National Flag building career in Ohio

A number of the most exciting sires currently standing in Ohio have moved there from other states. In the case of National Flag, he began his career in Ohio for one of the Buckeye State’s most prominent partnerships and is rewarding them as a rising star.

National Flag, who stands for a $2,000 fee for racing co-owner WinStar Farm and longtime Ohio partner Tim Hamm at the latter’s Blazing Meadows Farm in Ohio, was the state’s leading freshman sire of 2022. He stepped up to finish third on the state’s general sire list for 2023.

But that simple ranking does not tell the whole story. The top two on the list both have far more years at stud than National Flag, as Dominus entered stud in 2013 and Sky Kingdom in 2016.

Moreover, neither had Ohio-sired foals of racing age on the track in 2023, and both had Kentucky-sired crops to bolster their numbers. Dominus, previously at Spendthrift Farm, moved to Mapleton Thoroughbred Farm for 2022. Sky Kingdom relocated to Maro Veterinary Services from Darby Dan Farm in 2021.

Dominus, ($2,457,290 in progeny earnings in 2023), Sky Kingdom ($1,962,573), and National Flag ($1,279,103) rank in that order on the earnings list, regardless of progeny conception area. Grade 3 winner National Flag, the only stallion with Ohio-conceived foals of racing age to achieve seven-figure progeny earnings in 2023, did so with an outstanding strike rate of 25 winners from 28 starters on the season. His first two crops include stakes winners Casual Attire and Shadowy and five other stakes-placed runners.