The leading First Season 2yo Sires in North America in 2023 were Captain Crunch (103 foals, 62 starters which earned $1,336,853) and Bettors Wish (39 foals, 25 starters which earned $1,211,481).
Captain Crunch’s first Australasian foals commenced racing in February and he is already the sire of eight Australian 2yo starters and the New Zealand 2yo winner Ukraine which won on February 11th in a time of 1:59.1 for the mile with a last half in 57.6 seconds and final quarter in 26.0 seconds.
There are 12 yearlings by Captain Crunch in the Nutrien Sydney Sale.
Bettors Wish’s first crop are the current batch of yearlings and his first North American crop raced in 2023 and he produced four $100,000 earners including the stakes winning colt Better Is Nice which took a 2yo mark of 1:50.6 and banked $510,120 while his leading filly was another stakes winner in Pulp Fiction p,2,1:52.4 which ended 2023 with earnings of $189,400.
Bettors Wish has six yearlings in the Sydney Sale.
Stay Hungry is another of the sons of Somebeachsomewhere making an impact as sires and he has seven yearlings in the Sydney sale.
His first Australian crop commenced racing in January and he already has star colt Louie Vee p,2,1:55.6 making waves at Gloucester Park.
Louie Vee will start favourite in the $125,000 WA Sales Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Tall Dark Stranger was USTA and Canadian 2yo Colt Pacer of the Year Tall Dark Stranger and there are nine yearlings by this son of Bettors Delight in the Sydney sale.
Tall Dark Stranger’s first North American foals went under the hammer in the 2023 North American yearling sales were highly sough after.
In the 2023 Lexington Sales there were 60 lots by Tall Dark Stranger on offer and they brought a total of $5,549,000 with three of his lots selling for $300,000 or more.
He had more than 30 lots sell for $50,000 or more and 23 sell for $100,000 plus.
McWicked retired as the world’s richest pacing stallion with career earnings of $5,103,271 and his first Southern Hemisphere foals began racing this month.
He sired his first winner when Wicked Susan, shes not really, won at Newcastle last Friday and there are two yearlings by McWicked in the Sydney sale.
Another stallion represented in the Sydney sale and with his first crop racing as 2yos in 2024 is former star pacer Poster Boy which is now the sire of the 2yo winning filly Delulu which made a winning debut at Pinjarra on 12th February and couldn’t have been any more impressive.
Poster Boy has one yearling in the Sydney sale so purchasers need to stay alert you will only get one chance.
Sons of Somebeachsomewhere are dominating Leading Sires lists all over the place and the largely unheralded Papi Rob Hanover has two yearlings from his first Australian crop in the Sydney Sale.
Papi Rob Hanover set a World Record of 1:47.2 on a five furlong track as a 3yo on his way to earnings of $927,979.
With a record of 1:46.0 Lather Up was a bonafide speed machine on the track and he had his first Australian starter Bjorn Bee Vance which finished fifth at Menangle on February 27th.
Lather Up’s first American crop of 2yos raced in 2023 and from 55 starters there were 29 winners with three $100,000 earners headed by the Ohio Breeders Championship winning filly Rose Run Zoey p,2,1:51.4 $199,430.
There are three yearlings by Lather Up in the 2024 Nutrien Sydney Yearling Sale.
The online catalogue for that sale is available at Nutrien Live – Online Catalogue (nutrienequine.com.au) and it can be sorted in any number of ways including by sire to make it super easy to check out the pedigrees of any or all of the sires mentioned above.
For full details and catalogued yearlings in the three remaining Nutrien Standardbred 2024 Yearling Sales, click here.
By Alan Parker