under the radar stallions

[hpkingjr]

A Blending of Nicks and Patterns

By Alan Porter

When Repent retired to stud for the 2004 breeding season, he presented breeders with something of a dilemma, that of performance versus pedigree.

As a racehorse, Repent was very near the best of his generation at both 2 and 3, and was an extremely consistent runner, finishing first or second in all but his first and last starts. As a juvenile, he took his maiden on his second start, and thereafter never ran in anything but graded stakes events. Successful in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes (gr. III) on his third outing, he was a longshot for the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), but performed with tremendous credit, finishing well to take second, 1 1/4 lengths behind the 2-year-old "world champion" Johannesburg. In his final start of the 2-year-old campaign, he proved that effort no fluke, with a decisive win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II).

Repent began his 3-year-old season with wins in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. III) and the Louisiana Derby (gr. II). In the Illinois Derby (gr. II), Repent was an odds-on favorite — as he had been in his three previous starts — but couldn’t get near the front-running War Emblem, who beat him by 6 1/4 lengths. Following this effort, Repent was found to have a chip in a left ankle and while War Emblem took the first two legs of the Triple Crown, Repent, the one-time Derby favorite, went to the sidelines. Following the surgery to remove the chip, Repent didn’t show up on the work tab until July 28, so he faced a very tough challenge when he made his comeback in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) just under a month later. Under the circumstances, he ran remarkably well, closing in determined fashion to lose out by just 1/2 a length to Medaglia d'Oro. The effort came with a price, however. Unplaced as favorite in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) on his next outing, Repent came out of the race with a tendon injury which brought about his retirement.

While Repent’s racetrack performances would have qualified him to stand just about anywhere, his pedigree was a different matter. He is by the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Louis Quatorze, a horse who is capable of getting a top-class runner but who is not the most consistent stallion. Louis Quatorze started his career in Kentucky and now stands in Maryland. Repent’s dam is an Argentinean-bred mare by Cipayo (ARG), a very good runner and sire in Argentina but representing a European sire line that, in the U.S., would have meaning only to very keen students of Thoroughbred history. To compound things, Repent’s second dam was by the equally unfamiliar French horse Kazan, and though his third dam was by a U.S. bred son of Nasrullah, that horse, Run and Rule, had never reached the races.

So, like many prospects that initially tick some of the boxes — good looks and excellent racetrack performance in Repent’s case — but not all, Repent began his stud career in Florida. He stood his first four seasons at Cloverleaf Farm. Following the sale of that nursery, Repent moved to Vinery Stud in Florida, where he is advertised for 2008 at a fee of $5,000, a price which doesn’t appear likely to hold for very long.

With his first crop — newly-turned 3-year-olds of 2008 — Repent already has 21 individual winners (18 as 2-year-olds, including four stakes winners) and a total of seven stakes horses.

Repent’s stakes winners are a mix of strong nicks and intriguing pedigree patterns, something that probably reflects the slightly unusual pedigree of Repent himself, and the rather unique background of his sire, Louis Quatorze.

Repent’s first stakes scorer, Atoned, won the Continental Mile Stakes and was a close second to the highly-rated Court Vision in the Remsen Stakes (gr. II) after nearly falling at the start. Atoned, who is out of an Icecapade mare, is rated "D" by the TrueNicks mating evaluation but has a very clever pedigree. The key is that Icecapade is by Nearctic (by Nearco (ITY)) out of the elite mare Shenanigans, a daughter of Native Dancer, making him a close relative to Northern Dancer (by Nearctic out of a Native Dancer mare). Repent’s sire, Louis Quatorze, is by a son of Northern Dancer out of a mare by Icecapade’s half-brother On to Glory, who is himself by a great-grandson of Nearco.

Prince Cortez, who took his record to 3-for-3 with a daylight win in the seven-furlong Triple Sec

[spex4me]

Atoned, who is out of an Icecapade mare, is rated "D" by the TrueNicks mating evaluation

I love to see a "D" rated TrueNicks do well.....gives me a silent fulfilling pleasure (ROFLMAO as the owner of a D rated spawn )

[AscotStud]

Nicks are hilarious...One of Tejano Runs champions, either One For Rose or Dionisia has an F and the other one a B. I wonder what would happen if he found a mare that would be an A. Oh wait the way nicks are done it will almost never happen, but an unraced Storm Cat will have hundreds of mares nick an A, the same as his father.

[bdw0617]

on 2nd thought, strategic mission might be the most underrated sire in America.

[Keith]

Stallions that get the big horse at an affordable price

Tribal Rule by Storm Cat-Sown by Grenfall $5,000

sire of

Georgie Boy- won Del Mar Futurity, San Vicente S., etc.
Rush With Thunder- won El Cajon S.
Rockella- won Palo Alto H.
Half Famous- Won Lost In The Fog S. 3rd San Vicente S.
Rule By Force-won Sail On By S.,Yavapai Downs Futurity
Tribesman-won Sausilito S.
Indian Ashton-winner of $158,260

Put It Back by Honour and Glory-Miss Shoplifter by Exuberant $7500 Stud Fee

sire of

Smokey Stover- won Potrero Grande Breeder's Cup H.-Gr. II, etc.,
In Summation-won Bing Crosby H., Palos Verdes H., etc.
High Resolve-won Joe O'Farrell Juvenile Fillies S., Arizona Juvenile Fillies S
Pirate Saint-won Shecky Green S.
Put Away The Halo-won Pleasant Temper S.
Put Back The Shu-won Bergen County S.
Secretsoftheheart-won Joe O'Farrell Juvenile Fillies S.
Back In The Shade-3rd Sharp Cat S.,
Frosty Secret-2nd OBS Sprint S., 3rd Withers S.,etc.

Other Bargain Stallions

Slew City Slew-$6,000
Marquetry-$7,500
Jade Hunter-$5,000
Repent-$5,000
Northern Afleet-$10,000
Montbrook-$10,000
Benchmark-$10,000
Gulch-$20,000
Double Honor-$3,500
Scipion-$6,000 Half brother to Vindication and Blackberry Road.
Too Much Bling-$6,000
Thunder Gulch-$20,000

I am sure I missed alot of other bargain stallions

Keith

[TomFool]

I agree on Tribal Rule, Put It Back, Benchmark & Repent on being very good options in breeding for racehorses at bargin listed stud fees. I dont however see what you see in Scipion as he had a cluck up style & was just not a racehorse. He is in the same boat as Noble Causeway & Andromeda's Hero as stallions that should be geldings. If I was looking for an AP Indy line horse in Maryland I would take a second look at Oratory as he and his family were real deal racehorses & he is at a farm where he has a chance to succeed.