At the halfway point of this season, record-setting Into Mischief is again leading the North American sire standings, chasing a fifth consecutive general sire title. Meanwhile, behind him, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin lead a tight pack of accomplished stallions fighting for the other placings as they fashion fine seasons.
Frankel continues to build an impressive legacy as he has moved on from a stellar racing career to a stellar sire career. Meanwhile, his own late sire, Galileo, continues to extend his influence.
These two stellar sires each were represented by three winners at last week’s Royal Ascot meeting in England to finish among the leading sires of the event. Siyouni, who stands at Haras de Bonneval in France, also sired three winners.
Multiple Grade 1 winner and successful sire Lion Heart has died in Turkey, where he has stood at stud for more than a decade. The Jockey Club of Turkey wrote in a release that the stallion “died due to circulatory disorder caused by heart failure.” The son of the Storm Cat horse Tale of the Cat was 22.
Godolphin and Juddmonte, two of the world’s foremost breeding operations, are fresh off major performances by leading runners – and potential future stallions – at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. They now move on to another of the world’s great fixtures, this week’s renowned Royal Ascot meeting, with runners by their respective internationally leading sires on tap.
With every passing month, the loss of champion Arrogate early in his stallion career becomes starker. It was apparent again Saturday evening, as Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes, conferring classic sire status on Arrogate posthumously.
It was like mother, like daughter in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. Cavorting, a three-time Grade 1 winner in New York, captured the race in 2016. Her first foal, Clairiere, is now a two-time Phipps winner after claiming Saturday’s edition.
“I am very proud, and of course her mother won this race, too,” said owner Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Farm. “It’s been a family tradition.”
There are few names better to find in the pedigree of a Belmont Stakes candidate than Tapit – and he has an outsized mark on Saturday’s renewal. Tapit, who is seeking to claim outright the record he co-holds with the great Lexington as the Belmont’s leading sire, is the sire of entrants Tapit Trice and Tapit Shoes. He is also the broodmare sire of four other entrants in the nine-horse field, in Arcangelo, Hit Show, Il Miracolo, and Red Route One.
Tapit, the most successful sire in the modern history of the Belmont Stakes and looking to secure the race’s sire record outright this weekend, wouldn’t be here without him. Neither would Quality Road, sire of Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure. And nor would four-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, who will have Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous in action this weekend at Belmont Park.
Dorth Vader, who upset the Grade 2 Davona Dale at odds of 45-1 earlier this winter at Gulfstream Park and most recently finished a game fifth after being hung wide pressing the early pace in the Kentucky Oaks, has been transferred from trainer Michael Yates to George Weaver in preparation for her upcoming start a week from Friday at Belmont Park in the Grade 1 Acorn.
American Rascal was born to international royalty, as his sire and first two dams are champions. He’ll look to begin growing into that legacy when, off an impressive debut victory, he targets the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on June 22 at the Royal Ascot meeting.
