It’s been just over three months since the first 2024 juvenile competition and already 35 first-year stallions have been represented by at least one winner.
Four of these have black-type winners and the crop passed a milestone at the weekend when Complexity (Maclean’s Music ) became the first of them to have a ranked award winner, his son What is MoPlex? entered in the Sanford Stakes (G3). Mo Plex is a foal to a young mare Uncle Mo . The second dam, Gold Anklet, is a son of Anklet, who won the Florida Oaks (G3) and finished second in the Ashland Stakes (G1), and is a half-sister to the dam of Grade 2 colt winner Bel Air Beauty. Complexity was a fast and smart 2-year-old who won two of his three starts at that age, including the Champagne Stakes (G1). He ran only three times at age 3, with one win, but three more starts at age 4 produced two wins, including the Kelso Handicap (G2), and a second win for another freshman, Win win win in the Forego Stakes (G1).
The complex also led the way with individual winners, with 12 of the 16 starters, equal to Vekoma (Candy Trip ) in terms of number of winners (there’s one in Kazakhstan that’s not reflected in BloodHorse’s numbers). He doesn’t have any winners yet, but all of his winners have scored in first-class special-weight company—three in Churchill Downs—and his daughter Fortuna Mia won third place in the Debutante Stakes. By the same father as Gunman And Candy spinner Vekoma looked like a classicist at age 2 and early in his 3-year-old season, scoring in the Nashua Stakes (G3) and Blue Grass Stakes (G2). By age 4, he had transformed into a star sprinter/miler with three starts to win the Sir Shackleton Stakes, Carter Handicap (G1) and Metropolitan Handicap (G1).
Vekoma’s companion, Thousands of words (Pioneerof the Nile), is the only newborn stallion to have sired two winners, one of whom was placed, a remarkable feat considering his starting fee was just $7,500. The pair are Vodka with a twist success in the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs, and MG Queens who won the Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga Race Track. Vodka With a Twist is out Mesa Sky a daughter of the French Dip winning mare Speightstown, herself a sire of the Grade 1 scorer Mayo On the Side. Queens MG is a sire of the Grindstone mare, so is an Unbridled/Unbridled cross to that 4×3 mare. The second dam is a three-quarter sister to multiple Grade 1 winners Julie, and is a half-sister to Untouched Talent, the dam of the Grade 1 winner and two-time Classic winner Bodemeister and multiple Under the Stars winners, both from the same Empire Maker/Pioneerof the Nile line as Thousand Words. From the ultra-fast Pomeroys Pistol, Thousand Words won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) at 2nd, and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) and Shared Belief Stakes at 3rd.
Vodka With a Twist Wins Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs
The first of three classic winners of this group, Tiz Law (Structure ), has won the Belmont Stakes (G1), Travers Stakes (G1) and Florida Derby (G1) in a season where Covid has forced the rescheduling of the classics. He has three winners so far, including Enduring Spirit, who won the $120,000 grand prix at Churchill Downs. Tiz the Law did not make his winning debut until August at Saratoga, so it is still early to expect his runners to make an impact, although we should note that he won the Champagne Stakes in his second start.
Caracaro (bream) (Uncle Mo) is one of the surprise hits of the 2-year-old horse in the sales training program, and he has fathered a winning horse with his daughter Western Memorial entered the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes. West Memorial is a half-sister to Super Saver and Uncle Mo’s Grade 1 winner Mo Town. Caracaro is out of a mare inbred to Fappiano, and there are three crosses between that mare, as well as a strong Tartan/Genter background through related breeds—Rubiano, Unbridled, and Quiet American—in West Memorial’s pedigree. Caracaro has never won a black-type event but has proven himself to be a talented runner, with four starts for his first major win, and a runner-up finish to Tiz the Law in the Travers and National grammar in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3).
Preakness Stakes (G1) Winner Battle of Wills (War front ) is currently sixth on the freshman earnings list. He has only two winners, both of them maiden specials, but he also has a pair of stakes-placed horses on the turf, both of them European-bred mares (a daughter of Kyllachy, by Pivotal (GB), from the Nureyev line, and Welcome from Northern Dancer’s Try My Best line). War of Will himself is versatile on the ground, winning not only the Preakness but also the Risen Stakes (G2) and Lecomte Stakes (G3) on dirt, and the Maker’s Mark Mile (G1T) on turf.
One place down is the Horse of the Year 2020 Real (Into mischief ). He has a pair of winners, including Adeera, who won the $120,000 grand prix on debut by 3 3/4 lengths. It’s still early days, as Authentic’s 2-year-old freshman won at Del Mar in November. He made up for lost time at age 3 with five graded wins, including the Kentucky Derby (G1), Haskell Stakes (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), so we expect him to make strides later in the year.
Winner of the game (Candy Trip ), who had his first win at Churchill Downs; Echo Town (Speightstown), whose Sanford Stakes (G3) is third Three Echoes ; And Global Campaign (Curlin ). The global campaign has to be one of the biggest surprises here. A half-brother of Curlin’s Bolt of Oro Unraced at 2, a winner at 3, but better at 4 when he won the Woodward Handicap (G1) over 10 furlongs. Despite that background, he has had five young winners from 13 starters.
In addition to the top 10, we will also note Win Win Win (Three tricks ), Aurelius Maximus (Pioneer of the Nile) and Respect permeates (Roof ). A top-ranked sprinter from the Sunday Silence line, Win Win Win made headlines with a top sale price of $1,800,000 at the Ocala Breeders Two-Year-Old Horse in Training Auction in March. Now named Miss Nooni She became one of four first-class special weight winners from her father’s six starters when she won by 6 1/2 lengths on her debut at Santa Anita Park in June. Aurelius Maximus from Louisiana is a Grade 2 son of Pioneerof the Nile out of the AP Indy-winning dam La Reina. He has one winner in four starts so far, but that one, Secret Faith won the $150,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity. Instilled Regard doesn’t have the pedigree of an early runner, although he finished second in the Cash Call Futurity (G1) at No. 2, but he has three winners from four starts. He’s moved to turf, where he won the Manhattan Handicap (G1T), after winning the Lecomte Stakes and finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby, so watch for him to stretch and show versatility on the track’s surface.
