John Sikura Talks Bayern's First Yearlings
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018 JOHN SIKURA TALKS CALEDONIA ROAD SIDELINED FOR YEAR, WILL BE SOLD BAYERN’S FIRST YEARLINGS Zoom and Fish Stable, Charlie Spiring and Newtown Anner Stud’s champion Caledonia Road (Quality Road) will be shut down for the remainder of 2018 and turned out due to bone bruising, according to trainer Ralph Nicks. The bay, named champion 2-year-old filly of 2017 off the strength of a convincing GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies triumph, most recently ran last of five in the GI Acorn S. June 9 at Belmont. It was also announced that Caledonia Road will be offered at public auction later in the year. “It will be tough to let her go,” said managing partner Luc Paiement. “She was a brilliant 2-year-old with a pedigree to be a Click above to watch a video of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm’s John Sikura much better older filly. She has all the makings of a top discussing Bayern and his first crop of yearlings. broodmare.” Cont. p5 (click here) by Lucas Marquardt Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm’s 2014 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern (Offlee Wild) entered stud in 2016 and saw a warm IN TDN EUROPE TODAY reception at the weanling sales in 2017, cracking the top five GOLDEN AGE FOR NIELSEN among first-crop sires by average price. With a pedigree Emma Berry chats with Bjorn Nielsen regarding his many featuring a female line that traces back to the great Courtly Dee successes as a breeder, including with Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea and a race record that displays both versatility and speed, The Stars {Ire}), winner of the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Bayern could see his stock rise even further as the yearling sales Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. season begins. In the latest in a multi-part series featuring first- crop yearling sires ahead of the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, the TDN’s Lucas Marquardt sat down with John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale to discuss the young stallion’s prospects. LM: Bayern was a throwback horse in a lot of ways as a 3-year-old. You don't see that many 3-year-olds start 10 times in a season and build in progression from a seven-furlong graded race to the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Can you talk about his durability and versatility, and how that translates to him being an exciting stallion prospect? JS: Bayern was a horse of exceptional talent--he was very fast. I thought his race in the [GII] Woody Stephens on Belmont Day was exceptional. He drew off and won by open lengths. He then competed against the older horses the same year. He won the Breeders Cup Classic. While there was some legitimate controversy about the race, if you look at his race record in total, he was obviously a horse of immense quality. 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WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] TODAY’S GRADED STAKES European Editor EST Race Click for TV Emma Berry 1:55p Sparkasse Holstein-Cup-G3, HAM -------------- ----- [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 7 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • JULY 4, 2018 Sikura Talks Bayern Yearlings cont. from p1 LM: I thought it was interesting that his median was slightly above his average, and both were high for a stud fee--which to JS: For a 3-year-old to beat older horses winning the Classic, it's me indicates there was broad quality across his weanlings. Is really a test of an exceptional horse. that something you saw with his weanlings and now with his LM: He hails from one of the great yearlings? American families--you can trace him back to Courtly Dee. It's been a JS: Yeah, universally we saw quality-- sire-producing family, it's been a we saw them well received at family of great females. Talk about auction. He'll have a lot more that family a little bit and then talk yearlings to sell than he did about the opportunities that weanlings, so I would expect as solid presented to breeders. as he was selling weanlings, he'll be as much or more solid when the JS: He's certainly well-bred enough yearlings are sent to auction. So, he's to be a significant sire. He gets a horse that we were bullish about, beautiful yearlings. He's really a well- we supported him with a lot of our made horse. He sold for $320,000 as Bayern | Sarah K. Andrew own mares and clients supported a 2-year-old. Donato Lanni bought him, Bob Baffert loved him, him. We bred in excess of 100 mares every year, which is really both as a 2-year-old and loved him as a racehorse. He great support for a new horse--and we're looking forward to legitimately thought he was a brilliant, brilliant horse. So, all the next year when his 2-year-olds run. right people have endorsed the horse. His first foals sold extremely well and we expect his yearlings to be really well Cont. p4 received and he's a horse we're really excited about. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 7 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • JULY 4, 2018 John Sikura | Fasig-Tipton photo LM: Is he a horse you expected to do very well at the 2-year-old sales next year? JS: He was a brilliant 2-year-old himself. If he reproduces horses of his quality, of his aptitude, you'd expect that there would be 2-year-olds that train fast and go well who are really well received at auction. We expect that he'll have several offspring that will fit that mold. LM: He's a horse that you could say he was an incredible sprinter that could stretch his speed or a true Classic kind of horse that was just incredibly fast. Is he throwing one particular type that you’re seeing? Does he kind of get a run of the gambit in terms of the types that he's getting, sprinter/miler types and Classic types, or is he throwing one particular type do you think? JS: The Bayern foals--and now yearlings--are very athletic, they're very balanced, they really fit the picture from head to toe, they look like they are athletes. That's probably one quality that is consistent--they have good size, they have good scope, they move well, loads of quality. Whether they will be early 2-year-olds or whether they'll be Classic-type horses, time will tell. Certainly in his race record and his ability show that he was an equal performer either going short, going long, one turn, two turns. So I would expect he'd give versatility in his offspring as he was such a versatile, high-end racehorse himself. LM: From your recent experience with Violence and Maclean’s Music, can you talk about what it takes to make a young sire and how that relates to Bayern and how heavily you supported him? TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 7 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • JULY 4, 2018 JS: One of the commonalities of every horse that we stand at Bred by Bob Austin and John Witte, Girvin was bought by stud is that we support them with our own mares. We want to Bobby Dodd for $130,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling. give them the best chance to succeed. We believe that our A debut winner to begin his career in December of 2016, he program of raising horses is exemplified by Grade I winners and also annexed the GII Risen Star S.