Breeders Cup World Championships
This weekend sees the two day Breeders Cup take place at Santa Anita Park in North America. The first day of the championship will be held on Friday and the 2014 Breeders Cup concludes on Saturday.
It is the 31st renewal of the Breeders Cup, first held at in 1984. So which of these rich championship races has exerted the most influence on the stud book?
The richest of all Breeders Cup races is the Classic (worth $5 million this year). It has a long record of producing outstanding sires throughout its relatively brief history. In no particular order, here are just a few outstanding stallions and mares who have won Breeders Cup races.
Sunday Silence
1989 Breeders Cup – Sunday Silence beats Easy Goer
Winner of the 1989 Gr1 Breeders Cup Classic, and North America’s Horse Of The Year in that same season, Sunday Silence was sold to Japan at the end of his racing career after failing to find favour with North American breeders. However, his sale proved a costly one for North America, as Sunday Silence became the dominant sire in Japan. Thirteen times champion sire, Sunday Silence has also proved a superb sire of sires, with his sons including Deep Impact, Hat Trick, Agnes Tachyon and Heart’s Cry. Today, the Sunday Silence impact is felt around the world, with his descendants continuing to succeed at the highest level throughout the world. The champion son of Halo, in total, left behind no fewer than 172 stakes winners.
Miesque
Repeat winner Miesque
Repeat winner of the Breeders Cup Mile (1987 and 1988), Miesque was a great racemare and an equally important broodmare. Not only is she the dam of world leading sire Kingmambo (sire of top sires Lemon Drop Kid, King’s Best and King Kamehameha), successful local sire Judpot and French classic winner East Of The Moon, her daughters and granddaughters have also made their mark at stud. The 2014 French 2000 Guineas hero Karakontie is out of a granddaughter of Miesque. Miesque is also the granddam of champion Rumplestiltskin, herself dam of Yorkshire Oaks heroine Tapestry and leading 2015 classic hope John F Kennedy.
Unbridled
Unbridled
Winner of both the Breeders Cup Classic and Kentucky Derby, Unbridled had but a brief stud career, dying prematurely at the age of 14. However, he enjoyed plenty of success, with his offspring including the hugely important sires Unbridled’s Song and Empire Maker, as well as Grade 1 winners Grindstone (sire of successful stallion and triple Grade 1 winner Birdstone), Red Bullet, Unshaded, Anees and Manistique. Unbridled is also the broodmare sire of outstanding sire Tapit – who currently heads the North American sires list.
Unbridled’s Song.
The recently deceased Unbridled’s Song (winner of the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Juvenile in 1995) was from the same crop of foals as fellow major sires Hennessy (by Storm Cat) and Maria’s Mon (by Wavering Monarch). A consistent producer of Grade 1 winners, Unbridled’s Song (sire of the superbly bred SA sire, Noble Tune), currently sports an impressive tally of 16 Grade 1 winners.
This score includes the Breeders Cup winners Midshipman, Unbridled Elaine and Unrivaled Belle. Unbridled’s Song’s sire sons are also now making their mark at stud, with the likes of Dunkirk, Rockport Harbor, First Defense and Old Fashioned all responsible for major Grade 1 winners.
Theatrical
1987 Breeders Cup Turf winner, Theatrical
A six time Grade 1 winner, Theatrical was indisputably Nureyev’s finest sire son. The winner of the Breeders Cup Turf in 1987, Theatrical produced 80 plus stakes winners, including more than 20 Group/Grade 1 winners. His top performers included Melbourne Cup hero Media Puzzle, Irish Derby winner Zagreb, French classic heroine Madeleine’s Dream and fellow standouts Astra, Geri, Royal Anthem and Mrs Lindsay. Theatrical is also broodmare sire of US champion, and successful sire, English Channel, himself victorious in the Gr1 Breeders Cup Turf.
