Freshman sires' first crops showcased in trifecta sweep

A filly from the first crop of Wicked Strong led a trifecta sweep for freshman sires in a maiden special weight for juveniles Sunday at Keeneland.

Secretly Wicked wore down Competitive Queen for a half-length victory in the 4 1/2-furlong maiden race, becoming the first starter and winner for her sire, who stands at Spendthrift Farm. Competitive Queen is from the first crop of Competitive Edge, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud. Five lengths farther back in third was the favored Palace Duchess, by Spendthrift Farm’s Palace. All three members of a strong class of freshmen sires were Grade 1 winners on the track.

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales

Wicked Strong, by Hard Spun, won the Grade 1 Wood Memorial and Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes in 2014 and placed in five other graded stakes in his career, including a nose defeat in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. He was retired to stud for the 2016 breeding season, and he and Palace are now part of Spendthrift’s “Safe Bet” program, designed to incentivize breeders to support the farm’s current freshmen in their fourth seasons at stud in 2019.

Breeding to a stallion in the year his first foals hit the racetrack is typically considered risky. By the time the resulting foal is born, the value of the sire could have risen or fallen based on his freshman performance. Spendthrift’s Safe Bet program assures breeders that a stallion’s first crop of 2-year-olds will have at least one graded/group stakes winner in 2019, or the breeder will be completely relieved of the stud fee for his 2020 foal.

Along with Wicked Strong and Palace, Spendthrift’s six freshmen currently standing at its Kentucky farm include Grade 1 winner Danza, third in the 2014 Kentucky Derby, and graded stakes winner Medal Count, third in the 2014 Belmont Stakes. The group is rounded out by Grade 2 winner Race Day and Grade 1-placed Normandy Invasion.