Florida stallions: Khozan making up for short racing career with breeding success

Khozan never got a chance to show what he may have been truly capable of on the racetrack. The $1 million purchase, a half-brother to Hall of Fame racemare Royal Delta, won his two starts in dominant fashion, but was injured while preparing for his stakes debut, forcing his retirement. Still, he was well received upon arriving at Journeyman Stud in Florida.

“Khozan is reminiscent of Danzig and Malibu Moon – immensely talented horses with abbreviated racing careers,” Journeyman’s Brent Fernung said. “The upside is unlimited.”

While Khozan has much to do before his stud career will be considered the equal of those aforementioned stallions, he got this phase of his life off to a flying start. He was Florida’s leading freshman and juvenile sire of 2019, and finished in the top 10 nationally in a powerhouse freshman class. His first-crop stakes horses include colts perhaps poised to continue on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Khozan’s runners earned $1,258,517 during the 2019 season, easily outpacing Ocala Stud’s The Big Beast on the freshman list. The Big Beast earned $678,306. Khozan’s bankroll also placed him in the top 10 among living and active Florida stallions.

Khozan finished eighth on the national freshman sire earnings list, which was led by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. His 43 runners for the season were far fewer than any of the Kentucky-based stallions ahead of him, save for fourth-place Liam’s Map, whose 44 runners included a pair of Grade 1 winners.

Khozan’s top earner in his freshman season was Liam’s Lucky Charm, who won the FTBOA Florida Sire Affirmed Stakes after placing in two other stakes in the series behind Chance It, now an open stakes winner and considered the leader among Florida-bred 3-year-olds. Liam’s Lucky Charm began his own 2020 season with an open-company stakes win, the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay. Trainer Ralph Nicks said that the colt will make his next start in a Kentucky Derby points race, either continuing locally in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 7 or Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 29, or traveling to the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds.

Khozan’s first crop includes another 3-year-old who has successfully faced off against Triple Crown hopefuls in Zimba Warrior, who finished third in a pair of stakes in California last year, including the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes. He began 2020 by finishing third in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes. Khozan’s other stakes performers include Sebs Princess, winner of the Louisiana Jewel at Delta Downs; Peruvian Group 1 winner Airbus; Rebelde and Smash Factor, both stakes-placed in the Florida Sire series; and stakes-placed runners Delia O’Hara, Gangly, and Me and Mr. C.

Khozan is out of the graded stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Delta Princess. Her top runner was Royal Delta, who earned three Eclipse Awards and posted major victories including two editions each of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic and Delaware Handicap, along with the Alabama Stakes, Beldame Stakes, and Personal Ensign. All those victories came at 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 miles, perhaps boding well for Khozan as his offspring continue to attempt to stretch out in distance.

Delta Princess also produced Grade 1 winners Crown Queen and Delta Prince, Alabama third-place finisher Carnival Court, and Empire Way, second in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes. All four stakes performers were, like the Distorted Humor horse Khozan, sired by Mr. Prospector-line stallions. This family has produced a handful of other successful regional sires – Group 1 winner Biondetti, a half-brother to Delta Princess, was Florida’s leading freshman sire before moving to stand in Ohio, and Empire Way stands in California.

Thanks to his regal lineage, Khozan was a $1 million purchase by Al Shaqab Racing out of the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Florida selected sale of 2-year-olds in training. He won his debut going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park by 3 3/4 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 102. He followed up with a 12 3/4-length optional-claiming win going a mile, with an 88 Beyer. Those proved to be his only career starts, as he was injured while preparing for a start in the Florida Derby.

“It’s a shame we never got to see Khozan on the big stage, because he was a very fast horse who could carry his speed,” trainer Todd Pletcher said at the time of the colt’s retirement. “With his talent, looks, and pedigree, he has a real shot to be a successful stallion.”

Adios Charlie tops general list

Adios Charlie and First Dude renewed their rivalry on the Florida general sires list in 2019, and this time Adios Charlie prevailed to earn his first title.

Double Diamond Farm’s First Dude and Ocala Stud’s Adios Charlie finished first and second among living and active Florida resident sires in both 2017 and 2018. First Dude’s top runner in 2018 was Eclipse Award champion Shamrock Rose.

But in 2019, Adios Charlie turned the tables, edging First Dude on the general earnings list with a bankroll of $3,771,605 to $3,446,428. First Dude had 70 winners from 134 starters (a 52 percent strike rate) in 2019, compared to 64 winners from 108 runners (59 percent) for Adios Charlie. Both stallions had three stakes winners on the season. Adios Charlie’s stakes winners combined to capture seven stakes, while First Dude’s captured one stakes each. Additionally, First Dude was missing his top runner from 2018. Shamrock Rose made just three starts in 2019 before being retired due to injury, with her best finish a third in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn.

Adios Charlie enjoyed a solid season in 2018, with millionaire Patternrecognition winning the Grade 1 Cigar Mile and Grade 2 Kelso Handicap. Patternrecognition went to the sidelines in early 2019, but Adios Charlie had two younger runners in the wings waiting to bloom. The stallion’s top-earning runners were Illinois-bred Jean Elizabeth and New York-bred Dugout, stakes winners in 2018 who took their game to a new level.

Jean Elizabeth and Dugout are both co-bred, co-owned, and trained by Larry Rivelli. Jean Elizabeth has won 12 of 18 starts and has never missed the board. A stakes winner at Arlington in 2018, she won all but one of her starts last year, highlighted by a victory in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes at Woodbine. She also won the Isaac Murphy Stakes at Arlington, the Sweet Briar Too Stakes at Woodbine, the Powerless Handicap at Hawthorne, the Holiday Inaugural at Turfway, and the Abundantia Stakes at Gulfstream.

Dugout, a multiple stakes winner against New York-breds as a juvenile, was successful in open company as a 3-year-old, winning the Steel Valley Sprint in Ohio. He also finished second in the Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth and has won 6 of 10 outings. Adios Charlie’s other stakes winner in 2019 was Florida-bred Lovesick, who won the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes in 2018 at Gulfstream Park West and the Liza Jane Stakes last year at Gulfstream.

Florida-bred Adios Charlie, co-owned by trainer Stanley Hough, won 3 of his 7 outings and was second three times. He won the Grade 2 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct by 2 1/2 lengths in 2011, defeating Astrology, who went on to be third in the Preakness Stakes, and Justin Phillip, an eventual Grade 1 winner. Adios Charlie later finished second in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes, beaten a head by Alternation, and second to Dominus in the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes.