Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
GUN RUNNER, ARROGATE RESUME RIVALRY AT SALES
Gun Runner and Arrogate were tied together on the racetrack as rivals. Both champions entered stud earlier this year in Kentucky, and both will be represented by their first mares in foal offered at the Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland November breeding stock sales.
Arrogate ripped onto the scene with a 13 1/2-length victory in the 2016 Travers Stakes – with Gun Runner third – establishing a track record of 1:59.36 for the 1 1/4-mile race that began his march to the 3-year-old title. He went on to edge Horse of the Year California Chrome by a halflength in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and to win the inaugural Pegasus World Cup. He then made an improbable last-to-first move to run down Gun Runner in the Dubai World Cup.
That race marked the last victory for Arrogate but the final loss for Gun Runner, who proceeded to win five consecutive Grade 1 races to conclude his career. That included the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic over Arrogate to lock up Horse of the Year honors, and the Pegasus World Cup in January.
The day after the Pegasus, Gun Runner, a son of Candy Ride, shipped to Three Chimneys Farm, where he stood for an advertised fee of $70,000 in his first season. He covered 171 mares, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. His mares in foal who will be offered for sale in the coming weeks include Remembered, dam of Grade 1 winner Bowie’s Hero; Grade 3 winner Carolyn’s Cat, dam of Grade 3 winner Mufajaah; Shananies Song, dam of Grade 2 winner Favorable Outcome and stakes winner Bellamentary; Grade 3 winner Hightap; gradedplaced stakes winners Puca and Quezon; and stakes winners Kenda, Street Surrender, and Tap It All.
Arrogate, a son of the late Unbridled’s Song, retired to owner Juddmonte’s farm in Kentucky following the Breeders’ Cup and was this year’s most expensive new stallion, standing for $75,000. Arrogate covered an outstanding book of 143 mares, including champion Songbird. His mares who will come to public auction this month include stakes-placed Lucas Street, the dam of Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue; Maggie McGowan, dam of Grade 1 winner Denman’s Call; Uchitel, dam of Grade 3 winner Suddenbreakingnews; Last Kitten, dam of stakes winners Leadem In Ken and Prissy; Grade 2 winner Nicole H; Grade 1-placed Money’soncharlotte; and graded-placed Bodacious Babe, Delicate Lady, Flash Forward, Flatter Up, Midnight on Oconee, My Dear Venezuela, and Perfect Pic.
Battle of Midway represented by one mare
Battle of Midway was retired to stud after winning the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but was found to be subfertile and was returned to training. He continues to compete in stakes company – and that could spike the value of the handful of foals that will be born to him.
According to WinStar Farm, which co-owns and stood Battle of Midway, the stallion impregnated five of the 60 mares he was bred to earlier this year. One of those mares, La Boheme, will be offered in foal during the Keeneland November breeding stock sale’s Book 1 portion.
A Giant’s Causeway mare consigned by Taylor Made Sales as agent, La Boheme is a half-sister to graded stakes winners Electrify and Rothko, as well as stakes producers Cream Only, Kinsey, Brilliancy, and Cuckoo Sue.
Battle of Midway, who has won two other stakes and finished third in the Kentucky Derby in 2017, is by Smart Strike and out of Grade 1 winner Rigoletta.
Quality Road poised
Quality Road had a career year in 2017 as the sire of two Eclipse Award champions – Abel Tasman, who won the Kentucky Oaks and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and Caledonia Road, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. His momentum has continued this year, and he could have an even more stellar showing at this Breeders’ Cup.
Quality Road is the sire of multiple Grade 1 winner Bellafina, the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; and Abel Tasman has returned to be a multiple Grade 1 winner this season and a prominent contender for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Grade 1 winner City of Light is expected to start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, while Lonely Road, winner of the Grade 3 Matron Stakes, is a possible entrant in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, along with another filly by the stallion in Stillwater Cove.
Quality Road’s résumé this season also includes the likes of Grade 1 winners Salty and Spring Quality. He ranks eighth among living stallions on Daily Racing Form’s Beyer Sire Performance Standings based on progeny figures meeting or exceeding the benchmark of 90 or higher, with 36 such figures. Topped by a 107 turned in by City of Light, he has four runners who have earned Beyers of 100 or higher, tying him for fifth in that regard.
Quality Road’s stud fee has more than doubled to $150,000 for 2019 at Lane’s End, placing him among America’s elite stallions. His son City of Light will stand alongside him at Lane’s End, and his fee will be announced following the Breeders’ Cup and could therefore rise depending on the results. Quality Road’s progeny and mares in foal cataloged for the upcoming mixed sales in Kentucky – including Caledonia Road and Salty, both entered at FasigTipton November – also could benefit from catalog updates.
Cross Traffic sets sights on top
Cross Traffic already recorded a major accomplishment for a freshman sire, with a Grade 1 winner in his first crop in Frizette Stakes heroine Jaywalk. The Spendthrift Farm resident now goes for an even higher bar, as Jaywalk contests the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Jaywalk posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 84 in winning the Frizette, tied for the fourthhighest figure this year for a runner by a first-crop stallion. The Frizette was her third win from four career starts. The top number for a freshman is the 89 posted by both Mucho Macho Man’s Fortin Hill and Noble Mission’s Code of Honor, who is bound for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Cross Traffic, a son of Unbridled’s Song, scored his signature victory in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap in 2013. In addition to Jaywalk, his other first-crop highlights include stakes winners Dancin Shoes and Dame Plata, and stakesplaced Can’t Crosstraffic and Raising the Ante.
Through Oct. 17, Cross Traffic sat second to fellow Spendthrift Farm sire Goldencents on the freshman earnings list, and could take over first with a Breeders’ Cup score. His 13 winners tie him for second on the freshman list this year, again behind Goldencents, with 21.