I just can’t get enough of those freshman sires. This week I decided to take a look at three more freshmen sires. This year’s crop of freshman are interesting. It seems to be a very good class. The three I will look at this week are Aldebaran, Kafwain, and Zavata.
Aldebaran – is by Mr. Prospector. His dam sire is Private Account and his dam’s dam sire is Northfields. He hit the board in 23 of 25 career starts. He had seconditis a bit with 12-second place finishes. He won a graded turf race as a three year old and finished 3rd in the G1 Hollywood Derby (9f turf). He really had a knack for running 7f and was a good miler. He was somewhat of an in between horse in that he did not do well against top sprinters at 6f or against top handicap horses at 9f.
I see great possibilities with his pedigree. He will likely produce a variety of runners from sprinters, to classic type horses. He could also be a solid turf sire. Since Northern Dancer will be in the 5th generation of his progeny’s pedigree Northern Dancer line sires seem good choices as dam sires. Storm Cat, Deputy Minister, Danzig, Dixieland Band will likely produce a sprinter miler type. While Nijinsky II, Lyphard, and El Gran Senor could produce turf types that can get a distance of ground. The Seattle Slew line will cross well as will Turn-To and Ribot line sires. The Nasrullah, Bold Ruler and In Reality lines could produce sold sprinters.
At this point Aldebaran has twenty-seven progeny. His fastest runner has started twice and ran a 75 on dirt and an 80 on turf. Dynaformer was used as the dam sire. He has four other runners that have produced speed figures between 69-73. Only one of his seventeen dirt runners failed to break the 50-speed figure barrier. That is pretty solid at this point. Only three runners have tried the turf and those ran 80,64,47. Take the Dynaformer dam sire out and the next five fastest runners were bred to the Northern Dancer line. Danzig, Storm Cat, El Prado (IRE). Dixieland Band. Simmers have spared no expense in breeding to Aldebaran so he should have every chance to be a top producer.
Kafwain – is by Cherokee Run. His dam sire is Moment of Hope and his dam’s dam sire is Hatchet Man. A very solid two year old that got injured on the Derby trail. He finished second to Vindication in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and posted a huge 117 Beyer winning the grade II San Vicente (7f). That was the fastest Beyer recorded by a three-year-old last year.
His pedigree is free of any Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector. He has more speed than stamina but if bred with stamina-influenced dam sires he maybe able to produce a classic type runner. Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector line dams seem a good place to start. Seattle Slew or Alydar would add a little stamina and Secretariat would seem a good fit. You could go many different ways. I do not think he will produce much on turf but you never really know.
Kafwain only has fourteen progeny. His fastest runner posted a 69-speed figure (Housebuster). His other runners have not been that good running between 36-58 on the dirt. Surprisingly six of his runners have tried the turf. Only one put up a good speed figure and that was a 64 (Glitterman). He has been modestly bred to this point with no really big name dam sires being used. So we may not get a good reading on what he can produce this year.
Zavata- is by Phone Trick. His dam sire is Cox’s Ridge and his dam’s dam sire is Sham. His dosage would suggest he could get a route of ground but he was a solid sprinter. He won five of ten career starts his most impressive efforts coming as a two year old.
Zavata’s Pedigree is pretty solid. As with nearly every sire on earth the Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector lines will work well. The Bold Ruler and Nasrullah lines would add even more speed to a speedy pedigree. The In Reality line would also seem a very good fit for producing a solid sprinter/miler. He may surprise by producing a few turf runners.
Zavata only has ten sim progeny. Nine of the ten have run at least one race. Eight of the nine ran on dirt the fastest running a 65-speed figure (Black Tie Affair). Only one of the eight failed to break the 50-speed figure mark and he ran a 49. The one turf runner so far posted a 41-speed figure. He has been bred to a couple of good dam sires, Summer Squall, Hennessy, Saratoga Six and Black Tie Affair. Considering he has only a few runners the results are pretty solid.
