Keeping up his momentum

By Frances J. Karon

Last season's leading North American first-crop sire (as listed on The Blood-Horse site) Uncle Mo continues to dominate the sophomore sire class. He closed out 2015 with seven black-type stakes winners, led by future Darley stallion Nyquist -- who like Uncle Mo won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was voted Eclipse champion two-year-old male -- and already in 2016 the young sire has added three new black-type winners to his tally, for 10 first-crop black-type winners (four of them Graded) through March 13th.

Impressive? Extremely. But where do these numbers rate Uncle Mo historically?

Take Uncle Mo's seven juvenile stakes winners. From stallions with first two-year-olds between 2001-2015, two first-season sires got eight juvenile black-type stakes winners apiece: Stravinsky in 2003, and Van Nistelrooy (who was not the leading first-crop sire, but ranked fourth by progeny earnings) in 2007. Johannesburg (second his year, 2006) and Posse (first in 2007) had seven each; no other top-10 sire in that timeframe has had more than six. The common thread to these horses bar Posse is that they stood at the home of Uncle Mo, Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky. Ashford denizens to sit atop the year-end freshman sire list from 1999 onward are Johannesburg's son Scat Daddy (led the 2011 list), Henrythenavigator (2012), Dunkirk (2013), and of course Uncle Mo (2015).

Heading the freshman sire list at the end of the two-year-old season is not always a harbinger for lasting success, but it often is. Distorted Humor (on the 2002 list), Tiznow (2005), Street Cry (2006), Tapit (2008), Congrats (2010), and Scat Daddy were all No. 1s, and they each proved to be the real deal. Other sires to figure among the top five freshman sires of their year include Awesome Again, Johannesburg, Harlan's Holiday, Hard Spun, Pioneerof the Nile, Super Saver, Candy Ride, Bernardini, Giant's Causeway (fourth on the North American freshman sires' list despite having initially stood in Ireland), Medaglia d'Oro, War Front, Speightstown, and Kitten's Joy.

Early indications are that Uncle Mo, whose stud fee was raised from $25,000 -- it was $35,000 when the first crop were conceived -- to $75,000 this season, is following the lead of the elite sires mentioned above. In the mold of his sire Indian Charlie, Uncle Mo, at close to 17 hands tall, is a big, scopey horse whose progeny don't physically appear like they will be left behind by later maturers. His juvenile stakes winners Nyquist and Mo Tom have already won Graded stakes races at three, and the law of averages suggests that more stakes winners will emerge from his long list of stakes-placed horses, such as Graded-placed runners Laoban, Mokat, Outwork (second in the Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on March 12th), Shaken, Thrilled, Uncle Lino, and Uncle Walter.

Uncle Mo at Ashford in February, 2016.

I compiled first-crop totals for 61 stallions that stand or stood in North America and who had first foals no earlier than 1991. It's unlikely that any of their predecessors would have had significantly stronger starts, because stallions bred smaller books of mares in those days. And while I feel that I've covered a lot of bases in my research, I don't necessarily present this as a definitive list.

The black-type winners summed up below are limited to first-crop progeny foaled on Northern Hemisphere time, and in addition to Uncle Mo, Munnings -- whose oldest runners are four -- is likely to further improve his standing. It's possible, too, that another young sire -- perhaps WinStar's Super Saver (currently with eight stakes winners, seven of them Graded, from foals of 2012) -- will jump up the ladder with some big horses. But the totals for now:

1.   Hard Spun (foals of 2009; stands at Darley): 17 first-crop black-type winners
2.   Medaglia d'Oro (2006; Darley): 16
3.   Johannesburg (2004; stood at Ashford, subsequently exported to Japan): 15
      Speightstown (2006; WinStar): 15
5.   Afleet Alex (2007; Gainesway): 14
      Giant's Causeway (2002; Ashford): 14
      Tapit (2006; Gainesway): 14
8.   Street Cry (2004; stood at Darley, died in 2014): 13
9.   A.P. Indy (1994; Lane's End): 12
      Distorted Humor (2000; WinStar): 12
11. Elusive Quality (2000; Darley): 11
      Forest Wildcat (1998; stood at Brookdale, died in 2008): 11
      Fusaichi Pegasus (2002; Ashford): 11
      War Front (2008; Claiborne): 11
15. Empire Maker (2005; Gainesway): 10
      More Than Ready (2002; WinStar): 10
      Munnings (2012; Ashford): 10
      Red Ransom (1992; Vinery): 10
      Street Sense (2009; Darley): 10
      Uncle Mo (2013; Ashford): 10

Hard Spun, sire of 17 first-crop stakes winners, at Darley in 2013.

