Breeding the Old Fashioned Way!

By Jack Werk

As we get ready for the upcoming breeding season, I will periodically highlight some of best of the new young prospects entering stud in 2010. Today, the featured stallion is Taylor Made Stallions’ Old Fashioned.

Old Fashioned (2006 Gr. c by Unbridled’s Song – Collect Call, by Meadowlake). 6 starts, 4 wins, 2 seconds. Earned $583,280. Won G2 Remsen Stakes at 2; won G3 Southwest Stakes at 3, 2nd G2 Arkansas Derby, 2nd G2 Rebel Stakes. Sold for $800,000 as Keeneland September yearling. (Click here to view eNicks 5-cross pedigree and click here to view catalogue-style pedigree). Will stand for $12,500 live foal at Taylor Made Farm.

OLD FASHIONED WINNING THE G2 REMSEN STAKES

Fox Hill, which is owned by Rick Porter, has had an incredible run with the Unbridled’s Songs. Before Old Fashioned, Fox Hill raced Unbridled’s Song’s Rockport Harbor, who was undefeated in 4 starts at 2 and also won the G2 Remsen and was an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby. At 3, Rocky won the G2 Rebel, but injury cut short his classic aspirations. He did come back at 4 and won the G3 Essex Handicap, but he retired with a record of 5 wins from 8 starts and $324,800. Fox Hill also raced the tragic Unbridled’s Song filly Eight Belles, who did get to the Kentucky Derby and finished 2nd – before fatally breaking down. She won 5 of 10 starts, including the G2 Fantasy Stakes and the G3 Honeybee Stakes, and she earned $708,650. After Old Fashioned, Fox Hill has the 2-year-old Unbridled’s Song colt Winslow Homer, who has 2 wins from 3 starts and ought to be a top-class prospect based on his last win. Based on what I’ve seen, he could easily follow the classic path that Fox Hill’s other Unbridled’s Songs have traveled on!

It seems like a long time ago, but around this time last year Old Fashioned was following the same path of Rockport Harbor. Like Rocky, he won the G2 Remsen, but even more impressively – by 7¼ lengths at 9 furlongs!

So just like Rocky, he went into the winter as the Kentucky Derby favorite. At 3, he raced three times, all in stakes company, before injury knocked him out before the Kentucky Derby, just as it had with Rocky. What’s amazing, though, is that throughout the spring, even with two consecutive losses leading up to the Derby, he was still highly considered for the classic, because he just had that aura about him! He won the G3 Southwest Stakes at a mile by 3¼ lengths, and he was 2nd in the G2 Arkansas Derby ahead of subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird, and he also was 2nd in the G2 Rebel Stakes. Unfortunately, he had to be retired with 4 wins in 6 starts and nearly $583,280 in earnings. He left behind the very distinct feeling that we never really saw the best of him, and it was pretty obvious that his trainer, Larry Jones, who’d trained so many classics hopefuls and contenders in recent years, including Eight Belles and Hard Spun, had the highest regard for him.

Unbridled’s Song had one of the most sensational springs I’ve ever seen any stallion have this year, with an incredible number of classic contenders and really talented bunch of 3-year-olds that also included Belmont Stakes runner up Dunkirk. To date, he’s the sire of 73 unrestricted stakes winners, including 12 G1 winners. He’ll stand for $115,000 in 2010. Although Unbridled’s Song is still in his infancy as a sire of sires, he’s already shown some potential with Songandaprayer, who’s sired 12 unrestricted SWs from his first four crops to race while standing initially for just $10,000. Perhaps even more telling is his son Even the Score, who’s gotten 4 unrestricted SWs from his first crop including G1 winner Take the Points, while standing for $5,000.

Old Fashioned’s dam, Call Collect, is a G3 winner from a strong black-type female family that includes the excellent sire French Deputy. There are two things that are particularly intriguing about Old Fashioned’s pedigree. First, he is something of a rarity in No. American pedigrees – he is a 5-generation outcross (no inbreeding withing 5 generations). Second, his pedigree is totally void of Northern Dancer and has only one strain of Mr. Prospector through Fappiano (who’s proven to be the most successful strain for inbreeding to Mr. P!). This makes Old Fashioned an ideal stallion for much of the American broodmare population that already carries multiple strains of Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector, and he’s an obvious candidate to nick with Storm Cat-line mares, which have done well with this line.

