Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Nyquist nets a second Grade 1 winner in ‘Gretzky’
Nyquist carried the banner in the record-setting first crop of Uncle Mo, emulating his sire on the racetrack with an unbeaten juvenile campaign capped by a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory to earn the divisional Eclipse Award. Having taken things a step further by going on to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby, Nyquist is now following in his father’s footsteps as a stallion as well. He leads his freshman class with a pair of Grade 1-winning juveniles in his first crop.
Nyquist, who stands for Darley, is the only freshman with multiple graded winners and leads the class by earnings with a bankroll of $711,305. Narrowly tracking him is another Grade 1-winning son of Uncle Mo, Outwork, at $698,844.
Nyquist’s owner J. Paul Reddam named him in honor of professional hockey player Gustav Nyquist. Fittingly, the young stallion’s latest top performer is named for a legend of that sport. Gretzky the Great, named for Wayne Gretzky, won the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on Sunday at Woodbine. The Ontario-bred colt had previously won the Soaring Free Stakes at Woodbine.
Earlier this month, Nyquist’s daughter Vequist rolled by 9 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga to win her maiden. Another Nyquist filly, Lady Lilly, checked in third.
Outwork, who stands at WinStar Farm, is the sire of a pair of first-crop stakes winners. Outadore won the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint, and Samborella suffered a fatal injury in winning the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga.
Uncle Mo has another son in the top 15 freshmen by earnings in Grade 2 winner Laoban, who stands at Sequel Stallions in New York. He is the sire of a pair of Saratoga stakes fillies in Simply Ravishing, who won the P.G. Johnson Stakes, and Ava’s Grace, who was third in the Grade 2 Adirondack.
Bernardini adds to résumé
Darley had two reasons to be proud after Gretzky the Great’s Grade 1 victory in the Summer Stakes. Darley stands Gretzky the Great’s sire, Nyquist, and the sire of the colt’s dam, Bernardini, a steadily emerging broodmare sire.
Bernardini’s daughters have produced, in the United States alone, Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress and additional Grade 1 winners Catholic Boy, Dunbar Road, Hunter O’Riley, Maxfield, Mo Town, Paris Lights, and Wicked Whisper. Mo Town is by Uncle Mo, the sire of Nyquist, and this cross has been a useful one. Bernardini, by A.P. Indy, also is the broodmare sire of Uncle Mo’s Grade 2 winners Modernist and Mopotism. Meanwhile, Nyquist’s other Grade 1 winner, Vequist, is out of a daughter of another son of A.P. Indy, Mineshaft.
Internationally, Bernardini is the broodmare sire of Mexican Triple Crown winner and champion Kukulkan; additional Mexican Group 1 winners Kaifar and Lebron; Singapore Horse of the Year Qatar Man; Australian Derby winner Angel Of Truth; Turkish Group 1 winner Hasafet; and Saudi Arabian Group 1 winner Attaadah.
Kitten’s Joy filly sells well
Perennial leading turf sire Kitten’s Joy was represented by his most expensive yearling sold on this continent last week at the Keeneland September yearling sale, an $800,000 filly sold to Heider Family Stables.
The filly is out of the stakeswinning Eddington mare Joya Real, a half-sister to graded stakes winner La Dolce Vita. It is the family of Canadian champion Regal Intention.
“We wanted her awfully bad, and she was our pick of the entire sale,” said Scott Heider, who said the filly will be sent to Europe to train with Joseph O’Brien. “We’ve been very lucky with Kitten’s Joys.”
The two highest-priced yearlings of Kitten’s Joy’s stud career have come overseas. He hit a high note in July when a colt out of Grade 1 winner Joyful victory brought $982,202 in U.S. funds from Danox Co. at the Japan Racing Horse Association’s select sale. At the 2018 Tattersalls October yearling sale in Newmarket, a Kitten’s Joy filly sold for $962,336 in U.S. funds to Shawn Dugan, as agent. The filly, named Celestial Beast, is still unraced. She is a full sister to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten, graded stakes winner Camelot Kitten, and stakes winner Major Magic.
Through Sunday, the worldwide yearling sale average for Kitten’s Joy, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky in partnership with breeder Ramsey Farm, is $100,912.
Kitten’s Joy was the Eclipse Award champion turf male of 2004 as a 3-year-old for Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who then stood him for more than a decade at Ramsey Farm. The Ramseys sold a 50 percent interest in Kitten’s Joy to Hill ‘n’ Dale, and the El Prado horse moved there in 2018. Kitten’s Joy was the continent’s leading general sire in 2013 and 2018 and has been North America’s leading living turf sire every year since 2013. His top runners include Cartier European Horse of the Year Roaring Lion; Eclipse Award champion turf male Big Blue Kitten; two-time Breeders’ Cup winner and multimillionaire Stephanie’s Kitten; Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten; English 2000 Guineas winner Kameko; and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Admiral Kitten, Divisidero, Hawkbill, Henley’s Joy, Kitten’s Dumplings, Oscar Performance, Real Solution, and Sadler’s Joy. Internationally, he also is the sire of Ransom the Kitten and Sweet Kitten, champions in Puerto Rico; Second Chance, a champion in the Dominican Republic; and Trust Me Bet, a champion in Macau.