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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