Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa’s elite sire Curlin earned laurels during the Breeders’ Cup Championships weekend not only for being the leading sire by number of winners with three, he also took the top spot by total Breeders’ Cup winners with eight.
Elite Power ‘s repeat win in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) pushed Curlin to the top of the sire standings. Earlier in the day Nov. 4, the 19-year-old son of Smart Strike was represented by Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) repeat winner Cody’s Wish and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Idiomatic .
Elite Power wins the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park
Curlin, who earned Horse of the Year titles in 2007-08 and has been a top five North American sire by progeny earnings for four consecutive years, has virtually sprinted to his position as leading Breeders’ Cup sire. He also sired three World Championships winners last year with Cody’s Wish, Elite Power, and Malathaat , who won the Distaff. Good Magic , winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) became Curlin’s first Breeders’ Cup winner and now stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale.
Only one other sire has had three Breeders’ Cup winners in the same year. Godolphin’s leading European sire Dubawi accomplished this feat in 2021 with Modern Games (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, G1T), Space Blues (Breeders’ Cup Mile, G1T), and Yibir (Breeders’ Cup Turf, G1T).
Among Curlin’s Breeders’ Cup winners this year, two have broodmare sires tracing back to Seattle Slew. Elite Power (bred by Jon Clay’s Alpha Delta Stables) is out of the grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner Broadway’s Alibi, who is a daughter of Seattle Slew’s son Vindication. As a racehorse, Vindication won the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) among his four undefeated races at 2. Godolphin homebred Cody’s Wish is out of the grade 1 winner Dance Card, a daughter of Tapit , who is a great-grandson of Seattle Slew through A.P. Indy and Pulpit.
Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Idiomatic is out of the First Defence grade 2-placed stakes winner Lockdown, who is a full sister to multiple grade 1 winner Close Hatches. Also a Juddmonte homebred, First Defence is a Mr. Prospector line sire through Fappiano, Unbridled, and Unbridled’s Song.
Curlin is currently the second-leading North American sire with more than $17.1 million in progeny earnings behind Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief with more than $22.9 million. Including this year, Curlin has been a top five North American sire for six of the last eight years. He was the leading sire by number of grade 1 winners in 2021 (five) and 2022 (six) and was co-leader in this category with Tapit in 2016 with five.
Curlin has sired five grade 1 winners year to date. In addition to his Breeders’ Cup winners, he is the sire of Clairiere , who won the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) and Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1); and, Bright Future , who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).
Four sires are tied with seven career Breeders’ Cup winners apiece: Dubawi, Into Mischief, Gainesway’s Tapit, and the late More Than Ready.
Justify at Ashford Stud
Ashford Stud’s leading second-crop sire Justify , the 2018 American Triple Crown winner, also had an extraordinary Breeders’ Cup weekend as the sire of his first two winners, both of them juveniles.
George Krikorian homebred Just F Y I gutted out a win by a neck in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to maintain her undefeated record in three starts this year. The filly is out of the stakes-placed Street Cry daughter Star Act. The Juvenile Fillies was Just F Y I’s second grade 1 win this year. She came into the Breeders’ Cup off a win in the Frizette Stakes (G1).
Wise Racing’s Hard to Justify was Justify’s second winner with a half-length win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). The filly was bred in Kentucky by Yeguada Centurion out of the grade 3-placed Quality Road daughter Instant Reflex. Hard to Justify also won all her three starts this year and came into the Breeders’ Cup off a win in the Miss Grillo Stakes (G2).
This year’s Breeders’ Cup also produced first winners for Lane’s End’s City of Light , Banstead Manor Stud’s (Juddmonte) Frankel , Kildangan Stud’s (Godolphin) Blue Point , Shizunai Stallion Station’s Noble Mission , and Challenger Farm’s (South Korea) Race Day .
