Bolt d'Oro a leader in competitive freshman class

Bolt d’Oro, Good Magic, and Justify were familiar foes on the racetrack, and locked horns again atop a competitive freshman sire class of 2022, finishing as the top three, in that order, by earnings, and deadlocked by other metrics.

Good Magic was the Eclipse Award champion juvenile of 2017, winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in which multiple Grade 1 winner Bolt d’Oro was third. Both colts were major winners as 3-year-olds, but neither got the measure of unbeaten 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, with Bolt d’Oro finishing second to him in the Santa Anita Derby and Good Magic second in the Kentucky Derby.

All three entered stud in 2019, with Bolt d’Oro, by Medaglia d’Oro, taking up residence at Spendthrift Farm; Good Magic standing alongside sire Curlin at Hill ‘n’ Dale; and Justify retiring to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, where his late sire Scat Daddy resided.

Three years later, all found success with their first 2-year-olds to race in 2022. Bolt d’Oro and Justify each recorded 29 individual winners on the season, with Good Magic notching 21 while having fewer starters. The three young stallions were separated by a total of just $337,585 in earnings – a narrow margin, considering the purse structures at many major venues. Each sire recorded six individual stakes winners on the season.

Bolt d’Oro, who ultimately led that earnings list and finished second to powerhouse stablemate Into Mischief on the overall juvenile earnings list, tipped his hand early, recording multiple seven-figure sales from his first foals to auction in 2021 and early 2022. His juvenile sales average early last year was $240,520, more than nine times the conception stud fee of $25,000.

“The response [was] really a little overwhelming,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “But really, from the beginning we had breeders calling and raving about their foals, and then their yearlings, and it’s continued right on through. . . . One after another, people see an impressive breeze, and look down and say, ‘Wow, that’s another Bolt d’Oro.’ ”

Bolt d’Oro’s six individual stakes winners succeeded on multiple surfaces, with turf graded stakes winners Boppy O and Major Dude and dirt graded stakes winner Instant Coffee to his credit. He was also the sire of stakes winners Corona Bolt, It’s Bob’s Business, and Monsieur Coco.

Good Magic’s six stakes winners were led by Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner Blazing Sevens, while he also sired graded stakes winners Curly Jack, Dubyuhnell, and Vegas Magic and stakes winners Bat Flip and How Did He Do That. Blazing Sevens ran Beyer Speed Figures of 91 in winning the Champagne and 93 while finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Good Magic also led the freshman class on the Beyer Sire Performance Standings. His progeny recorded 12 Beyers of 80 or higher, a benchmark for juveniles, to eight each for Bolt d’Oro and Justify. Good Magic’s progeny also recorded three 90-plus Beyers versus two for Justify and one for Bolt d’Oro.

Justify, like his sire, Scat Daddy, showed international appeal with his first crop, as his freshman season included Irish group stakes winners Aspen Grove and Statuette; U.S. dirt graded stakes winners Champions Dream and Just Cindy; and stakes winners Justa Warrior and Justique.

Although he finished fifth on the earnings list – behind Bolt d’Oro, Good Magic, Justify, and Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Army Mule – Sharp Azteca led the freshman class by individual winners. The Three Chimneys Farm stallion had 34 winners, including three stakes winners.