First yearlings from Arrogate, Gun Runner ready for ring

Gun Runner and Arrogate’s stars were tied together on the racetrack, each taking his turn at a championship season. Both horses entered stud in the same year in Kentucky, and the racetrack rivals became commercial rivals, with similar stud fees and well-received weanlings. There’s now a sense of anticipation for their first yearlings to come to sale in a major market – but that is undercut with a sense of loss for a fallen star after Arrogate’s shocking death earlier this year.

Arrogate burst onto the scene with a 13 1/2-length victory in the 2016 Travers Stakes – with Gun Runner third – establishing a track record of 1:59.36 in the 1 1/4-mile race. The son of Unbridled’s Song went on to edge Horse of the Year California Chrome by a half-length in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, locking up an Eclipse Award as the year’s outstanding 3-year-old.

Early the following year, he won the inaugural Pegasus World Cup, establishing a track mark at Gulfstream, and then made an improbable last-to-first move to run down Gun Runner in the 2017 Dubai World Cup.

That race marked the last victory for Arrogate, but it was the final loss for classic-placed Gun Runner, who proceeded to win five consecutive Grade 1 races to conclude his career. That streak included the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic over Arrogate to lock up Horse of the Year honors. The son of Candy Ride then added the Pegasus World Cup in January 2018 before heading to stud.

Arrogate retired to Juddmonte Farm, which had purchased him as a yearling, following the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic. His career bankroll of $17,422,600 was a record for a North American-based racehorse. Gun Runner, who earned $15,988,500, shipped home to co-owner Three Chimneys Farm the day following the Pegasus.

Arrogate stood for an advertised fee of $75,000 in 2018, making him the year’s most expensive new stallion. He covered 143 mares, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Eight of those mares sold at public auction later in the season in foal to him, averaging $417,500. Meanwhile, Gun Runner stood for $70,000 and covered 171 mares. He averaged $367,500 from 10 mares sold in foal in fall 2018.

The two remained in close commercial proximity when their first weanlings sold last fall, as Gun Runner had eight sell for an average of $344,375 and Arrogate had four change hands for an average of $311,250.

“Arrogate and Gun Runner are the obvious two,” Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales said in evaluating this year’s first-crop yearling sires. “Both were tremendous racehorses and are throwing very nice physicals from what I have seen.”

However, the anticipation for their next commercial showdown, in the yearling sales ring was overshadowed by Arrogate’s shocking death due to an illness that caused neurological issues. Juddmonte said the 7-year-old stallion had been heading for the end of his third breeding season without incident, but then developed a sore neck, causing him to be suspended from the breeding shed. Later that week, he fell in his stall and was unable to rise. He was transported to the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute for treatment and extensive testing, including spinal-tap evaluation, X-ray, ultrasound, CT scans, and many blood tests. The stallion was still unable to stand after four days and was euthanized on June 2.

“His will to fight, so valuable to him on the racetrack, became a challenge in his care,” a statement from Juddmonte read. “When serious secondary health issues set in, the decision was made to put him to sleep.”

Arrogate will have the opportunity to pass on his traits, as he covered stellar mares in his limited stud career. Juddmonte slated some of its star American mares for his first book, including multiple Grade 1 winner Sightseek, Kentucky Oaks winner Flute, the latter’s stakes-performing daughter Filimbi, and Rising Tornado, dam of champion Close Hatches. It also actively sought out and acquired additional high-quality mares who would fit his profile, such as Grade 1 winner Paulassilverlining.

Arrogate also was supported by some of Kentucky’s other top breeding operations, including Mandy Pope, who sent two-time Eclipse Award champion Songbird and Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty from her star-studded broodmare band. Clearsky Farm, which bred Arrogate, also supported him with Grade 2 winner Justwhistledixie, the dam of Grade 1 winner New Year’s Day and graded stakes winners Enforceable, Kingly, and Mohaymen.

“His physical and personality traits are passing very strongly to his offspring,” Juddmonte Group CEO Douglas Erskine said.

The strength of the books Arrogate bred is evident at this September’s yearling sales in Kentucky. The stallion is represented by a dozen yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase on Sept. 9-10, including a filly out of Eclipse Award champion She Be Wild and a colt who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Power Broker. Arrogate then has 55 yearlings cataloged at the Keeneland September yearling sale that runs Sept. 13-25, including 26 selected for the premier Book 1 portion of the catalog.

