Successful Appeal

STALLION

OF THE WEEK

JULY 1

by James Scully

Successful Appeal living up to his name

PUNCH APPEAL rolled to a 4 1/4-length victory in Saturday's

$100,000 J J'sdream S. at Calder and provided her sire,

SUCCESSFUL APPEAL, with his third stakes winner to date from only

seven starters. The eight-year-old stallion's progeny have earned

nearly twice as much as those of the second-leading freshman sire

this year.

Successful Appeal hails from the highly accomplished Valid

Appeal, who stood at Harry T. Mangurian's Mockingbird Bird Farm

in Florida. A full brother to champion Desert Vixen, the late

Valid Appeal produced 87 stakes winners and his offspring earned

more than $46.7 million. By In Reality, Valid Appeal has also had

some success as a sire of sires with Valid Expectations (leading

freshman sire of 2001), Valid Wager and World Appeal.

Successful Appeal is out of the Fortunate Prospect mare

Successful Dancer, who is a daughter of the stakes-winning

Debonair Dancer (Staff Writer). Her siblings include multiple

Grade 3 winner Suave Prospect, who also finished second in the

1995 runnings of the Florida Derby (G1) and Blue Grass S. (G2).

Bred in Florida by Mangurian, Successful Appeal captured the

Cowdin S. (G2) at two and recorded victories in the Withers S.

(G2), Kentucky Cup Sprint S. (G2) and Amsterdam S. (G3) as a

sophomore. Trained throughout his career by John Kimmel, the dark

bay also won the A.G. Vanderbilt S. (G2) as a four-year-old. He

won graded events from six furlongs to a mile and earned $654,681

from a 22-8-2-4 line over three seasons of racing.

Successful Appeal stands at Hartley/De Renzo, Walmac South

near Ocala, Florida. His 2004 fee was $6,000. Last year, he had

16 yearlings sell for an average price of $24,481. His

two-year-olds were well received earlier this year, with 19

selling for a $63,211 average.

The first starter, DOUBLE D APPEAL, captured the Nursery S. at

Hollywood Park in May, but Successful Appeal's first stakes

winner is LUNARPAL, who has dominated the juvenile ranks at

Churchill Downs with wins in the Kentucky Breeders' Cup S. (G3)

and Three Chimneys Juvenile S.

The undefeated colt is the expected favorite for Monday's

closing-day feature at Churchill, the Bashford Manor S. (G3).

Successful Appeal also had an impressive New York-bred debut

winner recently at Belmont Park named STILL GUILTY.

Successful Appeal's offspring figure to run early and

typically should excel up to a mile, but that same definition fit

Elusive Quality, who sired this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and

Preakness (G1) winner from his second crop. We can also expect to

see the progeny of Successful Appeal run well on the grass as he

continues to follow in the hoofsteps of Valid Appeal.

Successful Appeal is off to a tremendous start at stud.