By Elaine Belval

Sometimes it’s hard for a stallion to establish a reputation, especially in a competitive market like Kentucky, California, or Florida, where top-name sires abound. But it has reached the point where if you are a breeder in Florida and you are not sending mares to Awesome of Course, you’re missing a big gravy train.

Awesome of Course is a son of leading sire Awesome Again. He won three of six starts at two, including a maiden race at Calder and the Inaugural S. at Tampa, for owner/breeder Jacks or Better Farm and trainer James Hatchett. He raced eight more times at three, adding two additional listed stakes races in Florida to his tally.

Awesome of Course is one of three SWs out of the Lyphard mare Mais Oui. She comes from the outstanding La Troienne family through Big Hurry and No Fiddling. This is also the family of sires Caerleon (chef-de-race), Premiership (leading sire in Florida) and Belong to Me, and recent GSWs Eight Belles and Dangerous Midge (Breeders’ Cup Turf). Needless to say, it is one of the best families in the business. But with a more modest race record, Awesome of Course was up against it.

He had only eight named foals in his first crop, but all eight won, and among them was multiple SW Honey Honey Honey. There were nine foals in his next crop and seven in his third. In 2008—his fourth crop—he had only six foals, but they included 2010 Champion two-year-old filly Awesome Feather, undefeated in nine lifetime starts and still running this season. His 2009 crop numbers ten foals, with three SWs, all of which won two-year-old Florida Stallion Stakes races, so far.

This past weekend, two of those three 3yo SWs won black-type events in open company. Filly Redbud Road won the six-furlong French Village S., and colt Fort Loudon won the six-furlong In Summation S. Both were for the same connections: owner and breeder Jacks or Better Farm and trainer Stanely Gold—the original connections of Awesome Feather as well. Redbud Road has won four of seven starts and earned over $230,000. Fort Loudon has won five of 12 starts and earned over $430,000.

All told (not including two-year-olds of 2012), Awesome of Course has an astonding 75% starters, 65% winners and 13% SWs. His average earning per starter is $120,000 (now, that is somewhat skewed by Awesome Feather’s $1.5 million in earnings.) But, his median earnings per starter is an impressive $25,000. In 2011, he was ranked second by average earnings per runner, with his 14 runners averaging almost $60,000 each). He was also ranked second by percentage of stakes winners to runners (22%).

Awesome of Course is currently 18th on the 2012 Florida General Sire list. But with three SWs this year, he has more SWs than any other sire on the list.

Following Awesome Feather’s championship season, Awesome of Course covered 46 mares—more than his entire lifetime of foals—in 2011. With the continued success of his progeny, word is getting out on just how awesome—of course!—he is.

Awesome of Course stands at Journeyman Stud and his 2012 fee is $5,000.

By Elaine Belval

Few stallions are having a better run than the English stallion Kyllachy.

It started on Saturday, March 31, when his four-year-old son Krypton Factor defeated 11 sprinters in the G1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai. Among those this talented sprinter left in the dust were 2011 Golden Shaheen winner Rocket Man, Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine (registered as Luck Or Design), and US G1 winner The Factor. Very unusually, Krypton Factor is inbred 3×2 to Polar Falcon, the sire of both Pivotal (sire of Kyllachy) and the gelding’s dam Cool Question. He was bred by Lady Fairhaven but now races under the ownership of his trainer Fawzi Abdulla Nass.

On Sunday, April 1st, Penitent, a six-year-old gelding, won the Doncaster Mile for owner Middleham Park Racing XVII, breeder Cheveley Park Stud and trainer David O’Meara.

On the heels of these wins, two Kyllachy three-year-olds won major preps for classic races:

In France, Dragon Pulse handed European Champion two-year-old Dabirsim his first defeat, in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau. Dragon Pulse’s next stop is expected to be a rematch with Dabirsim in the May 13 G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas). Dragon Pulse is owned by Tan Kai Chab, bred by J.F. Tuthill and Mrs. A.W.F. Whitehead, and trained by Mikel Delzangles. Last season, Dragon Pulse won the G2 Futurity at the Curragh and finished second in the G1 National S. at the same track.

