Oppenheim: First Quarter Sires

Yes, we are all Chromies now. Topping Curlin (Smart Strike)'s earnings, what a feat, and a great comeback job featuring Taylor Made Farm and Art and Alan Sherman. It all went wrong last year, but to come back as a 5-year-old and win convincingly as he did, it was heartwarming. I'm not being flippant, it really was. They all rolled the dice and it sealed the deal. Last year's G2 UAE Derby winner Mubtaahij (Dubawi) hadn't so much as hit the board in his four starts since, but ran a mighty race to finish second, just ahead of the good yardstick Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday) in third. Unfortunately Frosted (Tapit) didn't run his race, and Dettori reported Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro), like California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) a future Taylor Made stallion, didn't get the trip; of course, that's probably a plus, not a minus, for his commercial appeal.

Postponed, by Dubawi and bought as a yearling for 360,000 gns from Tattersalls Book 1 by Charlie Gordon-Watson and John Warren for Dubawi's owner, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al-Maktoum, hasn't been beaten since winning last season's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.; Saturday was his fourth-straight win at 12 furlongs, following the G2 Prix Foy last year and the G2 Dubai City of Gold, a prep for this, earlier this month on 'Super Saturday' Mar. 5. Between Mubtaahij, himself an €450,000 Arqana August yearling for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa, and Postponed, Darley's flagship sire Dubawi wracked up progeny earnings of $5,600,000 in Dubai Saturday. That, of course, impacts the sire lists.

If we look at TDN's Year-to-Date General Sire List for North American and European sires by Worldwide Earnings (click here), Dubawi's Northern Hemisphere-sired runners have now earned over $7.8-million this year, of which over $7.6-million has been earned outside North America and Europe, including last Saturday's $5.6-million haul. New all-time North American-trained money-earner California Chrome's sire, Lucky Pulpit, who stands at Harris Farms in California, has only about $420,000 in earnings this year aside from California Chrome, but his $6,210,000 in 2016 earnings vaults Lucky Pulpit into the second spot, with earnings of $6,629,906 (as of Tuesday). Third on the Worldwide Earnings list is Gainesway's two-time leading sire Tapit, whose worldwide earnings of $5.4-million include $2.1-million outside NA/EU, including the Japanese-trained G2 UAE Derby winner Lani, now headed for Kentucky. There's then a big gap in progeny earnings to Lane's End's number four Candy Ride and Darley Kildangan's number five Shamardal, each over $2.7-million, followed by Gainesway's new acquisition Empire Maker ($2.6-million); WinStar's Congrats, having his best year yet, with earnings over $2.5-million, of which $745,000 has been earned by G2 UAE Derby second and 'TDN Rising Star' Polar River; and Darley Kentucky's Bernardini ($2.4-million). That's three of the top eight on this list for Darley, and four of the top eight for the A.P. Indy sire line.

If we just look at earnings for these sires in North America and Europe (click here), Tapit's runners have earned $3.2-million, with worldwide black-type totals of five graded stakes winners (GSW) and 19 black-type horses (BTH), of which 14 are graded/group horses (GSH). This gives him a $500,000 cushion on Candy Ride, who is a clear second ($2.7-million) after Gun Runner's impressive win in the GII Louisiana Derby, almost $900,000 ahead of Claiborne's Flatter, attaining his best lifetime position, in third. He has three GSW this year: Taris, Kobe's Back, and Upstart, all very high-quality runners. Flatter is in fact a year-older full-brother to Congrats, who ranks number six on this list, has six BTW this year, also three graded, and is also having his best year yet. Bernardini ranks number four, with Ashford's Uncle Mo number five (and now leading NA/EU sire of BTW this year, with seven). After Congrats in sixth, Darley's Medaglia d'Oro is number seven, with Spendthrift's Malibu Moon number eight. That gives the A.P. Indy line five of the current top eight.

