It was only a matter of time before top second-crop sire Daredevil would find his way back to Central Kentucky after moving to Turkey for the 2020 breeding season.
The 8-year-old son of More Than Ready, with two major grade 1 winners this year from his first crop, will relocate to Lane's End for the 2021 breeding season, it was announced Oct. 23.
The sire of the classic-winning filly Swiss Skydiver and Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Shedaresthedevil, Daredevil currently ranks third on the North American-based second-crop sires list behind only Constitution and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah .
Daredevil, a grade 1 winner out of Chasethewildwind, by Forty Niner, will stand as property of the Jockey Club of Turkey. His fee for 2021 will be $25,000.
"We're very excited about this," said Lane's End's Bill Farish. "Everybody was trying to figure out how to put something together that would work for the Jockey Club of Turkey, and they ultimately decided they wanted to keep the horse and stand him. We were fortunate enough to be chosen to do that."
Daredevil is the only first-crop stallion to ever sire an individual winner of the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness Stakes (G1) in the same year. Swiss Skydiver is only the sixth filly to win the second leg of the Triple Crown in its 145 years and only the second since Nellie Morse in 1924.
In addition to the Preakness, Swiss Skydiver has won the Alabama Stakes (G1), Santa Anita Oaks (G2), Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), and Fantasy Stakes (G3) this year. She placed in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and Kentucky Oaks.
Shedaresthedevil was her sire's first grade 1 winner in 2020 and led home the exacta for her sire in one of the most prestigious 3-year-old filly races of the year. These two grade 1 winners come from just 72 foals of 2017, which represents 2.78% grade 1 winners from starters. With two crops of racing age Daredevil has 38 winners.
A winner of the Honeybee Stakes (G3) and Indiana Oaks (G3), Shedaresthedevil was third against older fillies and mares in the Oct. 4 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
"It's amazing the start he's gotten off to," said Farish. "I would like to personally thank Murat Sancal for his ongoing efforts, the board members of the TJK, and especially the president, Mr. Serdal Adali. This is the beginning of a very fruitful relationship with them, and we are very grateful."
Daredevil is in quarantine in preparation for his departure to Kentucky. He will arrive at Lane's End near the end of November and be available for inspection shortly after.
"He's a very well-conformed horse," Farish said. "He's strongly made—very typical of his sire, More Than Ready, with great bone. For us, it's a different sire line, and we are very happy to secure him. He's one of the few to be a top sire in both hemispheres."
More Than Ready is the sire of 210 stakes winners and has a record seven Breeders' Cup wins to his credit, while standing both in Kentucky and in Australia. More Than Ready has a pair of grade 1 winners in October in Uni, the winner of last year's TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), and Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by Pattison (G1T) winner Say the Word. He stands at WinStar Farm for a 2021 fee of $65,000.
Bred by Marianne Chase and Brandon Chase, Daredevil was a $260,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase by Let's Go Stable, Todd Pletcher, agent. Trained by Pletcher, he won the 2014 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park for Let's Go Stable and was second the following season in the Fasig-Tipton Swale Stakes (G2) for Let's Go Stable, WinStar Farm, and China Horse Club.
He was retired to stud for the 2016 breeding season at WinStar for an opening fee of $12,500. He stood four seasons at WinStar before moving to the Izmit Stallion Complex in Turkey.
Lane's End is near Versailles, Ky. For more than 40 years, Lane's End has been a leader in the Thoroughbred industry, standing breed-shaping sires like A.P. Indy, Dixieland Band, Dixie Union, Smart Strike, and Kingmambo, among others, and current leaders Quality Road , Candy Ride , and Twirling Candy .
