Hope springs eternal in the stallion game! One of my favorite pastimes this time of year is to follow the “newbies” – the first-crop sires. Last month I did a blog on Wildcat Heir, who leads all first-crop sires with 9 winners (click here to read that post). Perhaps surprising to some, Darley Stud’s Offlee Wild is in second place with 5 winners according to the Thoroughbred Times Freshman Sire List (to July 9), and progeny earnings of $204,678 to Wildcat Heir’s $273,424. What Offlee Wild has that Wildcat Heir does not yet is a stakes winner. Offlee Wild’s colt Heavenville (click here for the pedigree) won a restricted stakes race recently – the D.S. Shine Young Memorial Futurity – and the stallion also has 2 stakes-placed runners! It’s a pretty good early start for Offlee Wild, considering that the horse only won a maiden race at 2, then got better with age, winning a G3 at 3 (was also G1-placed), a G2 at 4, and finally a G1 at 5 – the 10-furlong Suburban Handicap!
Offlee Wild’s distance capabilities aren’t really surprising, given his stout Darby Dan pedigree and the fact that his sire, Wild Again, won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 10 furlongs. But let’s look at this family, which is one of my favorites (if you’ve read my posts on Dynaformer, you’ll know this!).
Offlee Wild’s dam is the Seattle Slew mare Alvear, who’s also the dam of the G2 SW Sangrita. Alvear’s dam is none other than G1 winner and “Blue Hen” Andover Way (by His Majesty). Andover Way is, of course, the dam of Dynaformer! ‘Nuff said there!
Offlee Wild has all the credentials to make it as a sire based on pedigree and race record, but his pedigree and race record (plus the Dynaformer link) all point to having success as a sire of 3-year-olds who stay. The fact that he’s showing precocity as a sire is gravy! I’d say, based on what we’ve seen so far, Offlee Wild is a good bet to make it as a sire!
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And now, the rest of the story!
Offlee Wild has a full sister named Recoleta (click here to view her catalog-style pedigree) who has also shown the ability to produce precocious runners, so you could say that Offlee Wild’s precocious start at stud is not entirely surprising! Recoleta is the dam of two 2-year-old SWs to date, and I’d bet that she’ll have a third in the near future!
Why do I say this, you ask? Well, Recoleta and I go way back! I actually recommended the purchase of Recoleta for a European client of mine. She was entered in a European sale in 2003, and my client had me looking for mares specifically to purchase and ship back to Kentucky to breed. When I ran across Recoleta in the sales catalog – a Wild Again mare out of Alvear, who was a full sister to then G3 winner Offlee Wild, and herself a half sister to Dynaformer – I said to my client “What’s this mare doing in Europe? She belongs in the U.S. and you’ve gotta buy her!” He did and for just 21,000 euros! To me, she was the perfect mare to get the job done! We purchased her inexpensively because she already had two unimpressive foals on the ground plus a third who hadn’t yet run, and was in foal to Indian Danehill. He foaled the Indian Danehill colt in Ireland, bred her back to Rock of Gibraltar at Coolmore, and then shipped her to Kentucky. By the time the Rock of Gibraltar was foaled, her 2-year-old by Danehill Dancer, named Silent Times, (Click here to view pedigree) had won the G2 Champagne Stakes in England!
After losing her in-utero Lion Heart, my client decided to sell the mare. I liked Recoleta so much, I convinced another client to buy her before word got out that she was for sale. Recoleta’s new owner was particularly pleased when the Rock of Gibraltar – named Rock of Rochelle (Click here to view pedigree) – became a SW at 2 and won a G3 later!
Now, Recoleta’s current 2-year-old by Perfect Soul (Ire) is in training with Barclay Tagg, who says that the colt is one of his best 2-year-olds!
The colt’s name, you ask? It’s Jack’s Work!