Well, I figured it’s time to update my original analysis of the Highland Rogue sons, which was posted back in 2009. A lot has changed since 2009. Highland Laird, Turn ‘n’ Burn, Must Be Magic, and Highland Bandit have been pensioned (SOB). The younger sires have had at least a crop or two hit the track, so it’s time to give everyone (and the newer stallions) a second look.
Stallion owners, please note, as part of my analysis I’m trying to point out strengths and (new this year) weaknesses. I have limited myself to the facts, as best I can, and I welcome you to correct me where I’m wrong. For all studs I have pointed out one thing that disappoints me. For my own, I have pointed out two issues that disappoint me. If you do take issue with what I have written, please PM me. I’ll be more than happy to delete your stallion’s entry in this post.
Senior Stallions (1st crop is 5yos or older)
ICh. Highland Magic (Highland Rogue x Dark Magic; 2002; Rating: 7.2) has been around the block for a bit now. His first crop is now 7 years old. 44 of his 99 foals have hit the track at some point, and a whopping 82% are winners. 25% of his foals (11 of 44) have at least one stakes win. 14% (6 of 44) are multi-stakes winners, of which 2 (5%) are millionaires. He has 14 foals with a Ch. title and two who are GCh. or better (GCh. Hugo and ICh. Spock). What I’m slightly disappointed to see is that while there have been a fair number of stakes winners and multistakes winners since GCh. Hugo (b. 2008) and ICh. Spock (b. 2009), there hasn’t been another horse of similar or equal caliber since then. Nonetheless, Magic seems to throw SWs relatively consistently, which is an accomplishment any stallion should be proud of. It’s worth noting that from 2014 on his crops look to be fairly large. I’m hoping there will be another talented runner by Highland Magic to prove once and for all that GCh. Hugo and ICh. Spock are not outliers. Standout Foals:GCh. Hugo, ICh. Spock. Stud Fee: $50,000
GCh. High On Love (Highland Pride x Highland Lover; 2004; Rating: 4.9) High on Love’s first crop of foals are now 6yos. Like ICh. Highland Magic, 2014’s crop is going to be his first large crop to hit the track. Thus, bear in mind that this analysis is based only on 18 racers (of 46 total foals). So, of the 18 foals to race, 10 (56%) are winners, 3 (17%) are stakes winners, of which 2 are multi-stakes winners, millionaires, and, coincidentally, stud-qualified. He has 1 foal with a Ch. title, 1 foal with a GCh. title, and one with a WCh. title. One thing mare owners should be aware of is that High On Love is line-bred (3x3) to Highland Rogue. I’m disappointed to see that some of his older foals are only “placed,” but this can be chalked up to the fact that they are (mostly) lightly raced. I should note that his best foal to date (WCh. Drum Major) did his best work as a 4yo, though he did have a nice 3yo career as well. I hesitate to mark him as a “proven” stallion (and thus make generalizations) since only 5 of his foals have completed their 4yo season. I think this coming year, with 7 3yos-come-4yos and 11 2yos who could potentially hit the track, we’ll get a better sense of whether or not he throws consistent runners. In short, he’s thrown a couple AWESOME horses (2 stud-qualified horses!) and a fair number of lower-level allowance horses in a crop of 18 runners. I’m hoping that this season we’ll see a lot of his foals mature as 4yos and start kicking butt. Standout Foals: WCh. Drum Major, GCh. Galaxy’s Zodiac Stud Fee: $5,000
Junior Stallions (1st crop is 3yo-4yo)
FFCh. High Chances (Highland Laird x Second Chance; 2004; Rating: 6.1) High Chance’s first crop has now turned 4yos. 51 of his 114 foals have hit the track at some point, and a respectable 76% are winners. 18% of his foals (9 of 51) have at least one stakes win. Roughly 10% (5 of 51) are MSW, of which 2 (4%) are millionaires. He has 11 foals with a Ch. title and 1 foal with a GCh. title. As his owner, I’m disappointed on two fronts. First, his foals seem to be inconsistent. Some of his early stakes winners (e.g. Ch. Cigarina, Ch. Tickled Pink) who won stakes as 2yos failed to perform as well as 3yos (i.e. no stakes wins). Second, some of his get seem to be a bit more fragile than I like. Granted, some of this may be due to the mare, but I’ve seen more serious injuries (bowed tendons, overheats, and a freak-accident broken-leg) than I would like. I’m hoping his 4yos will perk up and will be quite disappointed if they don’t. Nonetheless, he seems to throw horses that will win-place fairly consistently at the allowance level. I am pleased that 40% (20) of his foals have 3 wins or greater, half of which (10) have 5 wins or more. For the time being, I will say that he seems to be a dependable allowance sire. Standout Foals: GCh. Notachanceinheck and Ch. High Risk (millionaire) Stud Fee: $25,000
[color=red]N.B. I own HC, so I’ve tried to be a little more critical with the boy. I’m also more attuned to how his get (as opposed to other stallions) have been doing in terms of injuries, average number of wins, etc… So, for better or worse, this entry is probably biased.
