American Pharoah knocked it out of the park as a racehorse, first becoming a long-awaited hero for the sport when connecting for the 2015 Triple Crown, and then again dazzling the crowd with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Thoroughbred marketing dubbed the combination of victories the sport’s first “Grand Slam.” As a sire, American Pharoah has already connected for an impressive double by leading his class of young sires in consecutive years – and, with momentum coming into 2021, he could be heading for third. In a group many bloodstock pundits considered to be a historically strong class of stallions entering stud in North America in 2016, American Pharoah emerged as the leading freshman sire by earnings in 2019, and also tied for the lead by individual winners. In 2020, he was again the leading sire by earnings and also led by stakes winners for North American second-crop sires. The Triple Crown winner, who stands for the international Coolmore group, achieved two milestones – his first Grade 1 winner and his first champion – while again edging Constitution on the earnings list as the top members of the class continued to achieve notoriety. Constitution was represented by a first-crop classic winner in this year’s reconstituted Triple Crown, and top-five sire Daredevil also achieved that mark and added a Kentucky Oaks winner for good measure. “What American Pharoah has achieved so far as a stallion is a huge accomplishment, especially considering the strength of his class,” said Charlie O’Connor, director of sales at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky. “Having received stellar books of mares in each of his five years at stud, and with another great book ahead of him in 2021, he is poised to continue on this upward trajectory.” American Pharoah is based in Kentucky for Coolmore, but also shuttles to Australia for the Southern Hemisphere season. The son of Pioneerof the Nile has delivered internationally, with stakes performers on dirt and turf in North America, Europe, and Japan. His first Australian foals are current juveniles. “Despite retiring alongside an historically strong group of stallions, American Pharoah is the only one who is reaching the highest levels of racing on an international stage, siring stakes winners in England, Ireland, France, and Japan to name a few, which is incredible,” O’Connor said. “This level of success is due to top breeders around the globe seeing the potential a versatile stallion like American Phaorah could have on the breed worldwide, and sending him their best mares, for which we are incredibly grateful. Our team in Australia are hearing excellent things about his first Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds, so worldwide the future is looking incredibly bright for American Pharoah.” American Pharoah, whose first season as a sire on the racetrack was led by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive, was bolstered in 2020 by Harvey’s Lil Goil. She became her sire’s first Grade 1 winner when taking the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Oct. 10 at Keeneland. That was the versatile filly’s second graded stakes win of the year on turf; she also is a Grade 1-placed stakes winner on dirt. She followed her QE II win with a solid third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. American Pharoah added another top-level winner when Van Gogh won the Group 1 Criterium International on Oct. 24 in France. He was subsequently named the Cartier European champion 2-year-old colt. American Pharoah’s other standouts in 2020 included European Group 2 winner Pista and stakes winner Ocean Atlantique; Turned Aside and Sweet Melania, both Grade 3 winners on turf in New York; Another Miracle and Merneith, stakes winners on turf and dirt, respectively; Japanese Grade 3 winner Cafe Pharoah; and Japanese stakes winner Danon Pharoah. American Pharoah is already off to a strong start as this class becomes third-crop sires of 2021, with six individual winners already this season, led by Kentucky Pharoah, winner of the Dania Beach Stakes on Jan. 2. With Harvey’s Lil Goil leading his U.S. runners returning this season, and Van Gogh considered a classics hopeful in Europe, the stallion looks set for another solid season. Constitution had eight individual stakes winners on the season, led by classic winner Tiz the Law. The Grade 1-winning juvenile continued as one of the best of his class at age 3, with consecutive Grade 1 scores in the Florida Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes. He was second in the Kentucky Derby. “Constitution’s been a real blessing,” said Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm, which co-campaigned and stands the stallion. “He came out of a good career with Todd Pletcher, won two Grade 1s. He’s a beautiful horse, out of a [WinStar stallion] Distorted Humor mare. When his progeny came out, they just ran. It seems like they have the heart of Tapit, and then you throw in Distorted Humor on the bottom side, that’s a great combination.” Constitution also was represented last season by Grade 2 winner Laura’s Light and stakes winners Alexandria, Independence Hall, Never Surprised, Stephen, Strongconstitution, and Venezuelan Hug. He also is the sire of several stakes performers in Chile. “Constitution was very spirited and tough,” said Randy Gullatt of Twin Creeks Farm, which co-campaigned Constitution, bred and sold Tiz the Law, and co-owns Independence Hall. “He was all racehorse. We’re seeing that in a lot of his offspring.” Constitution’s sire, Tapit, also is the sire of Darby Dan Farm’s Tapiture, third on the second-crop sire earnings list and atop the standings with 86 individual winners. Checking in fourth on the earnings list is Daredevil, who was exported from WinStar to stand in Turkey for the 2020 breeding season. However, a powerhouse season on the track soon had U.S. breeders clamoring for renewed access to the son of More Than Ready. Daredevil had a pair of Grade 1-winning fillies from his first crop in Swiss Skydiver, winner of five graded stakes, including the historic Alabama Stakes and the Preakness Stakes against colts; and Shedaresthedevil, who bested Swiss Skydiver in the Kentucky Oaks. In the fall, Lane’s End Farm announced that it had reached an agreement with his owner, the Turkish Jockey Club, to stand Daredevil in Kentucky for 2021 and likely beyond. “He is a very exciting horse and it’s a very strange scenario, but we are excited to take this on,” Lane’s End’s Bill Farish said. “There were a lot of farms after him, and we were all trying to position ourselves with a scenario that made the most sense to them. [The Turkish Jockey Club] went from wanting to sell the whole horse to wanting to keep the horse. We have seen on social media that breeders over there expect him to come right back, but we have seen no indication that is what [the owners] want to do. They can earn quite a bit of money keeping him over here. They want him to be successful here and stay here for the duration of his career.”