BET KEENELAND

FIRST CROP SIRES AT KEENELAND

One of the highlights of the Keeneland Spring Meet is the start of juvenile racing as you get your first taste of two-year-old racing for the year in the 4 ½ furlong sprints. The races are often dominated by trainer Wesley Ward who always brings a fleet of precocious two-year-olds to Lexington, Kentucky every spring.

While it is the first chance for us to see a new generation of horses, it also marks the first opportunity we get to see the offspring of some highly anticipated first-crop sires. NYRA Bets handicapper Matthew DeSantis offers his thoughts on a group of first-crop sires who have runners entered for this weekend’s action at Keeneland.

Sire: Yaupon
Stud Fee: $25,000
Early Track Success: The son of Uncle Mo did not debut until midway through his three-year-old season but won his first four starts including the Amsterdam (G2) and Chick Lang (G3). His time on the track will be best remembered for the savaging incident with Firenze Fire on his way to winning the Forego (G1). He was also a sprinter, which bodes well for his offspring to have immediate success sprinting as that is what they have likely be bred to do.
Precocious Pedigree: Yaupon has great pedigree to produce precocious offspring as his sire, Uncle Mo, debuted at two-years-old and won the first four starts of his career, including the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Meanwhile, his dam, Modification, did not debut until her three-year-old season, but did win at first calling on the dirt after three starts on the synthetic to start her career.
Verdict: Perhaps no first-crop sire has generated more buzz during the sales season that Yaupon. His offspring have routinely fetched high prices at various sales including this summer at the Fasig-Tipton sales in Saratoga. His progeny have physically developed quickly while also appearing to be stamped by their sire as a great many of Yaupon’s offspring look just like him. The combination of sales buzz, physical development, and precocious pedigree would lead one to believe his offspring will hit the track running. Whether they can stretch out as races get longer will be a big question moving forward.

Sire: Maxfield
Stud Fee: $40,000
Early Track Success: Maxfield won in debut at two-years-old and immediately stepped up to win the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) in his second career start. However, he only made a total of four starts in his two- and three-year-old seasons before cementing his legacy as a four-year-old when we won four graded stakes races. However, he was ready to run right out of the box, though it should be pointed out all his races came at a mile or longer.
Precocious Pedigree: Like Yaupon, Maxfield has good pedigree for his offspring to be precocious as his sire, Street Sense, broke his maiden as a two-year-old in his second career start and then proceeded to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) later that season. On the dam side, Velvety was a European turf horse, but she won turf routing in debut at Windsor, which was her only career victory in three starts. One thing to note is that while Street Sense broke his maiden at 6 ½ furlongs, the rest of his career was routing, just like Maxfield.
Verdict: Maxfield has the highest stud fee for any first-crop sire with offspring running this weekend at Keeneland, which certainly speaks to his long-term value as a stallion. However, his offspring might also be best served by going longer and are horses that may excel at more classic distances. It might be fair to wonder whether they will show the best versions of themselves sprinting 4 ½ furlongs when much of their pedigree will be pointing toward distance. The Maxfield’s that I have seen at sales to this point mostly look like routers who have big frames and will appreciate distance, so I would encourage players to dig into the dam side pedigree of some of these early Maxfield runners to see if there is sufficient sprint influence and also look up sales photos/videos to see the physical confirmation of the horse and whether they appear to be sprinters.

Sire: Beau Liam
Stud Fee: $6,000
Early Track Success: It is hard to find a more precocious start to a career than Beau Liam who had a short career on the track but won three of his first four races before finishing second in the Ack Ack (G3). He never raced at two and did not debut until late May of his three-year-old campaign but was ready to run once he stepped on the track. He was also a sprinter, which bodes well to passing along speed to his offspring, which is often a key in winning juvenile races.
Precocious Pedigree: There is solid pedigree here for first out success as his sire, Liam’s Map, might have lost first time out, but won in his second start. He followed that up by winning five of his next six starts to close out his eight-race career. All his victories came at a mile or longer, but Liam’s Map has proven to be an effective sprint sire in his own right. The dam side influence on Beau Liam is also strong as his dam, Belle of Perintown, won at the age of two and followed up her maiden victory by also winning the Pocahontas Stakes at two-years-old. She then won the Silverbulletday (G2) early in her three-year-old campaign. It did take her five starts to break her maiden, but she was clearly a fast-developing horse given her early debut and her seven starts during that juvenile campaign.
Verdict: For only $6,000 Beau Liam seems to be the type of sire whose offspring might outrun initial expectations, which is certainly the feedback we are seeing in the sales ring. His first-crop yearlings sold for as much as $270,000 and, on average, sold for $70,000, which is impressive given his stud fee. There is plenty of first-out success in the bloodlines and you can expect them to be sufficient sprinters.

