Darby Dan Feeling Lucky with Reception of Blazing Sevens

[Wandering Eyes]

Just seven years into his own stud career, the continually climbing Hill 'n' Dale sire Good Magic already has four Grade I-winning sons standing in Kentucky. The team at Darby Dan Farm believes that with their new son of Good Magic, value is the distinguishing factor.

Standing for $12,500 in his debut season, Blazing Sevens (Good Magic -Trophy Girl, by Warrior's Reward) not only has the lowest stud fee among Good Magic's sons, but also among the four Grade I-winning juveniles new to stud in 2025. A 'TDN Rising Star' and the winner of the GI Champagne Stakes, Blazing Sevens's commercial sireline and precocity have piqued the interest of breeders in the Bluegrass.

“Price is so important in this day and age,” said Stuart Fitzgibbon, the Stallion Director at Darby Dan. “It's probably the most important thing with a stallion because it's the one thing you're in control of at the start. What price are you going to set this horse at? If you get it wrong, you're in big trouble. We got it absolutely spot on with this horse's price and he will breed a very, very good book of mares this year. The key with him is value.”

Fitzgibbon reported that when breeders started visiting Blazing Sevens after he arrived at the farm last fall, word spread on the newcomer's good looks.

“For a Good Magic he is quite big,” said Fitzgibbon. “He's out of a Warrior's Reward mare and is over 16.2. I'm always curious about how our new stallions stack up against all the other first-season horses. I know people are generally very polite, but the more people said that he stacks up really well, the more I believed them. He's a very good-looking horse with plenty of bone and a great walk. I think that has really sold him.”

A $225,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase for Rodeo Creek Racing, Blazing Sevens broke his maiden at Saratoga by over six lengths. He was third in the GI Hopeful Stakes before earning his Champagne victory, where he bested multiple Grade I-placed Verifying (Justify).  As a sophomore, the Chad Brown trainee was third in the GI Blue Grass and a close second to National Treasure (Quality Treasure) in the GI Preakness. He was also a winner at four before retiring with just under a million in earnings.

“There are certain races that seem to produce stallions over time and this horse won the Champagne like Scat Daddy, Practical Joke, Uncle Mo, Complexity and all these really good horse,” noted Fitzgibbon “$12,500 for a Champagne winner is very good and he looks the part. With him, we are always saying not to complicate things. If he gets foals that look like him, which you'd like to think he would, they will be very well-received.”

Blazing Sevens heads to the stallion barn as 2019 GI Kentucky Derby winner Country House looks on | Sara Gordon

Blazing Sevens has already taken the first step in the right direction by winning the support of a wide variety of breeders.

“A lot of breeders came in to buy shares,” said Fitzgibbon. “Tracy Farmer, who bred him and sold him as a short yearling, ended up buying a share in him. The Capeks of Rodeo Creek Racing have retained a few shares as well. John Oxley and Mt. Brilliant have bought shares in him and we have a lot of other commercial guys around town like Hunter Valley Farm and Springhouse Farm. We also have Japanese shareholders in the horse, so we're delighted with all the support.”

It has been a busy start to the breeding season at Darby Dan. Along with filling a rapidly growing book of mares for Blazing Sevens, the farm has welcomed two other new stallions.

Shirl's Speight (Speightstown-Perfect Shirl, by Perfect Soul) boasts a standout pedigree as a Grade I winner out of a Breeders' Cup champion. His dam Perfect Shirl won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, while Shirl's Speight himself captured the 2022 Maker's Mark Mile Stakes and was runner-up in the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Mile. After racing from three to seven, Shirl's Speight will stand for $5,000 in his debut season.

Gufo (Declaration of War-Floy, by Petionville), a fan favorite in New York for several seasons, has also joined the stallion ranks at Darby Dan after standing at Ballycroy Bloodstock in Ontario last year. Also standing for $5,000, the hard-knocking chestnut won or placed in 12 graded stakes and reeled off Grade I victories in the 2020 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes and the 2021 and 2022 Sword Dancer Stakes.

“Both of these horses had long careers and were very sound horses,” said Fitzgibbon. “We believe the pendulum is moving slowly every year more and more towards turf acceptance. The market is more accepting of it as each year goes by, so with both Shirl's Speight and Gufo, I think they fit the bill.”

Last month, Darby Dan announced their new Breeder Reassurance Plan, which will extend the stud fee payment deadline to 60 days instead of the standard stand-and-nurse timeframe. Fitzgibbon said the incentive has seen a positive initial reaction from breeders.

“We've moved the goalpost by introducing a 60-day payment due date,” he explained. “It's a great reassurance to the breeder that Darby Down as a stallion farm is insuring the foal's first couple of months of life. It has gone down really well with breeders and we've gotten a lot of praise from our competition. We're all in the same boat together. We're all trying to help each other, making sure that it's a vibrant business, and this is one thing that we've introduced that has really resonated with breeders.”

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