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PEDIGREE HANDICAPPING DECEMBER 20, 2008 2008 Freshman Sire wrap-up by Tim Holland While Stardom Bound's three Grade 1 victories, including her smashing Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) win, had essentially assured TAPIT (Pulpit) the title of leading Freshman Sire of 2008, Laragh's Hollywood Starlet (G1) triumph last weekend was the icing on the cake for the young son of Pulpit. This win pushed her sire's earnings to a record high total and with a lead on the list of more than $1 million, a separation that has never before been achieved. This also ensured that Tapit would be the first since Honour and Glory in 2000 to top both the Freshman and Leading Two-Year-Old sire lists. Although Stardom Bound and Laragh employed totally different running styles, both proved themselves over California's artificial surfaces. However, Tapit's runners are not limited to synthetic tracks, as Laragh showed when third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and when War Echo filled the same position in the Golden Rod S. (G2) over the traditional dirt at Churchill Downs. Tapit's offspring have shown a commonality in that they improve in their second start and it was noted in this space in mid-September that, to date, just one of the sire's 21 debutants in North America had returned a winner. That figure has since stayed consistent as now only two of 46 (4 percent) first timers were winners. It was also noted in September that following Tapit's second-time starters appeared to be a good handicapping angle and that has proved correct with a strong 22-percent win rate. Tapit's success is reflected in his stud fee, which will be $35,000 for 2009, up from the $12,500 he commanded in 2008. From a female family that includes successful sires Relaunch, Rubiano and Glitterman, and from the increasingly powerful A.P. Indy sireline, there is every reason to have faith in Tapit's continued success as a stallion. However, one possible concern for his future is that, with the exception of Retap whose best performance was a second-place finish in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile S. (G3), the sire's best two-year-olds are fillies and there have been few promising three-year-old colt prospects for next spring seen so far. This can be detrimental at this stage of a young stallion's career, and a second worry is that Stardom Bound is the lone member of the crop to win back-to-back races, which might lead one to question the fortitude of the sire's offspring. The racing careers of both Tapit and sire Pulpit were short lived, and Pulpit's three other Grade 1 dirt winners -- Corinthian, Purge and Sky Mesa -- were also tabbed to be leading Derby contenders, as was Pyro this year, but none made any impact on the Triple Crown series. While Corinthian and Purge were skillfully and carefully managed to achieve subsequent Grade 1 success, one has to wonder as to whether this trait will be passed along to the offspring of Tapit. While Tapit has dominated the last part of the season, LION HEART (Tale of the Cat) was in complete control of the Freshman Sire List early in the year, passing on his speed and precocity to his offspring. Represented by a large crop of juveniles, which included early stakes winners Azul Leon, Silent Valor and Lyin' Heart, the son of Tale of the Cat held a sizeable lead through September. However, despite the fact that his runners seemed to show the ability to rate and finish strong in sprints, there was always a question mark concerning the distance limitations of Lion Heart's offspring. These concerns were proven valid when Azul Leon and Silent Valor, as well as the Grade 2-placed filly Pretty Prolific and promising colt Brave Victory, all failed in their route attempts. Azul Leon will tackle 1 1/16 miles again on Saturday in the CashCall Futurity (G1) but, while Lion Heart's overall win rate with his sprinters on dirt and artificial surfaces is 18 percent, his win rate is just 9 percent with starters in route races. Similar to runners by Tale of the Cat, Lion Heart's offspring performed well on both dirt and artificial surfaces but not on turf, over which his runners have made 37 starts, both here and abroad, with just one winner. Lion Heart will remain at $20,000 for next year. MEDAGLIA D'ORO (El Prado [Ire]) has made a more than satisfactory start to his sire career judged by his third place on the