Pope entered Songbird’s Arrogate filly at Keeneland, and she will be one of the highlights of Book 1. Other highlights for the stallion in Book 1 include a filly out of Sovereign Award champion Points of Grace, the dam of champion Victory to Victory; a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue; and half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Denman’s Call, Force the Pass, Heart to Heart, Weep No More, Whitmore, and Wicked Strong.

Another 16 of Arrogate’s yearlings are slated for Book 2 at Keeneland, including Plum Pretty’s colt; a filly out of Grade 1 winner Artemis Agrotera; a colt out of Canadian champion Serenading; a half-brother to Canadian champion Ria Antonia; and a half to Grade 1 winner Mani Bhavan.

Meanwhile, Gun Runner also got a solid book of mares at Three Chimneys, supported by co-owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, which sent him Broodmare of the Year Fun House, and several other major outfits.

“Gun Runner covered an exceptional book of quality mares, which should lay the foundation for him as a successful sire,” Three Chimneys chairman Goncalo Torrealba said.

The Fun House colt is among Gun Runner’s 67 yearlings at Keeneland September, including 20 slotted in Book 1. The colt is a half-brother to Eclipse Award champion Untapable, as well as to Grade 1 winner Paddy O’Prado. Gun Runner’s Book 1 yearlings also include a pricey pinhook prospect. His filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Love and Pride was the most expensive weanling at last November’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, purchased for $750,000 by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan.

“They’re bigger than I thought they were going to be, to be honest,” Ryan said of Gun Runner’s offspring after signing for the filly, who will be consigned at Keeneland by Four Star Sales, as agent. “He looks magnificent, but the thing that impressed me about him was the way he moved on the racetrack. He looked like a cheetah – his feet barely touched the ground. But his breeding, I think there’s some [broodmare sire] Giant’s Causeway coming through there – [his weanlings] have size and scope and bone and substance. I’m liking what I’m seeing.

“He was as good a runner as we’ve seen in recent years,” Ryan continued. “He turned out to be a hell of an older horse. I wish people would keep more 3-year-olds in training as older horses.”

Gun Runner’s Book 1 offerings at Keeneland also include yearlings out of Chilean champion Wapi and Canadian champion Youcan’tcatchme, and half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Bowies Hero and It Tiz Well. He has another 29 yearlings placed in Book 2, including a half-brother to Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel and fellow champion Tu Endie Wei; a yearling out of another Canadian champion in Embur’s Song; a filly out of Grade 1 winner Sweet Lulu; and half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Finley’sluckycharm and My Conquestadory.

Prior to Keeneland, Gun Runner has a dozen yearlings cataloged for the Fasig-Tipton sale, including a half-sibling to classic-placed Grade 1 winner Brilliant Speed.

Pulpit and Tapit sons

The late Pulpit, who was a multiple graded stakes winner in the gold silks of Claiborne Farm before retiring to stand at his birthplace, was a fine stallion in his own right. From his debut at stud in 1998 until his death in 2012, the son of A.P. Indy sired 85 stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Corinthian, Ice Box, Lord Nelson, Mi Sueno, Power Broker, Purge, Pyro, Rutherienne, Sky Mesa, Stroll, and Tapit.

But it’s one generation removed, as a sire of sires, that Pulpit has truly made his mark on the Thoroughbred world. Tapit, a perennial leading sire who holds the single-season earnings record for a North American stallion, has sired three winners of the Belmont Stakes, more than any stallion in modern history. Pulpit has another classic sire in his late son Lucky Pulpit, sire of 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner and two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome. Sky Mesa is a consistent top-level stallion; Mr Speaker is the sire of Grade 1 winner and Kentucky Oaks hopeful Speech in his first crop; and Essence of Dubai sired Eclipse Award champion Dubai Majesty, to name a few more accomplishments.

Pulpit has two of his final significant sons, Lord Nelson and American Freedom, among the stallions represented by their first yearlings at this fall’s sales. Meanwhile his famed son Tapit, emerging as a sire of sires in his own right, also has two sons with their first yearlings this year.

Lord Nelson was an eagerly anticipated addition to the Spendthrift Farm roster. Winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes and second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes to champion Runhappy as a 3-year-old, he blossomed at 4 to win all four of his starts, with triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in each race. That included consecutive Grade 1 triumphs sprinting in the Triple Bend, Bing Crosby with a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure, and Santa Anita Sprint Championship. He was forced to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Sprint when a minor cut he had sustained developed an infection that required antibiotics. He was expected to debut at Spendthrift in 2017.

