Pedigree Insights: Abel Tasman

To say that making a stallion is very much a numbers game is too simplistic, as the quality of the mares covered can be far more relevant than their quantity. That said, it can be very hard to compete against the most in-demand stallions who enjoy the benefit of both quantity and quality. For example, several relatively high-priced stallions featured among last year's busiest stallions, with Uncle Mo covering 253 mares, Into Mischief 218, American Pharoah 208 and Kitten's Joy 201.

It can be done, though. You have to go all the way down to 80th place on that 2016 list to find Quality Road, who covered 112 mares at a fee of $35,000 in his sixth year at Lane's End. This tall son of Elusive Quality now has four crops of racing age and in those four years his book fluctuated from 149 mares in his first year to 91 in his second, then back up to 136 in his third before dropping back down to 110 in his fourth. Consequently, the number of foals in these early crops has never been higher than 110 and has been as low as 68, with his current crop of two year olds numbering 78.

I am looking forward to watching his fifth-crop yearlings later this year, as they come from one of his biggest crops, at around 115 foals. Also, they were conceived in 2015, soon after he had taken the title of champion first-crop sire in 2014.

Despite his fluctuating popularity, Quality Road currently ranks as high as seventh by American earnings this year. He is doing especially well with his 99-strong third crop, which has already produced the terrific total of six Graded winners, plus the Grade II-placed Majestic Quality, the Listed winner Sashimi Blaster and the recent Plate Trial S. winner Guy Caballero.

For the record, this crop's six graded scorers are Abel Tasman (GI Starlet S., GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Acorn S.), Klimt (GII Best Pal S. and GI Del Mar Futurity), Cowboy Culture (GIII Arlington Classic on turf), Guest Suite (GIII Lecomte S.), Long Haul Bay (GIII Bay Shore S.) and Salty, the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks winner who pressed Abel Tasman hard in the Acorn S.

This crop is already outperforming Quality Road's fine first crop, with its four Graded winners. He owed his very bright start to Hootenanny (GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf) and the dual Grade II winner Blofeld, who respectively earned weights of 122 and 119 on the Experimental Free Handicap. This first crop quickly showed that high-class two-year-olds were not all that Quality Road has to offer. A second Grade I winner emerged when the four-year-old Illuminant won the Gamely S. a year ago. Illuminant remains in good form this year, as she showed in winning the GIII Monrovia S., and two other 5-year-olds which have been flying the flag for Quality Road are the mare High Ridge Road (GII Barbara Fritchie S.) and Follow Me Crev (runner-up to Cupid in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita).

There was also a Graded winner from Quality Road's small second crop, in the form of Frank Conversation, a Grade II winner on turf in California. With Hootenanny also having excelled on turf, it was tempting at that time to pigeon hole Quality Road as a potential turf specialist, especially when his sire Elusive Quality made his mark in Europe and Australia with the likes of Raven's Pass, Elusive Kate, Sepoy, Elusive City and Certify.

However, Elusive Quality was versatile, as he showed by siring Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones and Quality Road. The latter was another dirt specialist–a winner of the Florida Derby, Donn H., Metropolitan H. and Woodward S. who never ventured onto turf or all-weather during a 13-race career. There is now enough evidence to show that Quality Road has inherited Elusive Quality's versatility as a sire, with his 11 graded winners dividing into seven dirt horses and four turf performers, with each category featuring a pair of Grade I winners.

It is hardly surprising that Abel Tasman belongs firmly among the dirt contingent. Her broodmare sire Deputy Minister was another dirt specialist, who spent his entire 22-race career on the main track. Deputy Minister's stallion career also centred firmly on the dirt, yielding a pair of sires' championships, and his legacy included a very successful stallion son in Awesome Again and plenty of very effective broodmare daughters.

Deputy Minister's finest achievements included those outstanding distaffers Go For Wand and Open Mind, who jointly won 22 of their 32 starts. Coincidentally, Open Mind–like Abel Tasman–won the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn S, before going on to win the CCA Oaks and Alabama S. The Alabama has been mentioned as a likely target for Abel Tasman too. There was also a famous Kentucky Oaks winner–the future Belmont S. heroine Rags To Riches–among the many other Grade I winners with a dam by Deputy Minister.

One interesting aspect of Abel Tasman's pedigree is that her dam Vargas Girl was foaled when Deputy Minister was 24 years old. In fact Deputy Minister was still very active as a 25-year-old in 2004, when he got more than 60 of his 71 mares in foal. However, his career could certainly be used to add strength to the argument that elderly stallions become less effective as they become veterans.

Deputy Minister became champion sire at the ages of 18 and 19 in 1997 and '98, thanks largely to progeny conceived when he was between the ages of 13 and 15. Altogether he sired 17 Grade I winners. As many of 14 of them were conceived when he was 15 or younger. Only one of the 17–the Personal Ensign S. winner Miss Shop–was conceived after Deputy Minister had passed the age of 20 (he was 23). I tend to think that one contributing factor was that he came into competition against numerous popular stallion sons.

Miss Vargas' career could have been used as evidence that the veteran stallion wasn't what he used to be. She raced eight times over three years and never managed to reach the first three, eventually retiring with the paltry earnings of $1,439.

Fortunately for Vargas Girl, she was out of Wheatly Way, a stakes-winning mare with a fine record as a broodmare. Wheatly Way's Prospector's Gamble colt Bevo had excelled as a juvenile, winning the GII Saratoga Special and GI Futurity S., and her Carson City filly Moonlight Sonata had won the GIII Arlington-Washington Lassie S. Moonlight Sonata has since added considerably to the family fortunes by producing the Grade II winners Beethoven and Wilburn to Sky Mesa and Bernardini respectively.

Vargas Girl is also playing her part in boosting this family, as Abel Tasman is her second graded winner, following Sky Girl (Sky Mesa), winner of the GIII Dogwood S. over seven furlongs.