Ohio Stallions: Cowtown Cat leads for 2019; state boasts several newcomers
Cowtown Cat finished as Ohio’s leading stallion with state-sired progeny in 2019 – but a recent influx of Grade 1/Group 1 winners into the state, all of whom sired stakes horses while standing in larger markets, means that position may not be secure in coming years.
Cowtown Cat, who moved from Florida to Mapleton Thoroughbred Farm in Polk, Ohio, starting with the 2015 breeding season, sired 27 winners from 49 starters in 2019 for progeny earnings of $1,583,407. The Distorted Humor stallion, whose best runner was Canadian champion Calgary Cat, was led on the season by another stalwart, Tiger Blood. The multiple stakes-winning gelding, who just turned 7, won 7 of 13 outings and finished second twice in a solid 2019 campaign.
Grade 1 winner Itsmyluckyday moves to Maro Veterinary Services in Ohio, also from Florida, for 2020, and should make an impact in the state, as his statistics immediately put him among the top sires, regardless of 2019 location. He sired 48 winners from 88 runners for earnings of $1,840,963 on the season. From his first two crops, he is the sire of multiple stakes winner Itsmyluckycharm and stakes winner Zapit.
Finishing third and fourth on the Ohio sire list, regardless of 2019 location, were Group 1-winning juvenile Biondetti and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Fort Larned, both of whom have also relocated from Florida. Biondetti, who moved to Poplar Creek Horse Center for 2019, was Florida’s leading freshman sire of 2016 and is the sire of stakes winner Bella Vincenza and Grade 3-placed Mr Chocolate Chip. The stakes winners for Fort Larned, new to Duncan Farms for 2020, are led by Blonde Bomber, who was third in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Danza, Medal Count to Ohio
Included in the influx of new stallions to Ohio for 2020, are two classic-placed young stallions who had their first juveniles on the track in 2019.
Danza won the Arkansas Derby and finished third in the 2014 Kentucky Derby to California Chrome. He sired 11 first-crop winners from 44 starters in 2019, with his progeny earning more than $500,000. He moves to Fair Winds Farm in Ohio from Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky.
Also coming north from Spendthrift is Medal Count, who goes to Mapleton Thoroughbred Farm. Medal Count finished third in the 2014 Belmont Stakes. He won the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes and finished second in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on synthetic, and was stakes-placed on turf. He sired 4 winners from 32 starters in 2019.
Newcomer proves popular for partners
WinStar Farm and the Blazing Meadows Farm of trainer Tim Hamm, which have campaigned several stakes-winning Ohio-breds together in recent years, launched a formal partnership entitled WinBlaze LLC to stand graded stakes winner National Flag at Blazing Meadows in North Jackson, Ohio, in 2019. Not only did the partners campaign several stakes winners last year, the future looks bright, as their young stallion proved among the state’s most popular.
National Flag, by WinStar stallion Speightstown, won 3 of 6 career starts, highlighted by a four-length score in the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct. The stallion covered 36 mares in his debut season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, making him the most active stallion in Ohio. Corfu covered 25 mares, and Cowtown Cat and Rivers Run Deep each bred 20.
WinStar and Blazing Meadows have campaigned three consecutive winners of the Juvenile Stakes on the annual Best of Ohio showcase program in the fall – Awaken in 2017, Diamond Dust in 2018, and Liberate in 2019. Diamond Dust was also a multiple stakes winner in 2019.
This article is part of the Midwest regional coverage in our annual Kentucky Stallions special edition. To download the complete edition, click here.