Mogador added to farm's growing roster

How many stallions are too many? Don Litz, founder and president of Maryland Stallion Station, said that he and his partner, David DiPietro, considered that question carefully before adding yet another new horse to the farm's burgeoning roster for 2006.

Mogador, a 6-year-old stakes-placed son of Danzig who was bred and raced by Elizabeth Moran's Brushwood Stable, will take up residence at the facility in Glyndon, Md., within the next several days, bringing the Maryland Stallion Station's total number of stallions to 10. Three other horses - Fantasticat, Gators N Bears, and St Averil - entered stud there this season.

"Each horse we add enhances our probability of finding the 'big horse,' " said Litz.

Maryland Stallion Station, which opened its doors amid great fanfare in 2005 as the first major commercial facility to be constructed in the state within the past 40 years, is now "up to speed," in Litz's words.

Speed - and pedigree - are two words often used in conjunction with the farm's new stallion. Mogador is the first foal from the 11-year-old Mt. Livermore mare Layounne, who is a half-sister to five stakes horses, including graded or group winners Caress (the dam of Grade 1 winner Sky Mesa), Country Cat, Della Francesca, and Bernstein. Mogador's second dam, La Affirmed (by Affirmed), is a full sister to graded winner Lovelier and a half-sister to champion and multiple stakes producer Outstandingly. The family traces back to the great racemare and producer Busanda (by War Admiral), who is most notably remembered as the dam of Buckpasser.

Campaigned exclusively on the turf, Mogador won four allowance races, all at the distance of one mile at New York tracks, and once stopped the timer in 1:33.29. For most of his career, he recorded Beyer Figures in the high 90's. Tested in stakes company for the first time in the fall of his 4-year-old season, he responded with a game second-place finish in Belmont Park's one-mile Elusive Quality Stakes. In his follow-up performance at 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap at Calder in December 2004, Mogador nearly emerged as a graded-stakes winner, but ended up fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths after a troubled trip. His next and final start came in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in January 2005, in which he was beaten a neck as the odds-on favorite while suffering a sesamoid injury in a rear leg.

A stud fee has not been set for Mogador, who will stand as the joint property of Maryland Stallion Station and Brushwood. At Maryland Stallion Station, he will join:

* Bowman's Band (1998, Dixieland Band-Hometown Queen, by Pleasant Colony), a graded stakes winner and multiple Grade 1-placed earner of $1.3 million. Covered nearly 100 mares in his first year at stud in 2005 and is booked to about the same number this year.

* Fantasticat (2001, Storm Cat-Lotta Dancing, by Alydar), a graded-stakes winner out of a graded-stakes-winning mare. Second dam, Grade 1 winner Lotka, is a full sister to Stephan's Odyssey.

* Gators N Bears (2000, Stormy Atlantic-I'll Be Along, by Notebook), one of the East Coast's top sprinters over the past three seasons, who retired with earnings of $804,393.

* Jazz Club (1995, Dixieland Band-Hidden Garden, by Mr. Prospector), a multiple graded-stakes winner whose first crop are 3-year-olds this season.

* Meadow Monster (1991, Meadowlake-Khanbalic, by Vice Regent), a graded-stakes winner and proven sire who relocated to Maryland Stallion Station this season from Green Willow Farms in Westminster, Md.

* Outflanker (1994, Danzig-Lassie's Lady, by Alydar), from the family of leading sire A.P. Indy. Represented by 18 stakes performers from his first five crops, including multiple stakes winner Outstander.

* Rock Slide (1998, A.P. Indy-Prospectors Delite, by Mr. Prospector), a multiple stakes-winning full brother to Horse of the Year Mineshaft and three other stakes winners. Entered stud at Maryland Stallion Station in 2004.

* Seeking Daylight (1998, Seeking the Gold-Play All Day, by Steady Growth), a graded-stakes winner from the family of champions Izvestia, With Approval, and Touch Gold. Entered stud in 2004.

* St Averil (2001, Saint Ballado-Avie's Fancy, by Lord Avie), a graded winner and Grade 1-placed, from a black-type family.

Maryland Stallion Station has also been boosted this season by a major addition to its staff. Tim Capps, who most recently served as a Laurel and Pimlico executive and before that as executive vice president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, now is working full time for Maryland Stallion Station as director of marketing, promotion, and sales.