GIANT’S CAUSEWAY (1997): Storm Cat—Mariah’s Storm, Rahy. Bred in Kentucky by Orpendale & Michael Tabor. Raced for Michael Tabor and Susan Magnier; trained by Aiden O’Brien. Stands at Ashford Stud/Coolmore America; 2018 stud fee is $75,000.
Giant’s Causeway earned $3,078,989 in his 13-start racing career. He was considered the “iron horse” of European racing in 2000, running in eight consecutive English or Irish Group I races that year, winning five and finishing second in the other three. He finished the season (and his racing career) by crossing the pond to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, finishing second to Tiznow in a thrilling stretch duel. He was the champion 3-year-old in Europe that year.
He started his stud career in 2001 at Coolmore Stud in Ireland, and then eventually moved to Coolmore’s U.S. outpost, Ashford Stud in Versailles, KY. He also stood in Australia and Argentina.
Giant’s Causeway been the leading North American sire three times (2009, 2010, 2012), the only horse since Danzig to do so. He’s also twice been the champion 2-year-old sire. He was ranked 16th nationally in 2017. He had 28 yearlings sell at auction in 2017 with the top three selling for $875,000, $700,000, and $625,000.
He’s sired 2,545 foals and 108 graded stakes winners. His progeny’s lifetime earnings are $164,044,819.
He’s considered the most successful son of Storm Cat in the breeding shed, and his many notable offspring include Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron, Italian champion Primary (Gran Premio d’Italia), the champion New Zealand stayer Showcause, and French Derby winner Shamardal, who has a successful stud career of his own. He’s also the sire of Take Charge Brandi, Eclipse Award 2014 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, who won the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Delta Princess Stakes and the Grade I Starlet Stakes.
His sport horse offspring include many hunters, jumpers, and eventers.
The Contestants
TWO PUNCH (1983-2011): Mr. Prospector—Heavenly Cause, Grey Dawn II. Bred in Kentucky by Eleanor R. Ryan.
Two Punch only raced 8 times himself, winning 4 times and earning $89,795. But he had tremendous impact as a sire in the Mid-Atlantic region. He sired 1142 foals, and 65 percent of them were winners, including 56 stakes winners. His progeny had lifetime earnings of $55,261,836. He stood at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, MD, and was Maryland sire of the year in 1994, ‘95, and ‘97.
His most successful racing offspring were Eclipse Award-winning sprinter and successful sire Smoke Glacken; grade I winner Taking Risks; and multiple graded stakes winner Punch Line. Smoke Glacken (1994), who was out of Majesty’s Crown (by Magesterial), raced 14 times with 10 wins, earning $759,560.
He began a prolific sire career at Gainesway in Kentucky in 1998, and went on to sire 58 stakes winners and 16 graded stakes winners. He was pensioned in 2013 and died in 2016. Many of Two Punch’s offspring have found success as eventers and hunter/jumpers. He’s the most popular sire in our Bloodline Brag database with 15 entries, and has more than 60 progeny registered with the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
PARTNER’S HERO (1994): Danzig—Safely Home, Winning Hit. Bred in Maryland by Mr. & Mrs. David Hayden & Gilman Investment Co. Stands at Castle Rock Farm.
Partner’s Hero is a graded stakes winner and Breeders Cup participant. He was trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas and raced 33 times with 8 wins, earning $554,731.
He entered stud in 1999 and also stood at Northview’s outpost in Pennsylvania, but now stands at Castle Rock Farm near Unionville, PA. He has sired 473 foals, with 53 percent of them winners. His leading runners include millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner Heros Reward, as well as graded stakes winners New York Hero, Love Match, and Private Chef. He has sired 15 blacktype winners and his progeny have earned $21,697,082.
As sport horses, his progeny have been successful as eventers and hunter/jumpers. His son Mixed Blessing (out of the Proud Truth mare Amazing Truth), owned by Nina Gardner, placed 28th in the 2014 U.S. Eventing Association Young Event Horse Overall Championship for 5-year-olds and placed sixth in the Rebecca Farm CCI1* in 2015 with Jennie Brannigan. Another son, Lansdowne (JC name Sunshine Flash, out of Alpine Aster), placed third at the Virginia Horse Trials CCI2* last fall with Hallie Coon.
SMARTY JONES (2001): Elusive Quality—I’ll Get Along, Smile. Owned and bred in Pennsylvania by Someday Farm. Stands at Calumet Farm in Kentucky; 2018 stud fee: $7,500.
