The ranks of elite turf sires are in a period of major change, both in North America and Europe, with the loss of several titans in recent years. Emerging as a leader of the group is War Front, a stallion popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
The flagship of the Claiborne Farm roster, War Front is the leading living turf sire by earnings in North America, with several other stallions also emerging as horses to keep an eye on in the coming years.
Into Mischief claimed his fourth consecutive North American leading sire title in 2022 and again broke his own single-season earnings record while doing so.
Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief, now 18, amassed progeny earnings of $28,519,963 in 2022, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. That put him more than $7.5 million clear of his closest pursuer, Quality Road (Lane’s End). For the third straight year, Into Mischief set an earnings record, shattering his $25,001,235 from 2021.
A pair of horses each sold for $130,000 to lead the penultimate session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale on Tuesday.
Keeneland reported 265 horses changed hands on Tuesday for gross receipts of $3,183,200 - adding to the auction's total gross which had already, with Monday's eighth session, surpassed the total gross from 2021's 10-session sale. The gross for this sale, with nine of 10 sessions complete, currently sits at $208,879,800. Last year's 10-session sale finished with a gross of $203,585,500.
A Maryland-bred daughter of Uncle Mo led the way at $320,000 as the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale posted declines from last year's record figures after finishing its two-day run at the Maryland State Fairgrounds on Tuesday in Timonium.
Fasig-Tipton reported 386 yearlings sold over the two-day sale for gross receipts of $10,266,400. At last year's two-day sale, 381 yearlings sold for $11,269,400.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddled his fifth Kentucky Oaks winner with Secret Oath this spring, and on Saturday is expected to send her in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Meanwhile, the legendary trainer is looking ahead to his 2023 and 2024 3-year-old crops.
Every yearling sale owes its fate, at least in part, to the preceding 2-year-old sale season. This year’s Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale, in particular, is riding a wave from the juvenile sale season, which showcased the quality of state breeding programs and in which pinhookers investing in New York-breds were rewarded handsomely.
With five seven-figure horses, led by a $2.3 million Uncle Mo colt, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s flagship spring sale of 2-year-olds in training finished a record-breaking run Friday evening.
Munnings, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, was a consistent graded stakes performer throughout his racing career, and has enjoyed consistent success throughout his stud career. He has 59 stakes winners to his credit, including four Grade 1 winners.
In the midst of an outstanding season – he ranks sixth on the general sires list through Sunday – Munnings recorded his second Grade 1-winning son on Saturday when Jack Christopher won the Champagne Stakes at Belmont.
Jack Christopher could prove to be an important horse for Munnings’s legacy.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale made a triumphant return to its usual place on the calendar. After last year’s edition of the sale was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this renewal, led by a $495,000 Uncle Mo filly, finished with significant gains from its most recent edition two years ago.
Munnings is quietly crafting a stellar season, both on the racetrack and in the commercial arena. The sire of nine stakes winners in 2021 – including Grade 1 winner Kimari – he is posting a career-best average during this 2-year-old sales season.
