The two North American freshman sires leading their sire class by number of first-crop foals are also anticipated to be high profile throughout the upcoming 2-year-olds in training sale season.
Spendthrift Farm's grade 1 winner Yaupon and Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's multiple grade 1 winner Charlatan were top of mind among several pinhookers who ranked among the leading consignors of 2-year-olds by gross sales in 2024.
"I am very fond of the Yaupons right now," said Tom McCrocklin, who sold last year's highest-priced 2-year-old when the Tiz the Law filly Moona Lisa sold for $1.9 million during the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale to agent Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen.
"They are just fast and very precocious," he said. "They are sound mentally, physically and very talented. I expect them to come out blazing at the 2-year-olds sales and the racetrack."
"Yaupon is the buzz of the town," said Torie Gladwell with Top Line Sales, which was among the top five 2-year-olds consignors with nearly $8.3 million in gross sales. "They are athletic, speedy, and he did a good job of stamping them. We vetted so many as yearlings and ended up with a few really good fillies."
Top Line has one Yaupon filly entered in the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale as Hip 495, who was bought for $190,000 during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She worked in :09 4/5 during the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale under tack show.
Ciaran Dunne with Wavertree Stables, which was 2024's second-leading consignor with more than $16 million in gross sales, said Yaupon's progeny seem to be typical of the Indian Charlie sire line—quiet, unassuming horses that like to train.
"You really don't pay much attention to them until you ask them to go fast and then suddenly they are right there," he said. "I think Yaupon has a license to be a good stallion. He was a beautiful horse himself and was very fast. We haven't seen anything to discourage us yet."
Dunne has some additional insight into Yaupon because he sold him in 2019 at the OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale for $255,000 to Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's East Hickman Bloodstock. Yaupon had initially been offered at Fasig-Tipton's The Gulfstream Sale where he worked in :20 3/5, the co-fastest quarter-mile work, for consignors Hoby and Layna Kight. He was bought back on a final bid of $485,000. At OBS, he worked an eighth in :10. Yaupon went on to win the six-furlong Amsterdam Stakes (G2) in 1:08.50 in 2020 and the seven-furlong Forego Stakes (G1) in 1:21.74 in 2021, both in gate-to-wire fashion.
The consignor has several Yaupon progeny aimed for the OBS Spring Sale, April 15-18, that haven't been asked for their best yet on the track.
"We haven't tried with them yet, but they'll do what you ask them to do," he said. "They're not hot-headed, and they are wanting to train every day, which is really nice."
McCrocklin is not expecting the progeny by Charlatan to show as much raw speed as those by Yaupon, but he said they possess plenty of class and ability.
"He was a brilliantly fast horse but I would not be surprised if the Charlatans don't make you wait a little bit," he said. "I keep going back to the Speightstown factor. He didn't really get good until 5 and 6. I could be wrong, but I don't think they will be blazing 2-year-olds."
McCrocklin has a Charlatan filly (Hip 547) entered in the March sale who worked a quarter-mile in :20 3/5 March 8.
Charlatan is by the late Speightstown, who was 2004 Eclipse champion sprinter. Speightstown did not win at 2 and, though stakes-placed at 3 and 5, did not win his first stakes until he was 6. In 2004, he won five of six starts and earned more than $1 million after winning the Churchill Downs Handicap (G2), True North Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2), Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2), and Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).
Dunne said he had the same reservations about whether Charlatans' progeny could show enough at 2.
"I was a little leery of Charlatan because he didn't run at 2 and so you have that idea niggling in your mind," he said. "We have quite a few and actually they act like they're really nice horses. They look like they are going to be early enough. We've got some colts for April that we are high on, and the filly for March is as fast as anything we're bringing over there."
Wavertree's March Charlatan filly is Hip 459, who was purchased for $210,000 during the Keeneland September sale, and worked in :10.
Gladwell, whose March consignment includes two Charlatan fillies (hips 185 and 537), said she and her husband, Jimbo, collectively love all the Charlatans they have in training. Hip 537 worked in :09 4/5, while Hip 185 worked in :10 2/5.
