The Different Paths of Top Second-Crop Sires

The early leaders among this year's second-crop sires underscore the varied paths stallions can take toward success.

Airdrie Stud's Cairo Prince  and Adena Springs Kentucky's Mucho Macho Man  lead the 2019 second-crop sire class by both progeny earnings and number of black-type winners through Feb. 22. Cairo Prince is the progeny earnings leader with $403,693 to date and is also the top sire by winners with nine so far. Mucho Macho Man ranks second with $345,056 in earnings and is tied with Cairo Prince with two black-type winners and two black-type wins apiece to date.

Cairo Prince, an 8-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile , had been pegged early as a young sire to watch. His first-crop yearlings averaged $138,279 at auction, with 13 of his first foals bringing $250,000 or more. This early commercial success along with the Triple Crown success of American Pharoah , also a son of Pioneerof the Nile, put Cairo Prince on a trajectory Airdrie Stud has not seen before with a young sire.

"He is a totally unprecedented case," said Airdrie's Bret Jones. "His first crop was bred at $10,000. Then you had American Pharoah do what he did, and that really bolstered the Pioneerof the Nile line, and we were in a great spot with Cairo Prince. There was such demand for him that we raised his stud fee that second year to $15,000. When those first foals hit the sales grounds, he was so well-received in the commercial market that, again, drove demand. By the time his first crop started running, he had risen from $10,000 to $25,000 based solely on this overwhelming demand for his services."

With the higher stud fee came an increase in the quality of his books, which have remained at either 148 or 149 mares since he entered stud in 2015. A key part of Airdrie's operation, according to Jones, is to maintain a large broodmare band that can support its young stallions as they worked through their often-challenging second and third years at stud. Being able to keep the foal crop sizes stable was nothing new to the farm, but being able to move the stud fee up before his first crop hit the track was very new.

"With a lot of first-year stallions, you worry about the quality of the mares and the number of mares declining during the second and third years, but with this horse it has been the opposite," Jones said. "The quality has only improved, and it is our sincerest hope that it continues to improve. That jump in stud fee and the jump in mare quality that early, that was a new situation for us, and we're grateful."

A graded stakes winner at 2 and 3, Cairo Prince was on track to be one of the country's top sophomores in 2014. An injury following a mid-April work, however, required surgery and eventually derailed the colt's racing career. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin was heartbroken, having considered the colt his best chance to win that year's Kentucky Derby (G1).

"We haven't been in this position before, ever," McLaughlin said after Cairo Prince won the Holy Bull Stakes (G2). "The most important thing is he doesn't have to improve. He doesn't have to do anything but stay the way he is, and that's all we hope for is for him to stay healthy and happy."

Cairo Prince's offspring are now inspiring the same confidence. They've already proven themselves at 2, making their sire the third-leading freshman sire by progeny earnings ($1,254,485) and the second-leading sire by number of winners (19) for 2018. His top runner so far is Cairo Cat, who won the Iroquois Stakes (G3) last year at Churchill Downs. The sire's other black-type winners are Mihos, winner of the listed Mucho Macho Man Stakes this year; Marquee Prince, who won this year's Lloyd Captain Maestri Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots; and, Giza Goddess, who won last year's listed Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Marquee Prince and Giza Goddess both won their stakes on the grass.

"We've had nothing but confidence that, like him, his offspring would get only better with age and increased distance," Jones said. "They have run the way we would have expected them to. Now to have four stakes winners already cumulatively from a young 3-year-old crop and all winning at the best racetracks is extremely encouraging."

Mucho Macho Man was graded-placed at 2, a graded stakes winner at 3, and went on to become a multiple grade 1 winner, which included capturing the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Yet, his foals had to prove themselves the hard way.

The commercial market can be a fickle place. What can be fashionable one year could be handily dismissed a year later. Mucho Macho Man is an 11-year-old son of champion 2-year-old Macho Uno , also a multiple grade 1 winner and who has sired 44 black-type winners and five champions. In 2016, however, the year before Mucho Macho Man's first yearlings would be offered at auction, Macho Uno had but one graded stakes winner in the United States and Canada—grade 3 winner Tommy Macho.

Dermot Carty, Adena Springs' director of sales, said Mucho Macho Man's foals were impressive, with balance and big walks. The market, though, took a wait-and-see attitude with those first foals as indicated by the $50,650 they averaged as yearlings.

"All the hype that sometimes accompanies yearlings is not always reality," Carty said. "We are supposed to be in the business of breeding racehorses. Right off the hop, his babies looked fantastic."

As 2-year-olds, Mucho Macho Man's progeny got to show what they could do, and the market took notice. His first juveniles at auction averaged $160,000, and his top seller—future graded stakes winner Mucho Gusto—sold to Michael Lund Petersen for $625,000 out of Kirkwood Stables' consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. 

"People are starting to wake up," Carty said. "It looks like he's the real deal now with progeny that can win on all surfaces."

Mucho Macho Man ended his freshman year among the top 10 first-crop sires. He had 11 winners out of 34 runners and progeny earnings of $678,013.

Mucho Gusto is Mucho Macho Man's brightest early star, having taken the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) last year at Del Mar and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) in his 2019 debut. Trained by Bob Baffert, the colt has won three of four starts and placed once. He has earned $234,000 so far.

Mucho Macho Man also sired My Macho, who broke his maiden on the turf at Tampa Bay Downs in January, and He's a Macho Man, who broke his maiden at first asking in December on Woodbine's all-weather main track. The sire's other top performers include Mucho Unusual, who won the Feb. 18 California Cup Oaks and was second last year in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes, and graded-placed winner Belle Laura, who was third in the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland.

"He has really started to establish that he is no one-track pony, and he did it the hard way without getting the super mares in his first book," Carty said. "He's done it with the regular mares owned by people who run them and that has worked."

Mucho Macho Man attracted a book of 99 mares his first year at stud. His book slipped to 72 in 2016 and 35 in 2017. Then, after his first foals began proving themselves, his book rebounded to 96 mares last year.

"We are seeing a lot of good things now. His booking this year is way ahead of where we were last year," Carty said. "A lot of it is doing business with the people who raise proper racehorses and looking after those clients who have stuck with us." 

Mucho Macho Man stands for $10,000, which Carty said is good value for a stallion whose progeny have shown so much versatility so far.

"He's a stallion you have a real chance with—they are running as 2-year-olds and coming back and running as 3-year-olds, and they can run on all surfaces," Carty said. "Our marketplace for him has really opened up."