In Italy, Noble Hachy won the G3 Premio Carlo Chiesa. She is owned and bred by Allevamento La Nuova Sbarra SRL and trained by Luigi Riccardi. Her next start is the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas) on April 29.

Kyllachy is one of 19 G1 winners sired by one of Europe’s best sires, Pivotal. Kyllachy hit his best stride at four, winning the five-furlong G1 Nunthorpe S. at York, one of Europe’s premier sprint races. He also won the five-furlong G2 Temple S. and five-furlong G3 Palace House S. and finished third in the G2 five-furlong King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot.  He was rated an impressive “129″ by Timeform at the end of the season.  All told, Kyllachy won six of 12 starts, including four of five at age four.

Kyllachy has a modest female family; his dam is the winner Pretty Poppy, a daughter of leading sire Song (winner of the five-furlong King’s Stand S. and Temple S.). But Kyllachy’s sire Pivotal has proven to be one of the best Nureyev-line stallions at stud, and though he stands in England, he has sired US G1 winners Golden Apples and Megahertz.

Kyllachy had his first runners in 2006 and his first crop included the two-year-old SWs Sadeek and Blue Echo. GSWs Mood Music, Tariq, and Arabian Gleam, among others, would follow from that crop. His G1 winner Sole Power duplicated his sire’s victory in the prestigious Nunthorpe S. He has had SWs in the prestigious sprint races in Hong Kong (Dim Sum – registered as Algol), along with the Golden Shaheen. Kyllachy is a brilliant and precocious sire—the average winning distance of his progeny’s stakes wins is a brisk 6.4 furlongs, and although he does have four SWs at eight furlongs, Dragon Pulse is his first Pattern winner at that distance. Almost 40% of his stakes winners had a black-type victory as two-year-olds.

On April 21st, Kyllachy was represented by his first SW as a broodmare sire when the three-year-old Trade Fair filly Moonstone Magic won the Fred Darling S.-G3 in England for owner/breeder Lady Marchwood and trainer Ralph Beckett.

Kyllachy is having a banner 2012. For now, he still stands for £10,000 at Cheveley Park Stud (alongside his sire).

By Elaine Belval

April heralds the opening of two of the best tracks in North America, both in racing quality and purse money—Keeneland and Woodbine. One of Woodbine’s first stakes races of 2012 was the Debut S., won by Gypsy Ring. Gypsy Ring is a rarity, in that Paul Buttigieg is the gelding’s breeder, owner, and trainer. And Gypsy Ring has done well for Mr. Buttigieg, winning seven of 23 starts with over $580,000 in earnings.

Gypsy Ring is by the leading Canadian sire Where’s the Ring, who was bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud and raced for four years, winning the listed Chuck Taliaferro Memorial S. and placing in the G3 Count Fleet Sprint H. to Shake You Down. He is a son of leading sire Seeking the Gold out of SW and wonderful producer Wedding Picture. This is the family of leading sire Broken Vow (sire of 2012 Illinois Derby winner Done Talking) and leading Canadian sire Peaks and Valleys, along with Champion Forever Together. Seeking the Gold has a number of quality sons at stud, including Mutakddim, Petionville, Secret Savings (in Australia), and Cape Town.

Six-year-old Gypsy Ring is a member of Where’s the Ring’s first crop, which numbered over 60 foals including three SWs. With four crops of racing age (not including 2012 two-year-olds), Where’s the Ring has sired over 73% starters, 47% winners, 13% two-year-old winners and six SWs. His progeny average an impressive $65,000 in earnings. He was ranked sixth on the 2011 Leading Synthetic Sires and fifth on the 2011 Canadian General Sire lists with almost $2.3-million in earnings.

Where’s the Ring’s runners average just $1,700 per dirt start but $6,200 on synthetic and $7,800 on turf, so he is very much at home in Ontario, where his progeny have relished and benefitted from the synthetic and turf surfaces at Woodbine. The same weekend his Gypsy Ring won the Debut S., the sire’s daughter Where Oh Where won a $50,000 maiden special weight over the same course.