Strider (Highland Rogue x Seeing Starz; 2005; Rating: 4.5) Strider’s first crop is now 3yos, so please bare in mind that this analysis is mostly based on how his foals did as 2yos. It is reasonable to believe that many have not yet hit their peak. Strider has 26 of 87 foals that have hit the track. Of these, 15 (58%) have won a race. 12% of his foals to race (3 of 26) have won a stakes race. None have won more than one stakes and none are millionaires. None hold any titles. But again, this is based off only their 2yo season and Strider didn’t really hit his stride (no pun intended) until he was a 3yo. So, in short, his 2yo-come-3yo crop would be worth watching on the track this year, especially if Star Spun’s Gr. 2win and Portofino’s Gr. 2 show in their first start this year is any indication. I’m a little disappointed in the lack of 2yo winners last year, but this could be due to immaturity and the fact that many stables seemed to decide to hold off racing their Strider foals towards the end of last year. I think this year and next year will be interesting ones for Strider’s foals, and I’m hoping it won’t be long before the cream of the crop becomes more apparent. Standout Foals (all SWs): Set the Stride, Sardinia, Star Spun Stud Fee: $20,000
NCh. Robinhood (WCh. Highland Bandit x NCh. You Belong; 2007; Rating: 1.3) First crop is 4yo this year. That being said, he only has 4 racers out of 43 foals to have hit the track. There’s a large percentage of his 2yos come 3yos that are unraced. As such, I don’t think it’s really fair or accurate to examine him based on 4 runners. Nonetheless, for the curious, his stats are: 4 of 43 foals are racers (9%). Of these 4, 2 are winners. 1 is a stakes winner. No MSW and no millionaires. No titles. Standout Foals: Little John (SW) Stud Fee: $25,000
Fresh Off the Track (Oldest crop is 2yo this year)
NCh. Clockstopper (ICh. Highland Pride x GCh. Hollywood Gold; 2009; Rating: N/A) Only son of Highland Pride at stud. Oldest foals are yearlings. RR: 46(29) 11(10)-4(3)-5(3)-5(1) $2,934,500 Stud Fee: $10,000
NCh. Conflagration (Ch. Turn ‘n’ Burn x Stormy Subject; 2009; Rating: N/A) Only son of Turn ‘n’ Burn at stud. Oldest foals are weanlings. RR: 45(33) 10(7)-10(6)-4(2)-5(5) $2,110,800 Stud Fee: $10,000
ICh. Spock (ICh. Highland Magic x Somethin’ Smokin’; 2009; Rating: N/A) Only Highland Magic son at stud. Oldest foals are yearlings. RR: 42(30) 21(19)-2(1)-5(2)-1 $16,603,900 Stud Fee: $35,000
NCh. Formal Occasion (GCh. Highland Laird x Jacket Required; 2010; Rating: N/A) One of two sons of Highland Laird at stud. Oldest foals are weanlings. RR: 42(32) 12(9)-6(3)-4(2)-6(5) $2,846,500 Stud Fee: $10,000
If there’s demand and I have time, I’ll edit this post to include an analysis of studs with Rogue on the dam side. These include Ch. Magic Cross, NCh. Slew O’Scots,ICh. Alley Cat, NCh. Seattle Sorcerer, and ICh. Count Me In.
) but Strider’s first crop turned out much like him, mostly uninspiring until their 3yo year (he didn’t win once as a 2yo). He now has bundles of MSW as his first crop is 3 soon to be 4, and he is not only Gold rated but the highest ranked Highland Rogue currently standing at stud. I’m pretty proud of him (he’s a sentimental favorite too, named after my gelding TB I had in high school, hence the nerdy name) and I’m glad Renegade and I both share the same continent so I have easy access at least.