Archive for March, 2010
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
Distorted Humor and Unbridled’s Song stand for six figures and here’s one reason why: Both get plenty of classics contenders, which is the goal of big-time stables and owners. Both veteran sires came away this weekend with two new colts on the Triple Crown trail: Endorsement for Distorted Humor, and Mission Impazible for Unbridled’s Song.
Distorted Humor (Forty Niner–Danzig’s Beauty, by Danzig) stands for $100,000 at Win Star Farm in Versailles, Ky., and already has a Derby winner to his credit in 2003 winner Funny Cide, who also won the Preakness. Now the sire of 85 SWs (including at least 9 in SH from three seasons in Australia), Distorted Humor began his career at $12,500, and last year he was at $150,000. His first crop, which included Funny Cide and 9 other SWs, announced his arrival, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Distorted Humor was primarily a 7f sprinter as a racehorse, and he raced three seasons, 3-5, winning fives stakes races at the G2-G3 level and earning more than $750K. The well-managed Win Star operation made sure early on that they spread mares in foal to him in states with good restricted racing programs, and Win Star was actually the listed breeder of Funny Cide in New York. Nowadays, Distorted Humor is one of the elite sires in the country and doesn’t need restricted company for protection; he easily makes his away in the best races around the country.
The stallion’s Endorsement won the $800K G3 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico Sunday for Win Star to give Win Star and the sire their second combined classic contender, along with Drosselmeyer. Endorsement, however, is the “Now” horse. A $450,000 yearling, Endorsement is out of an A.P. Indy mare from an Argentine family and on a sire-line cross is bred like Funny Cide, who was produced from a mare by the Seattle Slew sire Slewacide. Now a winner of 2 of 4 starts, Endorsement defeated the undefeated and highly regarded Conveyance in the Sunland Park Derby and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 2/5. Last year, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was 4th in this same race.
The Distorted Humor/Seattle Slew combination through A.P. Indy also was responsible for the one-time classics contender and G1 winner Any Given Saturday and the Delta Jackpot winner at 2 and one-time classic contender Z Humor. All told, there are 9 Distorted Humor unrestricted SWs from Seattle Slew-line mares.
Distorted Humor
Unbridled’s Song stands for $115,000 at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., down from $125,000 in 2009. A big, strapping, gray, Unbridled’s Song has been one of the major and most consistent sources for high-quality late-season 2-year-olds and spring 3-year-olds on the classics trail. The sire of at least 85 SWs, he’s been as maligned by some as he’s been exalted by others for a rash of high-profile injuries to prominent classics contenders—most obviously highlighted by the graphic breakdown of his daughter Eight Belles after finishing 2nd in the Kentucky Derby a few years ago. Last year, his highly regarded son Dunkirk finished 2nd in the Belmont but also suffered a career-ending injury, which followed on the heels of 2009 Derby contender Old Fashioned’s career-ending injury before the classics and champion 2-year-old Midshipman’s mishap in Dubai. Before them, Rockport Harbor had missed the Derby with an injury after appearing as dominant as Old Fashioned had, and since then Winslow Homer this year flashed quite a bit of promise before also going to the sidelines.
On Saturday at Fair Grounds, the Unbridled’s Song colt Mission Impazible won the $750K G2 Louisiana Derby (with Distorted Humor’s Drosselmeyer in 3rd) for his 2nd win from 5 starts. Out of the Hold Your Peace mare La Paz, he’s a half-brother to Forest Camp. He completed the 1 1/8 mile in 1:50 1/5.
The question will be this: Will it be Mission Impossible for this colt to stay sound? And is that fair to ask? My responses are No and No. One reason why the Unbridled’s Songs succumb to injury, in my opinion, is because they are so talented, show the late-season 2yo and early 3yo form requisite for classics preps, have large frames that perhaps hide immaturity, have speed that’s too easy to be seduced by, and have class; as a result, they are perhaps pushed hard on the classics trail—which is the toughest assignment of all for 3yos.
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Saturday, March 27th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
Here’s a quick follow up to the post below, Is US losing ground to Irish, British horses? Based on the results of the Dubai World Cup today, let’s just say that our team didn’t exactly have a stellar day, with only one US-bred winner of the seven races. Moreover, not a single winner of the day was sired by a horse based in the US.
