Over the past weekend, Wild Again was the broodmare sire of three first-time SWs:
Strike Softly (by Smart Strike) – won the G3 Hendrie Stakes at Woodbine
Charley Papa (by Indian Charlie) – won the Cool Air Stakes at Calder
Shampoo (by Gulch) – won the U.S. Bank Stakes at Emerald Downs
Wild Again was, in my opinion, an underrated sire throughout his stud career. He was pensioned after the 2004 breeding season at the age of 24. He is the sire of 80 SWs to date, including an impressive 13 G1 winners. Not bad for a stallion who stood for $25,000 at the time of his retirement!
It appears that his legacy as a sireline may rest with Wild Rush, who stood at Adena Springs, KY, for five years at $10,000 before he was sold to Japan. To date he has 23 SWs from 324 U.S. foals, including G1 winners Stellar Jayne and Hollywood Story. There are some promising sons of Wild Again that have a shot of emulating Wild Rush’s success. They include G1 winner Offlee Wild, standing at Darley Kentucky; multiple G1 winner Milwaukee Brew, standing at Adena Springs South in FL; and classic winner Sarava, standing at Cloverleaf Farm in FL.
But the story here is Wild Again’s success as a broodmare sire. With the addition of the three SWs over the weekend, Wild Again mares have now produced 30 unrestricted SWs, including four G1 winners. Considering Wild Again’s final crop are now just 3yo’s, Wild Again mares should be producing top-class racehorses for years to come.
Tracking broodmare sire success is, obviously, important in the selection process at breeding stock sales, but it is also important when it comes to purchasing yearlings and unraced stock. Most buyers give considerable emphasis to a yearling’s sire and the black-type on the catalog page, but I seldom see buyers giving much consideration to a yearling’s broodmare sire. I believe this is yet another edge when trying to identify those elusive future stakes winners and would be worthy of compiling a list of prepotent broodmare sires. Wild Again should definitely be one the list.