Indian Charlie Conveys a Message to Breeders!

By Jack Werk

The bio mechanical and conformation guys will tell you that big stallions sometimes have a hard time fitting a large portion of the broodmare population. That’s one reason why a lot of these types of stallions, even if they are successful, are erratic at stud. They’ll get a “big horse,” usually, but not consistently (pun intended!). They are like the power hitters who don’t hit for average!

Indian Charlie, who stands for $70,000 live foal at Airdrie Stud, is a big horse. He’s listed in stallion registers as standing 16.3h! But his size hasn’t stopped him from being a really consistent sire of SWs, and he’s worth his stud fee exactly because his offspring compete at the highest levels of the sport. This weekend, he proved it once again when his undefeated 3-year-old son Conveyance won the G3 San Rafael at Santa Anita in front-running fashion. I watched the race closely because I had a personal interest in him, and, honestly, he didn’t blow me away with his win when I watched it live for the first time. But after viewing the race again a few times, I realized the colt was looking around and really did win with authority and has a lot of upside in him. For now, he’s on the classic trail for new trainer Bob Baffert, who got him when Zabeel Racing bought his after he’d won his first two starts.

Conveyance was bred by Gulf Coast Farms LLC. This makes two Triple Crown horses in the Baffert barn for breeder Gulf Coast, which also bred the certain champion 2-year-old colt Lookin at Lucky (click here to read my post on this colt). Gulf Coast is the breeding operation of Lance Robinson and Jerry Bailey, and readers of this blog probably know that Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., makes stallion recommendations for Gulf Coast. Usually, we recommend about 8 to 10 stallions for each mare, and Lance and Jerry will choose the mating based on their conformation analysis of our pedigree choices. Smart Strike, the sire of Lookin at Lucky, was our top choice, and Lance and Jerry went with him because he fit the mare physically, too.

Indian Charlie was our 6th pick for Conveyance’s dam. He was chosen by Lance and Jerry because he fit the mare the best, and Conveyance has proven that now.

Indian Charlie is a son the top California sire In Excess, who descends from the Caro line. This is not a vibrant sire line in the US, but it is one that actually fits the broodmare population pretty well these days, because the various Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector strains are everywhere now and it’s hard not to duplicate those names when planning a mating. Indian Charlie, however, is a complete outcross within 5 generations! The only inbreeding in Conveyance’s pedigree is a 5×4 duplication to Raise a Native and a 5×5 cross to Nashua (click here to view 5-cross pedigree)!

Indian Charlie was trained by Baffert too, and he won 4 of 5 starts, including the G1 Santa Anita Derby, his only stakes win. His only loss was a 3rd in the Kentucky Derby, where he got hurt. When it came time to go to stud, Brereton Jones, one of the sharpest guys in the stallion business, made the right offer to get him, and he hasn’t looked back since then. It should come as no surprise that Jones has his prize filly Proud Spell currently in foal to Indian Charlie!

Check out these stats: Through 9 crops (including 2010), Indian Charlie is the sire of 46 SWs, which is a mind-boggling 9% stakes winners to foals for him! That’s an unheard of number these days and an incredible display of consistency! But, he hits for power, too. His offspring include such really high-class runners like G1 winner Indian Blessing and G1 winner Fleet Indian, who showcase his skills as a sire at different ends of the spectrum. Indian Blessing, who also was trained by Baffert, earned $2,995,420 and a championship as a 2-year-old; Fleet Indian, in contrast, was a champion older mare who earned $1,704,513.

Now up to bat is Conveyance, and you can bet I’ll be rooting for him to hit one out of the park!