Sire: Code of Honor
Stud Fee: $7,500
Early Track Success: The former Travers (G1) winner debuted at two and won at first ask for trainer Shug McGaughey who notoriously never gets horses cranked up for debut efforts. The horse then finished second in the Champagne (G1) in his second start before going to the bench for the reason of his first season. He had a highly productive three-year-old campaign winning the Fountain of Youth (G2), Dwyer (G3), Travers (G1), and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) via disqualification. His debut victory at six furlongs was his only time running less than a mile.
Precocious Pedigree: Code of Honor’s sire, Noble Mission, was a three-time Group 1-winning turf horse who finished second in debut when he was two-years-old, but then came back to break his maiden in his second start and followed that up with winning a listed stakes in his three career effort. The dam, Reunited, has outstanding early success as well winning in debut and taking three of her first four career starts on her way to becoming a graded stakes dirt sprinter.
Verdict: The combination of influences makes Code of Honor one of the more intriguing stallion prospects. The good news is that whether it is the turf route influence of Noble Mission or the dirt sprint influence of Reunited, there was solid early success in both careers. Code of Honor also showed good ability at first asking, though I do wonder if his offspring might want more distance. He could be an underrated sire whose offspring show the ability to do a lot of different things as races get longer and switch to different surfaces.

Sire: By My Standards
Stud Fee: $5,000
Early Track Success: The four-time graded stakes winner debuted as a two-year-old, but did not get his first victory until his fourth career start, which came early in his three-year-old season. He followed that up by immediately winning the Louisiana Derby (G2). Despite making it to the starting gate of the Kentucky Derby, he did not do his best work until his four-year-old season when he captured the New Orleans Classic (G2), Oaklawn Handicap (G2), and Alysheba (G2) in a span of seven months.
Precocious Pedigree: By My Standards is sired by Goldencents who produced 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. On the track, Goldencents won in debut as a two-year-old before finishing second in the Champagne (G1) and then winning a graded stakes race at Delta Downs to close out his first year of racing. He captured the Sham (G3) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) early in his three-year-old campaign, which certainly is promising from a standpoint of producing precocious offspring. While he routed early in his career, he ultimately excelled running at distances of a mile or less. Meanwhile, By My Standard’s dam, A Jealous Woman, did not debut until her three-year-old season where she finished second in debut before winning the first time she was placed on grass where she proceeded to win four straight races to start her turf career. She was ultimately a stakes-winning turf router and should provide some pedigree versatility to the offspring of By My Standards to handle different surfaces.
Verdict: There is not any overwhelming first-out pedigree here as Goldencents is an average first-out sire (10%) and By My Standards showed that as he took some time to develop as well. His offspring might not jump off the page, but I do think his blend of turf, dirt, and synthetic influence makes him a potentially versatile sire as his offspring could handle different surfaces.

Sire: Leinster
Stud Fee: $2,500 (FL)
Early Track Success: Leinster is an interesting case of a stallion who took 14 races to finally break his maiden, but virtually all those early starts were on dirt, which was clearly not the right surface. He broke his maiden against allowance company in his second start on the grass on his way to becoming a four-time graded stakes turf sprint winner. It is hard to judge his precocity because he was running on the wrong surface, but it is worth noting that he did not debut until his three-year-old campaign and did not win until he was four years old. That said, once he took to the turf, he won quickly and often.
Precocious Pedigree: Leinster’s sire, Majestic Warrior, won in debut at two years old and took the Champagne (G1) in his second career start, though that was also his last victory. Still, it is promising to see early success given Leinster’s unusual racing career. Meanwhile, Leinster’s dam, Vassar, debuted at two years old, but did not win until early in her three-year-old campaign, which was her only victory.
Verdict: The fact Leinster is standing for only $2,500 in Florida is a good indication as to the industry’s opinion of his long-term value as a stallion. That said, we have seen sires like Girvin make the transition from standing in Florida to moving up to Kentucky once he showed he could consistently produce. Leinster’s offspring will be a bit of a question mark, particularly on dirt, though his own career and his pedigree point toward his progeny excelling as sprinters, which should help them get off to a good start on the track.