Small Crop Freshman Sires Beating the Odds

Across North America an average 48% of Thoroughbred foals will win at least one race in their lifetime. This makes the odds of getting a winner particularly daunting for a stallion with only two foals in his first crop.

So far this year, though, two stallions with freshman crops of two named foals apiece have managed to beat these odds. They are Washington State sire Mr. Rancho Vista and stakes winner Midnight Crooner, who entered stud in Colorado and now stands in Oklahoma.

Mr. Rancho Vista, a son of Northern Afleet, raced from 2 to 10 and compiled a 15-12-3 record out of 76 starts, but without a stakes win to his credit he lacked the credentials to be a commercial sire. Washington owner/breeders Keith and Jan Swagerty were offered Mr. Rancho Vista as a free stallion prospect in 2015, which they agreed to because he seemed to suit the daughters of their stakes-producing mare Chedoodle. The mare, a daughter of Slewdledo, was already the dam of No Flies On Doodle and Mike Man's Gold, who each won four black-type stakes.

Mr. Rancho Vista's first crop in total is a filly out of Andiamo Deb (Parker's Storm Cat—Chedoodle) named Fine Element and a colt out of Chedoodlejan (Grindstone—Chedoodle) named Movetotheright. Fine Element rewarded the Swagertys' faith in the pedigree blend when she found the winner's circle July 5 in her third start at Emerald Downs. The filly's victory came in a five-furlong maiden claiming race that she took gate to wire and finished half a length the best. The final time was :59.33.

Fine Element, who the Swagertys bred in partnership with William Gallo, has never finished off the board, getting third place in her debut at Emerald Downs June 7 and following that effort with a second June 21. She races in the name of the Swagerty's Swag Stables and is trained by David Martinez.

"We acquired the stallion thinking Northern Afleet would specifically cross well with Grindstone, so it is great to see a winner out of Chedoodlejan's half sister," said Karen Angelos, the manager of West Coast Training Center near Auburn, Wash., where Mr. Rancho Vista stands for $1,250. "We are all really excited."

Fine Element is Andiamo Deb's first foal. The mare produced a colt by Private Gold in February and was bred back to Lord Lochinvar, who also stands at West Coast Training Center.

The expectations were surely high for Midnight Crooner as a racehorse. During his 2-year-old year, his full brother Midnight Interlude won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and was second in the Del Mar Derby (G2T). Both sons of War Chant were bred and raced by Arnold Zetcher and trained by Bob Baffert.

Midnight Crooner didn't follow so closely in his older brother's footsteps. For Zetcher, his best black-type performances included a win in the 2012 Oceanside Stakes on the Del Mar turf and a third in the Pasadena Stakes at Santa Anita Park. In 2013, Midnight Crooner was claimed by Mark Glatt for David Altman and Beth Sobel.

The colt was claimed two more times and did not win or place in another stakes race. Midnight Crooner last raced for Amanda Koch at Arapahoe Park near Denver, where the horse was claimed by trainer Jonathan Nance and later wound up with Colorado owner/breeder Frank Broce.

Broce has bred the only two foals by Midnight Crooner to date: Danzingwithbreckyn, a filly out of Military Mother (Military), and Moonshine Mildred, a daughter of Tulsa Moon (National Saint).

Racing for Broce and trained by O.A. Martinez Jr., Moonshine Mildred became Midnight Crooner's first winner July 6 in the non-black-type Silver Cup Fillies Futurity Stakes at Arapahoe Park at 33-1. She showed good early speed, battling with Fast Cat through an opening quarter in :22.32. Moonshine Mildred took the lead after three furlongs and then opened up a three-length advantage that was never challenged. The final time was 1:07.20.

The filly is the only foal out of Tulsa Moon, who was bred in Oklahoma by Joyce Tackett. Tulsa Moon's dam, Pale Moon Sky, is a half sister to Strike the Sky, the dam of grade 2 winner Hudson Steele and stakes-placed Lauren Byrd, who is the dam of grade 3 winner Hakam and grade 1-placed My Man Sam.

Midnight Crooner stood his first two seasons in Colorado then was relocated to Caines Stallion Station in Oklahoma for the 2018 breeding season, where he stands for $1,000. The move apparently has been a positive one for the stallion who bred seven mares last year, according to The Jockey Club.