Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Constitutions can turf, too
White-hot young sire Constitution has already emulated his sire, Tapit, by siring a Belmont Stakes winner. If he continues to follow in the footsteps of his sire, he may be a multi-surface threat as well, as his daughter Laura’s Light is showing.
The most high-profile runner from the first crop of Constitution, who stands at WinStar Farm, is Tiz the Law, who has earned more than $1.4 million while winning three Grade 1 races, most recently the Belmont Stakes. Constitution’s next-highest earner is the good turf filly Laura’s Light, who has earned $304,370 while winning 5 of 7 career starts. She won the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes on Saturday on the Del Mar turf, adding that to earlier victories in the Grade 3 Sweet Life and Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita.
Tapit is best known for his dirt runners, including Eclipse Award champion fillies Untapable and Unique Bella and Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist, Creator, and Tapwrit. However, his first two Eclipse champions were Stardom Bound, who scored three Grade 1 wins on synthetic surfaces, and Hansen, also a stakes winner on synthetic. Tapit is the sire of Grade 1-winning turf millionaires Ring Weekend and Tapitsfly; additional turf Grade 1 winners Dream Dancing and Time and Motion; and synthetic Grade 1 winners Laragh and Tell a Kelly, all in the United States.
At this early stage of Constitution’s stud career, the majority of his top performers have come on dirt, with Tiz the Law joined by graded stakes winners Amalfi Sunrise, By Your Side, and Independence Hall. Outside of Laura’s Light, his best turf performer has been Our Country, third in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes last fall.
First winner for Nyquist
Eclipse Award champion juvenile and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was represented by his first winner as a stallion Sunday, as Dream Quist won her career debut at Ellis Park.
Dream Quist, who is trained by Ken McPeek for the partnership of C&H Diamond Racing and Baccari Racing Stable, stalked the pace before taking the lead in the stretch and drawing clear to win by 3 3/4 lengths. She finished the mile in 1:39.74.
Dream Quist, who is out of the stakes-winning Sea of Secrets mare Seacrettina, was a $265,000 selection by McPeek out of last fall’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected yearling sale.
Dream Quist became the first winner from seven starters for Nyquist, who stands for Darley in Kentucky. Nyquist, who led the record-setting first crop of Uncle Mo, entered stud for an advertised fee of $40,000, tying with California Chrome as the second most-expensive stallion in the incoming class, behind fellow Darley stallion Frosted at $50,000. Nyquist covered 153 mares in that first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. He was among the most commercially popular stallions in his class, averaging $225,061 from 49 yearlings sold last year.
Nyquist is one of six sons of Uncle Mo from that first crop among the freshman sires of 2020. Outwork, standing at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, and Uncle Lino, at Northview Pennsylvania, each has sired two winners. Laoban, standing at Sequel Stallions in New York, is off the mark with a winner. Still awaiting first winners are Uncle Vinny at Equistar in Pennsylvania, and Mo for the Money at Anderson Farms in Arkansas.
The late New York-bred Grade 1 winner Effinex also was represented by a first winner. Effinity, from Effinex’s only crop, won against fellow statebreds on Sunday at Saratoga. This was the second start for the New York-bred colt, trained by Brad Cox for Zilla Racing Stables. He had been second on debut at Belmont.
Effinex, by Mineshaft, raced as a homebred for Russell Cohen, who famously named the horse in reference to a tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife. He won 9 of 28 starts for earnings of more than $3.3 million. That career was highlighted by a victory in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, one start after finishing second to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. Effinex also won two editions of the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap, took the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap and Grade 3 Excelsior Stakes, and won the Empire Classic against statebreds.
Effinex retired to Questroyal North in Stillwater, N.Y., for the 2017 breeding season. He covered 110 mares that season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. That summer, Effinex was relocated to McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds to continue his stud career. However, in October he died in his stall of a pulmonary aneurysm.