I expect Old Fashioned to cross well with the same types of mares as his sire. That’s very good news as some of the better crosses including mares by the aforementioned Storm Cat line, as well as by mares by Forty Niner, Mt. Livermore, Deputy Minister, Relaunch, Caro, Gone West, Danzig, and their sons.

Considering all of these factors, I believe Old Fashioned has the potential to become an important sire in the years to come, making his initial $12,500 stud fee an attractive proposition to breeders.

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Time for NY Breeders to Repent!

By Jack Werk

Well, I’m back in the office after a week in Kentucky at the sales and I’m ready to write again! Scanning through the stakes results this weekend, I noticed that Repent had two stakes winners, which is timely for him because it was just announced last week that the son of Louis Quatorze was moving from Kentucky to New York to stand for $5,000 at the ever-expanding Empire Stud. Repent is, in my opinion, a very underrated young sire. Breeders in New York should do well with this horse, just as breeders did in Florida where Repent began his career at stud. This year he stood his one and only season in Kentucky, but he probably didn’t get the recognition that he deserved because this wasn’t a normal year with the financial crisis and other problems — like no slots — plaguing Kentucky.

EMPIRE STUD'S REPENT

Repent’s move to Kentucky was understandable. He had done well in Florida, and in 2008 his first crop of 3yos were running really well. In fact, he had four legitimate Triple Crown candidates, headed by Crown of Thorns (more on him later!) and Atoned – both Graded SWs! And he had done all this on a $5,000 stud fee in Florida!

Besides the early success, another reason why Repent was brought to Kentucky this year was for his race record and the quality of company he kept. At 2, Repent had won the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and the G3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes. That same year, he was also 2nd to Johannesburg in the 2001 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile!

The next year, he was on the Triple Crown trail himself before he got hurt as a one-time Derby favorite. He won the G2 Louisiana Derby (worth $750,000 that year!) and the G3 Risen Star Stakes but was 2nd by 6¼ lengths in the G2 Illinois Derby to War Emblem. It turned out he had a chip in a knee! War Emblem, of course, won the Kentucky Derby that year! Repent came back after surgery for the chip to run 2nd in the G1 Travers to Medaglia d’Oro by only a ½ length, and that was without prep since the Illinois Derby! He then was wheeled back in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup but injured a tendon when unplaced and was retired to stud with a record of 5 wins from 10 starts and $1,255,660 in earnings.

Although he’s a grand-looking individual who sold for $230,000 as a Fasig-Tipton July yearling, Repent is a son of Louis Quatorze out of an Argentinean family. Without a G1 win to his credit, he just didn’t fit as a stallion in Kentucky, so he started out at $5,000 in Florida at Cloverleaf Farm but came out strong with his first crop of runners which included 6 unrestricted SWs from 77 named foals. That punched his ticket to Kentucky.

He got the aforementioned Crown of Thorns from his first crop. Crown of Thorns was unplaced in his only start at 2, but broke his maiden on Jan. 1, 2008, at Santa Anita in spectacular fashion. The Richard Mandella-trained colt won a 7-furlong MSW by 7 lengths and immediately became a “talking horse” for the classics off one win! Well, he backed it up in his next start when he took the G2 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita by 2½ lengths at 1 1/16 miles. Now he was 2 for 3, a G2 winner, and considered at the time one of the top classic candidates on the West Coast! But just like his sire, he got hurt and missed the rest of his 3-year-old season, which was really unfortunate for Repent.

But Repent did have three other classic contenders at the time, too. They were: Atoned, now a G3 winner but 2nd in the G3 Tampa Bay Derby at the time and 2nd at 2 in the G2 Remsen Stakes; Check it Twice, winner of the What a Pleasure Stakes; and SW Prince Cortez. None of them actually made the Kentucky Derby, either.

So, Repent went from looking like he was going to have a huge year, to having a very good but unfortunate year with his first crop.

Because of this, Repent’s stud fee in 2010 will be the same as it was in Florida when he entered stud, which is really great value for what he done to date: 9 stakes winners (7 unrestricted) from 3 crops to race through 2009 and national ranking on the Third-Crop sire list.

Repent’s runners win at 2, they run on all surfaces, they are effective at all distances, and they can stay as far as 1½ miles in stakes company.