The lone US-bred winner of the day was 5-year-old California-based gelding Kinsale King, who won the 1200-meter G1 $2m Dubai Golden Shaheen over the all-weather Tapaeta surface. However his sire, Yankee Victor, now stands in Korea!
The sires of the other DWC day stakes are:
Australian-bred Cullen (by Danehill), sire of the 1200-meter G3 $1m Al Quoz Sprint winner on turf, Joy and Fun, a New Zealand-bred sprinter based in Hong Kong.
US-bred King’s Best (by Kingmambo), sire of the 1600-meter G2 $1m Godolphin Mile winner on Tapeta, Calming Influence, an Irish-bred horse based in Dubai.
Australian-bred Redoute’s Choice (by Danehill), sire of the 1900-meter G2 $2m UAE Derby winner on Tapeta, Musir, an Australian-bred colt based in South Africa.
British-bred Medicean (by Machavellian), sire of the 1900-meter G1 $5m Dubai Duty Free winner on turf, Al Shemali, a British-bred horse based in Dubai.
Irish-bred Singspiel (by In the Wings), sire of the 2410-meter G1 $5m Dubai Sheema Classic winner on turf, Dar Re Mi, a British-bred filly based in Britain.
Argentine-bred Impression (by Rubiano), sire of the 2000-meter G1 $10m Dubai World Cup winner on Tapeta, Gloria de Campeao, a Brazilian-bred horse based in France.
The only active (one dead) US-based sires represented by a placed runner today were:
Avenue of Flags (by Seattle Slew), age 22. Sire of US-bred California Flag, 3rd in the G3 Al Quoz. Stands at Jim Wasson’s Winner’s Circle Farm in Las Cruces, NM, for private treaty.
E Dubai (by Mr. Prospector), age 12. Sire of British-bred Skysurfers, 3rd in the G2 Godolphin Mile. Stands at Darley America in Lexington, Ky, for $10,000 live foal.
El Prado (by Sadler’s Wells), deceased. Sire of US-bred Spanish Moon, 3rd in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic.
Elusive Quality (by Gone West), age 17. Sire of Australian-bred Raihana, 2nd in the G2 UAE Derby. Stands at Darley America in Lexington, Ky, for $75,000 live foal.
Harlan’s Holiday (by Harlan), age 11. Sire of US-bred Mendip, 3rd in the G2 UAE Derby. Stands at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky, for $25,000 live foal.
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Friday, March 26th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
Airdrie Stud’s Harlan’s Holiday is typical for the type of stallion Brereton Jones likes to stand: well performed on the track and well conformed physically. Pedigree usually trails in a close third. Harlan’s Holiday was a multiple G1 winner who earned $3.6 million, winning stakes at 2, 3, and 4, and is obviously a very good-looking colt. He stands for $25,000 in 2010 and was a leading third-crop sire through the end of 2009.
Harlan’s Holiday is by Harlan, a short-lived but notable sprinting son of Storm Cat who won the G1 Vosburgh and sired 6 SWs, including multiple G1 winner and classics-placed Menifee. The latter, who was 2nd in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, sired at least 25 SWs, so Harlan showed a lot of promise to get both Menifee and Harlan’s Holiday in a brief stud career.
Out of an Affirmed mare from the family of Hollywood Gold Cup winner Princessnesian (3rd dam, by Princequillo; next dam is Alanesian), Harlan’s Holiday’s pedigree added more stamina to the mix. He was good at 2 from 5.5f to 8.5f when he won 4 of 6 starts, but at 3 he, like Menifee, was on the classics trail by winning the G1 Florida Derby and G1 Toyota Blue Grass at 9f, though he could never win at 10f in top company. He was 2nd twice at 10f in G1 Dubai World Cup and G1 Hollywood Gold Cup, and 3rd in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
HARLAN'S HOLIDAY
At stud, Harlan’s Holiday is represented by 9 unrestricted SWs, 5 of which are GSWs: G1 winner Into Mischief; G3 winner Denis of Cork; G3 winner Tasha’s Miracle; G3 winner Saratoga Sinner; and G3 winner Necessary Evil. Harlan’s Holiday could get another GSW tomorrow when his undefeated son Mendip (3 for 3) goes in the G2 UAE Derby at Meydan. The race is on the Tapeta all-weather course over 1 3/16 miles and could be the colt’s ticket to the Kentucky Derby. Last year, the Harlan’s Holiday colt Denis of Cork was 3rd in the Kentucky Derby and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes.