Freshman Sire list, and since he was a better horse with age himself, one can expect his runners to improve as three-year-olds. With four stakes winners to his name, the sire is tied with Lion Heart for the most stakes winners by the first crop sires, and his fee for next year stays unchanged at $40,000. Similar to the offspring of his sire, El Prado, runners by Medaglia d'Oro performed on all surfaces, as evidenced by the likes of Rachel Alexandra winning the Golden Rod S. (G2) over Churchill's dirt and C. S. Silk taking the Arlington-Washington Lassie (G3) on the Polytrack as well as four winners on the turf. However, as with Tapit, it might be of concern that all of Medaglia d'Oro's stakes winners are fillies and he has few three-year-old colt prospects at this stage. Runners by CANDY RIDE (Arg) (Ride the Rails) can also be expected to improve next year and thus he too has made a good start with his current fourth place. A win by Chocolate Candy, who earlier captured the Real Quiet S., in Saturday's CashCall Futurity could even elevate him to third. Candy Ride's other stakes winners are the filly Evita Argentina, who won the Sorrento S. (G3) at Del Mar, and the colt Capt. Candyman Can, victor of Churchill's Iroquois S. (G3). Candy Ride was represented on the turf by Jack Spratt, who finished third in the Grand Canyon H. at Churchill, and the stallion will remain good value at $12,500 for 2009. Currently in fifth position is SPEIGHTSTOWN (Gone West), whose fee will be dropped a touch to $35,000 from $40,000 a year ago. Siring just 14 winners from 96 two-year-olds with two stakes winners may at first seem a tad disappointing for a first-year sire who was a champion sprinter, but it may be noted that he did not achieve that status until he was a six-year-old. His two stakes winners include Lord Shanakill, whose close second-place finish in the Dewhurst S. (Eng-G1) at Newmarket puts him amongst the leading two-year-olds in England, and other runners representing Speightstown are the promising Munnings, who finished a good second in the Champagne S. (G1), and the Frizette S. (G1) third Gemswick Park. Tapit is not the only freshman sire to break a record this year as CHAPEL ROYAL (Montbrook) recently set the mark for the most two-year-old winners sired in one year. His total of 36 achieved by the recent win of Field Chapel in Japan passed the record of 35 that had been set by the Irish-based Invincible Spirit two years ago. It is notable that of those 36 winners only two won more than one race. Chapel Royal has been moved to Florida for the 2009 season, where he will continue to command a fee of $10,000. Perhaps the most surprising name to see in the top 10 standings is EVEN THE SCORE (Unbridled's Song), who stood last year for $7,500. Thirteen of his 74 juveniles were winners and six were repeat winners, including the filly Four Gifts whose Delta Princess S. (G3) win accounted for more than one-third of her sire's earnings. The Kentucky-based stallion's fee will remain unchanged. Presently rounding out the top 10 are BIRDSTONE (Grindstone), PEACE RULES (Jules) and CONGAREE (Arazi), who have all had respectable first-crop runners, especially the first of this trio with his 62-strong crop being the smallest of any in the top dozen. Birdstone's three stakes winners include Mine That Bird, whose three stakes wins earned him the title of Canada's champion two-year-old male. Other sires not ranked in the top 10 who have sired two or more stakes winners are STROLL (Pulpit), SOTO (Dehere) and the Oregon-based HARBOR THE GOLD (Seeking the Gold) with three each. OLMODAVOR (A.P. Indy), WHERE'S THE RING (Seeking the Gold), TENPINS (Smart Strike) and REDATTORE (Brz) (Roi Normand) have two apiece. CUVEE (Carson City) and OMEGA CODE (Elusive Quality) have each sired 18 individual winners so far, ALKE (Grand Slam) has 17 and FRIEND'S LAKE (A.P. Indy) 15, including Grade 3 winner Screen Your Friend. The biggest disappointments of this year's first season sires are SMARTY JONES (Elusive Quality), who is in 19th place, and the 43rd ranked STRONG HOPE (Grand Slam). They stood last year for $100,000 and $30,000, respectively. Smarty Jones's lone stakes winner was in Puerto Rico, but he is also represented by Alcibiades S. (G1) runner-up Be Smart. Strong Hope has failed to have any runner earn black-type. ***Numbers are based on statistics as of December 15
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