Remember Crown of Thorns? Two weeks ago at the Breeders’ Cup, he was beaten only a nose in the G1 sprint on Pro Ride! Just like Repent, Crown of Thorns has been thrown right into the deep end in his comeback campaign. Before the BC, he was 3rd in an allowance sprint at Del Mar, then 2nd to Gayego in the G1 Ancient Title at Santa Anita at 6f. Then, the BC Sprint! I think he’ll be a major sprinter in 2010, and that will keep his sire’s name in the spotlight. So will the two stakes winners from this weekend: the 3yo Repent filly Sweet Repent, who won the $200,000 Elmer Heubeck Distaff H. at Calder against Florida-breds; and the 2yo Beijin, who won the $50,000 Donna Freyer S. at Philadelphia Park for Pa-breds.

Sweet Repent winning the Elmer Heubeck Distaff

The Repents should do very well in the restricted program in New York and I believe he’ll finally be the monster sire he once promised to be in the Empire State, but his sons and daughters won’t be limited to races for New York-breds, judging by the quality of horses such as Crown of Thorns.

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The Cry Heard ‘Round the World!

By Jack Werk

If you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend that you read the eMatings “Stallion of the Week” column each week at eMatings.com. It’s usually out each Monday night from now to the end of the Northern Hemisphere breeding season. Click here to read this week’s, which is on Darley’s sensational Street Cry, who stands for $150,000 and is well worth it!

DARLEY'S STREET CRY

Street Cry’s Australian-bred colt Shocking (Click here to view pedigree) won the most famous race in Australia Tuesday – the G1 Melbourne Cup! It’s the race that brings the nation to a standstill, and it’s run at 3200 meters – that’s 2 miles in the metric system. This is what eMatings had to say about Shocking’s win for Street Cry, and it put Street Cry’s achievements in context for me:

“Darley’s Irish-bred Street Cry is the stallion of the week, for the week that ended Tuesday, Nov. 2. The reason: Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup hero Shocking, the stallion’s 10th individual Group/Grade 1 winner through only four crops. With Shocking’s win in the 3200-meter race, Street Cry has now book-ended the distance spectrum at the highest level, with Grade 1 winner Street Boss his sprint representative.” The article goes on to say: “To date, Street Cry remains the only stallion to sire two Breeders’ Cup winners from his first crop.”

SHOCKING WINNING THE 2009 MELBOURNE CUP

These are amazing facts! There are not that many stallions around that can sire a quality Grade 1-winning dirt sprinter like Street Boss and also sire a 3200-meter Melbourne Cup winner on turf! And there hasn’t been another stallion that’s had two BC winners from his first crop!

Now, we have the news that Street Cry’s unbeaten amazon Zenyatta is going to run in the BC Classic – the 2nd most important race in the U.S. behind the Kentucky Derby. What an incredible feat for her and Street Cry if she were to win it! Don’t forget, Street Cry already has sired a winner of the Kentucky Derby in Street Sense, who is also a BC Juvenile winner! That means that he’s the ONLY horse to date that’s won both races – yet another feather in the cap of his sire!

There’s a lot in Street Cry’s background that makes him an “atypical” type of sire for North America, which makes his success here all the more remarkable. But this background also explains why he’s been so successful everywhere, from Australia to Europe to the US, on grass, dirt and synthetics.

Street Cry’s sire, Machiavellian (Click here to view pedigree), is not exactly a household name here, but Machaivellian’s sire was Mr. Prospector, and his dam, Coup de Folie, descends from the family of Northern Dancer himself! ND’s dam, Natalma, is Coup de Folie’s 3rd dam.

Machiavellian was raced in Europe, where he won two G1s in France at 2. At 3, the colt was 2nd in the 2000 Guineas. As a son of Mr. Prospector, he ran as expected – being a high-class sprinter/miler and early developer.

Street Cry’s dam is Helen Street, a daughter of Epsom Derby and Irish Derby winner Troy. Helen Street was a G3 winner at 2, and she won the G1 Irish Oaks at 3.

Street Cry probably should have been campaigned in Europe as a son of two successful European-raced horses, but he actually began his career in the US, on the dirt! Unlike his sire and dam, he didn’t win stakes at 2, but he ran pretty well, you could say! He was 2nd in the G2 Del Mar Futurity and Norfolk Stakes, and 3rd in the BC Juvenile.

At 3, Street Cry was 2nd by a nose in the G3 UAE Derby, but he wasn’t a SW at 3, either!

At 4, Street Cry came into his own, when he won the G1 Dubai World Cup and G1 Stephen Foster.