"Our favorite thing about them is their willingness to train, and physically they are great-bodied horses with some scope and leg underneath," she said.
Several other freshman sires have been making an early impression.
McCrocklin said the progeny by Darley's Essential Quality are high-quality horses he expects will start to show their ability in the fall.
Essential Quality was undefeated at 2 and was named 2020's champion 2-year-old male, but he didn't make his racing debut until September of his juvenile year. He went on at 3 to win the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) and was third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) before being named 2021 champion 3-year-old male.
"They are very high-class horses," he said. "I like to go back and watch the replays, and Essential Quality was a really good horse from three-quarters of a mile all the way to the Belmont. You can see that quality in the ones I have. They have a little more scope and you can use your imagination seeing them going around two turns."
McCrocklin also has been impressed with juveniles by Claiborne Farm's Silver State and Darby Dan Farm's Higher Power .
"I purposely went to look at the ones by Silver State (as yearlings). Maybe it's cliché, but he won the Met Mile and that looks pretty good on the résumé for a stallion prospect," he said.
"I have a very nice Higher Power filly who is one of my better March horses. She trains like a good horse," he continued. "Now, was I beating the bushes to buy a Higher Power? No, but she has surprised me. She's just fluid, fast, big, pretty, and sound. Everything you want in a racehorse."
Gladwell said she has been impressed with their Essential Quality juveniles as well.
"The filly going to the March sale has changed exponentially since coming in. She is going to be fast, has great fluid motion, and really wants to do it," she said.
Gladwell's candidate to exceed expectations is Independence Hall , a grade 1-placed, grade 2-winning son of Constitution standing at WinStar Farm.
"We have a filly by him who's average size, smart, a good physical, and fast," she said. "Everything comes to her easily and that makes our job a little easier."
Top Line Sales has a colt by Spendthrift Farm's By My Standards , a multiple grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner by the farm's sire Goldencents , that Gladwell expects to make an impression with buyers.
"He is an exceptional colt in training with a big, good hind leg and strong hip who covers a lot of ground when he's galloping," she said. "I can't wait to let him pick up some speed. He's going to be extremely nice."
Dunne said he has a couple of very nice horses by Darley's Maxfield and said the physical quality of Silver State's progeny surprised him at the yearling sales and have done nothing to disappoint since then.
"The Maxfield colt we have in March is very, very good," he said, referring to Hip 119. "He is a really pretty horse, very refined, smooth horse, beautiful way of going, and very fast. The filly is kind of completely the opposite, the bigger rangier type. Maxfield is a horse that surprised me with the speed they're showing."
Hip 119 lived up to expectations during the March 6 under tack show when he worked in :09 4/5.
"I didn't know a lot about Silver State, and I was surprised in September by how many were appearing on our short lists," he continued. "The two colts we have in March are really nice, and we love the horse coming in April. The Hard Spuns (sire of Silver State) can be a little coarse and raw, and these horses aren't. They are very smooth horses with great lines, very athletic, balanced horses."
Dunne also is a fan of Florida-based Leinster , a grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner by Majestic Warrior that Dunne raced with his wife Amy and now stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions.
"We stand him, so we're obviously biased, but he is a really beautifully made horse with a big hip and a great shoulder, and he is throwing that," he said. "They are uniform in their shape, and they look like they're going to be fast."
Leinster excelled on the turf, having won the Woodford Stakes (G2T) and Shakertown Stakes (G2T) in 2020 at Keeneland and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T). Dunne said his progeny, so far, are showing ability on dirt, too.
"At this point, they look to handle the dirt really well. Leinster obviously did his best running on grass and his half brother Stormy Liberal (Stormy Atlantic) is a multiple grade 1 winner on grass, but so far we haven't seen anything on the dirt to discourage us. There is no reason they won't run on the grass but we are thinking dirt and thinking early."
McCrocklin has a Leinster filly (Hip 505) out of the Tribal Rule winner Sea Smoke in the March sale who worked March 7 in :20 2/5, the co-fastest quarter-mile time at the distance on the day.
