By Elaine Belval
Florida is a tough stallion market, one of the toughest in the country. Stallions don’t fail and move to Florida, they disappoint and move from Florida. Consequently, it produces tough horses that many often underestimate.
This was proven the case again as the Florida-bred Yara paid $131 when defeating 4-5 favorite Grace Hall by a neck in the G2 Davona Dale S on February 25. Yara was bred by Brambly Lane Farm and Steve Dwoskin; is owned by Peras International (Anderson Castro), and is trained by Jose Garoffalo. She had won the restricted Joe O’Farrell Juvenile Fillies S. at two last year on Florida Million Day before breaking through at this level. Garoffalo is pinpointing the G1 Kentucky Oaks as a goal for the filly out of the Gilded Time mare Ashlee’s Lady.
Yara is by Put It Back, one of the best stallions in Florida. The lightly-raced son of Honour and Glory—meaning that like the previous “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not” subject Tiznow, Put It Back is a paternal grandson of Relaunch from the In Reality line that prospered in Florida at Tartan Farms—raced twice at two before breaking his maiden as a sophomore, then went on to win the Best Turn S. at Aqueduct and the G2 Riva Ridge S. on Point Given’s Belmont Stakes undercard. He was undefeated in five starts as a three-year-old, after which he was retired to stud in Florida for a $5,000 fee.
Put It Back’s first crop raced in 2005 and included future G1 winner In Summation (winner of the Bing Crosby H. at Del Mar who set four track or course records), while Jessica Is Back (Princess Rooney S.-G1) hails from his second crop. Put It Back shuttles to South America, where he has sired at least three champions.
Put It Back excels at siring sprinter/milers and precocious runners. Almost 40% of his SWs attain that level as two-year-olds, and the average winning distance of all his SWs is a brisk 6.5 furlongs. Also this year, he’s represented by It’s Me Mom, winner of the competitive Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint S. in which champion Musical Romance and GSW Pomeroys Pistol finished behind her.
Put It Back has some of the best numbers in the game. He sires 79% starters, 59% winners, an excellent 23% two-year-old winners, and a very good 6% SWs. His progeny have average earnings over $50,000 and median earnings over $23,000. Few stallions can match these figures at any price. He had $2.3 million in progeny earnings in 2011, with six SWs and two GSWs. And in one of the clearest indicators of the overall quality of Put It Back’s runners, his leading earner in 2011 was It’s Me Mom, with $200,000, less than 10% of his overall earnings total.
Put It Back sires a lot of good horses that reward their owners with good earnings. Not bad for a sire who still stands for $5,000 at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala.
Put It Back is interesting in that he is proving to be a fairly strong turf influence. One wouldn’t expect that from his top-line, but the probable explanation reveals itself in his tail-female line, as No Robbery was a potent turf influence (and also the inspiration for the name of Put It Back’s dam, Shoplifter).