Sweep of top two spots in Kentucky Oaks by Daredevil fillies rewards Turkish breeding industry

The celebration of Shedaresthedevil’s victory in the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks over Swiss Skydiver stretched from her connections in Louisville around the globe to Karacabey, Turkey. The top two finishers in the Oaks are by former American stallion Daredevil, who was purchased late last year by the Turkish Jockey Club, which was bullish in the North American market.

“Having a stallion like Daredevil in Turkey is, of course, very exciting,” said Turkish-born trainer and breeder Murat Sancal, who was involved in the deal to send Daredevil to Turkey. Sancal estimates that as the market has grown he has shipped about 400 mares and foals to Turkey over the last seven years.

“It’s our turn to show the world how much we work for bloodlines, buying a lot of mares to support those stallions,” Sancel said.

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The Turkish Jockey Club’s stallions stand at five stations across the country, often rotating between them to give regional breeders better access to different stallions. The Turkish Jockey Club reported that in 2019 a total of 54 Thoroughbred stallions covered 3,126 mares in the country. Those numbers will likely have grown in 2020 as the organization sought out fresh talent to replace aging or deceased stallions, with additional financial firepower thanks to tax revenues from domestic betting for the purpose of improving the breed.

Daredevil was purchased by Turkish interests from WinStar Farm, where they also acquired both Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, the sire of champion sprinter Runhappy, and Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. Daredevil, Bodemeister and Super Saver represent a handful of the stallions sourced by Turkish bloodstock interests for 2020 from various jurisdictions. Others include English Group 2-placed Air Vice Marshal; Epsom Derby winner Authorized; successful U.S. regional sire Bluegrass Cat; French stallion Myboycharlie, who is the sire of champion Sistercharlie; multiple Grade 1 winner Tizway, who most recently stood in Korea; and multiple graded stakes winner Trappe Shot.

In addition to private stallion acquisitions, Turkish interests also were active at public auction in North America last fall. Catapult, a multiple Grade 2-winning millionaire who was second in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Mile, was purchased for stallion duty for $50,000 by prominent Turkish owner and breeder Arif Kurtel at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. He was extremely active buying mares to support his new stallion, landing a total of 59 horses.

“The Turkish Jockey Club has done extremely well with Victory Gallop, who is the leading sire in Turkey, and has made a concerted effort to improve their stallion roster this year,” WinStar executive Elliott Walden said in a press release announcing Daredevil and Super Saver’s sales last fall. Victory Gallop is a former WinStar stallion.

Daredevil, by More Than Ready, won the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes going a one-turn mile at Belmont as a juvenile, and was Grade 2-placed at 3. In addition to Grade 1 winners Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver – who have won seven graded stakes between them this season – he is also the sire of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Esplanande, stakes winner Deviant, and two other stakes-placed runners.

Sancal said that stallions with stamina and ability on turf as well as dirt are attractive in the Turkish bloodstock industry.

“We are looking for stallions that will have, first, some stamina for distance, and a mild level of speed, second choice,” Sancal explained. “So Daredevil’s pedigree . . . definitely had some distance in his blood. Plus his sire, More Than Ready, is a really successful turf sire. So as soon as Daredevil went to the stud, we sent mares to him. Also, I led my clients to buy many more mares in foal to him from sales to follow his progeny. . . . Any mare we bred to him produced good-looking foals. He was always on my radar.”

Following his Oaks success, there are certainly international offers on the table for Daredevil – who had a provision in his sale contract allowing for a return to the U.S. upon his pensioning from stud. Sancal said that it was too early to speculate on what might happen.

“Definitely, we will do the right things for Turkish breeders and owners first, then we will do our best to supply him to the world,” he said.