Saturday Sires: Complexity

At this point in the season, a freshman sire can hardly do better than to win Saratoga's–and the nation's–first graded stakes of the year for 2-year-olds. When that young stallion also leads the nation's first-crop sires in winners with 12 (75% of starters), he's signaling he might be something special.

With that kind of start, it's no surprise Airdrie Stud's Complexity, a son of Maclean's Music, is firmly on top of the freshman stallion list at this early juncture. He's also currently leading all sires, regardless of number of crops, by 2-year-old winners and earnings this year.

“It's such a long process of waiting from first getting a stallion, so to be top freshman sire at this point and to lead the overall sires of 2-year-olds with a considerable-enough lead is really everything that you work for and hope for as a stallion farm,” said Bret Jones, president of Airdrie Stud. “We all know we're a long way from the finish line, but we really believe we've got a shot with this horse. We hope he can continue to climb the ladder.

“Our great hope is that his story is far from written.”

If Complexity's story as a sire is on chapter one, he's crafted a beginning sure to appeal to the masses. In addition to undefeated graded winner Mo Plex, who captured Saturday's GIII Sanford Stakes, Complexity has sired the winning Astoria Stakes third-place finisher French Horn, 'TDN Rising Star' Complexion, and nine other winners. That would be a pretty nice start for a freshman by this fall, but it's only mid-July, which makes it an exceptional start. With the opening of Saratoga last week and Del Mar this coming weekend, the 2-year-old race season is just getting started in earnest.

Jones said the buzz began at the 2-year-old sales early this spring.

“Very early on this season the news coming out of Ocala was as positive as its ever been with any new stallion we've ever had,” he said. “We all know how quickly that can change, but almost as soon as they hit the track down there, you started hearing positive things. Of course, the proof is when they get in the starting gate and the momentum has continued to build.

“The great thing is its been quality winners at the best tracks, from some of the best operations, just everything that you hope for when you put a stallion in the barn.”

TDN Stallions: Complexity from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

A 'TDN Rising Star' himself at two on debut, Complexity won the GI Champagne Stakes in his next out. His sophomore year was abbreviated, but he proved his mettle with a 110 Beyer Speed Figure in a GII Kelso Handicap win at four.

“I think everybody in the business who stands stallions was following him though that 2-year-old year after that Champagne win,” said Jones. “As a 3-year-old, he had some little issues that kept him out of the headlines, but never kept him far from our minds. We did the deal near the end of his racing career as a 4-year-old.

“He was such a talented racehorse. We've said for a long time how important he could be for our operation if his babies ran to their looks because he gets such a well-made foal. He has always appealed to the commercial market and he has the potential to be a real bombshell in the sales ring if he continues to churn out these runners.”

Jones cautioned that while Complexity is getting precocity, the bay is also giving indications that's not the whole story.

“He's getting early horses and he was precocious himself by anybody's definition, but he was also a miler that was running 110 Beyers as a 4-year-old. That's such a feather in his cap.

“I would not dismiss anything he's doing based on the idea that they're speed balls. We believe his best days are ahead.”

Jones is so bullish on Complexity that Airdrie upped the number of mares sent to him from the farm's own broodmare band in his second year.

“When those first foals started arriving, we made that decision to roll back heavily into him. We bred 26 mares of our own his second season because we were so high on his foals that we were seeing.

“He has so many attractive aspects for us,” continued Jones. “We were very fortunate to get him and very grateful that [owner] Seth Klarman and [trainer] Chad Brown trusted us. We've tried to hold up our part of that bargain.”

In the just-completed 2024 breeding season, Complexity covered “right around 90 mares. We ran out of breeding season. If only the season could have lasted a few more weeks so people could have seen what he was doing! We hope that's the smallest book he has going forward.”

Airdrie introduced Complexity for his initial season in 2021 at $12,500, but unlike the majority of stallions, his fee never dropped in subsequent books before his first runners hit the track.

“He's always been well supported and our shareholders have all been very committed to him,” said Jones. “That's so incredibly important. We've always focused on getting quality mares to him and I think we're seeing that in these results.”

Complexity's Mo Plex takes Saturday's Sanford | Sarah Andrew

From a Stonestreet female family, Complexity was “a quintessential Mike Ryan/Chad Brown purchase–an athlete,” said Jones. Ryan signed the Keeneland September ticket for the then-yearling for $375,000. Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables campaigned him with trainer Chad Brown, who shared his thoughts on the horse with NYRA officials at Saratoga this weekend.

“Complexity was a horse that was so good to us,” said Brown. “He won the Champagne and he was a brilliant winner first time out here. He was a very precocious horse and a very likeable horse.

“I'm so pleased that the horse is off to such a good start at stud. We've had several graduates of our program that are off to really good starts at stud. It's great personally and it's great for our business for different owners and breeding farms to see that we can make good stallions here.

“We did buy Complexity as a yearling and developed him from yearling up and it's very rewarding for the whole program,” continued Brown.

With the yearling sales season of 2024 about to get into full swing, Complexity brings a considerable head of steam. He had a pair of second-crop yearlings sell for $250,000 at last week's Fasig-Tipton July Sale. Overall, including last year's first yearlings, 98 have changed hands at sales while averaging $81,139 to date, or 6 1/2 times his stud fee. His 42 juveniles this spring have done well, too, with a healthy $102,792 mean.

“He's always gotten that good, nice sales type and the hope is that continues at the racetrack,” said Jones. “So far, so good.”

Complexity's very first winner, Mensa, was featured in a one-horse Fasig-Tipton Digital flash sale in April, just two weeks after that initial win. He brought $740,000 to Resolute Bloodstock's bid.

Jones stresses how important it is to a stallion farm's success to have horses farm principals can believe in.

“Our stallion roster is everything to us as we breed the overwhelming amount of our own mares to our own stallions. We're not going to bring in a horse that we're not going to support ourselves.

“We've been fortunate to breed 14 stakes winners this year and that starts in our stallion barn. If our stallion barn is firing, then our broodmare band will be firing and we're going to have good sales. It all starts there.”

As Jones said, Complexity's story is still being written. If his future results match or exceed the early chapters, the sequel promises to be a bestseller.