CURLIN concluded 2011 as North America’s leading freshman sire by yearling and median average, and by a wide margin. His 41 yearlings that sold averaged $136,780, while his median stood at $95,000. Some of the stars on display included a striking daughter of Tears I Cry who sold to West Point Thoroughbreds for $700,000, while a Stonestreet Stable-bred half-sister to dual Classic winner Afleet Alex went to Besilu Stables for $500,000. A Lane’s End-bred and -consigned half-brother to G1SW Secret Status was hammered down to Centennial Farm for $450,000, and other individuals sold for $360,000, $300,000, $260,000, $240,000, $235,000, etc.

Those figures reflect the quality of CURLIN’s initial book. According to The Blood-Horse’s Market Watch, no freshman sire in North America had a better book than CURLIN in 2010. His mares had a Comparable Index of 3.72, which towered over contemporaries Big Brown (2.01), Midnight Lute (1.97), etc. CURLIN’s Class Performance Index–which evaluates the racing quality of the mares bred to a particular stallion–was an exceptionally high 5.43. Only one stallion had a better ranking, and CURLIN’s figure was well ahead of the third-placed Henrythenavigator (4.83).

In 2010, breeders bet on CURLIN with some of their best mares. In 2011, some of the best judges of horseflesh have bet on his yearlings. So in 2012, the smart money is on the big horse–CURLIN.

As a top 10 third-crop sire, a leading third-crop sire by graded winners, and a top 12 active Kentucky turf sire with three graded stakes winners to his credit, ROCK HARD TEN had another rock solid season at stud in 2011.

ROCK HARD TEN’s runners included the top-rate 3-year-old filly Nereid. Bred by Mr. & Mrs. Emler Neuman and produced by the BELONG TO ME mare Dowry, Nereid opened up 2011 with a pair of impressive wins at Hollywood Park. Then, in just her fourth lifetime effort, she made all in the G1 American Oaks and kept finding more to claim her first win at the highest level. Nereid also finished a close-up third in the G1 Del Mar Oaks and placed in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland.

Alan Porter wrote in The Blood-Horse after the race: “Nereid is the first stakes winner from ROCK HARD TEN’s second crop, but the first crop, now 4, has already been represented by five stakes winners, including Grade 2 score Doubles Partner, and Group/Grade 3 winners Long Lashes, Krypton, and The Mailet. Another current ROCK HARD TEN 3-year-old, Alienation, was third in the G1 Prioress S. earlier this month and was runner-up in the G1 Spinaway Stakes at 2.”

The aforementioned Doubles Partner added to his graded tally with a victory in the G3 Tampa Bay S. and also placed in the G1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. at Churchill.

ROCK HARD TEN’s 4-year-old gelding Kevlar Kid proved a reliable Grade 2 performer in Southern California, while his 4-year-old filly Hard Way Ten was also a stakes-winning talent not the West Coast.

The next generation of ROCK HARD TEN’s performers appeared in Europe in the form of the 2-year-old colt Abtaal, who broke his maiden in France in September, then came right back to annex the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud.

As a sire of 10% stakes horses to starters, ROCK HARD TEN is also the sire of the stakes winners Bear’s Hard Ten and Hard Seven.

ROCK HARD TEN was just as good in the sales ring in 2011. His yearlings included a $250,000 full-sister to Nereid who sold at Keeneland September, a price equaled by another ROCK HARD TEN filly at September who was produced by Grade 1 heroine Tribulation (Danzig). Others brought $160,000, $125,000, $120,000, etc. At the 2-year-old sales, seven ROCK HARD TEN youngsters sold for an average of $100,714 and a median of $100,000.

ROCK HARD TEN has now gotten off to a fast start in 2012. On Feb. 11, his son Utopian, a $360,000 weanling grad from Lane’s End’s 2007 Keeneland November draft, ran a close-up second in the G2 San Marcos S. at Santa Anita. Bred by G. Watts and Louise Humphrey and trained John Shirreffs for Jerry and Ann Moss, Utopian was making just his second start in stakes company. ROCK HARD TEN’s 3-year-old Frankie is Rock, meanwhile, placed in the Turfway Prevue S., and fellow sophomores Diez and Rock on Baby won impressively in Gulfstream maidens in January.

ROCK HARD TEN – The torchbearer for his sire Kris S. and grandsire Roberto.

Lane’s End was honored to handle the dispersal of our good friend Ned Evans’s Spring Hill Farm, and as a fitting tribute to the late influential owner and breeder, the dispersal shattered records. The Spring Hill dispersal grossed $55,820,000 at Keeneland November and another $6,527,000 at Keeneland September, for a total of 220 lots sold for $62,347,000. It was easily North America’s highest-grossing Thoroughbred dispersal of all time.

