Classic-Producing Third- and Second-Crop Sires

The preliminaries are over. The first third of the calendar year is finished, and now the classic season begins.

Next weekend sees the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 4, the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) May 5, and the QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) May 6. The following weekend are the two French Guineas races, then the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 19, the Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and One Thousand Guineas (G1) the last weekend in May, and—just four weeks after the Kentucky Derby and English Guineas—the Investec Oaks and Investec Derby at Epsom Downs June 1-2. Another week later it's the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1). 

The classics are coming, thick and fast.

When a sire's third crop has reached racing age, his oldest foals are 4, and his second crop of 3-year-olds is racing. A sire needs to have classic action by this time, or he'll be playing catch-up with the rest of his sire class.

Among North American third-crop sires, WinStar Farm's Bodemeister  (Empire Maker ) and Hill 'n' Dale Farm's Maclean's Music  (Distorted Humor ) scored big with 2017 classic wins by Always Dreaming in the Kentucky Derby and Cloud Computing in the Preakness respectively. They are among eight North American third-crop sires (first foals of 2014) with more than $5 million in cumulative progeny earnings (excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) through April 26, according to figures compiled by BloodHorse.

Three sires have progeny earnings of more than $7 million, headed by Bodemeister. Always Dreaming will look to add to that total this weekend, in the May 4 Alysheba Stakes (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks card.

Chasing Bodemeister are Darby Dan Farm's Dialed In  (Mineshaft) and Lane's End Farm's Union Rags  (Dixie Union). Dialed In's poster boy is Gunnevera, winner of the 2017 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), third in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), and earner of $2,927,200, while Union Rags has sired four grade 1 winners—no other sire in this group has more than one—including Derby outsider Free Drop Billy.

Probably the livest of the three Derby contenders from the second crop of 3-year-olds by third-crop sires is My Boy Jack, by Airdrie Stud's Creative Cause  (Giant's Causeway). 

My Boy Jack was a close third in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), which split two grade 3 wins in Oaklawn Park's Southwest Stakes and the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. He is Creative Cause's fourth grade 3 winner, and his sire ranks fourth among the sire class by cumulative progeny earnings; about one breakthrough horse away from becoming a really hot sire.

Fifth by cumulative progeny earnings is Darby Dan's Shackleford  (Forestry). He's had two grade 2-winning colts, with one from each crop—Malagacy, who won the 2017 Rebel Stakes (G2), and Promises Fulfilled, an outsider in Saturday's Kentucky Derby who led all the way to win this year's Fountain of Youth. Shackleford is also the sire of the Canadian filly Dream It Is, who shipped in for last year's Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course and romped to a nine-length victory.

Sixth-ranked The Factor  (War Front ) is standing in Japan this year, from Lane's End, while seventh-ranked Stay Thirsty  (Bernardini ) has moved from Ashford Stud to Lovacres Ranch in California. Maclean's Music rounds out the eight sires with $5 million-plus in cumulative progeny earnings, followed by WinStar's Gemologist  (Tiznow ) and Gainesway's Tapizar  (Tapit ), who will move further up the list if Monomoy Girl, winner of the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) and Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) in her two 2018 starts (and five-for-six lifetime, a head away from being undefeated), can validate her favoritism in the Kentucky Oaks.

Three horses to watch in the second 10, ranked 16th through 18th are: Spendthrift Farm's Dominus  (Smart Strike) who had some stunning sales in a small first crop and is now getting bigger crops of better mares; Louisiana's Clear Creek Stud's Star Guitar  (Quiet American), who was the all-time leading Louisiana-bred with earnings of $1,749,862; and Crestwood Farm's Get Stormy  (Stormy Atlantic), a popular grass miler who won three grade 1 races and $1,606,812 and is carving out a following for a $5,000 stallion.

The leading North American second-crop sire, as we head into their first classic season, is Take Charge Indy, an A.P. Indy half-brother to Will Take Charge  who won the 2012 Florida Derby and actually ran a lifetime best (Beyer 109) in the Alysheba in 2013.

