Knowing new sires of 2yo's is key info

LAS VEGAS - With Del Mar and Saratoga around the corner, 2-year-old racing will soon be in full bloom. Many of this year's freshman sires have already been well represented by runners from their initial crop from coast to coast, including Smoke Glacken, Open Forum, and Valid Expectations, but the majority of new sires will be heard from in the next few months. Knowing how to play offspring of these new stallions may yield lucrative results.

Stallions who were sprinters or milers as racehorses usually make good 2-year-old sires. Champion sprinter Smoke Glacken (by Two Punch) and multiple stakes-winning miler Valid Expectations (Valid Appeal) got off to very fast starts. Open Forum, whose only stakes victory occurred in the Risen Star Stakes, has been a pleasant surprise, siring two stakes winners thus far. All three stallions are from sire lines that are well known for brilliance (speed), and while runners by these sires are not expected to be Kentucky Derby material next year, their early maturity and speed gives them an advantage at 2.

While the dam and her female family is the key to racing class, the males in the pedigree (the sire and damsire) indicate surface and distance preferences. For this reason, stallions below are listed with their sire and damsire. Note that some stallions may be listed under more than one category. "D" or "T" indicates dirt or turf ability. "HT" indicates "hidden turf" sire.

"Hidden turf" stallions are horses who were successful on dirt (such as Go for Gin, Hennessy, Holy Bull, and Thunder Gulch), but were also bred for grass. Runners by "hidden turf" stallions usually offer great value because these sires are associated with their achievements on dirt. Some of last year's freshman stallions whom I classified as "hidden turf" sires were Hennessy, Maria's Mon, Storm Creek, Unbridled's Song, Afternoon Deelites, and Signal Tap.

Speed (5-7 furlongs)

ABAGINONE (Devil's Bag/Spectacular Bid)DHT

ADHOCRACY (Spend a Buck/Alleged)DHT

APPEALING SKIER (Baldski/Valid Appeal)DHT

BOSTON HARBOR (Capote/Vice Regent)DHT

BROOKLYN NICK (Danzig/Raja Baba)DHT

CANYON CREEK (Mr. Prospector/Riverman)DHT

CAPTAIN BODGIT (Saint Ballado/Greek Answer)DHT

CAT'S CAREER (Storm Cat/Exceller)DHT

CHEQUER (Mr. Prospector/Nijinsky II)DHT

CRAFTY (Crafty Prospector/Restless Native)D

CROWN AMBASSADOR (Storm Cat/Key to the Mint)DHT

DANJUR (Danzig/Summing)DT

DEVIOUS COURSE (Crafty Prospector/Mr. Leader)D

DR. CATON (Seattle Slew/Banner Sport)DHT

GOLD CASE (Forty Niner/Private Account)D

GOLD TRIBUTE (Mr. Prospector/Nureyev)DHT

GONE FOR REAL (Gone West/Drone)DT

JULES (Forty Niner/Devil's Bag)DHT

JUST A CAT (Storm Cat/Alydar)DHT

K.O. PUNCH (Two Punch/Joanie's Chief)D

LANGFUHR (Danzig/Briartic)DHT

MASTER BILL (Forty Niner/Nijinsky II)DHT

MATTY G (Capote/Pia Star)DHT

MEADOW MONSTER (Meadowlake/Vice Regent)DHT

MERCER MILL (Forty Niner/Seattle Slew)D

MR. SHAWKLIT (Afleet/Groshawk)D

NATIVE REGENT (Vice Regent/Ruthie's Native)T

OPEN FORUM (Deputy Minister//Graustark)DHT

ORMSBY (Carson City/Broadway Forli)D

PULPIT (A.P. Indy/Mr. Prospector)DHT

SCORE QUICK (Northern Score/Quack)T

SEATTLE PROUD (Seattle Slew/Proudest Roman)D

SIPHON (Itajara/Kublai Khan)DT

SMOKE GLACKEN (Two Punch/Magesterial)DHT

SUAVE PROSPECT (Fortunate Prospect/Staff Writer)D

VALID EXPECTATIONS (Valid Appeal/Iron Constitution)DHT

WILD ESCAPADE (Wild Again/Ramahorn)D

WILD GOLD (Wild Again/Pass the Glass)D

ZAMINDAR (Gone West/The Minstrel)T

Middle Distances (7-9 furlongs)

ALPHABET SOUP (Cozzene/Arts and Letters)DT

CAPTAIN BODGIT (Saint Ballado/Greek Answer)DHT

COMSTOCK LODE (Gulch/Boldnesian)DT

COZY DRIVE (Cozzene/Towson)DT

DR. CATON (Seattle Slew/Banner Sport)DHT

EDITOR'S NOTE (Forty Niner/Caveat)DHT

ELTISH (Cox's Ridge/Danzig)D

FABULOUS FROLIC (Green Dancer/Cherokee Fellow)DT

GONE FOR REAL (Gone West/Drone)DT

HALO'S IMAGE (Halo/Valid Appeal)DHT

HELMSMAN (El Gran Senor/King's Bishop)DT

HESABULL (Dispersal/Tri Jet)DT

HOLD FOR GOLD (Red Ransom/Mr. Prospector)T

HOLY MOUNTAIN (Devil's Bag/Viceregal)T

JULES (Forty Niner/Devil's Bag)DHT

KANDALY (Alydar/Rugged Man)D

LOST SOLDIER (Danzig/Secretariat)T

LOUIS QUATORZE (Sovereign Dancer/On to Glory)DHT

MARLIN (Sword Dance/Damascus)T

MIGHTY FORUM (Presidium/Rolfe)T

OUTFLANKER (Danzig/Alydar)DHT

PULPIT (A.P. Indy/Mr. Prospector)DHT

RIVER FLYER (Riverman/Flying Paster)T

RUN SOFTLY (Deputy Minister/Riverman)T

SANDPIT (Baynoun/Green Dancer)T

SIPHON (Itajara/Kublai Khan)DT

SIR CAT (Storm Cat/Private Account)DT

SPINNING WORLD (Nureyev/Riverman)T

STATE CRAFT (Deputy Minister/Smarten)DHT

STRUGGLER (Night Shift/Known Fact)T

TAMAYAZ (Gone West/The Minstrel)T

TEJANO RUN (Tejano/Wavering Monarch)DHT

TOP ACCOUNT (Private Account/Hoist the Flag)D

TOUCH GOLD (Deputy Minister/Buckpasser)DHT

VAUDEVILLE (Theatrical/Riverman)T

VICTORY SPEECH (Deputy Minister/Alydar)DHT

WHISKEY WISDOM (Wild Again/Lord at War)DHT

WILD SYN (Wild Again/Sovereign Dancer)DHT

WORLD STAGE (Sadler's Wells/Secretariat)T