Harness: Perfect Sting, Captain Corey yearlings could bring excitement

We’re still a few months away from the debut of a new crop of freshman but it’s never too early to look even further down the road. This fall the next generation will be on display and two sires – one trotting and the other pacing – could be embarking on a new path for some to take when looking for the next champion.

On the pacing side, Perfect Sting, perfectly-bred and impressive on the racetrack, hopes to extend the Always B Miki line into the next generation. On the trotting front there is Captain Corey, a Hambletonian-winning son of the pacing-bred trotter Googoo Gaagaa offering new bloodlines that could work as a great outcross to some potent male lines. For both Perfect Sting and Captain Corey, the second career is a chance to improve upon their racing performance that while brilliant at times, may have not lived up to all expectations.

The opportunity for Perfect Sting to become a great sire is on his side primarily because of his ability to cross perfectly with Somebeachsomewhere and the next generation of sires he has given the sport. From 112 registered yearlings from his first crop, Perfect Sting was bred to 34 mares sired by Somebeachsomewhere. No matter how you want to rank these mares on racing or production over the years, the sheer number from one sire suggests Perfect Sting will have plenty of help in producing effectively from this crop alone. Perfect Sting has a colt out of the $2.4 million daughter of Somebeachsomewhere named Pure Country that tops the long list by the late-great stallion. There are a host of top prospects from Captaintreacherous, Somebeachsomewhere’s greatest son that has produced so many top pacing fillies that his stature as a leading broodmare sire is likely to grow exponentially over the coming years. Just from daughters of Captaintreacherous, Perfect Sting should shine next year. There’s a Perfect Sting-sired filly from Fresh Breeze, the dam of current star Twin B Joe Fresh. Breeders Crown champion Reflect With Me has a second foal, a filly by Always B Miki, and Rocknificent, the 1:48 winning pacing mare by Captaintreacherous that earned $1.1 million, has her first foal, a colt joining what appears to be a first crop with awesome potential.

Though the Perfect Sting first crop appears weighted towards a Somebeachsomewhere cross, there are numerous examples of quality pacing mares from other stallions that could propel his first crop, headed up by a colt from Western Silk. This is a three-quarter brother to champion Grace Hill by the name of Kountry Sting. Captain Crunch was the eighth foal from his dam Sweet Paprika, so there’s no reason to believe that age will be any impediment to the mare being bred to the youthful Perfect Sting. The result of that connection is a yearling colt named A Little Kick. The bloodlines here run rather deep, with the dam a half-sister to superstar stallion Sweet Lou among a host of other quality performers.

The number of quality mares bred to Perfect Sting offers the chance at some redemption for a horse that had a perfect 2-year-old season that would have been incredible if not for the fact that on two of his 10 victories as a freshman he finished in a dead-heat. Ties have never been satisfying and though they are treated differently in sporting events than they are in racing, the two “ties” Perfect Sting experienced during an incredible juvenile season left some doubts to his dominance.

As a 3-year-old the ties turned into second-place finishes and the record showed seven wins and eight runner-up finishes in his sophomore season. Critical of course was his second Breeders Crown victory that came at 3 after a dead-heat the year before. On the flip side, second-place finishes by short margins in the Hempt, North America Cup and Cane Pace were enough to cast doubt on just how great a horse Perfect Sting was in his career.

Regardless of how the scorecard ended, Perfect Sting was worse than second only once during his 26-race career that included 17 victories and $1.8 million in earnings. The reality of his racing career is that it wasn’t perfect, but it was extraordinary. His sire Always B Miki has been a bit of a hit or miss type during his early years, but the hits have been unique in that they have blended his speed with a toughness that can only be seen and admired when watching horses like Sylvia Hanover in action.

If there is a sleeper among the first crop, we’d like to think that the American Ideal-sired mare Stephanie Deo could be the one that helps elevate Perfect Sting’s first crop to stardom. The colt named Thisbeestings Deo hails from a mare with bloodlines descending back to the great Eternal Camnation. Stephanie Deo was unraced at 2 and showed wicked speed briefly as a sophomore before being injured. She earned a 1:50 4/5 mark at Harrah’s Philadelphia as a 4-year-old and now commences a second career that will hopefully be more fulfilling.

While Perfect Sting’s performance and bloodlines set him up quite nicely when mares were needed to breed in his first crop, the same can’t be said of Captain Corey. Despite winning the Hambletonian and being an interesting outcross option, Captain Corey’s full book of mares is not exactly a collection of A-listers. That’s regrettable to say the least but not surprising. Breeders like to go with what’s known as far as pedigree along the stallion line. Captain Corey during the early portion of his 2-year-old season looked like a 4-year-old racing against babies. His freshman season did not close out as it began, which was concerning at the time. When he came back at 3, Captain Corey was able to right the ship but to some degree, despite a Hambletonian championship, left the door ajar for what could have been. That Captain Corey only had 14 career starts may have been the impediment towards breeders trusting him enough. There was certainly a look to him on and off the racetrack that was impressive, and the speed was unquestionably there. Unlike his pacing first-crop rival Perfect Sting, Captain Corey is going to need to infuse the mares he was bred to and lift their stature if he’s going to hit it big in his first crop or beyond. In years past having Hanover Shoe Farms’ mares behind you was enough to get the ball rolling favorably but in today’s market a wider array of broodmare talent is necessary. Looking at the first crop of Captain Corey, there are 98 registered foals split evenly between colts and fillies. A Hanover-bred colt from Think Twice may be just the type necessary to kick start Captain Corey’s second career. That’s because the yearling colt is a half-brother to the $972K winner Temporal Hanover. The dam also produced 2023 Peaceful Way elimination winner Tandem Hanover.

On the filly side there’s another Hanover-bred from the Yankee Glide-sired Aunt Mel. This one is a half-sister to the 2020 Goldsmith Maid champion Anoka Hanover. Hanover also has a filly that is a half-sister to 2017 Kindergarten Series final winner Hey Blondie. The dam Winbak Blondie is a full sister to leading stallion Muscle Hill.

While Perfect Sting was able to garner a long list of Somebeachsomewhere mares for his first crop, it’s notable that Captain Corey’s breadth of broodmares comes from around the world, figuratively and literally, with mares sired by Varenne and Coktail Jet adding to the depth.

It is far too early in the game to make any rash predictions about these two very different horses. In the breeding business it may just take one unique horse, something that would neatly define Captain Corey on the racetrack, to make a stallion’s career. Perfect Sting’s pedigree alone justifies higher expectations and given a full book there’s every reason to believe he’ll at least meet them.