Freshman Sires on Display at OBS
Written by Alan Porter | Mar 09, 2012 |
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The OBS March 2-Year-Old in Training Sale offers the first chance to get a preview of juveniles by many of the year’s freshman sire crop.
Two of the biggest names in that group, the classic-winning champions Big Brown (TrueNicks,SRO) and Curlin (TrueNicks,SRO) are both represented. Although he only started once at 2 – winning by 11 ¼ lengths on the turf at Saratoga – and scored his most prestigious victories in the 9-10 furlong range, Big Brown has more speed in his pedigree than one might initially think, being by the sprinter Boundary and out of a Nureyev mare. His only representative at OBS is a colt out of Sisu (a Silver Deputy mare from the family of Speightstown (TrueNicks,SRO)) who whistled through a furlong in :10 1/5.
Curlin was unraced at 2, and both his pedigree and his physique suggest that he is a horse whose offspring are going to better as they mature. Still, he does have a duo here, and one is out of a Storm Cat mare, the same nick that produced champion 2-year-old filly My Miss Aurelia for his sire, Smart Strike (TrueNicks,SRO).
Empire Maker’s Mr. Prospector half brother Chester House sired 29 stakes winners from 216 foals prior to his premature death. If his line is going to continue, it will be through the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) winner Divine Park (TrueNicks,SRO). He has one here, out of a mare by Cape Town, which gives some interesting inbreeding to Mr. Prospector combined with Buckpasser.
Continuing with the Empire Maker theme, First Defence (TrueNicks,SRO) is by a son of Empire Maker’s sire, Unbridled, out of Empire Maker’s brilliantly speedy half sister Honest Lady. He has one at OBS, and the dam is by Pulpit (TrueNicks,SRO), a reverse cross to First Defence.
Two more from the Fappiano line are Harlington (TrueNicks,SRO) and Midnight Lute (TrueNicks,SRO). Harlington – by Unbridled out of Serena’s Song – is the type whose offspring are most likely to need time and distance. Midnight Lute has two here, both out of stakes-winning mares (hips l79 and 191;55 is out). Midnight Lute shares with Harlington the sire line's size, but operated at the other end of the distance scale, with back-to-back victories in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I). This was a horse that the yearling buyers really loved, but we’d caution that for all his speed, his size, and some stamina in his background would dictate that we shouldn’t expect too much too soon.
The most recent one was a great weekend for the A.P. Indy line, particularly via stallions bred on the A.P. Indy/Mr. Prospector cross, as is A.P. Indy first year son Majestic Warrior (TrueNicks,SRO). Winner of the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) over Ready's Image (TrueNicks,SRO) and Maimonides (TrueNicks,SRO), Majestic Warrior’s first two dams were grade I-winning sprinters, so he should have every shot of getting precocious juveniles. It might be a positive sign that there are as many as seven in this sale. Majestic Warrior’s old rival Ready’s Image is the most precocious U.S. 2-year-old colt by More Than Ready (TrueNicks,SRO) (three-time leading sire of 2-year-olds in Australia). The heritage looks as if it might be worth noting as of the first four at OBS, two went in :10 flat, and two went in 10.1.
Spring At Last (TrueNicks,SRO) didn’t run at 2, but he’s by Silver Deputy, a stallion who has already supplied a leading freshman sire in the shape of Posse (TrueNicks,SRO). His only entry, a filly out of Unbridled Run, went a quarter in :21.3. She has a rather interesting pedigree as Spring At Last’s dam has the rothers His Majesty and Graustark 3x2, and Unbridled Run’s dam is by a son of Majestic Light, a genetic relative to His Majesty.
Crack sprinter Street Boss (TrueNicks,SRO) has no less than eight from his first crop here, and feedback is that more than a few them have caught the eye – a trio knocking out an eighth in 10.1. He’s the second major son of Street Cry (IRE) (TrueNicks,SRO) with runners, and the first, Street Sense (TrueNicks,SRO), has some promising 3-year-olds just starting to emerge from his first crop, among them prominent Kentucky Derby (gr. I) fancy Castaway.
With several sons of Tiznow (TrueNicks,SRO) now at stud, there will be a lot of interest in Tiz Wonderful (TrueNicks,SRO), the first of their number to have runners. He was one of Tiznow’s most precocious sons, going three-for-three as a juvenile, with wins in a pair of graded stakes. His yearlings were well-received, and word is that he has some nice types at OBS. The clock seems to be bearing that out, with a colt out of Foolish Kiss hussling down the lane in :10 flat, and a colt out of Rainbow Girl required only :21.2 to cover a quarter.
Finally, we shouldn’t overlook deceased juvenile champion War Pass, who was a way-above-average leader of his crop at 2. One of his to catch the eye on pedigree was hip 114, the colt out Runup the Colors, a grade I-winning three-parts-sister to Mineshaft (TrueNicks,SRO).
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