Spendthrift Sires Have Seven Derby Starters

It is always a feather in a sire’s cap to get a runner in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). Numerous feathers, then, should be placed in the cap of B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, whose stallions are responsible for a whopping seven of the 20 horses in this year’s Derby field. Even if you want to get picky and note that one of those sires, Notional  , has been sold, it still makes for a great achievement for the nursery.

“We are able to stick our chests out a bit,” noted general manager Ned Toffey while visiting one of those Derby products, Bolo, on the Churchill Downs backside Derby week. “Having the stallions that are responsible for 35% of the starting gate in the Derby is a neat statistic.”

Leading the charge is Malibu Moon  , no stranger to Derby glory. Two years ago his Orb   wore the roses, and Malibu Moon has long been a top stallion in Kentucky. This year, the son of A.P. Indy has Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I) runner-up Danzig Moon, Louisiana Derby (gr. II) second Stanford, and Arkansas Derby (gr. I) third Mr. Z in the Derby starting gate. 

While Malibu Moon’s success is easily understandable, what makes Spendthrift’s feat unusual is that the other four sires stand for relatively modest fees, and all of them were at one time part of Spendthrift programs that give breeders lifetime breeding rights if they purchase one or two seasons to the stallions.

Line of David  , Notional  , Warrior's Reward  , and Temple City   all arrived at Spendthrift in 2011 and each has a Derby starter from their first crop. Line of David began his stallion career for $6,500. Spendthrift was scouting for stallions at the 2010 Kentucky Derby and trainer John Sadler told them to have a look at him.

“He’s a great-looking horse,” said Toffey of the son of Lion Heart.

So is Line of David’s  son Firing Line, who has been turning heads at Churchill all week. Firing Line caught the public's interest in two losses to Dortmund early this year when he passed the giant son of Big Brown   only to get pipped on the wire, and then rose to prominence when he travelled to Sunland Park and won the Sunland Derby (gr. III) by an eye-catching 14 1/4 lengths.

“I thought the Dortmund races were inspiring, but it was the Sunland race that moved the needle as far as breeders wanting to get to him,” Toffey said.

Warrior’s Reward, a son of Medaglia d'Oro   who won the Carter Handicap (gr. I), entered stud at $15,000 and was recently jumped to $25,000. He is the sire of the 17-hand Tencendur, a New York-bred for owner Phil Birsh who finished second in the Twin Spires.com Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I).

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“When people come to the farm and you lead out Warrior’s Reward, they are blown away. He’s such a big, grand horse,” Toffey noted. “He’s got wonderful angles; a really well-made horse.”

Temple City, a son of Dynaformer, began at Spendthrift for a $5,000 stud fee that has since been raised to $12,500. The sire of Derby contender Bolo, he is a Spendthrift homebred who won the 1 1/2-mile Cougar II Handicap (gr. III) in 2010 and is from the family of Malibu Moon. Whereas Spendthrift’s Share the Upside program requires breeders to send mares to a sire for two years, get two foals, and pay the stud fee for their lifetime breeding right, the farm loosened the requirements for Temple City.

“Because he was long on the turf, we were worried about how breeders would receive him,” said Toffey. “So a one-time $5,000 stud fee earned a lifetime breeding right to him. That sold out quickly, as you would expect for a son of Dynaformer.

“With these introductory programs we’ve been able to get good books to these horses and prevent those lull years when breeders tend to move on to the next thing. These successes are validation for what we’re doing.”

Notional, who has been sold to interests in Oklahoma, is the sire of Southwest Stakes (gr. III) winner Far Right. Notional, himself a winner of the San Rafael Stakes (gr. II) and Risen Star Stakes (gr. III), was a late scratch from the Derby after being injured. The son of In Excess was second in the Florida Derby (gr. I).

What will Spendthrift do for an encore?

“We’re out here scouting for next year, going Krogering,” Toffey said, referring to the Midwest grocery store chain that makes the Kentucky Derby winner's blanket of roses—and hoping this week to add some roses of his own to the shopping cart.