He never actually won a race on turf, but his pedigree suggests his sons and daughters should do quite well on the grass, as well as dirt and synthetics. In fact, of Street Cry’s 26 unrestricted SWs to date, 15 have won on the turf and 7 on the synthetics. In a lot of ways, he really is the horse for all courses. One thing is for sure, we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.

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The Hennessy Factor

By Jack Werk

In the stock market, there’s the saying, “No risk, no reward.” The riskiest year to breed to a stallion is during his fourth year at stud, when his first crop is 2 and at the races. This is an obviously “dangerous” strategy, because if the stallion doesn’t take off, you are stuck holding a foal that may not be worth much as a sales horse or racehorse. But back to the concept of risks and rewards. IF the stallion does “hit,” you might hit the lottery!

Stallions usually stand at their lowest fees during the fourth year (or upon becoming proven failures), so there can be front-end financial incentives for those who believe in a certain horse. Think about Darley’s Street Cry, for example. He was available for a fraction of his current $150,000 fee in his 4th year. How about the breeders who gambled on Birdstone, cheap at $10,000 to begin with in his 1st year? Same for Darley’s Medaglia d’Oro, whose stud fee is $100,000 in 2010 but was FREE to Graded stakes producers in his 4th year! The best current example is probably Roman Ruler, who has 156 registered 2-year-olds from his first crop but only attracted 37 mares in 2009, his 4th year – and he’s currently the No. 1 Freshman sire! There will probably be renewed demand for those short-supply mares and their foals. In fact, there are only 3 mares in foal to Roman Ruler in the Keeneland November sale.

I bring this concept up because there’s a 4th year horse in 2010 that I’m very high on! Like Street Cry and Medaglia d’Oro, he stands at Darley, and his fee has been announced at $25,000 for 2010. He is Henny Hughes, a son of the late Hennessy, who’s the primary reason for my “bullishness” behind Mr. Hughes!

HENNESSY

First, let’s talk about Hennessy, who stood at Ashford Stud. Only the good die young, they say, and that certainly applies to this son of Storm Cat who was a fast 2-year-old and G1-winning sprinter in 1995. To date, he’s the sire of 59 unrestricted SWs, 30 of them on the turf. He is the sire of 8 G1 winners, and he’s had 25 2-year-old SWs. He died in 2007 at the age of 14, and his stud fee that year was $60,000. Like most Ashford stallions, Hennessy did dual duty in the Southern Hemisphere, too, so it’s not surprising that he’s got five sons at stud Down Under, and one good one in Argentina. His best son was Ashford’s Johannesburg, a very good racehorse AND sire. He’s now in Japan for the 2010 season, sold because he was THAT good!

Like Hennessy, Johannesburg was a fast 2-year-old. He won a G1 on the turf in Europe, and then won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on the dirt. Henny Hughes fits this profile, too. Henny won the G2 Saratoga Special at 2 and was 2nd in the BC Juvenile, just like his sire. The next year, Henny won the G1 Vosburgh and King’s Bishop.

Another son of Hennessy that fits this profile is Cactus Ridge, who was undefeated in 4 starts. Like his sire, Johannesburg, and Henny Hughes, Cactus Ridge was a Graded winner at 2. In fact, he only raced at 2 like his sire. Cactus Ridge is on fire at the moment with 5 first-time SWs in 2009 and with just 2 crops at the track. And that includes Hot Cha Cha, who recently won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup!

With high-flying Johannesburg and the surprising Cactus Ridge, Hennessy has proven he can sire sires. In fact, the few sons he does have at stud have sired 36 unrestricted SWs to date.

DARLEY'S HENNY HUGHES

Considering all of this, you gotta love Henny Hughes’ chances at stud (I know I do). He’s Hennessy’s best racing son after Johnnesburg. If I’m right, then Henny Hughes is well worth the 4th-year gamble at $25,000.

As a final note on Hennessy’s impact on the breed, I’d like to point out that in his brief career as a broodmare sire Hennessy already has 16 unrestricted SWs, including 7 first-time SWs in 2009, and 2 of those G1 winners!

(Footnote: There appears to be an emerging mega-nick between the Pulpit sireline with Hennessy mares. Of the 7 SWs out of Hennessy mares this year, 1 is by Pulpit and 2 are by Tapit, including G1 winners Mi Sueno and Careless Jewel)

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