Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s first crop is a major storyline this yearling sale season, but his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, and grandsire, Empire Maker, also figure to play a role at the top end of the market this year. Pioneerof the Nile, who stands at WinStar Farm, garnered an outstanding book of mares in 2016 as a result of American Pharoah’s Triple Crown sweep the prior season. The resulting foals are now yearlings coming to sale for the sire, whose commercial popularity has soared. Meanwhile, Empire Maker was repatriated from Japan for that 2016 season, owing in large part to the success of his sons. Now standing at Gainesway, he will have solid representation in his native market for the first time in years. Pioneerof the Nile’s advertised stud fee was $125,000 in 2016 – more than double his 2015 mark of $60,000. From the resulting breeding season, he is represented by seven yearlings in the Saratoga selected catalog, including a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Azar, a half-sister to stakes winner Samuel Dechamplain, a filly out of Grade 2 placed Suave Voir Faire, and a colt out of stakes winner Blue Violet. Pioneerof the Nile’s average yearling sale price was $75,689 for his first crop in 2012, $86,214 in 2013, and $101,278 in 2014 before rocketing to $163,182 for the season beginning in July 2015, just after American Pharoah’s Triple Crown sweep. It rose to $222,107 in 2016 and spiked to $328,413 last year. The latter group represents mares who were covered in 2015, after American Pharoah was the Eclipse Award champion juvenile of the prior season. Empire Maker, who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes, entered stud for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms in Kentucky in 2004. The son of Unbridled was later sold to stand in Japan for several years beginning with the 2011 season. In September 2015, Gainesway announced that it had partnered with Don Alberto Corp. to purchase the stallion. The move created a major one-two punch in the bloodstock market for Gainesway, which stands perennial leading sire and commercial juggernaut Tapit. :: Get breeding & sales news, Beyer info, and more delivered right to your email! Empire Maker, whose most accomplished runner to date has been multiple Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta, also sired Grade 1 winner and classic-placed Bodemeister, who now stands alongside Pioneerof the Nile at WinStar. Bodemeister continued the resurgence of the Unbridled line by producing 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in his first crop. Pioneerof the Nile’s champion son Classic Empire finished a troubled fourth behind him. “It is the foremost line if you want a two-turn dirt or classic-type horse,” WinStar executive Elliott Walden said at that Derby. “We’re very fortunate at WinStar to have Pioneerof the Nile and Bodemeister, the two most prominent sons of Empire Maker. Pioneerof the Nile is an amazing stallion, to have two champions in his first four crops, and for Bodemeister to do what he has . . . The Unbridled sire line is carrying on strongly, and it’s the most formidable sire line for two-turn dirt in America.” Empire Maker’s average yearling price was a striking $379,125 from his first crop in 2006 before decreasing slightly, a typical arc for a stallion. Since then, it has reached as high as $266,947 in 2012 – the year Bodemeister finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, with Royal Delta in the midst of her career. Empire Maker had fewer than 10 yearlings sold at public auction in North America each year between 2013 and 2017, including just two last year. Empire Maker is represented by five yearlings in the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga catalog, conceived on an advertised stud fee of $100,000 as he made his American re-emergence. The quintet is led by a colt consigned by Gainesway who is out of Grade 1 winner Rigoletta, making him a half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Battle of Midway, who was third in Always Dreaming’s Kentucky Derby. Empire Maker’s other offerings include a filly out of Canadian champion Roxy Gap and a colt who is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Term of Art, from the family of Horse of the Year Mineshaft and multiple Grade 1 winner and stakes producer Tomisue’s Delight. “Empire Maker’s pedigree is clearly one of the best in the world, and his influence as a sire is enormous,” Gainesway president Antony Beck said. “This horse is especially meaningful as we launched the career of his sire, Unbridled, here at Gainesway.”