Smarty Jones descends from Mr. Prospector and Secretariat through Gone West on his sire’s side. He was the 10th horse since 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, but lost the 2004 Belmont to a late-charging Birdstone, who bested Smarty Jones by just one length.
He retired after that race, which was his only loss in nine starts. He amassed lifetime earnings of $7,613,155 and was the Eclipse Award 2004 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt.
Smarty Jones started his stud career at Three Chimneys Farm in 2004, and then stood in his home state of Pennsylvania at Ghost Ridge Farm and Northview Pennsylvania. In 2016, he went back to Kentucky to stand at Calumet. He has also shuttled to Uruguay several times for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
He has produced 764 foals with $36,918,827 in lifetime earnings and 31 stakes winners.
Some of his top runners include the Japanese-bred mare Keiai Gerbera (out of Anna Sterz, by Danzig) with lifetime earnings of $2,459,189; Australian-bred turf mare Better Life (out of Quiet Life, by Sunday Silence), a four-time Singapore titleholder and winner of the Longines Singapore Gold Cup (Gr. 1) and Emirates Singapore Derby (Gr. 1); and Smart DNA, a four-time champion in Panama including 2012 Horse of the Year.
Smarty Jones has many offspring now competing in sport horse careers, including show hunters, fox hunters, and eventers. He was represented by two offspring at the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover, including Cary Street, a multiple graded stakes winner and Breeders Cup participant who earned $381,515 in 24 starts. He placed fifth in competitive trail and 11th in field hunters. The 2018 Makeover will feature Res Judicata, a graded stakes winner who earned $489,840 in 34 starts, also bred by Someday Farm.
AWESOME AGAIN (1994): Deputy Minister—Primal Force, Blushing Groom (FR). Owned and bred in Ontario, Canada, by Frank Stronach. Stands at Adena Springs in Kentucky; private stud fee.
Awesome Again’s sire, Deputy Minister, was a Canadian-bred who won both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old, in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received the 1981 Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year and was elected to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1988. He’s an outstanding sire in his own right, and topped the North American Leading Sires list in 1997 and 1998. Among his other noteworthy offspring are the Hall of Fame fillies Go For Wand and Open Mind, and 1997 Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold, also owned by Frank Stronach.
His dam, Primal Force, descends from Mr. Prospector and was the 2000 Broodmare of the Year.
Awesome Again didn’t start his racing career until he was 3, and that season was cut short by injury, but included wins in the Jim Dandy Stakes (Gr. 2) and the Queen’s Plate Stakes, Canada’s most prestigious race. He was undefeated in his 4-year-old year in 1998, winning the Stephen Foster Handicap (Gr. 2), Whitney Handicap (Gr. 1), Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Gr. 2), Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (Gr. 3), and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr. 1). He ran 12 times with nine wins, earning $4,374,590, and retired after his Breeders’ Cup Classic win.
He began his stud career in 1999 at Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm in Paris, KY. He ranked second on the 2002 Leading First Crop Sires list, and ranked as high as sixth on the Leading Sires List (2007). He has sired 1287 offspring and 70 stakes winners, with lifetime progeny earnings of $86,976,171. He was ranked 78th on the 2017 Leading Sires List.
His most successful offspring is Hall of Famer Ghostzapper, who was the Eclipse Award 2004 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Horse. He earned $3,446,120 in 11 starts, and won the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr. 1), making Awesome Again the first Breeders’ Cup Classic winner to sire another Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. Ghostzapper is also a standout sire, ranked ninth on the Leading Sires List for 2017. He also stands at Adena Springs.
Other noteable offspring include multiple graded stakes-winning mare Ginger Punch, winner of $3,065,603 in lifetime earnings with 12 wins in 22 starts. She won the 2007 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (Gr. 1) and was the 2007 Eclipse Award Champion Older Mare. Multiple graded stakes winner Game On Dude earned $6,498,893 in 33 starts, was a three-time winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, and also won the inaugural Awesome Again Handicap (formerly the Goodwood Stakes). Awesome Gem was a late bloomer who raced until he was 9, running 52 times and winning $2,881,370.
Awesome Again has quite a few progeny registered with the U.S. Equestrian Federation, competing in hunters, jumpers, and dressage. One of his more successful eventing offspring is Gemini Pilot (JC name: Awesome Minister), who competed through intermediate in eventing with Elenor Van Gemeren. He also had three offspring compete at the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover.
