Quality Road's offspring piling up big wins and cash

Quality Road got a head start in this year’s sire race when his son City of Light won North America’s richest race, the Pegasus World Cup. But despite City of Light’s immediate retirement to Lane’s End Farm, where he stands alongside his sire, Quality Road has continued to strengthen his hand for the season.

Quality Road swept the Santa Anita Derby and Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday, giving him a powerful punch for the spring classics. Roadster ran down champion stablemate Game Winner in the Santa Anita Derby to earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Earlier in the day, Bellafina cemented her status as the Kentucky Oaks favorite with a 5 1/4-length victory in the Santa Anita Oaks – her third straight victory of the season and her third career Grade 1 triumph.

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Quality Road will be seeking his second Kentucky Oaks win as a sire. In 2017, his daughter Abel Tasman won the Oaks en route to a divisional title – one of two Eclipse Award winners for her sire that season, along with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Caledonia Road. His stud fee jumped from $35,000 to $70,000 for 2018 in response.

Last year, City of Light won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Abel Tasman was again a multiple Grade 1 winner, Bellafina picked up two Grade 1 tallies in her juvenile campaign, and Salty and Spring Quality won Grade 1 events. Quality Road’s fee this season has soared to $150,000.

In addition to Roadster and Bellafina, Quality Road’s top runners this season include Core Beliefs, winner of the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap, and Dunbar Road, who finished second in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks. The stallion’s North American earnings stood at $5,832,580 through Saturday, placing him atop the general sires list. The late Giant’s Causeway is next at $3,891,398, with Tapit the next active sire at $3,108,528.