Saturday Sires: Lope De Vega (Ire)

It's not often a stallion based outside the continent gets graded winners in the U.S. keeping pace with the leading sires here. Ireland's Lope De Vega (Ire) is not only keeping pace, but more than holding his own.

When Carl Spackler (Ire) won Sunday's GI Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga, he became the second U.S. Grade I winner in 2024 for his sire, joining Program Trading (GB), who won Churchill's GI Turf Classic Stakes on Derby day. For comparison, only one stallion (Gun Runner) has three Grade I winners in the U.S. in 2024. Just five have two: Into Mischief, Uncle Mo, Good Magic, Nyquist, and Lope De Vega.

In addition, Lope De Vega's Silver Knott (GB) has won three Grade II events in the U.S. in 2024, including the Man o' War Stakes, which was a Grade I until this year, and another two runners by the stallion have captured listed stakes in this country this season. If sorting all Northern Hemisphere sires solely on racing in North America, Lope De Vega has the highest percentage of black-type winners to runners. Of course, that number is skewed as it's likely owners only go to the trouble of importing horses that are top quality. Regardless, it underpins Lope De Vega's breakout success in the U.S.

International race meets–such as the Breeders' Cup–aside, how is it that one horse can accomplish so much on a continent he's never stepped foot on? The answer is twofold, says John O'Connor of Ballylinch Stud, which stands the horse.

“I think he's been lucky enough that he's been identified by some very good judges and trainers who have taken his stock over to America. He has a number of things that might be significant to his success in the U.S. They're very athletic horses and have a very high cruising speed. If you can teach to them to settle, they have a very high turn of foot, especially on turf, and that's an advantage.”

Indeed, both Carl Spackler and Program Trading are trained by Chad Brown, while Silver Knott is conditioned by Charlie Appleby, both trainers with outsized turf success in the U.S. Although well established in Europe, and a former Australian shuttle stallion at the beginning of his career, Lope De Vega first came to prominence in the U.S. with another Brown trainee in Newspaperofrecord (Ire), whose victories included the 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the 2020 GI Just a Game Stakes. Another Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner, Aunt Pearl (Ire), won that race in 2020 for Brad Cox.

TDN Stallions: Lope de Vega from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

Lope De Vega is one of Europe's top stallions, standing at Ballylinch for €125,000, but there's a good chance a number of breeders in this country, who are very familiar with his capabilities as a sire, haven't seen him in person.

“He's probably a medium-sized horse, just over 16 hands,” said O'Connor Thursday via phone as he was walking into the racecourse at Deauville to watch Lope De Vega's Almaqam (GB) finish third in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano and his Rose Bloom (Ire) finish second in the G3 Prix de Lieurey. “He's very lengthy, has a very powerful shoulder. When he walks, he has an incredible athleticism and really catches your attention with a big overstep. Many of his stock have the same walk and big stride length.”

Lope De Vega won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains in 2010 as a homebred for Gestut Ammerland. O'Connor said he and SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan went together to see the chestnut son of Shamardal in Andre Fabre's yard and “were both very taken with him.” It was an easy decision to stand him at Ballylinch.

With his first foals born in 2012, Lope De Vega stood his first year for €15,000 and eventually took the customary dip for his third and fourth years at stud, dropping to €12,500. However, once his runners hit the track and his prowess became apparent, the tune changed and his fee steadily rose each year from 2015 until it entered six-figure territory for the 2020 season. He's been holding steady at €125,000 since 2021. His first 2-year-olds sired from that fee are starting now.

“He covered 175 mares this year and we'll cut him back a bit next year,” said O'Connor. “He's now covering very elite mares, which is reflected with high-quality stock.

“He's very versatile and has worked with a lot of sire lines, but he's been particularly successful with Danehill lines. He gets outstanding statistics with fast mares, but also with more Classic types. He works with a huge spectrum.”

Carl Spackler's Fourstardave victory earned him a 'Win and You're In' berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Mile this November | Sarah Andrew

Lope De Vega has a small number of early sire sons, including two at the Irish National Stud and two in Britain. O'Connor said it's too soon to determine if those sons are throwing a particular type, but mentioned G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix of Spain (Ire) “gets a horse that looks quite like himself. They're powerful, good-bodied horses.”

Last month, in association with Al Shaqab Racing, Ballylinch purchased a majority interest in Lope De Vega's undefeated G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Look De Vega (Fr). The 3-year-old is currently the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe favorite and will eventually retire to Ballylinch to stand alongside his sire. He's a member of Lope De Vega's first crop resulting from a six-figure fee.

From his first 10 crops to race, Lope De Vega has 73 graded/group winners and 134 black-type winners. His 20 black-type winners worldwide in 2024 currently place him third in that category this year among all sires standing in the Northern Hemisphere, just one behind Dubawi (Ire) and two behind Into Mischief. He's tied with Dubawi for the most Grade I/Group 1 winners with four and leads all Northern Hemisphere-based stallions in Group 1 performers with eight. He also currently holds a comfortable lead among all European sires by progeny earnings for 2024, both by European earnings and by European and North American earnings combined.

In addition to the heady statistics that are becoming a hallmark of his stallion career, Lope De Vega has no fewer than 22 individual Group 1/Grade I winners, spanning countries on four continents: the U.S., Canada, Britain, Ireland, France, Australia, and Dubai.

“He's had success at the elite level in each of those places,” said O'Connor. “We realize how lucky we are to have a horse of this quality.”