However, Lord Nelson then developed laminitis as a secondary complication to his initial injury, and an extended battle and recovery from the hoof disease forced him to miss that season, putting Spendthrift in the position of re-introducing the stallion a year later. Mindful of the stallion’s health, Lord Nelson covered a limited book of mares in 2018, which could potentially help breeders now looking to sell his offspring, as there are a limited supply of them.

From 10 weanlings sold at public auction last year, Lord Nelson averaged $54,800, against their advertised conception stud fee of $25,000. The stallion has 17 yearlings cataloged at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase – including a filly out of graded stakes winner Hour Glass – followed by 28 cataloged at Keeneland September. Four of those are slotted in the Book 2 portion of the sale, including half-siblings to graded stakes winners Happy Farm and Maximus Mischief, and a filly out of graded stakes winner Malibu Pier, dam of stakes winner Coasted.

American Freedom, who now stands at Airdrie Stud, won the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico in just his third career start, then rolled by 4 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby. He subsequently finished second in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational to Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator, finishing ahead of both Kentucky Derby winner and champion Nyquist and future champion Gun Runner. He then was a distant second in the Travers to stablemate Arrogate, finishing ahead of Gun Runner, Exaggerator, Belmont Stakes winner Creator, and future Grade 1 winners Gift Box and Connect.

American Freedom, who debuted for $10,000 at Airdrie, was represented by 14 weanlings sold last year for an average of $22,800. The young Pulpit stallion has eight yearlings cataloged at Fasig-Tipton, including half-siblings to graded stakes winners Chanteline and Jeltrin. He has one yearling in Book 2 at Keeneland, from 56 total in the catalog.

Pulpit’s son Tapit, one of the perennial commercial leaders at the yearling sales, has sons Cupid and Mohaymen with their first yearlings in the mix this season. Both are likely to get a close look, as Tapit, who reigns at Gainesway, has steadily emerged as a sire of sires in recent years. His sons have been represented by Eclipse Award honorees two years in a row, as Tapizar sired 2018 Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and champion Monomoy Girl, followed last year by Flashback’s daughter British Idiom, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and was named division champion.

Tapit had four sons among the top 15 freshman sires by earnings in a competitive class last season in Constitution, Tapiture, Tonalist, and Race Day. Constitution is the sire of this year’s Belmont Stakes, Runhappy Travers Stakes, and Florida Derby winner Tiz the Law, the favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Cupid, a three-time Grade 2 winner as a 3-year-old, scored the biggest victory of his career in his 4-year-old debut, taking the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita off an eight-month layoff. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108 for his 3 1/4-length victory. Cupid proved one of the most popular stallions of the season when he debuted at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in 2018 for $12,500, covering 223 mares. That was second in North America only to standout sire Into Mischief, with 245.

From that first book, Cupid averaged $44,060 from 25 weanlings sold last year, about 3 1/2 times his stud fee. He has 13 yearlings cataloged at Fasig-Tipton and 50 at Keeneland in September, with his lone Book 2 representative being a half-sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Giza Goddess.

Mohaymen was a multiple Grade 2 winner at ages 2 and 3 before retiring to Shadwell Stud in Kentucky. He stood for a fee of $7,500 in his debut season, and subsequently averaged $46,364 from 11 weanlings in 2019, more than six times that fee. He has five yearlings cataloged at Fasig-Tipton and 28 at Keeneland September. The highlight of the latter group is a half-sibling to multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy, who is slotted in Book 2.

‘Other’ sons of Candy Ride

While Horse of the Year Gun Runner is, unsurprisingly, taking the lion’s share of the attention, two other sons of Candy Ride among this year’s class of first-crop yearling sires have been roaring in the background with solid sales results.

Mastery was unbeaten in four career starts, including the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, before injury forced him into retirement. The young son of Candy Ride was well received in his first season at Claiborne Farm. His solid book of mares included Drumette, dam of Kentucky Oaks winner and champion Monomoy Girl and Grade 2 winner Mr. Monomoy; Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account, dam of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing; Gold Vault, dam of Grade 1 winner Contested and stakes winner Mosler; Ragtime Hope, dam of two-time Breeders’ Cup winner and Dubai Golden Shaheen winner Secret Circle; and Grade 1 winner Last Full Measure.