TALE OF THE CAT (1994): Storm Cat—Yarn, Mr. Prospector. Bred in Kentucky by Indian Creek, Philip Freedman & Hugo Lascelles. Raced for Phantom House Farm and Susan Magnier; trained by John H. Forbes. Stands at Ashford Stud/Coolmore America; 2018 stud fee is $25,000.
Tale of the Cat earned $360,900 in nine starts. Although he wasn’t nearly as successful a racehorse as his half-brother and stablemate, he did win the King’s Bishop Stakes (Gr. 2) and placed in several Grade 1 stakes.
But as a sire, he’s proven very successful. He’s not only a son of Storm Cat, but a grandson of Mr. Prospector through his dam. He started his stud career in 1999, and has stood in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.
He was the champion 2-year-old sire in the U.S. in 2003 and champion freshman sire in New Zealand in 2002-2003. He has sired 2609 foals and 46 graded stakes winners, with lifetime progeny earnings of $133,523,570. He was ranked 63rd on the national leading sires list for 2017.
Among his successful runners include Gio Ponti, Eclipse Award 2009 and 2010 Champion Grass Horse and winner of $6,169,800 in 29 starts; multiple graded stakes-winning filly Stopchargingmaria, winner of $3,014,000 in 18 starts, including the 2015 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff; and Lion Heart, who ran second in the 2004 Kentucky Derby and won the 2004 Haskell Invitational Handicap (Gr. 1).
FUSAICHI PEGASUS (1997): Mr. Prospector—Angel Fever, Danzig. Bred in Kentucky by Arthur B. Hancock III and Stonerside Ltd. Raced for Fusao Sekiguchi. Stands at Coolmore America‘s Ashford Stud. 2018 stud fee: $7,500.
Fusaichi Pegasus sold for $4 million at Keeneland as a yearling. He raced just nine times, but notched six wins and earned $1,994,400. His most notable victory was in the 2000 Kentucky Derby, in which he was the favorite — he came from 15 lengths back to win, turning in one of the fastest Derby times ever. (His time currently ranks eighth-fastest in Derby history.) He placed second in the Preakness, and did not contest the Belmont. He also won the San Felipe Stakes (Gr. 2), Wood Memorial Stakes (Gr. 2), and Jerome Handicap (Gr. 2) that year. He retired to stud after finishing 6th in the 2000 Breeders Cup Classic.
Fusaichi Pegasus was sold to Coolmore for what was then a record-breaking amount, reportedly $70 million. He shuttled between the U.S. and Australia in the beginning of his breeding career, and also stood in South America.
He has sired 2072 foals, with lifetime progeny earnings of $106,062,674. He has sired 30 graded stakes winners, including Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship (Gr. 1) winner Champ Pegasus, Blue Grass Stakes (Gr. 1) winner Bandini, and Haskell Invitational Handicap (Gr. 1) winner Roman Ruler. His most successful offspring are Australian-bred Haradasun, winner of the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr. 1) in England with lifetime earnings $2,264,941, and International Star, winner of the Risen Star Stakes (Gr. 2) and Louisiana Derby (Gr. 2), with lifetime earnings of $1,247,029.
ROCK SLIDE (1998): A.P. Indy—Prospectors Delite, Mr. Prospector. Bred in Kentucky by W.S. Farish, James Elkins, and W.T. Webber Jr. Stood at Maryland Stallion Station and Shamrock Farm in Maryland.
Rock Slide is a full brother to Mineshaft, the Eclipse Award 2003 Horse of the Year. He earned $442,500 in 23 starts, with nine wins.
He retired after his 5-year-old year, and entered stud in 2004. He has sired 292 foals with lifetime earnings of $10,694,276. He ranked as high as sixth on the Maryland Leading Sires list (in 2010 and 2011), and was pensioned in 2016.
MALIBU MOON (1997): A.P. Indy—Macoumba, Mr. Prospector. Owned and bred in Kentucky by B. Wayne Hughes. Stands at Spendthrift Farm; 2018 stud fee $75,000.
Malibu Moon’s racing career was short: he ran only twice, winning once and earning $33,840. A slab fracture in his knee forced his early retirement, and he entered stud in 2000. He started his stud career at Country Life Farm in Maryland.
