Will American Pharoah carry Greatness to his Sire Career?

The bloodlines of three Triple Crown champions flow through the veins of American Pharoah. Count Fleet, War Admiral (3 instances) and Secretariat. None of them reproduced themselves, although War Admiral and Secretariat were excellent broodmare sires. Will American Pharoh’s legacy be that of a broodmare sire, or will his sons carry on the Triple Crown Champ’s line?

The racing world was abuzz with the announcement by Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud of Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner American Pharoah’s stud fee of $200,000 for the 2016 breeding season. Only one other stallion has stood for an initial fee of $200,000. That was in 2006 when Horse of the Year Ghostzapper went to stud.  Ghostzapper’s fee has dropped over the years to $60,000. 

The pressure on American Pharoah to live up to the hype and his astronomical stud fee will be enormous. Roughly 80 – 85% of stud fees drop after a stallion’s first year at stud. Most will see another reduction in fees when their two year olds fail to live up to expectations on the track. Sires who are noted for getting later developing offspring may see a gradual increase in their fees as their foals mature into stakes winning three, four and five year olds.

Sire Line:

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile - Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman) has an exceptionally strong male tail line (through his sire, second sire, third sire, on the paternal side). His third through fifth sires, Unbridled, Fappiano and Mr. Prospector, respectively, are all chef-de-race stallions, noted for passing along certain attributes of brilliant or intermediate speed and classic stamina to their offspring.

The Triple Crown Champ’s second sire Empire Maker (Unbridled - Toussaud, by El Gran Senor) stood at stud in the U.S. for eight years before being sold to Japan. During that time, he became known as a “filly sire,” his daughters were more accomplished than his sons. Empire Maker sired the champion mare Royal Delta, plus eight other Grade 1 winning mares. His Grade 1 winning sons include Pioneerof the Nile, Bodemeister, and the geldings Action Plan and Chosen Empire.  Empire was brought back to the U.S. and will renew his stud career in 2016.

Empire Maker has nine sons at stud. Three have offspring old enough to race. All except stand for minor stud fees and have average race records. Bodemeister’s first crop will hit the track next year. Note that Bodemeister (Empire Maker - Untouched Talent, by Storm Cat) is out of a Storm Cat Mare. He has similar bloodlines to American Pharoah.

So far, Empire Maker’s best chance to carry on his branch of the Unbridled line lies with Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker - Star of Goshen, by Lord At War (ARG)). The Kentucky Derby runner-up stood his initial year at WinStar Farm for $20,000. His fee dropped in ensuing years to $15,000 until the stallion’s offspring stepped foot on the track.  He was the second-leading Freshman Sire in 2013 and 13 blacktype earners emerged from Pioneerof the Nile’s initial crop.

Pioneerof the Nile’s fee rose to $60,000 last year and doubled to $125,000 for this coming year, and the stallion is certainly proving his worth. In just five crops of 220 foals with a total of 106 on the race track, Pioneerof The Nile has sired 1 champion (soon to be a two-time), 6 graded stakes winners, 7 stakes winners and 10 stakes placed runners.  Pioneerof The Nile’s first son to go to stud is Cairo Prince, who stood his first season this year, and Pioneerof The Nile is developing into a major stallion who will infuse stamina into the breed.   

Female Family:

American Pharoah undoubtedly gets his high cruising speed from his female family.

His dam Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman - Exclusive Rosette, by Ecliptical) is a good looking chestnut mare and looks more like a route horse than a sprinter. She attracted $135,000 as a weanling and $250,000 as a yearling, yet showed nothing in her abbreviated career as she was unplaced in two maiden dirt sprints. Her first foal, Xixixi, (Maimonides), hasn’t shown much ability and has a 17-2-3-1 ($83,299) record.

American Pharoah’s second dam Exclusive Rosette hit the board 6 of 17 times, including a state bred sprint stakes win (17-3-0-3 $27,281). The mare had speed to burn, and set a track record going 5 ½ furlongs over the Atlantic City turf in :57.31.  Exclusive Rosette bore 12 foals, including the Grade 2 winning sprinter Storm Wolf (Stormin Fever) and his Grade 3 winning full sister Misty Rosette, who won the 6 ½ furlong Old Hat Stakes and finished third in the 7 furlong Test Stakes (G-1).

American Pharoah’s third dam Zetta Jett and fourth dam Queen Zetta own no blacktype and other than Exclusive Rosette, bore no other blacktype runners.

There are no blue hens in American Pharoah’s distaff line. Littleprincessemma is a member of the Loews Female Family 14. There are few notable modern US stakes winners descended from this family.  The German sensation Danedream, multiple Group 1 Australian mare Absolutely and 1985 English and French champion Rainbow Quest are part of Family 14, but other than American Pharoah, there’s been little recent notable stakes winners.

American Pharoah’s damsire Yankee Gentleman won up to 1 1/16 miles, but his sole blacktype win was a minor sprint stakes. He went to stud in Kentucky in 2004, and now stands in Louisiana. Yankee Gentleman’s dam Key Phrase won the 7 furlong Santa Monica Handicap. She passed along her speed to her grandson Half Ours, who set a new stakes record for 5 furlongs in :57.07 in the Three Chimneys Juv. Stakes as a two year old. Key Phrase is a half sister to the dam of 2013’s Champion Two-Year-Old Shared Belief. 

Summary:

American Pharoah has all of the characteristics of a carrier of the large heart gene.  His race record and curly leaf-like ears are dead giveaways. As an X-Factor carrier, American Pharoah is poised to become an excellent broodmare sire. Other stallions who carry the gene include Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Empire Maker, A.P. Indy and Tapit. 

John Hall, of Taylor Made Sales, had this to say about American Pharoah as a yearling, “Big, strong, solid colt; good neck; could be a touch longer; good laid back shoulder; deep wither; short back; strong hip; long underline; strong through the forearm and gaskin; bone like tree trunks; good square hip going away; comes at you good in front; big foot; solid colt.”

American Pharoah’s first book of mares will be the best available, either top stakes winners or proven dams of stakes winners. I can guarantee that his first crop of babies will sell for astronomical prices. American Pharoah has excellent conformation, intelligence, and undoubtable ability. If he passes these genes to his offspring, we’ll see a major stallion develop before our eyes. How American Pharoah will do as a stallion is anybody’s guess, but he’ll have every opportunity to prove himself. Here’s hoping his daughters and sons follow in his increasingly large hoof prints.