Seven of these stallions occupy spots 1-8 on the general sires list in 2016. (Bernardini, who has nine first-crop stakes winners, is the top-eight sire missing above.) Uncle Mo is at number seven; Hard Spun, who after Uncle Mo has the fewest crops of racing age among the leaders, is eighth.

It's important to take into account that Uncle Mo has achieved his double-digit numbers really quickly. Hard Spun, for instance, had seven stakes winners to his credit at this same point of the season when his oldest progeny were three. But even in the unlikely event that Uncle Mo doesn't get another black-type winner from his 2013 foal crop, he's already keeping some pretty good company, and his market popularity is at an all-time high, with his first $1,000,000 sales horse, a two-year-old colt out of Five Star Dream, sold to Stonestreet Stables and M.V. Magnier at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale two weeks ago.

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By the way, a glance at foreign-based stallions reveals some other horses to sire remarkable first crops: Shamardal (at Darley in England; foals of 2006) had 17 black-type winners; Deep Impact (at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan; 2008), had 16; Dubawi (at Darley in England; 2007) and Montjeu (stood at Coolmore in Ireland, died in 2012; 2002), 15; and Galileo (at Coolmore in Ireland; 2003), 13.

Bonus: See a young Uncle Mo here.

A Sovereign for Uncaptured

This dark bay or brown colt -- consigned by Four Star Sales as hip number 631 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale (catalogue page) for Ontario-based breeder William D. Graham -- was a handsome, 18-month-old son of Lion Heart.

Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured as a yearling in the Four Star Sales consignment.

In the few days that he was on the sales grounds walking (...and walking...and walking...) and showing to prospective bidders, this guy’s attitude never soured. He was all class, the type that makes your job selling horses easy, and you’d bring him out for people you knew, whether they had asked to see him or not because he was just that nice.

And clearly he was; he caught the right people’s eyes and even I tweeted before he sold that the son of Lion Heart and Captivating was a “super” colt and a “VERY nice Coeur de Lion” (playing with Lion Heart’s name in French). “This sucker is gorgeous,” I wrote. “If he were by a more commercial stud he’d raise the roof here today.” He sold for the hefty price of $290,000 -- well above his sire’s 2011 yearling median of $25,000 for 77 sold -- and was the most expensive Lion Heart yearling from the stallion’s 2010 crop of foals.

Bought by trainer Mark Casse on behalf of John C. Oxley, yesterday evening this handsome fellow now known as Uncaptured became the ninth two-year-old to receive Canada’s Horse of the Year award as a juvenile. Uncaptured has some esteemed predecessors: Canadiana (1952; filly); King Maple (1953); Viceregal (1968); La Prevoyante (1972; filly); L’Enjoleur (1975; he repeated as Horse of the Year at three in 1976); L’Alezane (1977; filly); Deputy Minister, a son of Viceregal’s full brother Vice Regent (1981); and most recently, Dauphin Fabuleux (1984). L’Enjoleur was the first of these to win it as a Sovereign Award, which was instituted in 1975.

(As a side note, two of the three juvenile filly Horses of the Year -- L’Alezane and La Prevoyante -- died on the track as four-year-olds.)

Of course, Uncaptured was awarded the Sovereign for champion two-year-old male as well. His  11-year-old dam Captivating (an unplaced daughter of Arch who is also the dam of multiple stakes winner Dancing Raven) was in the running for 2012 Canadian Broodmare of the Year. She didn’t win, but otherwise, it was a very good night at the Sovereigns for her son’s connections: Breeder Graham, owner Oxley, and trainer Casse each garnered top honors in their respective categories. Oxley and Casse also teamed up for the champion two-year-old filly award with Spring in the Air.

Uncaptured is the third champion sold as a yearling by Four Star, after Uncle Mo (2010 champion two-year-old male in the U.S.) and Slip Away (2010 champion steeplechaser in the U.S.).

Besides Uncaptured and Dancing Raven, Captivating has an unraced four-year-old Badge of Silver daughter named Penelope Plum; a yearling filly by Majestic Warrior; and she was bred to Uncle Mo for a foal of 2013. Her 2011 colt by Badge of Silver died last year.

Hunter's January Highlights: Keertana and Snow Top Mountain

Snow Top Mountain (left) with Four Star's own, and Brownwood advisor, Tony Lacy and Keertana, held by Brownwood manager Darrell Curry.  The half-sisters sold for $950,000 and $1,000,000, respectively.