He made his mark as a sire immediately, siring In his first crop—Perfect Moon, a 2001 colt out of Perfectly (by Parfaitement) won two graded stakes as a juvenile, including the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar. Declan’s Moon, winner of the 2004 Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old-colt, came with his second foal crop. (Declan’s Moon also took part in RRP’s 100-Day Training Challenge, the precursor to the Thoroughbred Makeover, in 2013.)
After those early successes, Malibu Moon moved to Castleton Lyons in Kentucky, and then eventually to Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm. He’s become a proven top sire of racehorses, and 2017 was his best year yet as a sire—he had four Grade I stakes winners and more than $11 million in earnings, and was ranked eighth nationally. Sixty-two of his progeny sold for six-figures in 2017, including $700,000, $650,000, and $625,000 yearlings.
He’s the sire of Orb, who won the 2013 Kentucky Derby and placed third in the Belmont, and he has also become known as a leading sire of broodmares. He has 45 graded stakes winners and $108 million in lifetime earnings.
You can find many Malibu Moon offspring competing in eventing. His son Sea Of Clouds (out of Winner’s Ticket) is competing with Phillip Dutton and completed his first one-star in 2017. Melissa McMaster is competing MMC Paddy Patterson (Malibu Moon—Squawk, Mountain Cat) at advanced.
HARLAN’S HOLIDAY (1999-2013): Harlan—Christmas in Aiken, Affirmed. Bred in Ohio by Double D Farm Corp.
Harlan’s Holiday, whose sire Harlan was by Storm Cat, had a very successful racing career. He ran 22 times with 9 wins, earning $3,632,664. He was a multiple graded stakes winner, including the Grade I 2002 Florida Derby, 2002 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, and 2003 Donn Handicap. He was on the Triple Crown trail in 2002, running seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness Stakes. He also finished second in the 2003 Dubai World Cup, and ranked sixth in earnings that year.
Harlan’s Holiday began his breeding career in 2004 at Airdrie Stud in Midway, KY. In 2011, he moved to WinStar Farm. He also shuttled to stand in Argentina in 2010, 2011, and 2013, and had to be euthanized there at the age of 14 when he collapsed in his stall and lost use of his hind end.
He sired 1,332 foals and 51 graded stakes winners, with lifetime progeny earnings of $80,303,290. He was the champion juvenile sire of 2012, with his progeny setting a North American record for 2-year-old earnings: $2,954,556.
His most successful offspring is Shanghai Bobby (2010, out of Steelin’), who ran eight times with six wins and earnings of $1,857,000. He was the Eclipse Award 2012 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, and won the 2012 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Gr. 1). He’s currently standing at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, and was #4 on the 2017 Leading First-Crop Sire list.
His son Into Mischief (2005, out of Leslie’s Lady) is also a standout stud, ranking 11th on the 2017 Leading Sires list with progeny earnings of $10,669,719. He, coincidentally, stands at Spendthrift Farm with Malibu Moon.
As far as sport horse progeny, he has many offspring competing in hunters, jumpers, and eventing. One of the most famous is multiple graded stakes winner Notacatbutallama, who had a great racing career (39 starts, 8 wins, $789,359) with trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole, and made headlines when Repole gave the horse to his biggest fan, Alysse Peverell, the assistant director of horsemen’s relations at the New York Racing Association, when he retired.
ARTAX (1995-2012): Marquetry—Raging Apalachee, Apalachee. Bred in Kentucky by Vinery & Carondelet Farm; owned by Ernie Paragallo’s Paraneck Stable.
Artax (who was named after a horse in the children’s book “The Neverending Story”) was the Eclipse Award 1999 Champion Sprinter, winning the Carter Handicap (Gr. 1), the Vosburgh Stakes (Gr. 1), the Forest Hills Handicap (Gr. 2), and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr. 1) during that championship season. He also set track records in two of those races.
He retired after that season, having run 25 times with seven wins, and earning $1,685,840.
Despite his racing accomplishments, Artax is perhaps best known for being attacked by a drunken racegoer during a race on the 1999 Preakness Stakes undercard. (Which likely comes as no surprise to anyone who attended a Preakness during the 1990s.) During the Maryland Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Gr. 3), a man climbed the fence that surrounded the infield at Pimlico and ran across the turf course and onto the main track inside the eighth pole, just as the horses were turning for home. He charged at the horses and tried to punch Artax, but ended up hitting jockey Jorge Chavez in the leg. (Fortunately no one was hurt.) Artax, who was the favorite, finished fifth in that race.
