FRESHMAN FLASHES GO DOWN TO WIRE

The difference in earnings between Overanalyze, the leading freshman sire of 2017, and runner-up Violence was $76,122, roughly the winner’s share of a maiden special weight purse at Kentucky Downs.

The two young stallions’ statistics were in near lockstep by the fall racing season, and they finished the year tied for the most stakes wins and winners among freshman sires, with four. Violence had 65 starters on the year to Overanalyze’s 64, and Violence held a 32-26 advantage by winners. Each sent a horse to the Breeders’ Cup.

The ace in the hole for Overanalyze in the earnings race was Piedi Bianchi, the Indiana-bred filly who picked up a trio of Grade 1 placings and made $237,000 to be the highest-earning juvenile by either sire.

Overanalyze, an 8-year-old son of Dixie Union, stands at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., for an advertised fee of $15,000. His first crop of juveniles earned $1,665,118.

Other standouts from the sire’s first class of juveniles included stakes winners Analyze the Odds, Evaluator, Analyze This Jet, and Suzette, along with Grade 3-placed Psychoanalyze.

“The great thing about what I saw was the versatility – turf, dirt, long, short – they did everything,” said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm. “They weren’t specific to just one thing. As they stretched out, they won, so it wasn’t like they went 4 1/2 furlongs on the dirt and you didn’t hear from them.”

Violence finished the season with progeny earnings of $1,588,996. The 8-year-old Medaglia d’Oro horse resides at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, Ky., for an advertised fee of $25,000.

His top earner was stakes winner Cosmic Burst, with other notable performers including Grade 3-placed stakes winner Barry Lee; stakes winners Buy Sell Hold and Encumbered; and Grade 2-placed Maurer Power.

Violence “didn’t win his first stakes until November of his 2-year-old year, so we weren’t really expecting a breakout 2-year-old year” at stud, said John G. Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm. “We were always hoping to get stakes winners, we hoped to get winners and show promise, but he’s acting like a champion juvenile sire, and I don’t think that’s his forte. We hope and think that every year, they’ll get better.”

Overanalyze tied with Animal Kingdom and Shanghai Bobby for the most races by their foals to register an 80-plus Beyer Speed Figure, with five. Violence was one behind the leaders, and he was the top first-year sire by the number of individual horses to hit the mark, at four.

Piedi Bianchi earned the highest Beyer of the year for Overanalyze, picking up an 82 for a maiden special weight win at Del Mar in August. She also picked up a pair of 81 figures for her runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes and her third in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita.

The top Beyer performer for Violence was Peace, who earned an 88 for a runnerup effort in a Del Mar maiden special weight in November.