Son of Personal Ensign -- Stallion Prospect?

A while back, I wrote about the rarity of seeing daughters of Personal Ensign available for public sale. A recent ad caught my attention because it offers a son of the great mare.

The 4-year-old Baronial (pedigree) is by Kingmambo (SRO), making him similarly-bred to the five graded-winning and -placing half-siblings who are also from the Mr. Prospector sire line. And for that matter, reasonbly similar to Personal Ensign's sixth graded black type progeny (by Easy Goer, a son of Mr. Prospector's genetic relative Alydar).

The ad for Baronial describes him as "the last stallion prospect from the best mare and female family on the planet! By international sire sensation Kingmambo. Retires sound."  Granted, the wording is marketing hype -- but I'd have a hard time arguing with the claims about Personal Ensign or Kingmambo.

Of Baronial's half-brothers at stud, we see Miner's Mark (who enjoyed a humble stud career, regressing from Kentucky to Florida to Pennsylvania and finally being pensioned in Virginia); Our Emblem (best known for his classic son War Emblem who stands in Japan, albeit with a sketchy reproductive record); Proud and True (SRO) (a useful sire in Florida); and Traditionally (SRO) (currently in France, previously a good sire in Ireland and New Zealand). Overall, no overwhelming successes, but a fairly solid lot.

Of course, Baronial's single maiden special win doesn't compare well with his four half-brothers' careers: two were grade I winners and the other two placed in graded contests.

Still, it's not unheard of for a less-distinguished sibling of great runners to prove the better producer, and Baronial's royal pedigree makes him an interesting stallion prospect.  While he didn't shine during his race career, he also didn't completely flop, with just over $50,000 in earnings.  I'll be watching for news of a sale and will be interested to know what the quoted price of "Make Offer" means in today's economy....