Bill Oppenheim: Nine Weeks In

It's still winter. All the good racing is in warmer climes, and even there we're nearly a month away from climactic weekends including the GI Florida Derby, GI Santa Anita Derby, and the G1 Dubai World Cup; in fact, big preps for those weekends are on tap with the GII San Felipe S. this weekend at Santa Anita (though they have a great card including the GI Santa Anita H.), and 'Super Saturday' at Meydan in Dubai. 

Nonetheless, a few sires are having noticeably good winters. Last year's record-breaking champion sire, Gainesway's Tapit, has already established a clear lead again this year on the TDN year-to-date 2015 North American General Sire List (click here), with 46 winners and over $2.1-million in progeny earnings after the first nine weeks of the 2015 season. 

Calumet's English Channel doesn't get the ink of Kitten's Joy, but he too has translated a sparkling turf career into good (and underrated) success at stud. He moved into second on the TDN general sire list after Parranda's win in the China Horse Club's race in Singapore late last month. 

Numbers three and four on the current North American general sire list are Darley stallions Medaglia d'Oro and Street Sense. You wouldn't really call them quiet years–Medaglia D'Oro ranked #13 on the TDN 2013 North American general sire list, and #6 in 2014–but this year the 'Medaglias' have really come out running. Andrew Caulfield wrote about him in his February 10 column (click here), and at this juncture I'll just add that he ranks #3 on the sire list and leads all North American and European sires so far this year with seven black-type winners and 13 black-type horses (Tapit has 12). 

In 2006 Sheikh Mohammed's team let it be known that Darley and other Maktoum operations were no longer going to buying yearlings by Coolmore sires at auctions, that he felt it was time to 'go it alone' on the sire front. In 2007 Darley spent an estimated $200-million buying sire prospects, including most of that year's best 3-year-olds. That group went to stud in 2008, and their first foals were born in 2009. They haven't all succeeded, of course, but having now had their fourth crop of 2-year-olds racing in 2014 (and having their fifth crop of 2-year-olds in 2015), three have emerged as top-drawer sires. Ironically, two of the three spent seasons in Japan when it wasn't very clear which way the pendulum was swinging. 

Teofilo, who stands at Kildangan in Ireland, never did stand in Japan. He has sired five Group 1 winners, has a very good APEX A Runner Index of 2.43, and stands for €50,000; and, though he was a 3-year-old in 2007, he didn't actually race at three. In fact, he was the undefeated 2006 champion 2-year-old of Europe, but he never raced again. Hard Spun, who also now has five Grade I winners and a 1.83 A Runner Index, spent the 2014 season in Japan, and was already on his way back before he finished #10 on the 2014 TDN North American General Sire List (click here). He is standing for $35,000 back at Darley Jonabell in Kentucky. 

Street Sense, the first horse ever to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2006)/GI Kentucky Derby (2007) double, spent the 2013 covering season in Japan, so that's where the vast majority of his 2014 crop was born. Therefore few, if any, 2015 yearlings by Street Sense will sell in Kentucky, which is too bad because right now he ranks #4 on the TDN North American 2015 general sire list, with 31 winners, including seven 2015 black-type horses (four BT winners), five of them graded stakes horses (GSH), and the earners of over $1.45-million through the first nine weeks of the year. Included among these were the 1-2 in the GI Las Virgenes, for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita, at a mile, and the 5-year-old Elnaawi, third in the GI Donn H. All 11 of the 2015 black-type performances I counted for Street Sense in the Progeny PP's section on the TDN website were on the dirt. Just saying. Like Hard Spun, he is standing the 2015 season for $35,000. Street Sense has always had very solid numbers: at year-end 2014 he had 1.95 A Runner, and 1.92 ABC Runner, Indexes. Oh, and no truth to the rumor circulating in Lexington last week, when Sue Finley and Gary King were down seeing people, that Darley now owns a leg of TDN; the reason I'm writing about Street Sense is because he deserves it! 

And we haven't even seen Street Sense's undefeated Triple Crown sleeper Ocho Ocho Ocho out yet this year, but he is due to run in Saturday's GII San Felipe S., in which he is due to be tested by the Baffert duo of Dortmund (Big Brown, undefeated in four) and Lord Nelson (Pulpit), who defeated Texas Red (Afleet Alex) in the GII San Vicente. When last seen, Ocho Ocho Ocho was taking his record to three-for-three in the GIII Southwest S. over Mr. Z (Malibu Moon), with Far Right (Notional), subsequently two-for-two at Oaklawn Park in the Smarty Jones S. and GIII Southwest S., in third. Interestingly, Ocho Ocho Ocho was one of just 11 foals in the 2012 crop produced by Siena Farm, a relatively new outfit near Paris. That crop also includes two homebred fillies Siena is racing with Todd Pletcher: the Grade I-winning filly Angela Renee (Bernardini), a full-sister to To Honor And Serve; and Isabella Sings (Eskendereya), Grade II-placed and a game turf allowance winner at Gulfstream Park last week. Siena was founded in 2008 on land that had previously run Charolais cattle, and is a partnership comprised of Breeders' Cup Member Anthony Manganaro; Farm President David Pope; and General Manager Nacho Patino.