Animal Kingdom sires three winners on Saratoga card

Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner and international sire Animal Kingdom recorded a rarity Saturday with three winners on the card at Saratoga Race Course, including a pair of stakes winners.

The triple was highlighted by the 3-year-old filly Regal Glory, a Paul Pompa Jr. homebred trained by Chad Brown who dead-heated with Varenka in the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes to record her third consecutive stakes score. Previously, she won the Penn Oaks and the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes. The filly has never been worse than second in seven career starts, making all those starts except for her victorious debut in stakes company.

Animal Kingdom’s two other winners on the Saturday card have ties to his own racing connections. The 5-year-old mare Oleksandra scored her first career stakes victory in the Smart N Fancy Stakes for Team Valor International, which campaigned Animal Kingdom. Oleksandra was born in Australia, as Animal Kingdom stands at Arrowfield Stud during Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons. He stands at Darley’s Kentucky stallion operation for the Northern Hemisphere season.

:: Get PPs, Clocker Reports, picks, and more from DRF's Saratoga/Del Mar One-Stop Shop

Animal Kingdom’s third winner on the day was Nakamura, who is trained by Graham Motion, who conditioned his sire. The 4-year-old gelding has won all three of his starts this year at the allowance level after he was stakes-placed last season.

American Pharoah on top of freshman list

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah continues to duel with multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution atop this year’s freshman sire list. A huge weekend at Saratoga put American Pharoah atop the chart.

American Pharoah’s son Another Miracle won the Skidmore Stakes on Friday at Saratoga, giving the young Coolmore sire his first stakes winner in the United States. The stallion’s career bankroll stood at $671,225 through Saturday, topping the $548,583 for WinStar Farm’s Constitution, the sire of graded stakes winners Amalfi Sunrise and By Your Side.

American Pharoah leads his class with four black-type runners to date, with Another Miracle joining French Group 3 winner Maven, Irish Group 1-placed Monarch of Egypt, and French stakes-placed Saggara King.

The stallion is up to nine individual winners after last weekend, as American Butterfly and American Legend both scored maiden victories Saturday, at Saratoga and at Ellis Park, respectively.