Stallion Prospects Will Heighten for 2017
Wednesday, June 1, 2016

    As the racing year nears the halfway point, the decided lack of new stallions that migrated to Ocala's thoroughbred farms for the next few seasons after the recession supposedly ended, has become clearly evident. The end-of-season freshman leaders in recent years, like Kantharos in 2014, and the trio of First Dude, Big Drama and Gone Astray in 2015, had no competition from anywhere else, and although they all fared well from a Florida standpoint, they made little impact on the national scene. 

    The situation for this year is even bleaker, with just four freshmen listed in the Florida Horse Stallion Register - Biondetti at Woodford Thoroughbreds, Overdriven at Ocala Stud, Revolving at Stonehedge Farm South and Reward the Cat at Buena Vista Farm. So far, the first three have runners, and no winners, the last hasn't had a runner yet. Based on the number of foals registered, Biondetti or Overdriven will be the 2016 frosh leader by default.

    It's interesting that Journeyman Stud's late Wildcat Heir was the Florida general sire leader by a large margin in 2011, 2014 and 2015, and he's leading by far again this year. He was second to Put It Back, by a whisker, in 2012, and to With Distinction, by a whisker, in 2013.  With Distinction had his first, and has been second three times and third once in that span. Graeme Hall, now standing in Saudi Arabia, was the only one close in all those years, with four thirds and a fifth. 

    It's also interesting that the emergence of the Ocala pinhookers as major forces at all the sales has also put the spotlight on OBS as a place to buy 2-year-olds by every fashionable stallion in the country. Whereas the April sale was once viewed as a place where one could get lucky with a $15,000 or $20,000 purchase, the prices have gone through the roof lately thanks to the superb job being done by those who buy yearlings for a nominal price and turn them into huge moneymakers.

   At the recent April sale, the catalogue pages were littered with sons and daughters of Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro, Kitten's Joy, Pioneerof the Nile, Candy Ride, Giant's Causeway, Speightstown, Scat Daddy, Malibu Moon, City Zip, Harlan's Holiday, Bernardini and Hard Spun. You might recognize those 14 stallions as the top 14 on the General Sire List as of today. You have to go to No. 15, Street Sense, to find a sire not represented in the sale.

    The prospects for 2017, however, are much more encouraging for Florida's breeders, with Joe and Helen Barbazon's Pleasant Acres Stallions in the forefront. They will have 2-year-olds at the track by six who went to stud in 2014 - Anthony's Cross, Beau Choix, Brethren, He's Had Enough, Poseidon's Warrior and Treasure Beach.   

    In addition, Adena Springs South will have two - City Wolf and Fort Larned, as will Woodford Thoroughbreds - Currency Swap and Soldat, and Northwest Stud - Duke of Mischief and Wrote. Bridlewood Farm will have one, Corfu, along with Hartley/DeRenzo, Rattlesnake Bridge; Journeyman Stud, Winslow Homer, and Ocala Stud, Prospective. 

    It will add some excitement to a division that has been less than boring for the past few years. 

     

    

    


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