Artax started his stud career at Clermont Farm in New York, and later standing at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, Metropolitan Stud in New York, and Diamond G Ranch in Oklahoma. He also stood in Brazil, and died there at age 17 due to complications from colic.
Artax sired 625 foals with $16,727,368 in lifetime earnings. Forty-six percent of his progeny were winners, including eight stakes winners. Among his notable offspring are multiple graded stakes winners Diabolical, who earned $1,467,401 in 32 starts and was second in the 2008 Breeders’Cup Turf Sprint, and Friendly Michelle, who earned $404,544 in 12 starts.
Among his sport horse progeny (see photos in comments) are Mr. Lincoln (out of Scenic View), competing at second level in dressage with Kathy Chrislip; Hugo Boss (JC name: Andrus, out of Goodie Good Girl), eventing at preliminary with Mallory Stiver; and Gallifrey (out of Dromana), reserve HITS on the Hudson 2017 circuit champion with Sarah Garber in the Thoroughbred 1 division and sixth place adult hunter over 35 for the Connecticut Hunter/Jumper Association for 2017; as well as Artrageous, a sport horse stallion standing in Florida.
APTITUDE (1997-2012): A.P. Indy—Dokki, Northern Dancer. Owned and bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms.
Aptitude was a multiple graded stakes winner who earned $1,965,410 in 15 starts. He finished second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the 2000 Kentucky Derby, and second to Commendable in the Belmont Stakes. In 2001, he won the Hollywood Gold Cup (Gr. 1), the Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Gr. 2), and Jockey Club Gold Cup (Gr. 1), and also ran eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr. 1).
He retired after the 2001 season and stood at Juddmonte, shuttling to Argentina for the Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons. He died of a ruptured stomach in Argentina in 2012.
Aptitude sired 935 foals and 45 percent of them were winners, including 26 stakes winners. His progeny have lifetime earnings of $23,760,208.
His notable racing offspring include Great Hunter, who won the 2006 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (Gr. 1) and placed third in the 2006 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He earned $976,260 in 17 starts and currently stands in Venezuela. Aptitude also sired Gallant, winner of the 2009 Canadian classic Prince of Wales Stakes, and Steppenwolfer, who ran third in the 2006 Kentucky Derby. His top South American offspring include two-time horse of the year in Peru, Al Qasr, and 2011 Argentine Derby winner Lange.
His sport horse offspring include several successful eventers, most notably A.P. Prime, who placed 33rd at the 2016 Rolex Kentucky CCI 4* with Leah Lang-Gluscic. Other eventers include What You Will (JC name: Hang Loose), competing through intermediate with Mary Hollis Baird; and Peter Pan (out of Saratoga Surge), who competed through intermediate with Amanda Beale Clement. He also has several offspring competing in hunters and jumpers.
LUFTIKUS (1996): Meadowlake—Andora, Conquistador Cielo. Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm. Raced for Stronach Stables. Stands at Taylor Mountain Farm in Charles Town, WV. 2018 stud fee: $500.
Luftikus sold for $200,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton New York Select Yearling Sale, and earned $479,630 in a 10-start racing career. He never finished out of the money and had five wins, including the Lone Star Park Handicap (Gr. 3), his last race, in 2000.
His sire, Meadowlake, is out of a Raise A Native mare (Suspicious Native), and produced more than 50 stakes winners, including Meadow Star, the Eclipse Award 1990 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, who won the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Luftikus started his stud career in 2002 at Taylor Mountain Farm, which was founded by the late Eleanor M. Casey and her husband James W. Casey, and now managed by their son, John. James Casey described Luftikus’ disposition as “like a pony” in a 2006 article in the Daily Racing Form.
He has sired 300 foals with 59% of them winners, including 10 stakes winners. They have $11,258,776 in lifetime earnings, and Luftikus was ranked 12th on the West Virginia Leading Sires List for 2017, and 64th among leading MidAtlantic sires. He had been in the top 10 of West Virginia sires for 10 consecutive years, 2006-2015, ranking as high as third. He was also the top West Virginia first-year crop sire in 2005, second-year crop sire in 2006, and third-year crop sire in 2007.
STEPHEN GOT EVEN (1996): A.P. Indy—Immerse, Cox’s Ridge. Bred in Kentucky by William S. Farish and W. S. Kilroy. Raced for Stephen and Tomisue Hilbert. Stood at Lane’s End Farm.
