Looking for a new stallion to breed to in 2012? You may
want to give a long look to my favorite turf horse of the last few years, Paddy
O’Prado.
Standing at B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm for a fee
of $15,000, the good looking gray stallion will be ready to go for his first
year at stud in 2012. A dominant horse on the grass, He easily won five graded
turf stakes, and finished second in another, in his final six starts on the
turf. Paddy O’Prado also demonstrated his versatility with a second in the
grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on Polytrack, and a third on the dirt of the Kentucky Derby.
An earner of $1,721,297, Paddy O’Prado won the
Secretariat Stakes, Virginia Derby, Colonial Turf Cup, Dixie Stakes, and Palm
Beach Stakes, all of which are graded stakes. Demonstrating his early faith in
his charge, trainer Dale Romans ran Paddy O’Prado in the Grade 3 Palm Beach
while still a maiden, and watched him win by 2 ½ lengths in a blistering 1:45 2/5
for nine furlongs. That faith never wavered, and at the time of his retirement,
Romans had this to say about his former stable star:
“When Kitten’s Joy retired I never thought I would have
another horse as good as him, but I’m glad Paddy O’Prado proved me wrong.”
Besides his excellence and versatility on the track,
there is strong reason to believe Paddy O’Prado will follow Kitten’s Joy as an
excellent young sire as well. His sire, El Prado, was a champion as a juvenile
in Ireland and proved to be one of the best sires of the past 20 years. El
Prado is a Champion Sire of more than 80 stakes winners, including grade one
winners Kitten’s Joy, Medaglia d’Oro, Spanish Moon, Artie Schiller, Borrego,
Asi Siempre, and of course, Paddy O’Prado. As a son of the great Sadler’s Wells, and a grandson of the incomparable, Northern Dancer, El Prado was one of
the best recent representations of quite possibly the greatest sire line of the
last half century.
Making Paddy O’Prado’s prospects even brighter as a new
stallion is the huge success of several of El Prado’s young sons at stud.
Kitten’s Joy, Medaglia d’Oro, and Artie Schiller all have proven to be of
excellent quality in their first several foal crops.
Paddy O’Prado’s female line is also strong. His dam is grade
2 winner Fun House. The daughter of Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, Prized, is a half-sister
to multiple graded stakes winner, Early Flyer, and to stakes placed Rush Around
and Roundabout. His granddam, Bistra, comes from a great family. She is a
half-sister to grade one winner and excellent sire, Olympio, as well as Call
Now, Your Call, graded stakes placed Carol’s Wonder, who is the dam of multiple
graded stakes winner and grade one sire Wild Wonder; and granddam of grade one
winner Pyro, and graded stakes winner War Echo, and Christmas Star, who is the dam
of grade one winner, and grade one sire Cuvee, and graded stakes winner Will He
Shine.
Paddy O’Prado, the prospective sire, also offers
something a bit lacking today in American breeding. Proven at the classic
distance of 1 ¼ miles, Paddy O’Prado demonstrated the ability to show his
excellent turn of foot as the distances got longer. Coupled with his surface
versatility, I think you can see why I am truly excited about seeing Paddy
O’Prado join the American breeding landscape.
If Paddy O’Prado does indeed become an excellent sire,
he would join the current big man on campus at Spendthrift, Malibu Moon. A
consistent leading sire of late, Malibu Moon stands for $70,000 in 2012. Other
notable sires at the historic Lexington farm include a trio of other first-year
stallions. Tizway is a multiple grade 1 winning son of the great Tiznow, and
will begin his breeding career at $25,000. Wilburn, at $6,500, will be one of
the first graded stakes winning sons of young superstar stallion, Bernardini,
to hit the breeding shed. Archarcharch was one the favorites for this year’s
Kentucky Derby, but was unfortunately injured in the race and did not run again.
The son of a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner’s sire (Arch), the winner of this
year’s Arkansas Derby checks in at $10,000.