblazoned with the letter “A”.

While marketing a new stallion isn’t radically different today than it was when First Defence retired, the dynamics have changed somewhat, particularly since fewer mares are being bred overall in the United States.

“You have to become more proactive in reaching out to breeders,” O’Rourke says. “You have to know your clients and make yourself available to your clients – that’s probably the most important aspect.”

Yet in standing an individual like Arrogate, much of the selling work is done by the horse himself since he proved so exceptional.

“When you have a good product, the beauty of that situation is that an awful lot of clients come to you,” O’Rourke says.

“But we never take that for granted.

You have to treat your clients well and take care of them.”

As part

of the effort to work with breeders, Juddmonte considered their priorities before setting Arrogate’s fee and deciding to limit his book to around 140 mares.

“You have to ask questions of breeders, and you have to have a very good feel of the market by doing comparisons with similar types of horses,” O’Rourke adds.

“The market is strong at the moment, but any time you get over about $50,000 with the fee, that’s a lot of money and you have to have the number of mares in Kentucky to sustain the number of seasons you want to sell. I think everyone has to do their homework in researching how many of those mares are going to be available to stallions when they go to stud.”

Arrogate’s fee is the joint-highest for a new stallion in America over the past decade other than what Coolmore advertised for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah during his first season in 2016. That champion entered stud at $200,000, although Coolmore offered many breeders the chance to acquire two seasons for the price of one.

Previously, champions Curlin and Street Sense began their careers in 2009 and 2008, respectively, with fees of $75,000 before the onset of ramifications from the global recession.

O’Rourke describes Arrogate’s fee as one set “at a very, very fair level” in a recovered economy buoyed by a strong stock market, and he notes that Juddmonte intends to “be

very selective on the mares we breed to him, especially in year one”.

Juddmonte put a cap on Arrogate’s initial book as a response to, and an incentive for, commercial breeders.

“It’s what breeders have asked of us.

That’s something we’re happy to manage, to keep his book exclusive,” he says.

“I think that helps breeders, especially breeders who are investing a lot of money and have to take a lot of risk in going to the sales. I think it’s something that’s becoming increasingly important to them – that the number of foals these stallions are producing and turning up at the sales don’t make it more difficult for the breeder to sell their product.”

W

HEN asked if the days of stallion books of up to 200 mares or more may be waning, O’Rourke says each stallion operation has to weigh up the options.

“You can elect to make as much money as quickly as you can with your stallion – and I don’t knock anyone, from a business point of view, that wants to do that,” he says.

“But if you’re in it for the long haul, like we know we are, and want the stallion to have the absolute best chance of being a success, then I think you get your payment down the road by virtue of the stallion becoming more valuable and their stud fees maintaining their value.”

Juddmonte plans to enhance Arrogate’s chances of success with 15 to 20 of its own high quality mares in his first season.

“We’ve been buying mares of the calibre of Paulassilverlining,” O’Rourke says, referring to the speedy Ghostzapper mare who became a multiple Grade 1 winner and earner of more than $1.5 million following her private acquisition.

Multiple stakes winner Golden Mischief – a daughter of Into Mischief who was a $475,000 buy at the FasigTipton November sale – will also visit Arrogate. Another future mate is Grade 2-placed Jamyson ’n Ginger, a daughter of Bernardini and Canadian champion Ginger Brew who was a private purchase.

Looking ahead, Juddmonte’s vision is that Arrogate can become the next great pillar in the American classic dynasty firmly established under his grandsire Unbridled, from whom have descended the likes of American Pharoah and 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming.

“It’s probably a slightly different type of Thoroughbred and it’s going in its own direction,” O’Rourke says of Unbridled’s line.

As to the characteristics O’Rourke envisions Arrogate bestowing on his offspring, he points first to the horse’s sweeping stride but also notes his kind temperament.

“We all know how brilliant he was, but his pure athleticism is what was tremendously impressive – he was such a smooth-moving horse. He wowed so many people in his workouts, as he did in his races, with that magnificent stride that just devoured ground,” O’Rourke says.

While he hopes other horses in Juddmonte’s dirt racing programme will succeed and eventually stand at the Kentucky farm, for now O’Rourke finds it gratifying to have such a rare individual as Arrogate carrying the banner in America to complement Juddmonte’s European stallion stars led by Frankel and says: “Sometimes you come across horses who are spoton athletes and they have the right temperament – they have the ability, they have the soundness.

“When they make you feel how different and special they are in everything they do, that’s what makes the great ones so exciting.”

‘If you’re in it for the long haul and want the stallion to have the absolute best chance of being a success, then I think you get your payment down the road by virtue of the stallion becoming more valuable and their stud fees maintaining their value’ Garrett O’Rourke (left)

16

Friday, December 8, 2017 racingpost.com

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