WinStar sold him to South Korea before the 2017 season, when he was third to Overanalyze  (Dixie Union) and Violence  (Medaglia d'Oro ) on the 2017 North American freshman sire list. This year he's jumped into the lead among second-crop sires, with 2018 earnings of $1,763,743 and four black-type winners, including Louisiana Derby winner Noble Indy, who goes in the Derby, and grade 3 winner and twice grade 2-placed Take Charge Paula, who goes in the Kentucky Oaks. It's been reported that discussions are underway to repatriate Take Charge Indy for 2019.

Hill 'n' Dale's Violence , runner-up leading freshman sire in 2017, is second to Take Charge Indy this year. The leader by winners (47)—and tied with Take Charge Indy and Overanalyze with five black-type winners each—is Violence. His daughter Cosmic Burst, winner of the Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn and fourth in the Fantasy Stakes (G3), was on the Kentucky Oaks trail but dropped from contention.

Florida's Pleasant Acres Stallions' Poseidon's Warrior  (Speightstown ) has last year's Champagne Stakes (G1) winner Firenze Fire in the Derby, and Calumet's Oxbow  (Awesome Again) will be represented in the Oaks by well-fancied Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) winner (defeating Take Charge Paula), Coach Rocks.

Looking at the wider world of sires notable in the Derby are that Hill 'n' Dale's Curlin  goes in with three live chances in Good Magic, Vino Rosso, and Solomini; and the late Scat Daddy is due to have four runners—Justify, Mendelssohn, Flameaway, and Combatant. Throw in that Into Mischief  has a live chance with Florida Derby winner Audible from just his second big crop of 3-year-olds and it's a very intriguing race.

The European third-crop sire list is dominated by three sires who have already had big things happen regardless of the results of the upcoming classics.

Thunder Snow, from the first crop by Darley's Helmet, a triple group 1 winner in Australia by Exceed And Excel, won this year's $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1), so Helmet tops the charts by cumulative progeny earnings (outside of Japan, Hong Kong, and Japan).

England's Newsells Park's Nathaniel, sire of 2017 European Horse of The Year and Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Enable, ranks second, with Banstead Manor's Frankel third. As you can see from the table, though, Frankel has 21 black-type winners, 16 of them group winners. He was the highest-rated racehorse of all time, and the very least we can say about him as a sire is that so far he looks like he will be the best sire son of the phenomenal sire Galileo.

The European second-crop sire list also looks like a work in progress.

Leading 2017 European freshman sire Society Rock (Rock of Gibraltar) died before he had a runner. Cumulative No. 2 sire Dabirsim (Hat Trick), now in his second season at France's Haras de Grandcamp, and Tweenhills Farm's No. 4 sire Havana Gold (Teofilo) were also prominent freshman sires.

When this sire class went to stud, three of the more prominent names were Coolmore's Camelot (Montjeu); Darley Kildangan's Dawn Approach (New Approach); and Intello (Galileo), who alternated between Cheveley Park in England and Haras du Quesnay in France and is back at Cheveley Park this year.

Camelot, who was No. 4 on the freshman sire list, is now up to third by cumulative earnings, and it seems like his name is in the papers every day now. Dawn Approach and Intello are not so far up the ladder yet, but both are getting good winners in the right company. Dawn Approach has had a group 3-winning filly in France and an impressive listed-winning filly in Ireland in the last couple of weeks.

Another who popped up with two good black-type winners in the last couple of weeks is England's Overbury Stud's Cityscape, a miler by Selkirk for Juddmonte. He had the upset Dubai Duty Free Fred Darling Stakes (G3) winner Dan's Dream and a listed winner in Ireland to appear, really for the first time as a sire, on our radar screens.

Finally, Declaration of War  (War Front) stood one season at Coolmore in Ireland, then transferred to Ashford in Kentucky and therefore is included as 14th on the North American second-crop sire list. But most of his first crop is racing in Europe; if he were counted as a European second-crop sire, he would be neck-and-neck with Camelot for third on that list.

To read more articles by Bill Oppenheim, access APEX Sire Ratings, and see Brianne Stanley's Weekly Sales Ticker, please visit www.billoppenheim.com.