Jimmy Creed, Lea, Overanalyze See Biggest Jumps In Mares Bred For 2018

The Jockey Club's Report of Mares Bred released earlier this month is a telling indicator of commercial interest toward particular sires, and a stallion having more mares in his book than the year before is usually a good sign that his stock is rising.

According to The Jockey Club, 273 stallions that bred at least one mare in both 2017 and 2018 saw a bigger book from year to year, pending the 3,000 to 4,000 additional reports that are expected to trickle in over the coming months.

As it stands at this checkpoint, Spendthrift Farm resident Jimmy Creed saw the biggest spike in mares bred during the recent season, covering 98 more mares than he did in 2017.

The 9-year-old son of Distorted Humor met 67 mares last year, then saw his 2018 book jump 146 percent to 165 mares during the most recent season. His six black type earners tied him for second among last year's freshman sires, and he kept his name current at the start of this year's breeding season through the success of Grade 2 winner Kanthaka and G1-placed Meadow Dance.

“Obviously, racetrack results and sales results were the biggest thing,” said Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker. “He really got started off well with his first group of 2-year-olds at the sale. There was a couple of big pinhooks that got people's attention and got the ball rolling for us, but the biggest thing is they continued on.”

Toothaker said Jimmy Creed's 2019 book was expected to remain steady around 160 mares.

Fellow Spendthrift resident Goldencents saw the eighth-highest spike in mares bred this year, with his book growing by 55 mares from 135 to 190, an increase of 41 percent. The son of Into Mischief is currently North America's leading freshman sire by earnings.

“When the 2-year-old sales started this year for him, we were somewhere around 80-85 mares on his books, and within two to three weeks from when the first 2-year-old sale ended and he had the big results, we added about 100 mares in three weeks to his book, which was amazing,” Toothaker said. “It was unreal how many requests we had come in between March and the end of the breeding season to take him to that point.

“If the horses do well at the 2-year-old sales and breeze well, there's a lot of people that'll save a mare that are looking to catch that hot freshman-sired horse,” he continued. “It certainly helped us with Jimmy Creed and it's helped us with Goldencents as well.”

The stallion with the second-biggest year-to-year growth was Claiborne Farm's Lea, whose book increased by 79 mares from 46 to 125.

Lea's 172-percent book growth is unique in this year's class, as the only member of the top ten without runners on the track. A 9-year-old son of First Samurai, Lea's first foals are yearlings of 2018.

Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm said Lea's rapid rise in his third book of mares was the result of a concerted marketing campaign, helped along by a first crop that could back it up on the end of the shank.

“We really believe in Lea,” Hancock said. “We figured in order to really promote him, that we needed to show everyone else what we were seeing at the farm, so we did a strong ad campaign last November, and that really propelled his weanlings to have a high sales average ($93,538 – 7.5 times his $12,500 stud fee). Obviously, they had to speak for themselves, but we put a strong emphasis on advertising them and really getting them in the public's view so he wouldn't be forgotten.

“We really stand behind this horse and think he's going to be a good stallion,” Hancock continued. “It was just our job to give him the little boost that he needed to make sure he bred a full book in his third book to give him the numbers he needs to compete against the bigger-scale stallion books.”

Veteran sire Blame, a fellow Claiborne Farm roster member, saw the fourth-biggest growth, rising 64 mares from 48 to 112, an increase of 133 percent.

Coming in third was WinStar Farm's Overanalyze, who parlayed earning the 2017 freshman sire title by earnings into a boost of 75 mares.

The 8-year-old Dixie Union horse was visited by 120 mares in 2017, then saw 195 in 2018, which was the sixth most among all North American sires. That marked a 63 percent year-to-year boost.

In addition to finishing on top of the 2017 freshman sire list by earnings, Overanalyze tied for first by black type stakes winners, and he was second by runners, winners, repeat winners, and black type earners.

“Being the leading first-year sire helps,” said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm. “He complements a lot of mares because of his balance and his sire line being Dixie Union. Overanalyze is a very good option for a son of Dixie Union, and the fact that his 2-year-olds came out and did so well and he was leading freshman sire, I think people just understood that he really outdid his quality of mares starting out and the future looks very bright.”

Top Ten North American Stallions By Increase In Mares Bred From 2017 To 2018
(With at least one mare bred each season)
Rank – Stallion – Mares Bred '17 – Mares Bred '18 – Change
1) Jimmy Creed – 67 – 165 – 98
2) Lea – 46 – 125 – 79
3) Overanalyze – 120 – 195 – 75
4) Blame – 48 – 112 – 64
5) Mucho Macho Man – 35 – 96 – 61
6) Stay Thirsty – 65 – 125 – 60
7) He's Had Enough – 52 – 109 – 57
8) Goldencents – 135 – 190 – 55
9) Creative Cause – 96 – 145 – 49
10) North Light – 1 – 39 – 38