Kentucky stallions: Mark Valeski starting strong

Mark Valeski didn’t get the press of Cross Traffic, whose first-crop daughter Jaywalk coasted in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. He also lacked the numbers of runners to reach the top ranks of a competitive freshman sire earnings list, in which four individuals had progeny earnings of more than $1 million. But what Airdrie Stud’s homebred lacked in quantity, he made up in consistency and quality.

Mark Valeski recorded nine individual winners from 15 first-crop starters in 2018, a solid ratio of 60 percent. His son Network Effect earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 94 – matching Jaywalk’s number in the BC Juvenile Fillies for the top figure of the year posted by a runner by a freshman sire.

Network Effect was a debut winner in a Saratoga maiden special weight in August. He then finished second to Vekoma in the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes, recording a 93 Beyer, and ticked that number up to 94 finishing second to the unbeaten Maximus Mischief in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes.