Well, there’s been a request for a sons of Worth analysis, in the spirit of my Rogue analysis, which does need to be updated. Like I said then, I do apologize to the stallion owners. I’m going to try to be as impartial and fact-based as I can be.
If stud fees are changing next year, please let me know.
Established Studs
[url=http://www.finalfurlong.org/viewhorse.php?horse=690]NCh. Highland Wizard/url has a very nice production record in that of all his racers he has only one non-winner (this includes 2yos), which is quite a feat. He’s sired 27 Stakes winners (38%), 10 (14%) multi-stakes winners and 7 (10%) millionaires, all of which is fairly impressive given that stallions breed to all types of mares. Notable offspring include: NCh. Celtic Foxx, NCh. Banner Raised, NCh. Sacred Hill and NCh. Silver Wizard (now standing at stud). His foals seem to have a very strong 3yo season, and a decent 2yo or 4yo season. Foals tend to run equally well on both turf and dirt and show a propensity for the sprints and classic distances. It should be noted that Highland Wizard has Highland Rogue through his dam, so you will be line breeding if you send your Rogue mare to him. Stud fee: $75,000
WCh. What’s Debatable (S) has produced a respectable number of decent runners. Notable runners include: NCh. Set the Sails, GCh. Honey Baby, GCh. Touch ‘N’ Go, GCh. Such A Treasure. It’s not surprising for a stallion who ran better as a 4yo than as a 2yo to see most of his 2yos as non-winners. He was a very consistent sire in his younger days (check out his 2007 crop!), producing a lot of foals that earned titles. More recent crops are not as title heavy, but this may be a function of later maturity (which really is a handicap for stallions, in that the foals may be retired before they’re fully matured). For those that did run well, their 3yo season seemed to be their best one. But then you have the likes of Ch. Scarlet Skies and Ch. Rodeo who won their first stakes races as 5yos. If you did breed to him, I would recommend patience and race them through their 5yo year if they haven’t had a strong 3yo season. You might want to breed mares to him that throw runners that mature early. His foals seem to have one good season. Stud fee is $15,000
Worth My While (G) has a nice production record, with an average earnings of $600k (higher than Highland Wizard’s of $500k). Notable runners include NCh. Nightshade, NCh. Indecent Proposal, GCh. While It Lasts, GCh. Vertigo and GCh. Millennium Falcon. I’m not sure if it’s just random chance, but his fillies seem to perform better than his colts. Both 2yos to race are unplaced, but all his 3yos are stakes placed or better. The 3yo season seems to be the best, but some like GCh. Vertigo have 3 strong seasons. Seems to throw foals that prefer one surface over the other, mostly dirt, but there have been some turf runners. Distance is predominantly classic. Stud fee is $17,000
NCh. Sneak Peek (S) has produced few of note, Ch. Contradiction and Ch. Encore Performance are his most successful foals. As he’s owned by FF, he is not nominated for the Breeders’ Cup (something to keep in mind). Nonetheless, he looks to produce winners, and as a fairly young stallion, it may just be that his get mature slowly. Sneak Peak himself did not win his first stakes until he was a 4yo. His stud fee is $5,000
ICh. Worth the Wait (B) first crop hit the ground in 2008. He has produced one stakes winner (Ch. Signal Fire), who ran very nicely as a 3yo and then just petered out (possibly due to FF management). I very much like Ch. My Lady’s Princes, who has had 3 successful seasons (3yo-5yo), which indicates this boy may produce foals who are capable for running for many seasons equally well, but it’s hard to gauge when FF has managed so many of his foals’ racing careers. Again, I see a lot of late maturity, so patience will be key. Get seems to run equally on all tracks and distances (the latter of which they get from their sire), but it may be worth considering SC for his foals, even though Worth the Wait was a dirt specialist. Stud fee is: $15,000
Junior Studs
FFCh. TakeMeToHollywood (B) Did fantastically well as a racehorse. First crop is now 3yos, and I’m inclined to believe (from my own experience) is this one’s foals aren’t going to mature until much later–Kermit had four good seasons, and was still running strong as a 6yo. He has had some 2yo winners, but none of have been rockstars, as you would expect. He has produced no stakes winners, but has sired two stakes placed runners. Only 30% of his foals are winners, but I keep hoping. Step Up looked really nice as a 2yo (5 wins!), but has failed to fire this year. It’s too early to judge where Kermit’s strengths lie. Stud Fee is: $10,000
FFCh. Foolhardy (S) is a very young stud, but has already produced 3 millionaires, indicating to me that if you get a good cross out of Foolhardy, it’s going to be a monster. Notable foals include: ICh. I’m No Fool, GCh. Fillibuster, Ch. Got Moxie. He seems to produce consistent foals that run well as 2yos and 3yos. He’s too young to determine if their abilities will last beyond their 3yo year. Given that Foolhardy himself didn’t have a good season until he hit, 4yo, I’m kind of excited/scared to see how these foals will mature. Most foals seem to prefer dirt. Stud Fee is: $20,000
Ch. Tryst of Fate (B) is a very young stallion, with only one 3yo (winner) and a handful of 2yos (one stakes placed). His 3yo, Starz of Fate is very lightly raced but has won all three of his three starts, granted he is out of the incredible Starz Awhirl. Keep the Fate has won and showed in his two starts; and Azeroth has won or come in second for all three of his starts. Thus, while Tryst of Fate may easily be overlooked, the early race results of his get look promising in that he produces consistent runners. All of his foals have hit the board every time they’ve gone out (including the only “unplaced” horse came home 4th in a stakes). Stud fee is: $10,000
ICh. Candidate (S) is a very young stallion. First foals to race are 2yo this year. All of his 2yo have brought home a paycheck, and he has one MSW and one SP foal already. His foals appear to hit the board fairly consistently, so he’s definitely going to be one to watch as they mature. Stud fee is: $10,000
WCh. I’m Your Angel (B) has one incredibly talented 2yo in GCh. Beau Espirit (6 wins, 5 of them SWs) and the others look promising (I own one of his three “unplaced” foals, and even she has come in 4th three times out of eight starts). There seems to be a turf bias in his foals, but here and there you’ll find a bugger who likes the dirt. I’m Your Angel had an incredibly successful 4yo year book ended by very nice 3yo and 5yo seasons. I’m really excited to see how his foals grow up. Stud fee is: $15,000
Fresh Off the Track
NCh. Black Warrior is just off the track, first foals will hit the ground next year. Black Warrior earned 8 stakes wins, strangely enough, two of each grade (Gr.1 x 2, Gr.2 x 2, etc.) He ran well on both dirt and turf, but seemed to prefer the grass. No SC starts. He was mainly a sprinter, winning seven of his eight sakes at distances shorter than a mile. Stud fee is: $15,000
ICh. Chivalry is another young stallion. His first crop will run next year. He won 10 stakes, half of them were Gr. 1s, with the rest being Gr. 2s and Gr. 3s (i.e. no ungraded). His best year was as a 4yo, but he ran quite well as a 3yo and showed promise as a 2yo. He stakes placed or better in all four of the years he was campaigned. He shows a clear preference for the turf, but ran equally well at all distances–earning four of his 12 wins at each of the three distances, so he looks to be an all-rounder in that sense. Stud fee is: $8,000
ICh. Gunningdownromance is notable for winning 15 stakes races, 10 of which were Gr. 1, including the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He shows a definite preference for the dirt and a preference for the classic, but ran quite well at longer and shorter distances. His best year was as a 3yo, but he ran quite well as a 2yo and 4yo. Stud fee is: $10,000
WCh. Express Yourself is impressive for two reasons: 1) he won 18 stakes races, 11 of which were Gr. 1 and 2) he won stakes beginning as a 2yo through his 5yo season. He has a longevity that I really hope he passes on to his foals. He shows a clear preference for turf and was particularly strong at classic distances. Stud fee is: $5,000
NCh. Silver Wizard is, I believe, the only Worth grandson at stud. Silver Wizard won 8 stakes wins, one of which was a Gr. 1. He had a very nice 3yo season and a respectable 2yo and 4yo season. He seems to have run equally well on both turf and dirt, he showed a preference for sprints, but won even at endurance lengths. As a son of Highland Wizard, you will be getting the 1-2 punch of Worth and Rogue all at once. Stud fee is $3,000
So, that’s my quick analysis. I hope this helps people.
