Freshman Sire Watch: Champ Essential Quality gets 1st winner
The 2025 freshman sire crop continues to deliver exciting results with a tight battle emerging at the top of the standings. Leinster and Rock Your World are deadlocked for the lead with four winners each and identical 36.4% strike rates.
Five freshman sires registered winners over the last week, including Yaupon continuing his impressive run with Papa Ken's victory at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The son of Uncle Mo has posted three wins from just six starters for a leading 50.0% strike rate among sires with multiple wins. Basin and Essential Quality notched their first victories as sires, while Waiting and Listing both scored their second winners of the season.
Recent winners
The week's action began Friday when Essential Quality's Chopsticks broke through at Churchill Downs under trainer Brad Cox. Essential Quality was a two-time champion and the 2021 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Travers winner for Cox and Godolphin. His first book of mares was full of graded-stakes performers and producers, so expectations are high for this son of Tapit.
Chopsticks is out of the More Than Ready mare Miss Southern Miss, a stakes winner on turf. Essential Quality stands at Darley for $50,000.
Saturday brought a doubleheader as Yaupon's Papa Ken scored at Churchill and Listing registered his second winner when Jasmina captured her debut at Los Alamitos for trainer Simon Callaghan.
Sunday, Basin recorded his first winner as Somavia captured her debut at Prairie Meadows for trainer Tristan Ashford, and Waiting notched his second score when Nacho Problem prevailed at Belmont at Aqueduct under trainer Amelia Green.
Freshman sire standings
| Sire | Starts | Wins | Places | Shows | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leinster | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 36.4 |
| Rock Your World | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 36.4 |
| Yaupon | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Maxfield | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 20.0 |
| Charlatan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 |
| Listing | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Knicks Go | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9.1 |
| Beau Liam | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 10.0 |
| Code of Honor | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Essential Quality | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16.7 |
| Basin | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16.7 |
| Known Agenda | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 |
| Waiting | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25.0 |
| Raging Tiger | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 |
| Galawi | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33.3 |
| Modernist | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 |
| No Parole | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Raging Bull | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Chance It | 9 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| By My Standards | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 |
This week's entries
The freshman sires have 40 entries scheduled in the next five days, with Yaupon leading the way with six runners. The son of Uncle Mo will be represented by multiple starters on Thursday and Friday, including Run On States and Sonic Sass in Thursday's second race at Ellis Park.