Jack Christopher gives his sire, Munnings, a boost with Champagne win

Munnings, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, was a consistent graded stakes performer throughout his racing career, and has enjoyed consistent success throughout his stud career. He has 59 stakes winners to his credit, including four Grade 1 winners.

In the midst of an outstanding season – he ranks sixth on the general sires list through Sunday – Munnings recorded his second Grade 1-winning son on Saturday when Jack Christopher won the Champagne Stakes at Belmont.

Jack Christopher could prove to be an important horse for Munnings’s legacy.

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

Jack Christopher was a $135,000 yearling purchase for Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister, for whom he won his debut in August at Saratoga by 8 3/4 lengths. Before Jack Christopher’s Champagne victory, Coolmore and Peter Brant bought into him, presumably giving Coolmore a future stallion prospect to stand alongside his sire.

The Champagne, run at a one-turn mile at Belmont, has been an indicator of future success in the breeding shed for its winners. In the past half-century, it has been won by Seattle Slew (1976), widely considered the most successful of the Triple Crown winners as a sire; classic stallion Alydar (1977); Maria’s Mon (1995), the sire of a pair of Kentucky Derby winners; Birdstone (2003), sire of a pair of classic winners; Scat Daddy (2006), the sire of Triple Crown winner Justify; breakout young classic sire and sire of sires Uncle Mo (2010); Daredevil (2014), sire of champion Swiss Skydiver and Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil in his first crop; and Practical Joke (2016), a successful freshman this year.

Jack Christopher joined El Deal, I’m a Chatterbox, and Kimari as Grade 1 winners for Munnings. El Deal was the only male from that group prior to Saturday, having won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga. Now standing at Red River Farms in Louisiana, El Deal has a first crop of just 30 foals, according to statistics from The Jockey Club. El Deal is already the sire of a pair of Louisiana-bred stakes winners this season in Free Like a Girl and True Deal.