Cairo Prince nears freshman sire earnings lead

Freshman sire Cairo Prince had a massive day Saturday, including striking the first blow on the Kentucky Derby trail, to move among the leaders of his peer group.

The Cairo Prince colt Cairo Cat edged Tight Ten in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs to earn an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and 10 points toward a spot in the 2019 Derby in the first points race of the series.

Cairo Cat was the fourth winner on the day for his sire. Earlier in the day Pahket won a maiden special weight on the Belmont turf, Shazier won a maiden special weight on the Gulfstream turf, and Abuela’s Love won a maiden special weight on Gulfstream’s main track.

Cairo Prince, a son of Pioneerof the Nile standing at Airdrie Stud, now has career progeny earnings of $600,929 through Sunday, taking dead aim on Spendthrift Farm’s Goldencents, at $631,296, atop the freshman earnings list. Goldencents leads by individual winners with 16. Cairo Prince and another Spendthrift freshman, Cross Traffic, each has 11.