Smiling Tiger continues climb up California's stallion ranks

Smiling Tiger made his name on the racetracks of California, becoming a multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire. He has stood his entire stallion career in the Golden State and is becoming one of the leading sires for the region that made him.

Smiling Tiger, a 13-year-old son of Hold That Tiger, entered stud at Premier Equine Center in Oakdale in 2014. The following year, he moved to Harris Farms in Coalinga, and has resided at that notable facility ever since.

“He is a big, good-looking horse, very consistent and hard-knocking, and was on the board in tough races 19 of 23 times,” John Harris, owner of Harris Farms, told Daily Racing Form at the time of the stallion’s arrival. “He keeps the Storm Cat line going and will be a fabulous sire for California and the nation.”

Indeed, in analysis of the state’s stallion picture, Smiling Tiger, who has both statebred and open-company stakes performers, leads the way by earnings and stakes winners among California stallions who both had state-sired progeny racing in 2020 and who will return to stand in the state in 2021. Through Dec. 13, the California earnings leaders, regardless of other factors, were I’ll Have Another (Ocean Breeze Ranch) with $9,174,428, Stay Thirsty (Lovacres Ranch) with $3,610,358, Square Eddie (Ocean Breeze) with $2,866,411, Sir Prancealot (Rancho San Miguel) with $2,520,940, Graydar (Milky Way Farm) with $2,204,731, and then Smiling Tiger with $1,775,252.

However, many of those stallions do not yet have state-sired progeny on the track. Stay Thirsty will have his first statebred runners in 2021, I’ll Have Another in 2022, and both Sir Prancealot and Graydar in 2023. Meanwhile, Square Eddie will not return to stand in 2021, having been pensioned this year. That leaves Smiling Tiger alone atop the list of active, returning stallions.

Among in-state stallions by stakes winners this season, Smiling Tiger has recorded seven through Dec. 13. Baja Sur, foaled up the West Coast in Washington, came back to the state of his conception to enjoy a solid season, winning the El Dorado Shooter Stakes and finishing second in the Albany Stakes at Golden Gate. He also competed successfully against open, graded company, finishing second in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, beaten a length. The gelding has been a stakes winner in three consecutive seasons; he won the 2018 King County Express Stakes at Emerald Downs and last year won the Auburn Stakes and Coca-Cola Stakes at Emerald, as well as the Oakland Stakes at Golden Gate.

Smiling Tiger’s other standouts this season included California-bred Smiling Shirlee. The filly, who placed in three stakes last year as a juvenile, broke through with her first stakes victory in the Evening Jewel Stakes at Santa Anita. She also was second in the Melair Stakes at Santa Anita and third in the Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar. Smiling Tiger’s other stakes winners in 2020 were Tiger Dad, winner of the Thor’s Echo Stakes at Santa Anita; El Tigre Terrible, who won the Real Good Deal at Del Mar; Grinning Tiger, who won the Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita; Tripp a Matic, winner of the Wyoming Downs Thoroughbred Futurity; and Hold That Smile, who won the Shady Cove Stakes at Grants Pass.

Smiling Tiger, who was Grade 1-placed as a juvenile, broke through as an outstanding sprinter as a 3-year-old, with three graded stakes wins including the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar and Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes at Hollywood Park over elders. He finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs. He went on to win three more graded stakes in 2011, including the Grade 1 Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood, and was a graded stakes winner in 2012 at age 5. From his first four crops of racing age, the stallion is the sire of 14 stakes winners overall, led by Spiced Perfection, who has followed in his footsteps by becoming a multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire.

Smiling Tiger covered 102 mares in 2020, making him the third-busiest stallion in California, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. He is part of a rejuvenation at Harris Farms, which lost two of its leading stallions in 2017, when the state’s all-time great Unusual Heat and classic sire Lucky Pulpit both died. In addition to standout Smiling Tiger and the established state sires Acclamation, Desert Code, Jeranimo, Lakerville, Rousing Sermon, and Vronsky, Harris stands the state’s top three freshman sires of 2020.

Grade 1 winner Majestic Harbor moved to California for the 2019 season after beginning his career in Indiana. He has four winners, including Diamond Solitaire, who finished second in the Indiana Stallion Fillies Stakes. Majestic Harbor’s move to the state placed him atop Harris freshmen Uptown Rythem and Tamarando.

In addition to a bright future with these three freshmen, Harris’s other young stallions include Conquest Farenheit, by Scat Daddy. He had his first foals in 2020, as did Prospect Park. Om will have his first foals arriving next year.

Sir Prancealot leading Beyer sire

The globetrotting Sir Prancealot has settled down at Rancho San Miguel in California, and he looks like a big acquisition for the state with solid runners worldwide. Led by the outstanding turf distaffers Lady Prancealot and Beau Recall, both foaled in Ireland, the stallion has recorded the most Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or above of any California resident. According to Daily Racing Form’s exclusive stallion metrics, the Beyer Sire Performance Standings, Sir Prancealot has been represented by 10 North American starters who have made 45 combined starts in 2020, with 11 Beyers of 90 or higher through Dec. 13.

Lady Prancealot, a multiple graded stakes winner in 2019, highlighted by the Grade 1 American Oaks, went winless in 2020. However, she did record 90 Beyers in 5 of 6 starts while being graded stakes-placed multiple times. She finished second, beaten a neck, in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes and was third in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive. She then was a creditable fourth, beaten less than a length, in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland. She earned a 100 Beyer for that effort, her sire’s top number of the year.

The consistent Beau Recall was Grade 1-placed in 2017, a Grade 2 winner in 2018, and a Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed in 2019. This year, the mare’s top performances included a repeat victory in the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, with a 99 Beyer; a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont, with a 99; and a second in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland, with a 97. Sir Prancealot’s other top runners this season included stakes winners Miss Amulet and Sir Lancealot.

Sir Prancealot, formerly based in Europe and Australia, arrived in San Miguel early this year, in time for the breeding season. He covered 105 mares in his first season in California, ranking him second in the state to Stay Thirsty’s 108, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.