WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021 SILVER GLEAMS WITH BROODMARE DISPERSAL ADDED TO FASIG JULY; ADDITIONAL ENTRIES TO BE HARD SPUN POLISH ACCEPTED Fasig-Tipton has added a breeding stock section to its upcoming July sales in Lexington, Kentucky. The company will offer 18 mares as part of the Far From Over/Fountain of Youth Dispersal. All will be consigned by Stuart Morris. The group of mares are property of a partnership supporting young stallion Far From Over (Blame). The 2015 GIII Withers S. winner had been standing at stud in California before suffering a pelvis injury early in the 2021 breeding season that took him out of service for the remainder of the year. The mares that had not yet been bred to him were shipped to Kentucky and bred to stallions there. Due to the circumstances, the partnership has opted to disperse of all its holdings. Cont. p6 Hard Spun & Rick Porter at Delaware Park in 2007 | Horsephotos IN TDN EUROPE TODAY PALACE PIER DELIVERS ON ROYAL ASCOT TUESDAY by Chris McGrath Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) saluted while heavily favored If his most important legacy to our community was the in the G1 Queen Anne S. during the opening day of Royal Ascot example of his own conduct, it was nonetheless apt that a more on Tuesday. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. tangible bequest made by Rick Porter to the breed itself was measured afresh even as he left us. For while the owner of Fox Hill Farms devoted more attention to the welfare of those horses that had failed to extend their usefulness, into a breeding program, he also measured out for our benefit some precious genetic ore--none deeper than that mined by the winner of the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. on the very eve of Porter's loss. Silver State is the 11th domestic Grade I winner (besides three in Australia) by Hard Spun, who carried Porter's silks in a GI Kentucky Derby that truly served its purpose as a signpost to merit for breeders. Only Street Sense managed to overhaul him, with Curlin well held in third. Those two have given us seven and 14 Grade I winners, respectively, taking the 2007 podium aggregate to 32, in the process earning themselves fees of $60,000 and $175,000. In that context, $35,000 for Hard Spun-- especially as one of the last direct links to his breed-shaping sire Danzig--transparently represents some of the best value around at that level of the market. Cont. p3 Look for his first yearlings at F-T July. PREAKNESS-G1 WINNER cloudCLOUD COMPUTINGcomputing PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Senior Contributing Editor Wednesday, June 16, 2021 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Project Manager Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. 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But Porter and his team certainly showcased the breadth of his talent, trainer Larry Jones developing him from the company of Pennsylvania-breds to become a key player in the Classics before dropping back to seven furlongs to win his Grade I in the King's Bishop S. Hard Spun then disclosed the kind of versatility we associate with Danzig, as a global influence, by subsequently beating Street Sense on a synthetic surface and then chasing home Curlin in that ghastly mudbath at the Monmouth Breeders' Cup. Hard Spun, with trainer Larry Jones up, at Monmouth Park in '07 Sarah Andrew As luck should have it, Hard Spun's sophomore campaign coincided with a conspicuous determination by Sheikh Mohammed that his Turf empire needed to upgrade its seeding by in-house stallions. A deal was duly done with Porter to include Hard Spun among a series of expensive recruits made that year for Godolphin's feeder farms around the world: in Europe, champion juvenile Teofilo (Ire) and G1 Epsom Derby winner Authorized (Ire) gave the Sheikh precious access to the blood of two titans, Galileo (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire), revealing their potency for his great rivals at Coolmore; G1 Japan Cup winner Admire Moon (Jpn) joined the Hokkaido roster; while both Street Sense and Hard Spun arrived at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, at $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, alongside fellow rookies Any Given Saturday and Discreet Cat. Both Street Sense and Hard Spun would soon be asked to risk their early domestic momentum with a year in Japan. That mission might not have been entertained on a purely commercial farm, but they belong to a global program and, besides, were always guaranteed swift rehabilitation in the Bluegrass by the quality of the herd on their home farm. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 8 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • JUNE 16, 2021 Hard Spun cont. Regardless of any surface prejudices, it is rare in this day and Nor would external clients forget Hard Spun during his age to retain such proximate access to such a hallowed influence absence. His first crop ultimately yielded a record 17 stakes on the modern breed. Danzig was 26 when he conceived Hard winners, while the fourth-crop table of 2014--the year of his Spun (a mere youngster of 24 when he came up with War absence--put Hard Spun clear (whether by prizemoney, winners Front). We've often remarked on the self-fulfilling nature of or graded stakes success) of no less a trio than Street Sense, commercial prejudice against older sires. With Danzig, English Channel and Scat Daddy. One way or another, then, he admittedly, we're rolling back the years to an era of much has routinely maintained books of around 150, which amounts smaller books, one somewhat evoked by the conservative to full subscription on a wholesome farm like this. management of War Front himself. But even today it's funny Sure enough, having had no 2017 U.S. juveniles/2018 how those horses unchallenged by fashion, like Galileo, maintain sophomores, Hard Spun didn't miss a beat on his return. Indeed, into the evening of their careers a mechanical output that is duly the prizemoney banked by his comeback 3-year-olds in 2019 presented as an exception to the perceived "rule". was exceeded only by those of champion Into Mischief. Moreover he had been helped through his blank year by a useful propensity in his stock to keep thriving with maturity. That, in turn, reflects the soundness that underpinned Hard Spun's own career, which spanned 13 starts in barely a year, repeatedly giving everything he had in stretching his speed. The chances are that Hard Spun might have reached still greater heights at four--he would surely have been an ideal type for the Met Mile himself--but his services were impatiently awaited at Jonabell. So while he can also produce a romping GII Saratoga Special winner, in Green Light Go, we often see the benefits of maturity in his stock. Silver State himself is one such case, having seamlessly regrouped since his comeback last fall, while Smooth Roller only surfaced at four before thrashing Hoppertunity and Bayern in the GI Awesome Again S. Moreover, Hard Spun at Jonabell | Darley Photo American breeders may not be aware of the durability exhibited by some of Hard Spun's high achievers overseas, Le Romain Be that as it may, it certainly feels special to have a stallion in (Aus) and Moviesta having each soaked up six campaigns in his prime, at 17, who not only provides a direct tap into Danzig Australia and Europe, respectively. but also brings in names like Roberto and My Babu (Fr) as close Both also operated not just on turf but in sprints. Moviesta's up as his second and third dams. The only chink in Hard Spun's biggest win, in fact, came over five furlongs on the downhill genetic armor was always his damsire Turkoman, a son of Alydar ramp at Goodwood--and he's out of an A.P.