I’m Wild About Wild Again mares!

Over the past weekend, Wild Again was the broodmare sire of three first-time SWs:
Strike Softly (by Smart Strike) – won the G3 Hendrie Stakes at Woodbine
Charley Papa (by Indian Charlie) – won the Cool Air Stakes at Calder
Shampoo (by Gulch) – won the U.S. Bank Stakes at Emerald Downs

Wild Again was, in my opinion, an underrated sire throughout his stud career. He was pensioned after the 2004 breeding season at the age of 24. He is the sire of 80 SWs to date, including an impressive 13 G1 winners. Not bad for a stallion who stood for $25,000 at the time of his retirement!

It appears that his legacy as a sireline may rest with Wild Rush, who stood at Adena Springs, KY, for five years at $10,000 before he was sold to Japan. To date he has 23 SWs from 324 U.S. foals, including G1 winners Stellar Jayne and Hollywood Story. There are some promising sons of Wild Again that have a shot of emulating Wild Rush’s success. They include G1 winner Offlee Wild, standing at Darley Kentucky; multiple G1 winner Milwaukee Brew, standing at Adena Springs South in FL; and classic winner Sarava, standing at Cloverleaf Farm in FL.

But the story here is Wild Again’s success as a broodmare sire. With the addition of the three SWs over the weekend, Wild Again mares have now produced 30 unrestricted SWs, including four G1 winners. Considering Wild Again’s final crop are now just 3yo’s, Wild Again mares should be producing top-class racehorses for years to come.

Tracking broodmare sire success is, obviously, important in the selection process at breeding stock sales, but it is also important when it comes to purchasing yearlings and unraced stock. Most buyers give considerable emphasis to a yearling’s sire and the black-type on the catalog page, but I seldom see buyers giving much consideration to a yearling’s broodmare sire. I believe this is yet another edge when trying to identify those elusive future stakes winners and would be worthy of compiling a list of prepotent broodmare sires. Wild Again should definitely be one the list.

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Sticking Up for the “Old-timers”

I’ve never subscribed to the notion that older stallions tend to become lesser sires because of some breakdown in the quality or composition of their sperm — quantity maybe, but not quality. Rather, I believe it is the quality of mares booked to older stallions that make the difference. Fertility problems and/or fashionable new stallions retiring to stud each year are just two of the reasons why most older stallions are bred to lesser mares late in their stud careers.

But, this is not the case with the very best stallions. Mr. Prospector, for example, still covered top-quality mares right up to the time he died. His only Kentucky Derby winner, Fusaichi Pegasus, was conceived when he was 26.

The inspiration to mention this again now is that Danzig had a French Classic winner over the weekend when his 3yo son Astronomer Royal captured the prestigious G1 Poule D’essai Des Poulains at Longchamp on Sunday. And, just a week ago, Danzig’s 3yo son Hard Spun, already a G2 winner, ran a game second in the Kentucky Derby. Both Astronomer Royal and Hard Spun were conceived when Danzig was 26!

It would be unimaginable to believe that Storm Cat or A.P. Indy will be bred to lower-quality mares during the twilight of their stud careers, which will not be the case for much of the rest of the stallion population. The lesson here is that older stallions can be a bargain for breeders. As demand drops, so do the stud fees!

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Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm!

So, you want to breed a Kentucky Derby winner. Well, there’s Storm Cat for $500,000, A.P. Indy for $300,000, or Kingmambo for $250,000. But, it takes more than money. The three highest-priced stallions in North America have yet to sire a Kentucky Derby winner. In fact, the combined stud fees of the sires of the past seven Kentucky Derby winners at the time their dams were bred is $142,500. That’s an average of just $20,357!

2007 — Street Sense — by Street Cry (2003 stud fee – $30,000)
2006 — Barbaro — by Dynaformer (2002 stud fee – $50,000)
2005 — Giacomo — by Holy Bull (2001 stud fee — $25,000)
2004 — Smarty Jones — by Elusive Quality (2000 stud fee — $10,000)
2003 — Funny Cide — by Distorted Humor (1999 stud fee — $12,500)
2002 — War Emblem — by Our Emblem (1998 stud fee — $7,500)
2001 — Monarchos — by Maria’s Mon (1997 stud fee — $7,500)

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Did you know . . . .

It’s no secret that both Deputy Minister and Dixieland Band are outstanding broodmare sires. They ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively, among 2006′s Leading Broodmare Sires by progeny earnings (behind Mr. Prospector and Sadler’s Wells). And, Dixieland Band is currently 2007′s leading broodmare sire of unrestricted SWs with nine, and Deputy Minister is in 5th place with six.

But, did you know that two of the last seven Kentucky Derby winners (Monarchos in 2001 and Street Sense in 2007) are out of Dixieland Band mares, and two of the last seven Belmont Stakes winners (Sarava in 2002 and Jazil in 2006) are out of Deputy Minister mares?

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Hard Spun Could Have Been Yours . . . perhaps!

After his impressive second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, there is little doubt that Hard Spun is the real deal. Now sporting a record of five wins (four of them in stakes races) in seven starts, he is a G2 winnner and G1 placed, with earnings just shy of $850,000.

Not only does he have a huge future on the racetrack, but, oh, what a stallion prospect — a Danzig on the dirt! Danzig is already a proven sire of sires, but mostly for turf runners, and Hard Spun hasn’t even stepped foot on the turf yet. And, he’s out of G2 winner and multiple stakes-producer Turkish Tryst. a granddaughter of the exceptional producer Luiana, half sister to Kentucky Derby winner Chateaugay and dam of Preakness and Belmont winner Little Current.

While the Danzigs are known more as milers than routers, Hard Spun’s distance-loving broodmare sire Turkoman appears to have added the necessary stamina to put Hard Spun in the thick of things in the Triple Crown series. Between his pedigree and race record, Hard Spun should be among the most sought after stallion prospects from this year’s sophomore crop.

Hard Spun was offered as Hip No. 388 in the Keeneland September yearling sale of 2005, and he was a 3.5 Star WTC Best of Sale recommendation. He exited the ring as a $485,000 RNA. The final RNA price suggests a $500,000 bid might have gotten the job done.

Hard Spun has an exceedingly promising racing and stud career still ahead of him. Today he is worth millions of dollars.

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