Featured stallion: Street Boss
In anticipation of the first week of November, Street Cry and his offspring are earning column inches with frequency. Shocking is equal favorite for his Melbourne Cup defense; the flawless Zenyatta is taking aim at the history books to close her impeccable record intact; and his most recent G1 winner Here Comes Ben has been stridently working towards a shot at the BC Dirt Mile with vigor.
While most of the focus is on the Breeders’ Cup extravaganza at Churchill Downs, synergy is building across town in nearby Versailles where signals suggest that Street Boss' first weanlings could well make the short lists of some judicious shoppers. Reports from consignors and breeders hint at the crack sprinter being the next red-hot son of Street Cry to impact the sales arena.
Just one year ago, Street Sense's first crop sold for up to $340,000 as weanlings. As a Breeders’ Cup-Derby-Travers winner, his colts and fillies were highly sought-after. They averaged an optimistic $148,500. The summer sale results proved just as lucrative. The leading freshman sire laid claim to 27 offspring bringing six-figure bids under the hammer with an average price of $196,000.
As the fastest son of his very versatile sire, we trusted that Street Boss too, would pass along the traits that elevated him from a $300,000 yearling to elite runner. Judging by breeder feedback, it is a job he is doing well.
Selling from the second book of Keeneland’s Breeding Stock Sale is Street Boss’s very first foal to hit the ground. The chestnut filly (hip 966) born to winner/producer Top Tier at Sun Valley Farm last January 2,6 romped on the same fields as champions and Horses of the Year Cigar and Azeri, as well as champions Eliza, Escena and Ajina. She sells under the banner of Indian Creek on behalf of her owner Barry Butzer. The filly is from the family of G1 winners Flashy Bull (by Holy Bull) and champion grass horse in Canada, Perfect Soul. Her dam, sired by Sadler’s Wells’ Classic-winning son King of Kings, is a half sister to Stakes winners Sand Ridge and Dootsie. Her second dam is the Stakes-placed Sky Box by Kentucky Derby victor Spend A Buck.
Butzer stated, "Our Street Boss filly is a solid individual. She exhibits great bone and substance, and has one of those big-time walks that grabs your attention. I couldn't be more pleased."
In Hunter Valley Farm’s upcoming consignment, one particular colt by Street Boss (hip 648) is showing terrific promise. He is the half-brother to two Black-typed winners - international competitor Fong’s Thong and Golden Anthem.
“A cracker of a foal,” Irishman Fergus Galvin quipped and added with enthusiasm, “Tons of quality, very athletic. One of the best we’ve had born this year.”
Co-owner and manager of Hunter Valley Farm, Galvin was born into the racing and breeding industry. He has built a venerable reputation working with young horses in the Bluegrass since 1992. A top graduate of the operation is Darley’s brilliant G2 Sanford winner Desert Party, who is also the newest Street Cry son to join the Darley roster.
Carrie Brogden, who together with her Australian-born husband Craig, runs Machmer Hall, a commercial breeding operation in Paris, Kentucky. They are also founding partners in Select Sales which started consigning at Fasig-Tipton July in 2009. Carded for November, Select Sales has a grand collection including four Street Boss babies headed up by a filly (hip 559) out of Irish Stakes Winner Strike Hard (Green Desert). Already the producer of Graded-placed Red Day Alert, Strike Hard is from the family of Australian two-year-old high-weighted Filly Isolda.
Brogden is quite high on their Nesselrode filly (hip 2484) which she calls a “leggy, fancy filly from a beautiful family.” Nesselrode is the daughter of Lemon Drop Kid and Desert Stormette, by Storm Cat. She’s a half-sister to G1 BC Sprint starlet Desert Stormer. Her chestnut filly which she foaled in March is also said to be, “Very athletic and well balanced.”
Bluewater Sales LLC is the agent of record for another chestnut filly (hip 605) out of the speedy Graded winner War Thief, by Lord At War. The Argentinean champion miler is also the broodmare sire of Derby winner War Emblem, Derby runner-up Pioneer of the Nile, and BC Classic winner Raven's Pass. A sibling to four Stakes winners, War Thief captured 14 races – one in record time, and is proving to be a useful producer. She is dam to Boss Lafitte, a G3 winner over Keeneland’s polytrack.
New Zealand native Tony Holmes operates the Lexington nursery Marula Park. He has bred in partnership such notable runners as champion two-year-old Stevie Wonderboy and millionaire Zanjero. Holmes remarked on War Thief’s Street Boss filly, “It’s one of our best foals. Correct, athletic looking and well muscled. “
Street Boss blazed a trail of five consecutive wins in 2008, including two G1 handicaps at six and seven furlongs. An Adonis of a horse, the sixteen-hand son of Street Cry parlayed good looks and strong work ethics into track records. At four, he lowered the six-furlong mark at Hollywood Park (1:07.55) and Del Mar (1:08.67), and equaled the five-and-a-half-furlong record at Santa Anita (1:01.27).
Street Boss’ flair for accelerating from the half-mile marker to overpass his rivals in the outside lane regularly transformed into a slingshot effect, sending him five, six or even seven lanes wide before the stretch drive. He had a relentless passion for wearing down his opponents. Once hitting the front, only once did he ever relinquish the lead – he missed by a head. Dubbed “the perfect horse” by his veteran trainer Bruce Headley, Street Boss hit the board in 11 of 13 starts and scored seven victories to earn $831,800.
The Eclipse Award contender retired sound at the end of his four-year-old season. Although Headley was elated to see his charge happily off to stud duty, the wise and experienced horseman strongly felt that his stellar performer could have stepped up to a mile. “He is so smart, so bright and so relaxed.” As Headley put it, “He was going to be a mile champion next.”
His initial court of finely-pedigreed mares is well reflected in his lots’ catalogue pages. There are siblings to outstanding performers such as Coined for Success (hip 137), Voodoo (hip 927) and Forty Grams (hip 2688) to be strongly considered. Plus several of the weanlings have near relatives that proved themselves at the highest level, including Indian Charlie, Dispute, Adjudicating, Time for a Change, Awesome Gem, Louise Quatorze, Royal Indy, Dance Teacher, Cat Moves, High Yield, Personal Ensign, Pollard’s Vision, and Interactif.
Given these credentials, we’re sure we’ll be hearing more.