Bred by Jayeff B Stables, Mendip is out of the placed Coronado’s Quest mare Well Spring and sold for $130,000 as a yearling and $375,000 as a 2yo in training. The dam is a daughter of the top G1 sprinter Chaposa Springs, who won 14 of 23 starts and earned $762,115. More telling, in dirt sprints, Chaposa Springs was 13 for 16, with earnings of $664,708. Her half brother, the Kris S. horse You and I, won the 1 Met Mile. Both were out of the great Peruvian-bred and raced La Chaposa, a multiple G1 winner in Peru.
There’s plenty of speed, then, on the bottom of Mendip, who already has won the Listed Al Bastakiya– by 6 lengths—over the UAE Derby trip of 1 3/16 miles. He’ll face some tougher characters tomorrow, but he’s a colt that Godolphin has hopes for, and if he were to win he’d certainly be their No. 1 Kentucky Derby candidate.
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
The Dubai World Cup, in its relatively short history, has become the most cosmopolitan racing carnival in the world. It’s also the most lucrative, and the $10 million Dubai World Cup is by far the richest race in the world. There are 100 horses entered for the 7 stakes races at Meydan Saturday for Dubai World Cup day. Of these, 26 were bred in the US (26 percent), 21 were bred in Ireland (21 percent), and 19 were bred in Great Britain (19 percent). Based on the percentage of each country’s global production of foals (using 2008 stats as a general barometer), the Irish- and British-foaled runners are significantly over represented this year, which may be a sign that they are the horses of choice on the international scene, where turf racing dominates.
In 2008, according to figures published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), there were 33,550 registered foals in the US, which was 28.1 percent of the world’s foal crop. With this in mind, the 26 percent US-bred runners entered at Meydan is in line with the percentage of US-bred foals globally. According to IFHA, however, there were 12,419 foals dropped in Ireland in 2008 and 5,987 in Britain the same year, giving these countries significantly higher representation at Meydan than their percentages of foals globally. Ireland contributes 10.4 percent of the global foal crop—almost half the percentage of Irish-breds entered at Meydan—while Britain contributes only 5.4 percent of the foal crop vs. 19 percent at Meydan Saturday.
The hosts of Meydan, the Maktoums—I counted only the horses bred by Darley, Gainsborough, and Shadwell—bred 11 of these 100 entries, or 11 percent of the total. Of these Maktoum-bred horses, only 3 were bred in the US: Snaafy (by Kingmambo), bred by Shadwell; Anmar (by Rahy), bred by Shadwell; and Campanologist (by Kingmambo), bred by Darley. As is evident, Kingmambo and Rahy are noted sires of turf horses, with the former aged and the latter no longer in service.
When the Dubai World Cup moved to Meydan this year from Nad Al Sheba, the dirt races on the card—including the Dubai World Cup (dirt)— disappeared, too. Now, all the races at Meydan are either on turf or on the all-weather Tapeta surface. The US racing program, of course, historically has been built around dirt racing and sprints, but over the years—with much controversy—we’ve incorporated all-weather racing here as well—exclusively for the time being in California. Not surprisingly, 4 of the 10 entered for the $2 million Golden Shaheen at 1200 meters (about 6f) on Tapeta Saturday were bred in the US, but would you believe that none of their sires stands in the US now? Forest Camp, the sire of Force Freeze, is in Korea; Yankee Victor, sire of Kinsale King, also is in Korea; Gilded Time, sire of Gayego, is in Brazil; and Danzig, sire of Muttheeb, is dead! Moreover, two of our leading sires here, A.P. Indy and Unbridled’s Song, both top-class dirt sires, are not represented by a single Dubai World Cup day starter. That about puts everything in perspective.
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
By Elaine Belval
After 2007, the country entered into a recession, and prices for bloodstock tumbled 30 to 55 percent from 2007 peaks. Through the early months of 2010, indicators suggest that things may be getting better, but let’s take a look at some snapshots through 2007 to put today’s market in perspective. (All stats are based strictly on Northern Hemisphere data only.)
In 2007, in Kentucky, 358 stallions serviced 21,548 mares (average book size of 60.2). In 1992, 467 stallions serviced 14,512 mares (average book size of 31.1). The actual number of stallions covering mares in Kentucky decreased by 25 percent but the number of mares bred increased by 30 percent. Is it any wonder book size doubled?
