Who’s Your Daddy? The Winningest Breeders’ Cup Sires

By Ray Wallin

Galileo

Galileo Photo Courtesy of Coolmore Ireland (coolmore.com)

In the history of the Breeders’ Cup there have been 302 races that have produced a total of 303 winners, including the dead heat in the 2003 Turf between High Chaparral and Johar. Of those 303 winners, there have been 216 sires that have produced a winner in the Breeders’ Cup.

Of those 216 sires to produce a winner, there have been 147 one-hit wonders, or sires that have produced one Breeders’ Cup winner. Thirty-eight sires have produced a pair of winners, while 15 have a trio to their credit. Six sires have managed four winners.

This leaves us the elite of the Breeders’ Cup sires. While seven sires have won with five of their progeny, there have been two sires to produce six winners, but only one that produced a record seven Breeders’ Cup wins.

Who are they?

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5 Breeders’ Cup Winners

City Zip

Work All Week  – 2014 Sprint

Dayatthespa – 2014 Filly & Mare Turf

Catch a Glimpse – 2015 Juvenile Fillies Turf

Finest City – 2016 Filly & Mare Sprint

Bulletin – 2018 Juvenile Turf Sprint

Danzig

Chief’s Crown – 1984 Juvenile

Dance Smartly – 1991 Distaff

Lure – 1992 & 1993 Mile

War Chant – 2000 Mile

Galileo (IRE) (1 of 2 sires to have 4 wins in the same event)

Red Rocks (IRE) – 2006 Turf

Magician (IRE) – 2013 Turf

Found (IRE) – 2015 Turf

Highland Reel (IRE) – 2016 Turf

Line of Duty (IRE) – 2018 Juvenile Turf

Kris S.

Prized – 1989 Turf

Hollywood Wildcat – 1993 Distaff

Brocco – 1993 Juvenile

Soaring Softly – 1999 Filly & Mare Turf

Action This Day – 2003 Juvenile

Smart Strike

Curlin – 2007 Classic

English Channel – 2007 Turf

Furthest Land – 2009 Dirt Mile

My Miss Aurelia – 2001 Juvenile Fillies

Battle of Midway – 2017 Dirt Mile

Storm Cat

Desert Stormer – 1995 Sprint

Cat Thief – 1999 Classic

Storm Flag Flying – 2002 Juvenile Fillies

Sweet Catomine – 2004 Juvenile Fillies

Life Is Sweet – 2009 Distaff

Tapit

Stardom Bound – 2008 Juvenile Fillies

Tapitsfly – 2009 Juvenile Fillies Turf

Hansen – 2011 Juvenile

Tapizar – 2012 Dirt Mile

Utapable – 2014 Distaff

6 Breeders’ Cup Winners

Sadler’s Wells (the other of 2 sires to have 4 wins in the same event)

In The Wings (GB) – 1990 Turf

Barathea (IRE) – 1994 Mile

Northern Spur (IRE) – 1995 Turf

High Chaparral (IRE) – 2002 and 2003 Turf

Islington (IRE) – 2003 Filly & Mare Turf

Unbridled’s Song (1996 Juvenile winner)

Unbridled Elaine – 2001 Distaff

Midshipman – 2008 Juvenile

Unrivaled Belle – 2010 Distaff

Liam’s Map – 2015 Dirt Mile

Arrogate – 2016 Classic

Forever Unbridled – 2017 Distaff

7 Breeders’ Cup Winners

The lone sire to have seven winners in Breeders’ Cup races is More Than Ready. The son of Southern Halo finished with seven wins in his 17 starts, retiring at the age of 3. This Grade 1 winner did manage a fifth-place finish in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He has had a much more productive career off the track.

Winner #1: More Than Real (2010 Juvenile Fillies Turf)

Owned by chef Bobby Flay, this gritty filly would rally after a wide trip to win by two lengths over the favorite, Winter Memories under Garrett Gomez returning a healthy $29.20 to win. This would be the first of three wins that Gomez and trainer Todd Pletcher would each enjoy in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup.

 

Winner 2 (Pluck, 2010 Juvenile Turf)

Pletcher and Gomez would team up the next day as this colt would overcome a 14-length deficit and a troubled trip to rally from sixth in the stretch. This would be the last race where Pluck finished in the money.

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Winner 3 (Regally Ready, 2011 Turf Sprint)

This chestnut gelding dueled early and led the rest of the way as the favorite with Corey Nakatani in the irons for trainer Steve Asmussen. Regally Ready would never win another graded stakes race after this victory, but raced successfully through his 2016 campaign.

Winner 4 & 5 (Roy H, 2017 and 2018 Sprint)

Ridden by Kent Desormeaux in 2017 and Paco Lopez in 2018, this Peter Miller trainee didn’t look like much until he took a long layoff and re-emerged in 2017. He rattled off three straight wins including the True North (G2) at Belmont Park before a second place finish in the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. He would then dominate the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita and the BC Sprint in each successful fall effort. He retired in 2019 after coming back to win the Palo Verdes Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita like he did after his 2017 win.

 

 

Winner 6 (Rushing Fall, 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf)

Trainer Chad Brown and jockey Javier Castellano won this race back to back in 2016 and 2017. Still active, this mare is a contender in the 2020 Filly & Mare Turf and hopes to give More Than Ready another record-setting victory. She boasts an impressive 11 wins in 14 starts with two places and only finishing out of the money once and is a multiple Grade 1 stakes winner.

 

Winner 7 (Uni, 2019 Mile)

She will be back in 2020 to defend her Breeders’ Cup title after defending her First Lady Stakes (G1)  at Keeneland and could give her sire another winner after upsetting favorite Got Stormy in the 2019 edition of the race. She is another Chad Brown trainee and will be one of the stronger betting choices to repeat.

 

Not only does More Than Ready have the chance to tack on a few more wins as a sire, he has the chance to pick up a few wins with his grandkids here this year. In the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, winner of the Iroquois Stakes (G3),  Sittin On Go, is out of Brody’s Cause and Set’n On Ready whose sire was More Than Ready.

Whether you are a casual player or you make your living playing the races, the Breeders’ Cup always brings value and excitement. Records are broken each year. So with the Breeders’ Cup only a few weeks away, who do you like?