This coming weekend's GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby showdown between unbeaten champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) and undefeated Mohaymen (Tapit) is the first Grade I for 3-year-old colts of the year, but so far in 2016, Uncle Mo's runners have earned almost $1.9-million worldwide, including

seven BTW and 16 BTH (nine GSH), making him not only fifth on the YTD General Sire List, but also holding a commanding position among North American and European second-crop sires (click here). Lane's End's Twirling Candy (Candy Ride), after Danzing Candy's GII San Felipe win, remains a very clear second, whereas no other second-crop sire has 2016 progeny earnings over $510,000 yet. Spendthrift's Archarcharch (Arch), Florida's Double Diamond Farm's First Dude (Stephen Got Even), and Maryland's Country Life Farm's Friesan Fire (A.P. Indy) are all jostling for third spot, followed by: Claiborne's Trappe Shot (Tapit); Hill 'n' Dale's Misremembered (Candy Ride); Airdrie's Haynesfield (Speightstown); and WinStar's Sidney's Candy (Candy Ride). Candy Ride is all over the news this year, not only as the number-two sire in North America, but with three sons from his first two crops at major Kentucky stallion farms: number two Twirling Candy, number seven Misremembered, and number nine Sidney's Candy.

Lane's End's Quality Road sustains his position as number one North American and European third-crop sire in 2016 (click here), with progeny earnings over $1.4-million in the first three months of the campaign. Moving into second is Florida's Ocala Stud's Kantharos, once again confirming that at a $5,000 fee for 2016, he is the best-value sire on the planet. X Y Jet ran a winning race in the G2 Golden Shaheen, but was beaten by the Oasis Dream 7-year-old Muarrab, whose record in Dubai, between Meydan and Jebel Ali, now stands at 11-3-1 from 16 starts. X Y Jet still earned $400,000 for his gallant neck defeat, nearly four lengths in front of the third horse. A very fast, unbeaten 2-year-old by Lion Heart owned by Stonestreet, Kantharos unwillingly followed the 'Dark Angel' path as a stallion –retired after his 2-year-old year, though Dark Angel was by choice and Kantharos was through injury. He's now cracked the $1-million mark in 2016 progeny earnings. Ashford's Munnings is number three third-crop sire in 2016, with his third 2016 BTW last weekend, his sire crop-topping 15th BTW in all. WinStar's Super Saver, who leads this crop by a lot with three Grade I winners and two Grade II winners to date, ranks number eight so far this year, but hasn't really got going yet; let's see what happens when champion sprinter Runhappy gets back to the races.

There's another very interesting list on the TDN website which has been overlooked, to which we'd like to call your attention. When we click on Sire Lists on the TDN website, the default section, on the left and in red as you're looking at it, is titled General Sire List. On the right, shaded gray, is 'Crop Year Reports'. If we click on Crop Year Reports, then 2013, then Stands NH (All), and then when the list comes up, click on Worldwide earnings, we get a listing of the current 3-year-old crops of NA/EU sires. This is, right now, a cumulative list (so 2015+2016), but, again, very interesting. Uncle Mo, with the earners of over $5.6-million, is the leader by progeny earnings (click here), and he is also the leader in three black-type categories, with 11 BTW and 21 BTH, of which 12 are GSH. Leader by number of GSW (seven) and G1 winners (three) is a certain Galileo. The Coolmore superstar is sixth on the money list for the 2013 crop, but the European season is now just thinking about getting underway.

Tapit, with seven 3-year-old BTW (five GSW) is now second in 3-year-old earnings, after Lani's $1.2-million payday in Dubai, ahead of Scat Daddy, who has a crop-leading 50 winners (10 BTW, six GSW) and the earners of over $4.2-million. Bernardini (almost $3.1-million), who along with Uncle Mo and War Front has two Grade I winners from this crop, ranks fourth, ahead of Empire Maker (Japanese crop, $2.8-million) Galileo ($2.7-million), Lane's End's City Zip ($2.5-million), and Medaglia d'Oro ($2.3-million, including 'TDN Rising Star' Songbird). Second among European sires, perhaps surprisingly but certainly significantly, is Ireland's Tally-Ho Stud's Kodiac. He's had 47 winners from this crop so far (Scat Daddy 50, Uncle Mo 42), including four group winners, seven GSH, and the earners of over $2-million–off a 2012 stud fee (foals of 2013) of €7,500; he's standing this year for €45,000. Congrats, Hill 'n' Dale's new star Curlin, and Twirling Candy also have 2013 crop (3-year-olds of 2016) earnings over $2-million so far.

Contact Bill Oppenheim at bopp@erb.com (cc suefinley@thetdn.com).