The superstar Australian mare Winx has been confirmed in foal to I Am Invincible and is expected to deliver her first foal in the second half of 2020, spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
Winx, by Street Cry, was retired in April riding a streak of 33 consecutive victories, including 25 Group 1 victories. That included an unprecedented four editions of the prestigious Cox Plate.
Delta’s Royalty, the only foal out of late Hall of Fame racemare Royal Delta, made her debut a winning one Thursday at Kempton in England.
Delta’s Royalty, a 2-year-old Galileo filly, won by three-quarters of a length going a mile on the all-weather surface. She is trained by Jack Varian for breeder and owner Benjamin Leon Jr.’s Besilu Stables.
As the racing season winds down, new stallion prospects are shipping to their respective farms, settling in to their new homes and routines, being inspected by breeders, and preparing for the launch of their second careers when the Northern Hemisphere breeding season begins in February.
Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and freshman sire Daredevil are the latest stallions heading overseas to Turkey, which has been bullish in the North American bloodstock market this fall. The two former WinStar Farm stallions have been acquired by the Turkish Jockey Club to stand overseas beginning with the 2020 breeding season, with a provision allowing for a return to the United States upon completion of their careers.
Tom’s d’Etat, one of the last significant sons of the late leading sire Smart Strike, stamped himself as a major stallion prospect upon his eventual retirement by adding a Grade 1 victory to his résumé in the Clark at Churchill Downs last Friday. Not only is he by Smart Strike, he is from the immediate female family of another prominent sire.
Perennial leading sire Tapit is well on his way to building his lasting legacy – already. The Gainesway stallion’s oldest second-generation progeny, produced by his sons or daughters, are 8, placing him relatively early on the curve in this regard. But he is already the grandsire of champion Monomoy Girl, via his son Tapizar, and has sons Constitution and Tapiture among this year’s top 10 freshman sires.
It would be impossible to top the year the Glennwood Farm of father-daughter team John and Tanya Gunther had in 2018, earning an Eclipse Award after breeding and raising unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify. But the 2019 Breeders’ Cup proved to be a fine exclamation point to another fine season for the Gunthers. Vino Rosso, whom the family bred, concluded an outstanding season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and earlier in the day, the farm’s homebred Without Parole finished a creditable third in the Mile.
It didn’t take long for American Pharoah to get off and running as a Breeders’ Cup sire. The Triple Crown winner’s first race with Breeders’ Cup starters resulted in his first winner, as Four Wheel Drive won the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Another colt by American Pharoah, Another Miracle, finished third in the same race, and later in the day Sweet Melania finished third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, putting all three of the stallion’s starters for the day on the board.
