This week in the Breeding Corner we are going to take a quick look at three freshmen sires. These guys have yet to produce any real life offspring and have only just begun their lives as sim studs. I will take a look at their pedigrees and talk about what sire lines might cross well. I’ll also look at what has been bred here in the sim the first three months of the year and how the few horses that have started look.
Mineshaft is by A.P. Indy. His dam sire is Mr. Prospector and his dam’s dam is Hoist The Flag. He won the eclipse award as horse of the year last year. He won seven of nine starts including four grade I races just last year. He did not start to run like a champion until he was four. He did not start at two and only won three of nine as a three year old. He is standing at Lane’s End for a whopping $100,000.
His pedigree is just begging for Northern Dancer line mares. Other lines that should work well would be from the Raise a Native line like Alydar or any of his sons. Sires from the Turn-To line would seem to fit with Mineshaft’s pedigree as well.
Early returns on his progeny are very good. Ten of his sim progeny have raced already. His highest speed figure to date is a 78 and three others posted 70+ speed figures. Another five runners posted 60+ speed figures. Those are very good numbers this time of year. Eight of the ten starters are from Northern Dancer line dam sires. The other two were Trempolino (Native Dancer crossed with Northern Dancer) and Seeking The Gold X Nijinsky II.
Empire Maker is by Unbridled. His dam sire is El Gran Senor and his dam’s dam is In Reality. Empire Maker only started eight times with four wins three seconds and one third. He is a grade I winner out of a grade I winning sire and a grade I winning dam. He is a half brother to three other grade I winners. He did win the Florida Derby the Wood Memorial and the Belmont.
Empire Maker’s pedigree already comes equipped with a Mr. Prospector X Northern Dancer cross. As a matter of fact where Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer are in Empire Maker’s Pedigree sets up well for simmers who like 4 X 4 inbreeding. Seattle Slew or Secretariat seems great choices as dam sire. The Turn-To line and the Ribot line should both work well with Empire Maker.
With Empire Maker having a good deal of stamina I would imagine his runners might be late developers. He has had ten runners to date the fastest of which was a 70-speed figure. There are four others over 60 and the rest ran between 51 and 47. There was a good variety of Northern Dancer line dams with Mr. Prospector line dams, a couple of Seattle Slew dams and one Secretariat dam.
Vindication is by Seattle Slew. His dam sire is Strawberry Road and his dam’s dam is Hail to Reason. He was four for four as a two year old including the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile. He was very impressive as a two year old and because of injury never raced as a three year old. His victory in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile was most impressive when he stumbled out of the gates and nearly lost the rider and still managed to win by six lengths.
On the Hill N’ Dale website it says “perfect outcross for Northern Dancer and Raise A Native line mares” Those lines would seem great choices but I would also consider Bold Ruler and In Reality line mares as well.
Vindication has a good deal of stamina but ran well as a two year old so expect him to pass along those qualities. Vindication has had ten runners as well with the fastest posting a 72-speed figure. There was one other over 70, six others 60+, and two in the 50’s. The Mr. Prospector/ Raise a Native line were well represented in seven of the ten runners. There was one Northern Dancer line (Storm Cat), one In Reality line and one inbreeding using Seattle Slew (?) as the dam sire.
I am impressed with the first runners of Mineshaft and Vindication. Empire Maker’s two year olds were not as impressive first out but the year has only just begun. Next week I will take a look at three more freshman sires.
