By Elaine Belval
When Unbridled’s Song died last year, Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky, lost a top sire. But his G1-winning sons, of which there are 11 to date and five with foals of racing age, were not anywhere near as good as their sire. Of the five, only First Defence has sired a G1 winner (Close Hatches). However, Taylor Made has been enjoying the recent success of a G2 winner they stand by Unbridled’s Song in Old Fashioned, and at the rate he is going, he may yet be a worthy successor.
Expectations were always high for Old Fashioned. He sold for $800,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September on behalf of breeders Rod and Lorraine Rodriguez and raced for Fox Hills Farms, trained by Larry Jones. He won his first four starts, including three at two (led by the G2 Remsen S.) and the G3 Southwest S. at three. He made two more starts, running second in both. After the G2 Rebel S., he sustained a fracture in the G2 Arkansas Derby, in which he came in half a length behind the winner Papa Clem and three-quarters of a length in front of Summer Bird, who would go on to win the Belmont S..
Old Fashioned is out of the GSW Collect Call (by Meadowlake). She won the G3 Santa Ysabel S. and finished third in the G1 Kentucky Oaks. This is the family of G1 winner Mitterand, the dam of sire French Deputy.
In his first season, Old Fashioned stood for $12,500 and covered over 100 mares, resulting in 80 foals in his first crop, two-year-olds of 2013. He had his first winner in July and ended the year with 10 individual winners, including the SW Hi Fashioned. However, 2014 has proven to be a break-out year for Old Fashioned. His daughter Fashion Plate won the G1 Santa Anita Oaks and another daughter, Sweet Whiskey, came within a nose of winning the G1 Acorn S. on the Belmont S. undercard. The following weekend, first-time starter Fashion Alert won the 2YO Astoria S. at Belmont by 4 3/4 lengths. Old Fashioned now has four SWs of $100,000 stakes.
The sire of 15 winners already in 2014 and with only one other second-crop sire having more individual stakes wins this year, Old Fashioned ranks third, with $1.3 million in 2014 progeny earnings, on that sires’s list.
Old Fashioned’s 2014 fee of $8,000 is looking a bargain right about now.