first foals

The unmistakably charismatic Stradivarius (Ire) became one horse to buck the trend of the top stayers being shuffled off to National Hunt studs after glorious careers on the Flat when his owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen elected to stand him at the National Stud in Newmarket. In his first two seasons there he has covered 220 mares and now foal judges and pinhookers will have their first chance to set eyes on a bunch of his debut crop at Tattersalls in just over a week's time, when 14 of his 80 weanlings...

MGSW & MGISP Sacred Life (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}--Knyazhna {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) has sired his first reported foal. Bred by Blazing Forest Stable, a colt out of Fire Assay (Medaglia d'Oro) was born Feb. 21 at Millford Farm. The foal is a half-brother to last year's GIII Holy Bull S. runner-up Shadow Dragon (Army Mule). Sacred Life commands a $2,000 stud fee at War Horse Place in Lexington.

Top industry judges David Cox, Derek Veitch Mark Dreeling and Paschal Kellaghan have put on record their support for Derrinstown Stud-based stallion Minzaal (Ire) off the back of the arrival of his first foals. Minzaal's foals have come in for high praise from their breeders, including Rosetown Bloodstock's filly [pictured] out of the winning Exceed And Excel (Aus) mare, Loquace (Ire), a granddaughter of champion two-year-old, Pas De Reponse.  "I'm very happy with her," reported David Cox of Baroda Stud, where the mare and foal are boarding. "She's a very...

Juddmonte's Mandaloun (Into Mischief--Brooch, by Empire Maker) was represented by his first foal over the weekend, according to a representative for the farm Thursday afternoon. The foal, a filly, was born at Jay Goodwin's Kentucky-based Goodwin Farm out of a mare not named in the release. The dam of the new filly is reported to be "out of a stakes-producing Gone West mare whose dam is a full-sister to [Canadian] Horse of the Year Dance Smartly and half-sister to the breed-shaping stallion Smart Strike." The bay filly is "big and...

Walmac Farm's Pinehurst (Twirling Candy), winner of the 2021 GI Del Mar Futurity, sired his first reported foal when a filly out of the winning Klimt mare Lady Jewels was born at Southern Comfort Farm on Friday night, Jan. 12. "She is a quality filly with a lot of substance and a beautiful head," said Penny Lopez of Southern Comfort Farm. "We couldn't be happier with the mare's first foal." Pinehurst stands for $7,500.

Unbeaten Horse of the Year and champion older male Flightline (Tapit) was represented by his first two foals Friday evening. Juju's Map (Liam's Map) foaled a filly late Jan. 12 at Taylor Made in Kentucky and Lady Scarlet (Union Rags) foaled a colt in the early hours of Jan. 13 at Thirty Year Farm in New York. Both are first foals for the mares. Juju's Map, owned by Albaugh Family Racing Stables LLC, won the GI Darley Alcibiades S. and was runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. "We...

The first foal for 2022 Eclipse Award-winning champion 3-year-old male and GI Runhappy Travers S. winner Epicenter (Not This Time) arrived at Twin Creeks Farm on Saturday when the stakes-placed Peaceful (Declaration of War) produced a quality filly. "Excited about our new Epicenter filly out of Peaceful! Day one has us impressed, and we're big fans of the sire," said Randy Gullatt. The Coolmore stallion will stand the 2024 season for $40,000.

There is no denying that the stallion market is becoming increasingly difficult with appetites for stud prospects growing. There is also no questioning that the support a young stallion receives in their first few years is paramount to their success. Most stallions are an easy sell in their first year with many being oversubscribed and then numbers falling off in the years leading up to that first crop hitting the track. However, one stallion whose numbers and support could very likely stay consistent throughout those primitive years is Lope Y...

Multiple Group 2-winning sire A'Ali (Ire) welcomed his first reported foals in the past few weeks, among them a colt out of dual Group 3 winner Maureen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who was fourth in the G1 Coronation S. "Maureen was an obvious type of mare for A'Ali and we're delighted with the end result", said Newsells Park Stud's General Manager, Julian Dollar, where A'Ali stands. "This colt is less than two days old, but came out very strong, balanced and well put together.  Our hope was always that...

Hill 'n' Dale's Charlatan (Speightstown), a multiple Grade I stakes winner, was represented by his first two foals this past week. On Jan. 17, a bay colt out of Inventive (Dixie Union) was born at Seclusive Farm. Inventive is already the dam of GISW Klimt (Quality Road) and of GSP West Coast Chick (Malibu Moon). "This colt has strength, power, substance, and great bone," said Seclusive's Chris Baccari. "Excited to have other mares in foal to Charlatan and will plan to breed back to him after seeing this colt. I...

European champion Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), was represented by his first reported foals when the Kingman (GB) mare Sempre (GB) produced a filly and Shaiydana (Fr) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) foaled a colt earlier this month. The former arrived at John Bourke's Hyde Park Stud in Ireland, who said, "On Saturday, Jan. 14 we had a gorgeous foal with great quality and physique by Lope Y Hernandez--she was the first foal out of a beautifully bred Kingman mare Sempre. I will be sending two mares back to...

Ed Harper will never forget the time he first encountered Sergei Prokofiev in the flesh. The Whitsbury Manor Stud director was at the Rowley Mile for the G3 Cornwallis S., anticipating a big run from Heartwarming (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), a farm-bred filly leased to the Hot To Trot syndicate with Clive Cox. "We fancied her heavily," Harper recalls. "She'd been doing some very smart work, we knew we hadn't quite seen the best of her, today was the day. But then I saw Sergei Prokofiev in the pre-parade ring and...