D'wildcat's first crop hit the track

Two-year-old racing is in high gear at racetracks around North America, including Woodbine, which held its first pair of two-furlong dashes this weekend and has two more in the condition book on April 28 and 29.

When trying to pick a winner in these races, handicappers should not look for only the fancy first-crop sires, because a lot of 2-year-old races are won this time of year by the offspring of stallions you might never have heard of, and might not hear from again until next spring.

The Ontario roster of stallions with first crops racing this year is light. Paynes Bay (by Mr. Prospector) and Lodge Hill (Cozzene) will have a stamina influence on their offspring, while Valid n Bold, a son of Valid Appeal, has a small number of foals but they should be quick.

Local fans will likely see a few from the first crop of former Ontario sire D'wildcat in the entries. A graded stakes-winning sprinter, D'wildcat has been relocated to Florida, but the son of Forest Wildcat has one crop of Ontario foals, including Wild Logic, a $125,000 weanling purchase who was scheduled to race on Saturday at Woodbine for trainer Steve Asmussen.

High-profile American first-crop sires include Hold That Tiger, who sired the top-priced yearling in Canada last season at $250,000.

Vindication, by Seattle Slew, is sure to have loads of good juveniles since the stallion was undefeated at 2 and voted the Eclipse Award. Hook and Ladder, Yankee Gentleman, and Repent are others who could have the occasional Canadian starter.

Gibson County, a second-year stallion, is a Florida sire who has had juveniles race at Woodbine with success. A speedy juvenile stakes winner himself, Gibson County is by In Excess.

In Excess already has one young son in the news as a sire of a 2-year-old. Bring the Heat, who raced for trainer Wesley Ward on the West Coast, is the sire of One Hot Wish, who set a world record for 4 1/2 furlongs in her career debut at Keeneland on Thursday.

Another one to tab is Posse, a son of Canadian-bred sire Silver Deputy who was a graded stakes winner at 2 when trained by Asmussen. One of Posse's sons, Kodiak Kowboy, is scheduled to debut at Woodbine on Sunday.

The leading Canadian sires of juvenile winners in 2006 were One Way Love, Tejano Run, Trajectory, the deceased Cat's at Home, and perennial leading sire Bold Executive.

Street Sounds another Canadian coup

Canadian-breds have had a stellar start in 2007, and on Thursday, the Bob Anderson and Rod Ferguson product Street Sounds won the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at about seven furlongs on the Keeneland Polytrack.

A $400,000 yearling purchase by Hidden Creek Farm, Street Sounds is from Anderson and Ferguson's prized Kentucky-bred mare Rare Opportunity (a daughter of Danzig Connection), who won her first two starts and then was third in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes to Serena's Song in 1995 before being retired.

The victory by Street Sounds (by Street Cry) made waves through the local breeding industry as her family tree is alive with runners.

Her older half-sister Silver Highlight is still racing, for trainer Edward Freeman. Silver Highlight, 5, won the 2005 Wonder Where Stakes and was fifth in the Paseana Stakes at Santa Anita in January.

Another Street Sounds sibling, Capacity, never raced but is the dam of stakes-placed Woodbine runner To the Brim (Ascot Knight), owned by the Hat Trick Stable, as well as recent maiden claiming winner Top Capacity (also by Ascot Knight), who is owned and trained by Gale Patti.

Woodbine owners Rocco D'Alimonte and Frank Annecchini paid only $10,844 for Street Sounds's 2-year-old half-brother Victory Pass, a son of Aljabr, at last year's Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's Ontario yearling sale.