Where’s the Ring stands at Gardiner Farms in Ontario, and his 2012 fee is $6,000 (Canadian).

By Sid Fernando

Went the Day Well won the G3 Vinery Racing Spiral S. at Turfway Park Saturday and immediately became a Kentucky Derby contender with his first stakes win. Owned principally by Team Valor and trained by Graham Motion, Went the Day Well is using the same path of last year’s Spiral winner Animal Kingdom to the Derby.

On Sunday, the Chilean-bred mare Vamo a Galupiar won the G2 Santa Ana S. at Santa Anita on turf, and if you cannot guess the connection between the two stakes winners, it’s this: both are by Airdrie Stud’s Gone West sire Proud Citizen.

The sire of at least 21 SWs (18 unrestricted), 10 of them Graded, Proud Citizen entered stud in 2004 and is currently reaping the benefits of his first-crop champion filly Proud Spell, a multiple G1 winner who earned more than $2 million while winning such prestigious races as the Alabama and Kentucky Oaks. The current three-year-old crop, which includes Went the Day Well and the highly thought of Mark Valeski (G2-placed), was conceived in 2008 off the record of Proud Spell’s two-year-old season, but Proud Citizen’s two-year-olds of 2012 may be even better as they were conceived after Proud Spell’s championship season.

Vamo a Galupiar is a product of Proud Citizen’s shuttle crops, and like Proud Spell the filly is a champion (at two) and a Group 1 winner. Her Santa Ana score points out that she’s just as good here as she was in her native land and underscores the quality of the best of her sire’s offspring. Not bad for a sire who stands for only $10,000 in 2012.

For more (and photos) on Went the Day Well, see Frances J. Karon’s blog here.

WTC stats for Proud Citizen: 18 unrestricted SWs (we don’t count such as SW Good Citizen, a champion in Jamaica, for our quality tabulations); six two-year-old SWs; four synthetic surface SWs; two G1 winners (both fillies); and 8.1 average winning distance.

By Elaine Belval

Technology has changed a lot of lives over the years, but Werk Thoroughbred Consultants still manually enters SWs, just like we did 20 years ago. Some may think it is time consuming and wasteful, but it allows for a good look at each stakes-winning pedigree—and it’s easier to catch interesting patterns, which is what happened recently.

Remember when inbreeding to Mr. Prospector was first appearing in pedigrees? Now, hundreds of SWs every year are inbred to Mr. Prospector, and even sons of Mr. Prospector, including Fappiano and Seeking the Gold, are appearing in inbreeding.

So what happened recently? A colt named House of Wax won the Drum Star S. in South Africa. House of Wax is by Count Dubois out of a daughter of Western Winter. Count Dubois is a G1-winning son of Zafonic (who was arguably the best son of Gone West at stud), and Western Winter (another son of Gone West) was a listed SW in Florida. He was sold to stud in South Africa and has become one of their leading sires. This makes House of Wax inbred 3 x 3 to Gone West.

House of Wax is only the second SW inbred to Gone West, the first being Indian SW Dandified (by Rebuttal, a G1-placed son of Mr. Greeley, out of a daughter of Zafonic). Dandified has won five stakes, including the Indian Champion Cup, which in India is a G1 race. India is classified as a part II country by International Cataloguing Standards, meaning that the Champion Cup carries black-type in the US and Europe, but without the Grade.

Gone West is a foal of the famed 1984 crop (Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance, etc.), and it could be said he was the best stallion of the bunch. He had his first foals in 1989, and these included G1 winner West by West. Zafonic followed in his second crop, while Grand Slam was a foal of 1995 and Champion Speightstown was born in 1998. His most recent G1 winner was the filly Zaftig in 2008.

As a broodmare sire, Gone West is probably best known for English Derby winner Motivator in Europe and 2YO Champions Awesome Feather and Dixie Union in the US. His sons have done well in the broodmare sire capacity, too. Daughters of Zafonic have produced dozens of SWs, and Grand Slam is the broodmare sire of G1 winner Malibu Prayer.

