American Pharoah's second crop stands out

It’s typical for a young stallion to garner an outstanding book of mares in his first season as his stud farm and supporters look to get him off to a strong start. Then the quality and quantity of his book of mares may decrease somewhat in the ensuing few years, only picking up again later if the stallion’s first crops are a success on the racetrack.

But 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, the hero the sport waited 27 years for, isn’t a typical case and the market has not responded in typical fashion. The stallion has continued to garner outstanding books of mares, as seen by the quality of the catalog pages for his second-crop yearlings. And with his first crop, which was a blockbuster hit in the commercial arena, currently making him the leading freshman sire on the racetrack, that second crop has already been well met, and is likely to be in continued demand at Keeneland September.

American Pharoah, who is based at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky and also shuttles to Coolmore Australia, covered 208 mares in his first Northern Hemisphere book, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Of those, 55 were Grade/Group 1 winners or/and Grade/Group 1 producers.

American Pharoah covered 214 mares in his second Kentucky season in 2017 and has 90 yearlings from the resulting crop in the catalog for Keeneland September, 42 of those in the elite Book 1 portion of the sale. These are led by a half-sister to four-time Eclipse Award heroine Beholder, Grade 1 winner and leading sire Into Mischief, and globe-trotting Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn; and a half-brother to European champion Peeping Fawn and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare, from the immediate family of Belmont Stakes winners Rags to Riches and Jazil.

American Pharoah’s Book 1 yearlings also include a youngster out of Canadian Horse of the Year Arravale, half-siblings to Grade/Group 1 winners American Patriot, Certify, Cry and Catch Me, Collected, Connect, and Noble Bird; and yearlings out of Grade 1 winners A Z Warrior and Tiz Miz Sue.

The quality of American Pharoah’s second book is also apparent because, moving beyond Book 1, his yearlings continue to have outstanding catalog pages. His offerings in the rest of the sale include a half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern, half siblings to Grade 1 winners Declassify, Mani Bhavan, and My Conquestadory, and a yearling out of Grade 1 winner Careless Jewel.

American Pharoah, by the late Pioneerof the Nile, had nine lots from his first crop sell for seven figures from the 2017 weanling market through this spring’s 2-year-old market. He averaged $453,273 from his first yearlings last year – including a $416,702 average at Keeneland September to rank fifth among sires. He averaged $396,876 from his first 2-year-olds this season, and is averaging $389,137 this yearling season, led by a $950,000 colt and an $800,000 colt at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale.

“They sold, as a whole, very, very, very well,” said Boyd Browning, president of Fasig-Tipton. “He has performed very well. He’s come out of the gate with a lot of quality runners, as we all hoped, as an industry, that he would. I think he was a remarkable racehorse. He’s off to a remarkable start as a stallion.”

Indeed, American Pharoah led a highly competitive freshman sire class by earnings, individual winners, and black-type horses through Sept. 2. American Pharoah was represented by 12 winners from 35 starters to that point, for earnings of $865,186. Constitution, with 11 winners, had earnings of $786,460.

American Pharoah’s runners are led by Maven, winner of the Group 3 Prix du Bois in France; Another Miracle, winner of the Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga; Four Wheel Drive, winner of the Rosie’s Stakes at Colonial Downs; Monarch of Egypt, whose two group stakes placings include a runner-up effort in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes in Ireland; Sweet Melania, second in the P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga; and Saggara King, twice stakes-placed in France.