Lane’s End sold 12 of the 23 seven-figure lots at Keeneland November, including the sale’s second-highest-priced horse, the $4.2 million Christmas Kid, the Grade 1-winning daughter of LEMON DROP KID who was bred and raced by Evans. A weanling filly from the dispersal, a Medaglia d’Oro half-sister to Horse of the Year Saint Liam (sire of 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace), sold for a North American record of $2.6 million to Benjamin Leon, Jr.’s Besilu Stable. Other Lane’s End highlights included the sale of the broodmare prospect Quiet Giant to Besilu for $3 million, and Weekend Strike, who sold in foal to QUALITY ROAD for $2.3 million.

At the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, Lane’s End sold 100% of mares offered and attained an average of $1million leading all consignors. The consignment produced three seven-figure prices. Leading the group was Grade 1 winner Mona de Momma, who sold to Alpha Delta Stables/R Bell, agent, for $1.55 million. Fellow Grade 1 winner Crisp sold to Adena Springs for $1.2 million, and Miarixa (Fr), dam of dual Classic heroine Blue Bunting, sold to Blandford Bloodstock for $1.2 million.

Lane’s End’s Keeneland September draft included a $650,000 full-sibling to Evans’s brilliant Grade 1 winner QUALITY ROAD, a $650,000 half-sister to champion Royal Delta, and a $550,000 half-brother to the graded winners Rey de Cafe (KINGMAMBO) and El Crespo (A.P. INDY). At the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Lane’s End sold, among others, a $775,000 Unbridled’s Song half-brother to A.P. INDY’s Grade 1 winner Majestic Warrior, and a $525,000 DIXIE UNION daughter of GSW Rare Gift. We also sold the highest priced CANDY RIDE sold at auction in 2011, a $535,000 filly who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Wickedly Perfect.

Lane’s End’s success, of course, is attributable to the support we receive from our clients and breeders, and from the horsemen and women who patronize our consignments. We thank them all, and wish them a happy and successful 2012!

We would like to discuss your 2012 yearling plans. Please contact Jill Paladino or Allaire Ryan before May 1 at 859.873.7300.

Curlin 2YOs

That bodes well for Ned Evans’s homebred QUALITY ROAD, the four-time Grade 1 winner and brilliant multiple-track-record setter who attracted an equally brilliant first book of mares in 2011. Underscoring that fact is a recent survey undertaken by The Blood-Horse’s MarketWatch, which pegged QUALITY ROAD’s first book with a class performance index (CPI) of 5.01. That’s a huge number–better than fellow freshman Blame, Eskendereya and Super Saver, and of established sires like More Than Ready, Arch, Sky Mesa, etc.

With the full weight of Evans’s Spring Hill Farm behind him, QUALITY ROAD was the leading freshman covering sire last year. Mares in foal to the G1 Met Mile hero averaged $283,208, which put him on top of not only his fellow freshman by a wide margin, but which was better than the averages of mares in foal to Unbridled’s Song, Elusive Quality, Arch, Speightstown, etc.

QUALITY ROAD’s high covering sire average had everything to do with the quality of his first book, which numbered 149 mares (he had a sterling 93% fertility rate). They included such Grade 1 winners as Light Jig (GB) (Danehill), Raging Fever (Storm Cat), Runup the Colors (A.P. Indy), Stormy Pick (Storm Creek), Summer Colony (Summer Squall), and the gutsy champion Xtra Heat (Dixieland Heat).

Also included were such Grade 2 winners as Megans Bluff (Pine Bluff), Classic Elegance (Carson City), Colonial Minstrel (Pleasant Colony), Go Go (Falstaff), Hello Liberty (Forest Camp), Last Approach (Far Out East), and Tap Dance (Pleasant Tap).

That group in itself would give a young sire a big head start at stud. But QUALITY ROAD’s book was much deeper than that. He covered a total of 68 stakes mares, 63 mares who have already produced a black-type horse, and 88 mares out of stakes horses. A full 124 mares were half- or full-siblings to stakes horses.

Some of the very best families in the stud book are represented in QUALITY ROAD’s first book. He covered the $2.3 million broodmare Weekend Strike (SMART STRIKE), half-sister to Breeders’ Cup winner Court Vision and from the immediate family of A.P. INDY. He covered the $1.5 million broodmare Dark Sky (Storm Cat), a full-sister to MG1SW Nebraska Tornado. He covered the dam of SAINT LIAM, and he covered Delta Music (Dixieland Band), the stakes-winning daughter of Broodmare of the Year Prospectors Delite, dam of our own Horse of the Year MINESHAFT.

It doesn’t take a particularly keen imagination to envision the horses produced by these matings making a huge impact when they hit the track in 2014. And at that point, won’t you be glad you included QUALITY ROAD in your 2012 breeding plans?