Gone West has a dozen sons and grandsons at stud. In 2011, sons Speightstown (7th), Grand Slam (21st) and Elusive Quality (36th) finished in the top 50 on the General Sire List. It is too early to say whether we will see more inbreeding to Gone West in future SWs but with many sons and daughters doing so well, it seems certain.

By Elaine Belval

March Madness has hit, and with sophomore stakes winners on two consecutive weekends, Grand Slam is at the top of the East Coast bracket right now. The Lumber Guy won the Miracle Wood S. on February 25, while GSW Millionreasonswhy made a winning return to the races in the Wide Country S. on March 3 for owner Sagamore Farm; breeder Tom Evans, Tenlane Farm, and Oratis; and trainer Ignacio Correas IV. Last year, Millionreasonswhy won the G2 Matron S. at Belmont and finished second to eventual champion My Miss Aurelia in the G2 Adirondack S. Correas said Millionreasonswhy is pointing to the G3 Comely S. next, with the Kentucky Oaks on her radar.

At two, Grand Slam won three of five starts, including the G1 Champagne S. and G1 Futurity S., with his only sub-par performance coming in an unplaced effort behind that season’s Horse of the Year Favorite Trick in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He returned to make 10 starts at three, winning the G2 Peter Pan S., placing second in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (to champion sprinter Reraise), G2 Jerome H., and G2 Swaps S., and third in the G1 Haskell Invitational.

Grand Slam is by Gone West out of the stakes-winning El Gran Senor mare Bright Candles, who traces in female line to the elite Calumet Farm mare Real Delight. This is also the family of Alydar and Group 1 winner Oratorio (IRE), a contemporary dual hemisphere sire.

Grand Slam proved immensely popular in the Ashford Stud breeding shed from the beginning, with over 120 foals, ten of them SWs, in his first crop. His best runner was Cajun Beat, who went one better than his sire by winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2003. Grand Slam hasn’t slowed down yet, proving to be one of the most solid and consistent sons of Gone West at stud. His second crop had 11 SWs, led by Japanese G1 Japan Dirt Derby winner Cafe Olympus. He had his first champion in 2010, when Grand Adventure was named Champion Turf Male in Canada.

Excluding his current crop of juveniles, Grand Slam has 80% starters, 60% winners, a solid 17% 2YO winners, and 5% SWs. Over 25% of his SWs get their first stakes win at two, and 40% of the Grand Slams win on turf. His progeny average $64,000 in earnings.

Grand Slam’s best runners tend to be sprinter/milers, but he is best known for his versatility, as shown in his five G1 winners, two of which—Cajun Beat and Curioso Slam—won stakes on both dirt and turf; two—Cafe Olympus and Visionaire—on the dirt; and Pura Classe on turf.

As a final note, Millionreasonswhy is an attractive mating. She is out of In Secure—a daughter of A.P. Indy—and her second dam is Morelia, by Deputy Minister. Millionreasonswhy is the fifth SW that Grand Slam has with Seattle Slew-line mares and his fourth, including G1 winner Visionaire, with Deputy Minister-line mares.  This filly is also linebred to the “blue hen” mare Plum Cake.

Grand Slam stands at Ashford in Kentucky for a fee of $12,000 in 2012.

By Elaine Belval

Florida is a tough stallion market, one of the toughest in the country. Stallions don’t fail and move to Florida, they disappoint and move from Florida. Consequently, it produces tough horses that many often underestimate.

This was proven the case again as the Florida-bred Yara paid $131 when defeating 4-5 favorite Grace Hall by a neck in the G2 Davona Dale S on February 25. Yara was bred by Brambly Lane Farm and Steve Dwoskin; is owned by Peras International (Anderson Castro), and is trained by Jose Garoffalo. She had won the restricted Joe O’Farrell Juvenile Fillies S. at two last year on Florida Million Day before breaking through at this level. Garoffalo is pinpointing the G1 Kentucky Oaks as a goal for the filly out of the Gilded Time mare Ashlee’s Lady.

