American Pharoah Locks Up Leading Freshman Sire Title

The "Future Stars Friday" edition of the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 1 likely made Ashford Stud's American Pharoah  a lock to be the leading freshman sire for North America.

The title will come with an additionally important designation as sire of a Breeders' Cup winner. 

The American Triple Crown winner of 2015 and son of the late Pioneerof the Nile got his biggest win right from the start with his son Four Wheel Drive taking the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) by three-quarters of a length as the favorite. Four Wheel Drive maintained his undefeated record, including two graded stakes wins for owner Breeze Easy and trainer Wesley Ward.

The Juvenile Turf Sprint was particularly lucrative for American Pharoah because he was also represented by third-place finisher Another Miracle, a colt owned by Leonard Green and Jonathan Green and trained by Gary Contessa. 

American Pharoah picked up third-place money again when Robert and Lawana Low's Sweet Melania finished behind Sharing and Daahyeh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T).

The Breeders' Cup results dovetailed with the arc of American Pharoah's first year of runners. Of his 20 winners to date, 13 excelled on the turf, and all his black-type winners throughout the year have won on the grass. 

American Pharoah gained $730,000 in earnings from the Breeders' Cup races alone, which was largely responsible for boosting his progeny earnings for the year to $2,362,329 by day's end. Spendthrift Farm's Cross Traffic  ended 2018 at the top of the freshman sires standings with more than $2.11 million, with a boost coming from his daughter Jaywalk's win the Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

Another freshman sire to get a big boost Nov. 1 was Three Chimneys Farm's Palace Malice , who was represented by Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) winner Structor. Jeff Drown and Don Rachel's juvenile colt earned $550,000 for his effort, which will likely push Palace Malice to the third spot on the leading freshman sires list.

The other sires represented by Friday card winners include Diamond B Farm's Flashback , who was represented by Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner British Idiom; WinStar Farm's Speightstown , who sired Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing; and Louisiana stallion Court Vision , who sired TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) 45-1 longshot winner Storm the Court. Court Vision delivered his own upset when he won the 2011 TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at 64-1. The stallion now stands with The Stock Exchange, which is a client of Arcadiana Equine@Copper Crowne near Opelousas, La.

WinStar's internationally renowned shuttler, More Than Ready  has four Breeders' Cup entrants this year, and three of them ran Friday. He was not represented as a sire by a Breeders' Cup winner, but he distinguished himself as the broodmare sire of winners Four Wheel Drive and Structor. More Than Ready has one entered on the Saturday card in multiple grade 1 winner Uni, who is in the Mile.