Page 23 - July 2020

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A look at stallions with first-crop yearlings of 2020
by Michael Compton
With the yearling sale season fast approaching, attention often turns to the newest crop of yearlings by first-year sires. Speedhorse reached out to the connections of the stallions which are likely to be represented by in-demand yearlings at the sales this year. These first-crop yearlings in 2020 will be poised to make an impression on the racetrack next year. Our annual preview once again suggests a strong group of stallions this year seeking to emerge at the top of the heap when the gavel falls in the auction ring during the 2020 yearling sale season.
Following are brief highlights of the stallions with first-crop yearlings of 2020 as advertised in the 2020 Speedhorse Stallion Register statistical pages.
Apollitical Spirit
(Mr Jess Perry-Apollitical Time) Stands at James Ranch
2020 fee: $1,750
A three-time winner from 13 lifetime starts, Apollitical Spirit hails from a strong black-type family. His sire, Mr Jess Perry, was Champion 2 Year Old and Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and the multiple Grade 1 winner is a World Champion sire. Apollitical Spirit’s dam, Apollitical Time, is a 3-time Champion and Broodmare of the Year and has also been prolific in the breeding shed. She is the dam of 9 foals, 8 starters, and 6 winners. Apollitical Spirit
is a full brother to World Champion Apollitical Jess, a multiple Grade 1 winner including the Los Alamitos Super Derby-G1 and the Champion of Champions-G1.
As a racehorse, Apollitical Spirit, at two, won his trial for the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity and broke his maiden at Los Alamitos going 300 yards. He also finished 2nd in his Ed Burke Million Futurity trial and in his All American Futurity trial. The following season at three, Apollitical Spirit won his All American Derby trial at Ruidoso Downs
at 440 yards and was a finalist in the Old Habits Handicap, Town Policy Stakes and A Ransom Handicap. All told, he finished first or second in six of 13 appearances.
Big Lew
(Corona Cartel-Executive Looks) Stands at Lazy E Ranch
2020 fee: $2,500
Big Lew, a son of Corona Cartel campaigned by Reliance Ranches, was without question a big horse on the racetrack and the most accomplished of this year’s crop of stallions as a racehorse. An
eight-time winner and on the board 17 times from 24 career starts, Big Lew was fast and sound and made his presence felt on the biggest stages and at the biggest tracks.
He came out running as a juvenile in 2015, winning three of eight outings and finishing second in the Oklahoma Futurity-G2 at Remington Park.
He enjoyed his best season at three, winning four of 10 starts and banking $500,976 that
year. He won the Los Alamitos Super Derby-G1, defeating Rite Regal and Time For Jess in the 400-yard event. He also finished third to Zoomin For Spuds and Heza Dasha Fire in the Champion of Champions-G1 at Los Alamitos. In addition, he was fourth in the Oklahoma Derby-G3 and was a finalist in the Ruidoso Derby-G1 and Rainbow Derby-G1.
He continued to make his mark on the
track as a 4 year old, winning an allowance
dash at Remington Park and finishing third
in both the Leo Stakes-G1 at Remington Park and in the Robert Boniface Los Al Invitational Championship-G1 at Los Alamitos. He also checked in fourth in the Remington Park Invitational Championship-G1 and was a finalist in the Go Man Go Handicap-G1 and Z Wayne Griffin Directors Invitational.
Big Lew is out of the Grade 1-winning Executive Menace mare Executive Looks, making him a full brother to 2017 Ed Burke Million Futurity-G1 winner and Champion KVN Corona and stakes winners KVN Little Sister and Marney Jo, and a half-brother to stakes-placed Executive Perry. Big Lew’s second dam, Sticky N Picky, was also a multiple stakes winner and Grade 1-placed.
“These are outstanding foals, and when you know you have a hit on your hands as far as a
stallion, it’s in the second year when you are breeding a lot of the same mares because breeders love the product, or you are breeding something else for the same client, maybe a different mare, but same client, because they are so enamored with their previous foals,” said Butch Wise of Lazy E Ranch. “Those are ‘Aha!’ moments. It’s not so much my opinion that matters; it’s the opinion of the breeders that matter most.
“These horses are very correct,” Wise continued. “They have his conformation and at his age, he and his sire look more alike than any stallion and son I have seen. He looks like Corona Cartel, and he is reproducing himself. These horses have a beautiful top line, and like I said, they are very correct. They have beautiful hind quarters and they line up good behind. I can give you plenty of adjectives, but there is nothing as good as the real thing. I will let these horses speak for themselves.”
Bogart
(Corona Cartel-Jess Genuine)
Stands at Lone Star Farms/Rafter S Ranch 2020 fee: $1,000
A son of Grade 1 winner and influential sire Corona Cartel out of Grade 1 winner Jess Genuine, Bogart enjoyed a solid racing career despite not winning a Grade 1 of his own. He flashed plenty of promise on the racetrack, finishing first or second in five of six starts at two. He broke his maiden at 300 yards at Los Alamitos and finished second in his Ruidoso Futurity trial and was a finalist for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity-G1.
At three, he won an allowance race at Zia Park at 350 yards and finished second in his Ruidoso Derby trial. He was third to BP Hit
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