In 2007, in the total US, 3,223 stallions covered 56,027 mares (average book size of 17.4). In 1992, 6,263 stallions covered 59,607 mares (average book size of 9.5). The number of stallions covering mares dropped by 50 percent, but the number of mares being covered decreased approximately 10 percent.
So what happened for the last 20 years, through 2007? The stallion population dropped in half while the mare population decreased slightly. And while in 1992, 24 percent of mares were bred in Kentucky, by 2007 it had increased to 38 percent.
Add in this fact. In 1987, with over 50,000 registered foals, 18 percent of the foal crop sold at auction. In 2006, with almost 38,000 registered foals, 27 percent of the foal crop sold at auction. That’s a 30 percent increase in the percent of the population going through the sales ring, which obviously had a profound effect on the collapse of the commercial markets when money dried up for the product.
In the early 1990’s, WTC developed a summary of stallion statistics for proper evaluation. These stats made it easy to determine if a stallion was priced right. The top sires, by their fifth crop, were siring 80 percent starters, almost 60 percent winners, 23 percent 2YO winners, and over 10 percent SWs.
Through 2007, the top sires (top 10 percent by stud fee), by their fifth crop, were siring 80 percent starters, 50 percent winners, 16 percent 2YO winners, and over 10 percent SWs. The average crop size was 82 foals. There was a drop in winners and 2YO winners, but not in SWs. Top sires are still top sires as a group, regardless of the era.
What has decreased noticeably in the big-book era is the average statistics for stallions below the top 10 percent that sire more foals than is average for their comparison group. For fifth-crop stallions with larger than average books (crop size averages 108 foals), their overall statistics are 71 percent starters, 47 percent winners, 17 percent 2YO winners and 6 percent SWs.
It was hard to tell anyone to keep stallion book sizes down, especially in the big economic climate that ran through the 2000’s and ended in 2007. The Random House Dictionary defines breeding, their second definition, as “the improvement or development of breeds of livestock, as by selective mating and hybridization.”
With numbers down since 2007 across the board, including mares bred, we have now been forced to practice “selective mating.” It may prove to be a blessing in the long run.
(Elaine Belval is a senior pedigree analyst at WTC, Inc.)
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Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
By Sid Fernando
It was a big weekend for three sons of A.P. Indy, two of whom are household names in breeding circles: Pulpit and Malibu Moon. The third is Indy King, an unheralded stallion who stands in Indiana, where Cat Dreams, the Storm Cat sire of Caracortado also stands, though not at the same farm.
Pulpit is the sire of G1 Florida Derby winner Ice Box. Malibu Moon is the sire of G2 Bonnie Miss Stakes winner Devil May Care. And Indy King? He’s the sire of Pleasant Prince, who was 2nd by a nose to Ice Box in the Florida Derby, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, along with the Bonnie Miss. Both Ice Box and Pleasant Prince are headed to the Derby, while the filly Devil May Care has the Kentucky Oaks noted on her dance card. But Malibu Moon also has a Derby contender in Odysseus, who won the Tampa Bay Derby the weekend before.
The three sons of A.P. Indy spanned the range of racing class but are similarly bred. Pulpit, the best runner of the three, was a G2 winner of the Blue Grass Stakes who won 4 of 6 starts and earned $728,200; Malibu Moon raced only at 2 and won 1 of his 2 starts, a maiden special; and Indy King was unraced, though he sold at a yearling sale for $2,200,000. Each is out of a Mr. Prospector mare.
Enough has been written about Pulpit and Malibu Moon—including an excellent piece in today’s TDN by Andrew Caulfield that compares the two sires—but Indy King is an unknown. He is owned by Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs (Stronach purchased the colt at auction) and began his career at Adena Springs South in Florida but is now standing at Eric and Leigh Ann Richwine’s eponymous Richwine Farm in East Anderson, Indiana. B. Wayne Hughes, the majority owner of Malibu Moon, also once stood Cat Dreams in California, as he had Malibu Moon in Maryland in that horse’s first years at stud, but Cat Dreams has since been sold to another farm in Indiana, which means that Indiana is the home to two well-bred stallions by Storm Cat and A.P. Indy with current 3yos on the Triple Crown trail.