Yara is by Put It Back, one of the best stallions in Florida. The lightly-raced son of Honour and Glory—meaning that like the previous “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not” subject Tiznow, Put It Back is a paternal grandson of Relaunch from the In Reality line that prospered in Florida at Tartan Farms—raced twice at two before breaking his maiden as a sophomore, then went on to win the Best Turn S. at Aqueduct and the G2 Riva Ridge S. on Point Given’s Belmont Stakes undercard. He was undefeated in five starts as a three-year-old, after which he was retired to stud in Florida for a $5,000 fee.

Put It Back’s first crop raced in 2005 and included future G1 winner In Summation (winner of the Bing Crosby H. at Del Mar who set four track or course records), while Jessica Is Back (Princess Rooney S.-G1) hails from his second crop. Put It Back shuttles to South America, where he has sired at least three champions.

Put It Back excels at siring sprinter/milers and precocious runners. Almost 40% of his SWs attain that level as two-year-olds, and the average winning distance of all his SWs is a brisk 6.5 furlongs. Also this year, he’s represented by It’s Me Mom, winner of the competitive Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint S. in which champion Musical Romance and GSW Pomeroys Pistol finished behind her.

Put It Back has some of the best numbers in the game. He sires 79% starters, 59% winners, an excellent 23% two-year-old winners, and a very good 6% SWs. His progeny have average earnings over $50,000 and median earnings over $23,000. Few stallions can match these figures at any price. He had $2.3 million in progeny earnings in 2011, with six SWs and two GSWs. And in one of the clearest indicators of the overall quality of Put It Back’s runners, his leading earner in 2011 was It’s Me Mom, with $200,000, less than 10% of his overall earnings total.

Put It Back sires a lot of good horses that reward their owners with good earnings. Not bad for a sire who still stands for $5,000 at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala.

By Elaine Belval

The U.S. racing community may be awaiting the return of 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, but the older female division is not. Ellafitz’ victory in the February 18 G2 Santa Maria S. was her win third in a row — and second in 2012 — for owners David and Ella Sivage; breeders Mineola Farm II LLC, David R. Houchin and James W. Hirschmann; and trainer Bob Baffert. She hopes to add another win to her streak in the G1 Santa Margarita S. on March 17.

Ellafitz is the 34th unrestricted SW by Tiznow, a high-class runner who was on the board in 14 of 15 starts, with eight victories, including two in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Tiznow and his dam Cee’s Song, who had four SWs by Cee’s Tizzy, personally put the California sire Cee’s Tizzy on the map. Cee’s Tizzy was a modest winner (but G1-placed) son of the very good In Reality stallion Relaunch, who sired several G1-winning sons, including Skywalker and Honour and Glory. So, it is a bit surprising that Relaunch’s sireline should continue through Cee’s Tizzy instead of his more accomplished runners.

Tiznow retired in 2002 for a $30,000 fee, which is a reflection of his modest pedigree rather than his three Eclipse titles, including Horse of the Year and champion older male. His stud fee proved an astute marketing tool, and Tiznow had almost 90 named foals in his first crop, led by his first champion, Folklore, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Folklore turned out to be a bit of an aberration. Tiznow is best known for his older horses, including G1 winners Well Armed, Colonel John, Tizway and Morning Line. Tiznow has sired 73% starters, 43% winners (not including 2012 2YOs), a modest 12% 2YO winners, and a solid 6% SWs. His progeny average over $79,000 in earnings. In 2011, Tiznow had over $5-million in progeny earnings, with ten SWs (five of them GSWs). While Tiznow has only a handful of turf SWs, he has had a great deal of success with runners on artificial surfaces (including Canadian Champion Bear Now and Colonel John and Informed in California).

Surprisingly enough, despite having trained ten individual Eclipse Award winners, Baffert has not trained a champion older female nor has he won the Breedes’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. Perhaps, all Baffert needs to earn those awards is a touch of Tiznow.

Tiznow stands as a Taylor Made/WinStar Venture at Winstar Farm in Kentucky, where his 2012 fee is $75,000.