Bodemeister as a Stallion

With the announcement that Bodemeister will be standing at WinStar Farms in Lexington upon his retirement, it is time for another installment of Stallion Prospects.

The short of his profile is this: Bodemeister is immaculately bred, has shown the rare ability to carry his speed over 10 furlongs, and seems to look the part of being a quality sire. He is by Empire Maker out of Untouched Talent who is by Storm Cat. Empire Maker was sold to Japanese breeding interests in November of 2010 and currently stands at Shizuni Stallion Station which, via the JBBA, is located in Hokkaido, the center of the Japanese breeding industry. In fact, the JBBA likens Hokkaido to Lexington and Newmarket. His broodmare sire, Storm Cat, was retired in May of 2008 due to declining fertility, but is one of the most influential sires of the last quarter century.

Bodemeister is sired by Empire Maker. Empire Maker is by Unbridled out of Toussaud (El Gran Senor). Toussaud is a Reine de Course and was Broodmare of the Year in 2002. She has foaled 5 graded stakes winners. Her class is unparalleled. Empire Maker won at Classic distances to include the Florida Derby (G1), the Wood Memorial (G1), and the Belmont Stakes (G1), where he spoiled Funny Cide's bid for a Triple Crown. His progeny tend to develop into effective racers later than most, hence Bodemeister's late start on the track. However, counted amongst Empire Maker's foals are some very impressive names (all races listed are Grade 1):

• Pioneerof the Nile - Won the Santa Anita Derby and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes
• Mushka - Won Spinster Stakes; 2nd in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic
• Acoma - Won the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland
• Country Star - Won the Darby Alcibiades Stakes
• Icon Project - Won the Personal Ensign and Gulfstream Oaks
• Royal Delta - Speaks for herself.

Empire Maker was sold to Japanese breeding interests just before he had a large number of his offspring hit the track. Juddmonte certainly underestimated his potential and sold him before he had a chance to blossom. This, with the current emphasis on 2 year olds, is not surprising, but is unfortunate. His G1 winners, listed above, all won at classic distances, so the ability to stay 8-10 furlongs is a trait consistently passed along to most of Empire Maker's progeny. Full and current statistics on him as a stallion are not readily available due to his location in Japan.

His broodmare sire is the legendary Storm Cat. Storm Cat is by Storm Bird out of Terlingua (Secretariat). He is the sire of influential stallions Tabasco Cat, Giant's Causeway, Forestry, Bluegrass Cat, and Hennessy. He is also a top end broodmare sire and his second generation offspring through mares includes Speightstown. From 2002 to 2007, Storm Cat stood for a North American-topping $500,000 in Lexington. His last season, 2008, his fee was reduced to $300,000 (editor's note: reduced to $300k? Ridiculous), and this during a period of declining fertility. He was the top Juvenile Sire 7 times and was prolific at siring stakes winning 2 year olds. In fact, you can basically trace the demand for 2yos in the auction ring directly to him. His offspring were capable of winning at the graded stakes level anywhere from a sprint (i.e. Forest Wildcat) to the classic distances (i.e. Tabasco Cat). From 2004 to 2008 he sired an incredible 13.8% stakes winners and lifetime, he sired an unbelievable 8.75% stakes horse from all foals. His progeny had an average winning distance of 7.33f.

Now that the stallion formalities are out of the way, Bodemeister's dams are pretty interesting. He is out of the best mare out of the best mare out of the best mare of a stakes winner. And all of them won graded stakes themselves.

His dam is Untouched Talent. She is by Storm Cat out of Parade Queen (A.P. Indy) and was foaled in 2004. She won $243,550 and has a lifetime race record of 4-2-2-0. She won the Sorrento Stakes (G3) at 6.5f. She has two foals, Bodemeister, and a 2008 foal named Talent Song, who is as of yet unraced.

His granddam is Parade Queen. She is by A.P. Indy out of Spanish Parade (Roberto). She won $419,357 and has a lifetime race record of 16-6-3-1. She won the Mrs. Revere Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles. She has 11 foals from 2000-2010 and produced 3 solid winners including Untouched Talent, who is by far her best foal. Her other two:

• Obay by Kingmambo. Foaled in 2001. He seems to be a steeplechaser who is G1 placed in Saudi Arabia (note: I think, it's hard to decipher in Equibase). His lifetime record is 38-6-9-4 and he has won $134,000.
• King Gulch by Thunder Gulch. Foaled in 2006. He won the Clever Travis Stakes at 6 furlongs. His lifetime record is 41-7-7-5 and he has won $121,000 while running in Texas and Oklahoma. He is currently running in allowance races

She has three unraced foals and three more that are not winners. One is a winner in Europe. One great filly, two solid colts, one low level winner, six nothings. Not great, but Untouched Talent clearly got all of her class.

Bodemeister's great granddam is Spanish Parade. She is by Roberto out of Nijit (Nijinsky). She won $131,822 with a lifetime record of 15-6-1-1. She also won the Mrs. Revere Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles. She had 6 foals from 1994-1999. Only one is of note other than Parade Queen:

• King Namura by Seeking the Gold. Foaled in 1995. He won JPN 75 million (around $900,000) He placed in the Chunichi Sports Sho Yonsai Stakes (JPN G3) and has a lifetime record of 55-6-5-3. It has been difficult to find any more information than this.

I think Bodemeister's ability to pump out quick fractions comes from his dam. His ability to stay 10 furlongs is from his sire. His unique ability to run quick fractions for an entire 10 furlongs, well, that's just a ridiculous genetic coincidence, but it's completely backed up by his pedigree. I can anticipate that his foals will be slightly late developing hitting their stride late in their 2yo or in the beginning of their 3yo campaign. He should cross well with daughters of Pulpit or his granddaughters.

Bottom line, I love his pedigree and he has shown an amazing ability to speed to the front and hold onto the lead while setting torrid fractions. Those two things combined should make him a hot commodity. I'd anticipate that WinStar prices him in the Scat Daddy first crop range of $15,000 or so in order to have a large book and maximize his mares. But that's just a guess.