Back to Indy King, he’s out of the grand racemare Queena, a winner of three G1 races and the dam of G1 winner Brahms and G3 winner La Reina (also by A.P. Indy), and he was bred by Emory A. Hamilton. This is the immediate family of Too Chic (the 2nd dam) and in tail-female traces to Monade, a tap-root mare for Ms. Hamilton’s family’s storied King Ranch. Too Chic, in fact, was bred by King Ranch but her daughter Queena was bred by Ms. Hamilton (then Emory Alexander; sister Helen’s Middlebrook Farm consigned Indy King to the September sale where Stronach bought him).
Pleasant Prince
Pleasant Prince and Ice Box both made strong late rallies in the Florida Derby and only a nose separated them at the finish. Both have the look of late-maturing runners so typical for the A.P. Indys. Pleasant Prince to date has won only 1 race from 7 starts, though he is now G1-placed and Derby bound. He did win a one-mile maiden special at 2 last year, and this year he’s been raced exclusively at 1 1/8 miles and has the racing style, pedigree, and feel of a stayer.
He’s out of the Pleasant Tap mare Archduchess and was bred by Adena Springs, which consigned him to the 2008 OBS August sale where his current owners, Ken and Sarah Ramsey, purchased him for $30,000. Adena had sold the colt’s dam, in foal to Milwaukee Brew, for $12,000 at the 2007 Keeneland November sale. The buyer was William Boorhem’s Foxwood Plantation in Belcher, Louisiana. Foxwood stands two leading state sires in Zarbyev and Run Production—whose sale to Foxwood was engineered by WTC founder Jack Werk.
Boorhem said Archduchess, a half-sister to G3 winner Mark One and Japanese SW Daiwa Carson, was bred to Run Production. “The guy who sold me the mare wants to buy her back,” the Foxwood Plantation owner said.
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
In the comments section of the post below this one, a reader and I discuss the nuances of shuttle sires—including the general trend that most shuttle sires are dominant in one hemisphere or the other, but not in both. Danehill, obviously, was an exception to this observation; he made his mark in Australia for Arrowfield/Coolmore and then translated that success to Europe, too, and Coolmore’s Montjeu has also made marks in two hemispheres. Others, like La Quebrada’s Southern Halo (SH), Abolengo’s Candy Stripes (SH), Taylor Made’s Unbridled’s Song (NH), and Coolmore’s Galileo (NH), to name four prominent sires, have not replicated success from one hemisphere to the other. The latest sire who appears to have the goods to perform in both hemispeheres is Darley’s Street Cry, who was represented over the weekend by his headliner Zenyatta, such a stylish winner of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational at Santa Anita. At present, if you didn’t know, he’s also the leading sire in Australia by progeny earnings.
According to stallions.com.au, Street Cry’s progeny earnings in Australia through March 11, 2009, are AUS$6,304,547, ahead of Coolmore’s Encosta de Lago at AUS$5,665,782 and Arrowfield’s Redoubt’s Redoute’s Choice at AUS$4,810,556. Street Cry stood the 2009 season in Australia for a fee of AUS$110,000 to AUS$220,000 for Encosta de Lago and AUS$198,000 for Redoubt’s Redoute’s Choice.
One of the reasons for Street Cry’s success in Australia is his versatility as a sire: His offspring win on dirt, all weather, AND turf—the primary racing surface in Oz—and over all distances. Of course, he has a knack for getting high-class runners, period, and all four of his 2009/2010 SWs in Australia are Group winners, including leading earner Shocking, who won 2-mile Melbourne Cup.
On pedigree, Street Cry is an excellent outcross for the Danehill/Danzig-laden Australian environment, too, and Shocking’s pedigree is an illustration of what’s possible. Street Cry is by the Mr. Prospector horse Machiavellian from Helen Street, by Troy, and his pedigree is devoid of Northern Dancer. However, he does have Northern Dancer’s dam, Natalma, in his pedigree as Machiavellian’s 3rd dam. Natalma also was Danehill’s 3rd dam, and Danehill is actually inbred 3×3 to Natalma as his grandsire was Northern Dancer. Consequently, breeding Danehill mares to Street Cry, like the dam of Shocking, capitalizes on Mr. Prospector/Danzig, plus it gives another reinforcement to Natalma, 5×5x5.