It has been an unseasonably warm January, which is always appreciated during horse sales, when buyers, consignors, and sales help spend eight-to-twelve hours working outside. Still, we were too busy showing horses to have much time to either complain about or enjoy the weather.

Tony playing with Snow Top Mountain while she waited to be inspected.

Following the passing of Ms. Barbara Hunter of Brownwood Farm in November, Four Star Sales’ Keeneland January consignment included Hunter’s multiple Grade 3-winning, Tom Proctor-trained half-sisters Keertana (who aborted her first foal, a colt by Arch, in December) and Snow Top Mountain (carrying her first foal, by Blame), as well as a yearling Hard Spun filly out of Whitefish (a half-sister to Keertana and Snow Top Mountain).

[I posted a blog from a visit to Keertana and Snow Top Mountain and their dam Motokiks at Brownwood in July.]

Keertana getting tidied up for a potential purchaser.

Having these two standout mares and a number of good foals (I especially liked our fillies by Hard Spun, Harlan’s Holiday, Tale of Ekati, and Flatter) in the barn kept us on our feet -- to the tune of 902 shows on our first day at Keeneland. Yep...nine hundred and two shows in one day.

The Brownwood legacy, based on more than half a century of building upon Hunter’s founding female families (with no infusion of new blood) and breeding to mostly modest stallions -- selling the colts and keeping the fillies -- produced the top two most sought-after broodmares at this sale, both fourth-generation homebreds. Millionaire Keertana sold to Craig Bandoroff as agent for $1,000,000. A short while later, Snow Top Mountain found a new home at Virginia’s Audley Farm on a final bid of $950,000 (making her the second most expensive broodmare in the Keeneland January catalogue). The Hard Spun yearling also sold well, going to chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay for $140,000. (Perhaps he liked her dam’s name, Whitefish?)

The $140,000 Hard Spun - Whitefish filly whose dam is a half-sister to Keertana and Snow Top Mountain.

Before and after the five-day sales stretch at Keeneland, I was able to attend a few open houses at stud farms -- a rare treat to visit stallions, including two that Four Star had sold as youngsters: champion Uncle Mo (sold as a yearling) and Grade 2 winner Munnings (led out unsold as a weanling, sold as a yearling); and one, Malibu Moon, I had known as a foal during my time at Walmac Farm.

Below are some of the photos from those visits:

Darley's Hard Spun, sire of the Whitefish filly.

Australian Horse of the Year Lonhro, at Darley. (I love this gorgeous horse.)

Lonhro floats over the ground when he moves.

Classic winner and leading sire A.P. Indy, now a 24-year-old pensioner at Lane's End Farm.

A.P. Indy's son Malibu Moon at Spendthrift.

Another son of A.P. Indy: champion Bernardini at Darley.

Bernardini

Bernardini's Grade 1-winning son Stay Thirsty at Ashford.

A.P. Indy's champion great-grandson Hansen (by Tapit) at Ashford.

2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow at WinStar.

WinStar's Colonel John, a Grade 1 winner by Tiznow.

Gemologist, another Grade 1 winner by Tiznow at WinStar.

Medaglia d'Oro (by El Prado), sire of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, at Darley.

El Prado's Grade 1-winning son Paddy O'Prado at Spendthrift.

Darley's Street Cry, sire of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta.

Uncle Mo, 2010 champion 2-year-old, at Ashford.

Before He Was "Uncle Mo"

And here he is, in February of 2009, a month shy of his first actual birthday: the newly crowned champion 2-year-old colt of 2010, Uncle Mo.

Uncle Mo at the Greathouse Family's Glencrest Farm as a yearling, with John Greathouse III.

Then, he was known as the ’08 Playa Maya, and he had clearly been having fun being a horse and rolling around in his paddock at Glencrest Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

Now, he will be one of the most closely-watched horses in 2011, as this undefeated son of Indian Charlie embarks on a Classic campaign off one of the most brilliant, though brief, juvenile campaigns in recent history. He will be coiffed and polished to perfection in all his appearances from here on out.

But I love that I knew him when his coat was fuzzy and his mane in knots, when he was a young horse staring straight into the camera, full of unfulfilled promise.

Congratulations to Four Star Sales, who sold him as a Keeneland September yearling on behalf of Glencrest and partners for $220,000, and to owner Repole Stable, trainer Todd Pletcher, and bloodstock agent J.J. Crupi.