High Chaparral
2002 Breeders Cup winner – High Chaparral
One of the world’s top sires, the dual Breeders Cup Turf winner has excelled in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Already sire of over 50 stakes winners, High Chaparral has been represented by three European Group 1 winners in 2014 – High Jinx, Lucky Lion and Toronado. His exceptional son, So You Think, a ten time Group 1 winner, has been exceptionally well received at stud, and he looks well placed to maintain the success that High Chaparral (one of the classiest and gamest performers of his generation) has enjoyed thus far. The son of Sadler’s Wells is also broodmare sire of 2014 Group 1 Prix Morny hero The Wow Signal.
A P Indy
1992 Breeders Cup Classic winner, A.P. Indy
One of the finest stallions to have stood in North America in the past two decades, dual Champion Sire A P Indy (winner of the 1992 Breeders Cup Classic), was without question the finest sire son of legendary racehorse and stallion Seattle Slew. A P Indy’s 150 plus stakes winners include no fewer than ten official champions, and over 20 Grade 1 winners.
He is also sire of outstanding sires Bernardini, Malibu Moon, Mineshaft and Pulpit, with the latter in turn sire of current US stallion sensation Tapit. An excellent broodmare sire, A P Indy rates as the damsire of one of North America’s hottest young sires, Super Saver.
Awesome Again
Awesome Again wins the 1998 Breeders Cup Classic
Awesome Again defeated arguably the strongest field ever seen in the 1998 Breeders Cup Classic – a race won subsequently by his outstanding son Ghostzapper. The latter is one of four Breeders Cup winners sired by Awesome Again, also responsible for such superb performers as Oxbow (Preakness Stakes), Paynter (Haskell), Game On Dude (eight time Grade 1 winner), Daaher (Cigar Mile) and Toccet (Champagne Stakes, Hollywood Futurity).
Awesome Again’s son, Ghostzapper, North America’s Horse Of The Year in 2004, has since become a top sire, whose offspring included seven Grade 1 winners.
Last Tycoon
1986 Breeders Cup winner, Last Tycoon
A superb sprinter-miler, who scored a 36-1 upset in the Breeders Cup Mile back in 1986, Last Tycoon was an outstanding sire, whose offspring excelled all over the world. His top runners included G1 St James Palace Stakes hero Marju (subsequently a leading sire), as well as champion New Zealand sire O’Reilly. Champion Sire in Australia in 1994, Last Tycoon’s progeny also excelled in South Africa, where he was represented by champions Tracy’s Element and Tytola, as well as top sprinter Super Sheila and millionaire Double Reef.
Last Tycoon’s offspring earned over $89 million, he became a superb broodmare sire, and he ranks as the damsire of such horses as champion Sun Classique, promising sire Casino Prince, and fellow Group/Grade 1 winners Slumdogmillionaire, Sousa, and Typhoon Tracy.
Wild Again
Upset 1984 Breeders Cup winner, Wild Again
An upset winner of the inaugural Breeders Cup Classic, Wild Again was a consistently successful stallion. His 80 plus stakes winners included 13 Grade 1 winners, including Offlee Wild, sire of this year’s Breeders Cup contender, Bayern.
Wild Again’s sons also include the successful stallions Wild Rush and Wild Event – with the latter heading the Brazilian sires list on several occasions.
He is also an outstanding broodmare sire, and is damsire of the 2014 Gr1 Dubai Duty Free hero, Just A Way, among others.
Gulch
Breeders Cup Sprint winner Gulch
Winner of the Breeders Cup Sprint, Gulch participated in three Breeders Cup races. He retired to a successful stud career (which produced over 70 stakes winners), his sons including Kentucky Derby winner and champion sire, Thunder Gulch, (sire of Breeders Cup Distaff winner, Spain), and the multiple Group 1 winner and successful European sire, Nayef.
Gulch is also a hugely successful broodmare sire, with his daughters producing the likes of 2000 Guineas hero Refuse To Bend, Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle and top class Irish sire and French Derby victory, Lawman.
Contenders for the title of most influential Breeders Cup winner of all time must surely include A P Indy, Sunday Silence and Unbridled, with A P Indy getting the nod by a short head.