Street Cry’s European female family—his dam won the Irish Oaks—also has been successful in Australia through Darley’s first-crop Giant’s Causeway sire Shamardal. The latter’s dam is a full sister to Street Cry, and Shamardal’s first Australian runners include the G1 VRC Oaks winner Faint Perfume. It’s a given that Street Cry will get ample oppportunity with Giant’s Causeway and Storm Cat-line mares.
In the meantime, Street Cry, the sire of 10 G1 winners, continues to do no wrong. Click here to access his stats from the Darley website.
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Monday, March 15th, 2010
By Sid Fernando
CANDY RIDE
One week after Candy Ride’s first-crop 4-year-old Misremembered won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in front-running style, his second-crop 3-year-old colt Sidney’s Candy won the Grade 2 San Felipe Saturday at the same track, in the same manner, leading throughout. For the Lane’s End sire, 2010 is already looking as good as 2009, when Candy Ride was represented by two G1 winners and five Graded SWs, several of them early season classic prospects.
I wrote about Candy Ride after Misremembered won in my other blog, Sid Fernando + Observations. Click here to read the post, which compares him as a runner to other Argentine imports Forli and Lord at War. If you subscribe to TDN, there’s a fine article about the stallion by Andrew Caulfield in the March 16 edition, and he also compares Candy Ride to Forli.
Candy Ride was an outstanding racehorse, but his pedigree isn’t particularly noteworthy as a son of the US export Ride the Rails, a son of Cryptoclearance who won 4 of 14 starts and earned $255,096. The only stakes win for the horse was the Listed Foolish Pleasure Breeders’ Cup Stakes at 2, which he won by 8 1/4 lengths, but he was G1 placed at 3 when 2nd in the Florida Derby.
Candy Ride’s dam is a daughter of the stakes-placed Blushing Groom horse Candy Stripes, who was 2nd in the French Guineas and is a half-brother to French 2yo G1 winner Intimiste and top Japanese colt Bubble Gum Fellow, from the immediate family of the top California mare Sangue.
Candy Stripes began his career at stud in Maryland without much fanfare, then was sold to Alejandro Menditeguy’s Haras Abolengo after two seasons, where he immediately found success with the Abolengo broodmares, as well as mares from leading Argentine breeders as Vacacion and Lineu de Paula Machado (Brazilian owner who bred in Argentina, too), among others. One of his first prominent runners was the outstanding Abolengo-bred “D” family filly Different, a G1 winner in Argentina and the G1 Spinster winner in the US. Many high-quality runners followed, including Horse of the Year Invasor and Leroidesanimaux. The former was a Uruguyan triple Crown winner who came to the US and also won the Dubai World Cup; the latter was bred in Brazil and was a US Eclipse award winner.
Success for Candy Stripes meant stints at different farms after a 10-year stretch at Abolengo, including NH seasons at Taylor Made and SH stops in Brazil at TNT (1999 season), where Leroidesanimaux, UAE Derby winner Lundy’s Liability and South African champion Ilha da Vitoria were conceived. The latter, by the way, was from the same Abolengo “D” family as Different. The horse also stood in Florida and at another farm in Argentina at the end of his career.
The bottom line is that Candy Stripes was thoroughly top class in the SH, but like many such sires, not the same in the NH. Andrew Caulfield suggests in his piece—and it’s not outlandish—that Candy Ride probably gets much of his class through Candy Stripes. His daughter Candy Girl, the dam of Candy Ride, was a sister to the Candy Stripes colt City West, who won the G1 Argentine Guineas equivalent, as well as the G1 Jockey-Club and the G1 Santiago Luro.
City West, his sister Candy Girl, and her son Candy Ride were bred by Abolengo, which also stood Ride the Rails. The latter also stood at Pegasus Ranch in California after the success of Candy Ride. But the fact is, Ride the Rail never sired anything else approaching the quality of Candy Ride.
Candy Ride, however, is proving to be quite successful as a sire, and his ability to blend successfully with the Storm Cat line—Sidney’s Candy is out of a Storm Cat mare, and there are other SWs are out of Storm Cat-line mares—has helped in his success. It’s noteworthy to point out, too, that the Argentine-based Storm Cat sire Easing Along has also had success with Ride the Rails mares—the reverse of the formula that’s working with Candy Ride. Of course, on a bigger picture, Unbridled’s Song, from the same sire line of Fappiano (sire of Cryptoclearance), has also done well with Storm Cat-line mares.
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Jack Werk (1944-2010)
