Spendthrift Adding Depth to Roster

[Wandering Eyes]

Spendthrift Farm welcomes a quartet of Grade I winners to its stallion roster in 2019, and while the farm’s Mark Toothaker told the TDN that Bolt d’Oro has already attracted considerable attention in year one, his new barnmates, GI Preakness S. winner Cloud Computing, Free Drop Billy and Mor Spirit bring plenty to the table in their own rights. The TDN‘s Lucas Marquardt sat down with Toothaker in the second installment of a two-part video feature to discuss the depth of Spendthrift’s incoming stallion class.

TDN: Cloud Computing was a bit of a late arrival, having been retired at the end of November. How long did you have him on your radar for?

MT: With Cloud Computing, we actually had made an offer on him after he won the Preakness. Klaravich Stables has been a big supporter of Temple City and Into Mischief, so we’ve had a good relationship with Seth [Klarman], and obviously with Chad Brown…We were glad to [eventually] be able to get him bought, and he’s been extremely well received. Chad jokingly said, “I know some horses coming off the track need a little bit of time before you show them. Let me tell you how much time you need on this horse. As soon as he walks off the van, hook a shank to him and start showing him. He is drop dead gorgeous.” And he is. He’s a beautiful horse.

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TDN: Speaking of his physical, Mike Ryan went to $200,000 to secure Cloud Computing as a Keeneland September yearling. It seems like this horse has always been identified as a standout.

MT: There aren’t many people with a hotter hand than Mike Ryan. He is just such a tremendous judge of horse flesh. For him to stretch out there on this horse–when at the time no one really had anything to hang their hat on outside of Maclean’s Music’s brilliance–Mike saw something in this horse, and it was verified with the success he had when he got to the races. That makes you give pause and take another look at this horse.

TDN: Cloud Computing is set to stand for $7,500 S&N with a Share the Upside fee of $8,500. How has he been received by breeders?

MT: We did Share the Upside on him like we do with almost all of our new horses. That sold out tremendously fast. We’re into the phase now of just finishing him off on stands and nurse seasons. He’s going to breed a book right around 175 mares this year. He’s been very well received. It took about two days for the Share the Upside to sell out on this horse, so it’s extremely exciting…It’s our first classic winner here at Spendthrift since Mr. Hughes bought the farm.

TDN: Switching focus to Free Drop Billy, he won the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on the main track as a juvenile and adds a pedigree that has incredible depth, with his half-brother Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy) being a dual Group 1 winner on grass. Is that combination something that really stamps him as an exciting prospect?

MT: It is an amazing family. I mean, it’s the direct family of Cozzene…and there’s the success that Hawkbill had this year. It’s a very, very good pedigree, and there’s a lot of very successful horses in that pedigree. I think he offers breeders a chance to breed to a horse who was a Grade I winner at two and has an outstanding female family that contains proven sires. To be able to breed to him and earn a lifetime breeding right for $10,000– that’s hard to beat.

TDN: Mor Spirit is a two-time Grade I winner, but without a doubt, his defining performance was that 6 1/4-length romp in the GI Met Mile in 2017. Talk a little about that performance in a proven stallion-making race.

MT: The Met Mile was one of those brilliant moments when you just say, “Man, it was just amazing–that performance on that day.” For him to just cruise around there as fast as they were going, and then when Mike Smith asked him turning for home, he just drew away from the field and won as easy as can be. And to run a 117 Beyer, that’s just not something you see every day. We have another stallion standing here in Cross Traffic that did the same thing in his career, and he’s the leading freshman sire.

TDN: Can you talk a little about his stud fee? Do you expect a warm reception at $10,000?

MT: This horse is so pretty and he was so talented–we felt like it was an opportunity to be able to stand this horse at a very reasonable price for breeders. They are going to love his physical, they are going to love his race record. When they see this horse, they’re going to want to breed to him. If this horse was by one of these sires who is very popular right now, he could very easily could be standing for anywhere from $25,000 to $35,000 with his resume.

 

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