Cattin gives first-crop sire Neolithic second stakes win

If all the late Harlan’s Holiday had done was sire Into Mischief, he would have made enough of an impact on the bloodstock world. Into Mischief, a Grade 1 winner and record-setting classic sire, is heading toward his third consecutive North American sire title and is emerging as a sire of sires in his own right.

But Harlan’s Holiday left behind a handful of other successful sons at stud, including Eclipse Award champion Shanghai Bobby and Grade 1 winner Majesticperfection, both now standing internationally. Shanghai Bobby is the sire of champions in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Majesticperfection is the sire of Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria and Grade 1 winner Bell’s the One.

The highest earner sired by Harlan’s Holiday is Neolithic, a freshman standing at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, Fla. The young stallion is emerging as a solid regional prospect, as he sired his second career stakes winner, and first in open company, on Saturday when his son Cattin won the Inaugural Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Neolithic has been represented by 14 first-crop starters, including six winners, through Dec. 5. His first stakes victory came Oct. 30, when the Florida-bred colt Make It Big took the Ocala Stud Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park to remain unbeaten in two starts.

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Florida-bred Cattin finished third in the In Reality division of the Florida Sire Stakes in September. The colt returned to action against open company in the Inaugural, winning by 2 1/2 lengths.

Neolithic won 3 of 12 career starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, Starlight Racing, and Qatar Racing and earned $2,278,028 thanks to solid finishes in the world’s two richest races in 2017. He finished third to Eclipse Award champion Arrogate and Canadian champion Shaman Ghost in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup, and then was third behind Arrogate and eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Neolithic also was second in the Grade 3 Discovery in 2016; third in the Grade 1 Woodward behind Gun Runner in 2017; and second in the Grade 2 Fayette in 2017.

Holy Bull’s legacy lives on

Holy Bull, the 1994 Horse of the Year, left his mark on the breed as a broodmare sire. The late stallion’s daughters have produced Eclipse Award champion and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Judy the Beauty, Canadian champion and classic winner Holy Helena, Mexican champion Don’t Temp Me, Saudi Arabian champion Moaahed, and 76 other stakes winners, including Grade/Group 1 winners Caravaggio, Connect, Dr. Zic, My Great Love, and Silent Cat.

Now, stallions out of those daughters of Holy Bull are emerging as a major force. Prominent among those is Munnings, a multiple graded stakes winner standing at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky. Munnings, in the midst of a career year, was represented by his third Grade 1 winner on the season when Eda captured the Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos.

Munnings, who is by Speightstown and out of the Holy Bull mare La Comete, also is the sire of Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner Jack Christopher and Grade 1 Madison Stakes winner Kimari. They are among seven 2021 graded stakes winners for Munnings, who ranks seventh on the national earnings list through Dec. 5.

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Holy Bull also is the broodmare sire of another successful Kentucky sire in Cairo Prince, standing at Airdrie Stud. The son of Pioneerof the Nile, out of Holy Bubbette, is among the top 25 living sires in North America for 2021. His seven stakes winners this season include Cairo Memories, who won the Surfer Girl Stakes on turf in October and moved to dirt and finished second in the Starlet.

Two other grandsons of Holy Bull, Grade/Group 1 winners Connect and Caravaggio, are among the top five freshman sires of 2021. Connect, by Curlin and out of the Holy Bull mare Bullville Belle, ranks third on the earnings list for Lane’s End Farm. His first crop is led by Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner Rattle N Roll and Grade 3 Pocahontas winner Hidden Connection, along with three other stakes-placed runners.

Coolmore’s Caravaggio, by Scat Daddy and out of Mekko Hokte, ranks fifth on the earnings list, but leads the freshman class with 25 individual winners. Those include English Group 1 winner Tenebrism, Irish Group 2 winner Agartha, French stakes winner Dizzy Bizu, U.S. stakes winner Her World, and four other stakes-placed juveniles.