The rich purses of last weekend’s stakes at Kentucky Downs helped lift Twirling Candy and Tiz the Law atop the North American overall 2-year-old and freshman sire lists, respectively.
The traditional boutique summer racing meets at Saratoga and Del Mar recently closed Sept. 2 and Sunday, respectively, providing a good point to check in with the sire standings. Other summer meetings included a rich season at Ellis Park; the ascending program at Colonial Downs; and, with one card still remaining on Wednesday, the short but lucrative meet at Kentucky Downs, with a series of seven-figure stakes and other rich races bolstered by contributions from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
Classic sire Twirling Candy, standing at Lane’s End Farm, leads the overall 2-year-old sire list by earnings through Sunday, with a bankroll of $1,532,719 and 11 winners from 36 juvenile starters. Classic performer Tiz the Law, based at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, has 10 winners from 28 first-crop starters and is atop the freshman list, and next on the 2-year-old list, with progeny earnings of $1,440,928. Each stallion has two stakes winners from this crop – one at Kentucky Downs and one at Saratoga.
Twirling Candy’s daughter Kilwin, a debut winner at Ellis Park, won the $1 million Untapable Stakes on Sunday at Kentucky Downs. The stallion also is represented by Kimchi Cat, winner of the Bolton Landing Stakes in August at Saratoga.
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Tiz the Law is the sire of Tiztastic, who won twice at Kentucky Downs, winning his maiden in a $250,000 allowance on Aug. 29 before winning the $1 million Juvenile Mile on Sunday. Tiz the Law also is represented by Out on Bail, winner of the Skidmore Stakes last month at Saratoga, and then second in the Rosie’s Stakes on Saturday at Colonial.
Rounding out the top 10 2-year-old sires at this point by earnings are Complexity (Airdrie Stud), Tapit (Gainesway), Not This Time (Taylor Made Farm), Constitution (WinStar Farm), Vekoma (Spendthrift Farm), Omaha Beach (Spendthrift), Thousand Words (Spendthrift), and Munnings (Ashford). Complexity, Vekoma, and Thousand Words are all freshman sires.
Nyquist (Darley), who sits 11th on the 2-year-old sire list, swept the summer Grade 1 events for 2-year-old fillies, as his daughter Immersive won the Spinaway on Aug. 31 at Saratoga and Tenma won the Del Mar Debutante on Saturday.
Nyquist followed in the footsteps of his own sire, Uncle Mo, by earning an Eclipse Award 2-year-old championship and then becoming a leading freshman sire. Nyquist’s current 2-year-olds represent the crop conceived following his championship freshman season of 2020.
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