Second-Crop Sires

Three North American or European second-crop sires (first foals 2012, or F2012) have sired Classic winners in their first crops of 3-year-olds this year. That's presuming you agree that the GI Kentucky Oaks, won by the Majesticperfection filly Lovely Maria, should be classified as a Classic, which really it should be. The other two Classic winners were in France, and both by sires who now stand at the Aga Khan's stud, the Haras de Bonneval. Leading European second-crop sire Siyouni has the filly Ervedya, winner of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches-French 1000 Guineas and

G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot, and second last weekend to the rejuvenated 4-year-old filly Amazing Maria in the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville. The colts' equivalent, the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poluains-French 2000 Guineas, was won by Make Believe, from the first crop by Dubawi's first major sire son, Makfi, who now stands alongside Siyouni at Bonneval (his first year there, from Tweenhills in England).

Siyouni, by Pivotal and winner of the 2009 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, the top 2-year-old race for colts in France for his owner-breeder the Aga Khan, was runner-up to Ballylinch Stud's Lope de Vega, who emulated his sire Shamardal by completing the 2010 'Poulains'–Prix du Jockey Club double, as Europe's leading freshman sire of 2014. Lope de Vega had four GSW 2-year-olds last year, including G1 Dewhurst S. winner Belardo; he has two Group 1-placed colts this year over a mile, Endless Drama and Consort, and Belardo was fourth in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas. Siyouni, who now has five Black-Type Winners (BTW), three of them Group Winners (GSW) and 12 Black-Type Horses (BTH) cumulatively (click here–2nd crop cumulative, EU only), has a lead of a little under $100,000 over Lope de Vega, who has seven BTW (five GSW) and 13 Black-Type Horses. Through July 5, Siyouni had a 3.06 APEX A Runner Index, Lope de Vega 2.63.

Siyouni and Lope de Vega are comfortably one-two among European F2012 sires, although Starspangledbanner, unfortunately a sub-fertile son of Choisir who hasn't yet made it back from Australia, does have an A Runner Index of 4.69, but with just 32 year-starters–about a third of his contemporaries. In money terms, Tally Ho's Zebedee, who won six of his seven starts, all over five furlongs, for the Hannon team in 2009 and was then retired, is third by cumulative progeny earnings, and leads this group by number of winners, with 65. He had sired the very good Group 2 winner last year (and Classic-placed this year) Ivawood, and last Saturday the 3-year-old Zebedee colt Magical Memory defeated older horses in the six-furlong £250,000 Stewards Cup at Goodwood. After Zebedee, by cumulative progeny earnings, come Whitsbury Manor's Showcasing, a son of Oasis Dream; Makfi; Highclere Stud's Paco Boy, a top miler by Green Desert's son, Desert Style; and Newsells Park's Equiano, by Acclamation and twice a winner of the five-furlong G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot. Another son of Acclamation, Dark Angel, is the leading sire of 2-Year-Olds in Europe this year. Acclamation himself ranks seventh, and Equiano ranks eighth. Among the three they have already sired 48 2-year-old winners this year.

The field is really crowded among North American F2012 sires; you can make a case for at least 15 stallions having made a credible start. At least seven of of them have Grade I-placed horses this year, including Airdrie's Majesticperfection, a devastating sprinter by Harlan's Holiday (also sire of Into Mischief), who has this group's only Grade I winner so far this year, Lovely Maria. He ranks third on the TDN YTD North American Second-Crop Sire List (click here), behind Coolmore's Ashford Stud's duo of Lookin At Lucky, Champion 2-Year-Old and 3-Year-Old, and the three-time Grade II-winning sprinter Munnings, by Speightstown. They also now rank first and second on the North American Cumulative Second-Crop Sire List (click here), on which Majesticperfection ranks fifth.

Lookin At Lucky has opened up a near-$400,000 lead over Munnings in 2015 progeny earnings by virtue of two big-money wins in the last ten days: first, Breaking Lucky captured the C$500,000 Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie; then, last Saturday, Madefromlucky won his second Grade II in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby. One Lucky Dane, a colt trained by Bob Baffert, who trained Lookin At Lucky, had previously run second to stablemate Dortmund in the GI Santa Anita Derby. Cumulatively, Lookin At Lucky has six BTW and 13 BTH; Munnings has nine BTW and 15 black-type horses. His best runner is the Grade II winner and Grade I-placed filly I'm A Chatterbox.

On June 20, Taylor Made's Eskendereya had no black type winners in spite of having scads of winners at good tracks. Since then he's had four BTW, two of them 2-year-olds, and is up to fourth on the 2015 North American second-crop list. As we noted last week (click here), through July 5 he was tied with Munnings among second-crop sires with 13 ABC Runners. He could be the next Curlin: slow start, can't stop getting good winners now. Less than $100,000 in 2015 progeny earnings separates fourth-ranked Eskendereya from ninth-ranked Line of David; besides Line of David, sire of GI Kentucky Derby second Firing Line, Spendthrift also stand Warrior's Reward (seventh thus far in 2015), and 12th-ranked Temple City, who has two Grade 1-placed horses this year, Bolo and Startup Nation, as well as Miss Temple City, fourth in the red-hot G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot. Lane's End's Quality Road, last year's leading North American freshman sire, is a few dollars behind Eskendereya in fifth, and a few dollars ahead of Claiborne's Blame in sixth. Warrior's Reward is seventh, followed by Darley's Midshipman, whose Lady Shipman must be just about the best sprinting 3-year-old turf filly in the country. Last year's number two North American freshman sire, WinStar's Super Saver, is in 10th, with Darby Dan's Tale of Ekati, another showing a lot of promise, 11th in 2015. Temple City ranks 12th, followed by WinStar's Hold Me Back, a son of Giant's Causeway; Lane's End's Discreetly Mine, a half-brother to Discreet Cat by Mineshaft; and Florida's Ocala Stud's Kantharos, sire of nine black-type horses from just 39 runners. All in all it looks a deep and interesting group of candidates.

Bill Oppenheim may be contacted at [email protected] (please cc TDN management at [email protected]). Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/billoppenheim.