So Who’s the Leading First-Crop Sire of 2019: Liam’s Map

[Wandering Eyes]

It’s always among the key questions on everyone’s mind as 2-year-olds begin racing when Keeneland opens in April and the first-year sires have their first chance to show off their progeny. In this ongoing series, we have sought the opinion of several top judges as to who will be on top of the podium when 2019 is in the books.

CIARAN DUNNE, Wavertree Stables
LIAM’S MAP

“I am going to go with Liam’s Map. We’ve got several of them and they are all different shapes and sizes, but they all look like they have speed. A couple of them also look like they will carry it. They have that pretty shape Unbridled Song puts on them. Based on what we have here, he’s the horse I am going with. We have five or six and they are a mixed bag. They all have the pretty Unbridled Song shape I mentioned and they all act like they have natural talent. We have a couple who look like they will develop early and then we have a couple of big ones who look like they will be two-turn horses. They act like they are quick enough for a 2-year-old sale, but I don’t think they’ll be the types where you’ll be seeing them win at 4 ½ furlongs at Keeneland. They have enough natural speed where they could be dangerous.

“My sleeper pick is Sky Kingdom. We have a colt that we are taking down to the Gulfstream sale that we are extremely high on. He is a big, beautiful horse. It’s not just him. We have three others by Sky Kingdom and they all have a real pretty shape and are beautiful moving horses and have a surprising amount of speed. We’re very surprised at how fast they are for horses that are by a sire who was by Empire Maker and by a sire who went long himself. Sky Kingdom is a beautiful horse and these are pretty horses. When you see their shape, you’re not surprised how quick they are.”

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