Bargain Sires Part III

Thirteen-year-old Kentucky Trophy may be one of the best stallions on owner Jon Xett’s reputable stallion roster but he certainly isn’t priced like one. The son of Trophy out of a Priceless Forever mare never made it to the track but has made huge strides as a stallion, with over 18% stakes winners from starters. $66,333 in average progeny earnings is more than three times his paltry fee of $20,000, yet he has been bred to just 79 mares – a small amount considering the many years he has been standing. Kentucky Trophy gets good colts and fillies, including grade II winners Livelifewithasmile (an earner of over $700,000), Baby (dam of aforementioned hot stallion prospect East), and Kentucky Destiny (dam of grade II winner Kentucky Liberty). He has meshed well with a number of lines including mares by Blades Hill, Symbol, Conduit, Sea Hero, Playful Mood, Battle Cry and Fighting With Wit.

Standing in Canada for owner Laura Ferguson is twelve-year-old End Result. The son of Unheard Of, despite statistics of 70% winners from starters and nearly 13% stakes winners from starters, stands for just $35,000. End Result raced exclusively at two and won all five lifetime starts in a season that culminated with a victory in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile (gr. I) over a number of classy horses such as Tot Ziens, Edict, Righteous and Pillar of Strength. His juvenile campaign earned him Champion Two-Year-Old honors. Though End Result never ran again he went into the shed with high expectations; being undefeated and out of the champion race mare Fallen Goddess. Despite never having tried route distances End Result’s offspring have flourished at classic distances. He sired the world-class Horse of the Year End of the Line, who while racing captured an astounding ten grade I’s on both dirt and turf and has gone on to his own storied career at stud. Recently retired Then won five grade I’s himself including the Steward’s Cup Classic, a race also captured a few years earlier by End of the Line. There also four-time grade I-winning mare Trap, herself the dam of Louisville Oaks (gr. I) victress Brat. Puzzlingly often a forgotten stallion despite such results (no pun intended), End Result boasts a gaudy $157,337 in average progeny earnings. He enjoys the company of The Scarlet Nite and Symbol mares but is versatile enough to work with mares by Playful Mood, Blades Hill, Sunday Silence, Walkover and Loki Brilliance.

Eleven-year-old Gun Hill stands in Ohio for the relatively paltry fee of $25,000. A Steward-bred son of Battle Cry, the solidly built bay was graded stakes-placed at two but hinted he was something special early on when running off with the Arizona Derby by eleven lengths in his sophomore debut. A late developer, he would lose his next three starts before coming into his own with victories in the Canadian Derby (CAN-II) and rich Japan Cup Dirt (JPN-I). Gun Hill started his four-year-old season with three wins including a dramatic nose victory in the lucrative Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) over household names Pillar of Strength, Majesty and Coup d’Etat, before ending his career with a disappointing seventh behind Pillar of Strength in the Steward’s Cup Classic (gr. I). As a stallion, Gun Hill has been undervalued with just 155 foals on the ground but has made the most of his breeding opportunities. He has gotten 58% winners from starters and nearly 12% stakes winners from starters. Gun Hill’s average progeny earnings are a notable $65,178, well over two times his stud fee. His biggest runner to date is the venerable 14-for-28 gelding Artillery, an earner of nearly $3 million. Artillery was a grade II-winning juvenile before annexing the Sunshine Park Derby (gr. I), Midsummer Classic (gr. I) and Steward’s Cup Marathon (gr. I). Grade II winners Never Quit and Partnership are also among Gun Hill’s leading earners. Crossing to Giacomo and Conduit mares has resulted in large successes but like the other stallions profiled here a slew of bloodlines have also been productive and include Symbol, End Result and real-life stallions Easy Goer, Stop the Music and Unbridled.

At $20,000, Inspired Strike just might be the biggest steal of them all. The eleven-year-old son of Compelling has been just as consistent in the shed as he was on the racetrack. A stakes-winning juvenile in the States, he shipped to Puerto Rico as a sophomore and won three graded stakes over older horses. Inspired Strike traveled throughout his four-year-old season, which resulted in a grade I placing in Argentina and graded stakes wins in Texas, Puerto Rico, California and New York, while competing against divisional heavyweights Echo Iced, Southern Cross and Yamikishi. He retired after finishing a lackluster seventh in the Steward’s Cup Sprint (gr. I) but has since made amends as a stallion. Inspired Strike boasts over 75% winners from runners and a healthy 17% stakes winners from runners. He has sired graded stakes winners Flares and Spare and a plethora of ungraded stakes winners; with average progeny earnings sitting at about twice his stud fee. Inspired Strike clearly enjoys the company of mares by Lost Soldier and his son Lost in the Fog, but has also gotten stakes winners from mares by Satelite and more obscure stallions like Oasis Bilksem and Tarnished Gold.

Ten-year-old Esteemed is another diamond in the rough at $25,000 and like Inspired Strike is owned by Brianna McKenzie, a force as an owner and breeder in the sprint division. Esteemed won two of three starts at two but just one of four starts at three; something that can be excused considering he was butting heads with older horses like Lost, Southern Cross and Echo Iced. Unlike your typical sprinter, Esteemed hit his best stride at four and five. He won graded stakes in New York, California, Puerto Rico and Kentucky and ended his career with two six-length romps in Puerto Rico. As a stallion Esteemed has been very sharp with average progeny earnings of over $46,000, 71% winners from runners and nearly 15% stakes winners from runners. His best runners to date are Driving Rain, a millionaire whose biggest triumph came in the form of a four-length win in the Los Campeones Dirt Sprint (ARG-I) and the mare Look Elegant, winner of Era Stakes (gr. I) and Dancer Stakes (gr. I) in back-to-back starts. Another son, Reputable, was named Islands Champion 2-Year-Old Colt for his victory in the Puerto Rico Juvenile Championship (PR-I). As expected, Esteemed has begotten numerous stakes winners from mares by Satelite and his sons Comet, Pincay, Saturn and Villain. Em’s Always Busy –and his son Inspired Dream—have meshed well; and there have even been added money winners from the Inspired Fate and Anxious Gold lines as well.

Despite being a champion and classic winner, Empire is a stallion who is often passed over. This is a terrific shame since the eleven-year-old quietly goes about getting results like a whopping 77.5% winners from runners, average progeny earnings of more than double his $25,000 fee and 11.2% stakes winners from runners. Empire was always expected to be a good one, being by 11-for-13 multi-millionaire Chesapeake Bay and out of Hall of Famer and Broodmare of the Year Royalty. And he did not disappoint, winning his first five starts including the Wood Memorial (gr. I) to go off as the Louisville Derby (gr. I) favorite, though he would finish second by a length to Coup D’etat, a horse he edged in the Wood. Empire did take the Baltimore Crown (gr. I) next out over a star-studded field including the filly Wonder, Coup D’etat and California. He was even better at four and five when annexing the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) by six lengths over old rival Coup D’etat, the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) by 4-1/2 lengths and finishing second by a half-length in the Steward’s Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I). He also captured the Clasico Verset’s Jet (PR-I) in his final start, which earned him the title of Islands Champion Older Horse. As a stallion he has produced grade I-winning sons Be My Neighbor and Misfit and grade II victors Flawed Legacy and Laytheblameonlove. Empire makes a favorable impression as he is not picky with his mares, getting stakes winners from mares by everything from Wheelaway, Fightingwithfaith, Heir to the Throne, Fighting With Wit, Battle Cry and Saint Ballado.