“We have several Masterys, and I’ve been impressed with all of them,” said Conrad Bandoroff of prominent consignor Denali Stud. “They have good size and scope for a son of Candy Ride, and they have a lot of quality.”

Mastery has already had solid commercial results from his early offerings. He was represented by 30 mares in foal to him sold at public auction in 2018 for an average of $230,167, more than nine times his introductory stud fee of $25,000 at Claiborne. He averaged $161,800 from 15 weanlings sold last year.

Also recording strong commercial results early on is another son of Candy Ride, Unified, who debuted for a $10,000 fee in 2018 at Lane’s End. Fourteen mares in foal from his first season sold for an average of $36,857, more than three times that fee. He was then represented by 19 weanlings sold in 2019 for an average of $27,221.

Unified was a graded stakes winner both sprinting and routing as a 3-year-old, taking the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct and the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont. The following year, he won the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint and was second in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap.

Unified stands alongside Candy Ride and that stallion’s successful son Twirling Candy at Lane’s End.

“Unified, himself, is about as good looking a son of Candy Ride as I’ve ever been around,” said Peter Sheehan, yearling manager at Lane’s End. “His offspring remind me a lot of him and of the Twirling Candys that I’ve been around. They’ve got strong, powerful hips, great shoulders, great-moving horses. They look like they’re supposed to look, like they’re by a son of Candy Ride out of a Dixie Union mare. They look like they’re going to be good, honest horses.”

International connections

This year’s class of first-crop yearling sires has international flavor from many corners of the globe, thanks to Australian Group 1 winner Astern, Brazilian champion Bal a Bali, Royal Ascot winner Hootenanny, and others.

Astern, a son of Darley’s successful shuttle stallion and classic sire Medaglia d’Oro, began his career in the 2017 Southern Hemisphere season at Darley’s Kelvinside Farm in Australia before shuttling to stand the 2018 Northern Hemisphere season at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky. The young stallion won four group stakes in Australia, highlighted by the Group 1 Golden Rose, a prestigious sprint for 3-year-olds.

Bal a Bali won 11 of 12 starts in Brazil, including a sweep of that country’s Triple Crown, and was honored as Horse of the Year in 2014. After overcoming a bout of laminitis later that year, he returned to race at a high level in the United States, winning the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile and Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile in 2017.

Bal a Bali retired to stud at Calumet Farm, which hasn’t shied away from international runners while building an eclectic stallion roster. The farm’s first-crop yearling sires this season also include War Correspondent, who was a winner and never missed the board in France and was later a Grade 3 winner in the United States. The son of War Front is a full brother to multiple European Group 1 winner Declaration of War, from the immediate family of Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags.

Hootenanny, by the internationally successful stallion Scat Daddy, put together a unique juvenile campaign on multiple surfaces and in three different countries in 2014. After winning his debut on the Keeneland synthetic track and finishing third on dirt in the Rollicking Stakes at Pimlico, he won the Windsor Castle at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting for trainer Wesley Ward. He finished second in the Group 1 Prix Morny Stakes in France and then concluded the season with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. Hootenanny began his stud career at Buck Pond Farm and has since relocated to Ward’s farm.

Shaman Ghost doesn’t have quite the international flair of some of his classmates, but also is well traveled both in his racing and stud careers. The son of Adena Springs stallion Ghostzapper was a Sovereign Award Canadian champion after winning the Queen’s Plate, and then went on to be a Grade 1 winner on both coasts in the United States, winning the 2016 Woodward at Saratoga and the 2017 Santa Anita Handicap. He stood his first season at stud in California, resulting in his first crop of yearlings to sales, before moving to Adena’s main farm in Kentucky.

◗ In addition to Eclipse Award champions Gun Runner and Arrogate, and the aforementioned Grade/Group 1 winners Astern, Bal a Bali, Cupid, Hootenanny, Lord Nelson, Mastery, and Shaman Ghost, other first-crop yearling sires in this class include Eclipse champion Classic Empire (Ashford) and additional Grade 1 winners Connect (Lane’s End), Dortmund (Bonita Farm), Gormley (Spendthrift), Greenpointcrusader (Ocala Stud), Keen Ice (Calumet), Klimt (Darby Dan Farm), Midnight Storm (Taylor Made), Noble Bird (Ocala Stud), and Practical Joke (Ashford).