Click here to read more: http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/intraday_single.cfm?type=results&alertID=5348&CFID=61686845&CFTOKEN=86889720

Feb 22. ROCK HARD TEN – SWEET RIDER f.
Feb 21. MORE THAN READY – LEO’S PEGASUS c.
Feb 20. CANDY RIDE – HAND CRAFTED c.
Feb 19. SMART STRIKE – NOBLE IDEA c.
Feb 18. MEDAGLIA D’ORO – PYRAMID LOVE c.
Feb 17. CANDY RIDE – TWIST FLEET c.
Feb 13. CANDY RIDE – FAIR EXCHANGE f.
Feb 12. AMBASSADOR – QUINTELA f.
Feb 12. CANDY RIDE – SWEET THOUGHTS c.
Feb 12. BERNSTEIN – SAPPHIRESNDIAMONDS c.
Feb 11. TAPIT – REHEAR c.
Feb 11. SMART STRIKE – FREEDOM FLAG f.
Feb 09. MEDAGLIA D’ORO – DREAM SUPREME c.
Feb 06. DISTORTED HUMOR – TEJAREB c.
Feb 06. QUALITY ROAD – TOP VALUE f.
Feb 06. MINESHAFT – SPECTACULAR DAY f.
Feb 06. CITY ZIP – JODE f.
Feb 05. CANDY RIDE – TRANQUILITY LAKE c.
Feb 03. PULPIT – ISLAND SAND f.
Feb 02. LEMON DROP KID – SECRET OF THE SEA f.
Feb 02. CANDY RIDE – SERVALINE f.
Jan 31. CORINTHIAN – IT’S OUR TIME c.
Jan 30. BERNSTEIN – HOTTIE DANCER c.
Jan 30. SMART STRIKE – MYSTERY TRIP f.
Jan 28. TIZNOW – THEODORA f.
Jan 28. CANDY RIDE – EL COYOTE c.
Jan 28. CANDY RIDE -SILENT MOCCASINS c.
Jan 28. CANDY RIDE – ROYAL CORONA c.
Jan 27. SMART STRIKE – SWEET LIFE c.
Jan 27. CANDY RIDE – SEA GULL c.
Jan 27. CURLIN – BOCA BEAT f.
Jan 26. MALIBU MOON – SWEET AND SAVORY c.
Jan 23. UNBRIDLED’S SONG – DOUBLE CAT c.
Jan 14. CANDY RIDE (ARG) – TRUSTEN f.
Jan 08. CANDY RIDE (ARG) – BARBARIANSMILE c.

The Craig family homebred Home Sweet Aspen helped provide the thrills, racing out to set a contentious pace before being attacked by another daughter of CANDY RIDE, Sugarinthemorning, a furlong out. Those two fought tooth-and-nail to the wire, with Home Sweet Aspen asserting in the dying strides to take it by a neck. CANDY RIDE now has seven overall Grade 1 winners, equal to Medaglia d’Oro and better than Tapit, Indian Charlie, Speightstown, etc.

In New York, it was all about the influence of A.P. INDY. His 4-year-old daughter Love and Pride lived up to 4-5 advance billing with a dominating seven-length win in the Affectionately S. at Aqueduct Jan. 28. She is owned by Green Hills Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher.

On the same card at the Big A, MINESHAFT’s son Redding Colliery, a grandson of A.P. INDY, gamely made every pole a winning one in the Evening Attire S. The Fitriani Hay colorbearer defeated another grandson of A.P. INDY in STEPHEN GOT EVEN’s Grade 1 winner I Want Revenge.

In a performance going a half-furlong shorter but no less impressive, CITY ZIP’s Unzip Me captured the Wishing Well S. at Santa Anita Jan. 29 down the hillside turf course. The 6-year-old mare, trained by Marty Jones for Harris Farms, et al, was winning for a remarkable 10th time against black-type competition, and pushed her earnings to $959,228.

At Gulfstream, the 3-year-old colt My Adonis, by PLEASANTLY PERFECT, got off to a slow start in the G3 Holy Bull S. and trailed early by as many as 20 lengths, but put in a huge late run to finish third behind A.P. INDY’s grandson Algorithms and champion juvenile Hansen. My Adonis, owned by George and Lori Hall and trained by Kelly Breen, previously won the $200,000 Jean Lafitte S.

Recently, however, Derby “rules” have crumbled like the Walls of Jericho. Remember the Clyde Van Dusen gelding law of 1927? That went out the window in 2003 when a plucky New York-bred (the only New York-bred Derby winner) named Funny Cide altered that rule for good. Six years later, Mine That Bird scored another one for the gelded set by upsetting the Derby at astronomical odds.

To read more click on the following link: http://www.drf.com/news/kentucky-derby-2012-under-radar-bodemeister