Stephen Got Even sold at Keeneland as a yearling for $325,000, and won $1,019,200 in 11 starts. He won the 1999 Galleryfurniture.com Stakes (Gr. 2) and the 2000 Donn Handicap (Gr. 1). He was also on the 1999 Triple Crown trail, placing well back in the field in the Kentucky Derby, but fourth in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont.
He began his stud career in 2001 and stood at Lane’s End until he was pensioned to Old Friends in 2016. He sired 886 foals, including 18 graded stakes winners. His progeny have lifetime earnings of $48,533,306. His most notable offspring include Stevie Wonderboy, the champion 2-year-old colt of 2005, as well as Grade 1 winners First Dude and I Want Revenge, Grade 2 winners Don’t Get Mad and For All We Know, and Grade 3 winner Steve’s Double.
MARQUETRY (1998-2013): Conquistador Cielo—Regent’s Walk, Vice Regent. Bred in Kentucky and raced by Juddmonte Farms. Trained by Guy Harwood and Bobby Frankel.
Marquetry is by the 1982 horse of the year Conquistador Cielo, who is himself by Mr. Prospector. Marquetry had a long racing career, running through the end of his 6-year-old year. He started 36 times and finished in the money in 23 of those. He had 10 wins and lifetime earnings of $2,857,886.
He first raced in England, and then returned to the U.S. in his 3-year-old year. His victories included the 1991 Hollywood Gold Cup (Gr. 1), 1992 Eddie Read Handicap (Gr. 1), 1993 San Antonio Handicap (Gr. 2), 1993 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap (Gr. 2), 1993 Bel Air Handicap (Gr. 2), and 1993 Meadowlands Cup Handicap (Gr. 1). He was also a three-time Breeders’ Cup Classic participant, with his best finish being fourth in 1993.
His stud career began in 1994 at Ben. P. Walden Jr.’s Vinery near Midway, KY, and he later stood at Stonewall Farm in Versailles, and Stonewall Farm in Ocala, FL. He was pensioned to Old Friends in 2010.
Among his most successful offspring is Eclipse Award 1999 Champion Sprinter and multiple graded stakes winner Artax (who himself was in an earlier #SireMadness matchup). He won the Breeders Cup Sprint, Vosburgh Stakes (Gr. 1), and Carter Handicap (Gr. 1) in 1999, and earned $1,685,840 over the course of his career. He also sired Squirtle Squirt, who won the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and King’s Bishop Stakes (Gr. 1), and is now standing in Japan. Other notable progeny include Grade 3 winners American Freedom, Uanme, and Mass Market; Australian Group 2 winner Stella Grande; and multiple stakes winner and Massachusetts-based sire Max’s Pal.
He sired 928 foals in his career, with 35 stakes winners and eight graded stakes winners. His progeny have lifetime earnings of $41,126,312.
Marquetry is the sire of several successful hunters, jumpers, and eventers, including James Alliston’s Parker (JC: Eastside Park, out of Hello Mom, by Caveat), who completed the Rolex Kentucky CCI4* multiple times.
MEDAGLIA D’ORO (1999): El Prado (IRE)—Cappucino Bay, Bailjumper. Bred in Kentucky by Albert and Joyce Bell. Raced for Edmund A. Gann. Trained by Bobby Frankel. Stands at Darley (Jonabell Farm) in Lexington, KY. 2018 stud fee: $250,000.
Medaglia d’Oro’s sire, El Prado, was Ireland’s 1991 Champion 2-Year-Old, and a son of fourteen-time leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland, Sadler’s Wells. (Himself a son of Northern Dancer.)
Medaglia d’Oro earned $5,754,720 in his 17-start racing career. His wins include the 2002 Travers Stakes (Gr. 1), 2003 Whitney Handicap (Gr. 1), and 2004 Donn Handicap (Gr. 1). He also placed second in the 2002 Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) and 2004 Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (Gr. 1), and the 2002 and 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr. 1).
He was sold to Richard Haisfield in 2004 and began his stud career in 2005 at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, and then to Audrey Haisfield’s Stonewall Stallions, where he stood through 2009.
His first foal crop, born in 2006, produced several stakes winners, including 2009 Horse of the Year and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra. As a result of his early success, Medaglia d’Oro was sold to Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud in 2009.
He h