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Curlin with A.P. Indy-line Mares Keeps Winning

Lexington Stakes (G2) winner King Fury is the latest success story for this cross.

Curlin at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa

Curlin at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa

David Coyle

King Fury's commanding win in the April 10 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland enhanced the already sterling results seen from crossing Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's premier sire Curlin  with mares by the A.P. Indy broodmare sire line.

Among Curlin's eight black-type winners so far this year, six are out of mares by A.P. Indy or his sons. A.P. Indy daughters produced Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) winner Malathaat, Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Idol , and Suncoast Stakes victor Curlin's Catch. Mares by A.P. Indy's sons Bernardini and Flatter are responsible for the other three stakes winners.

Bernardini mares produced Clairiere, winner of the Rachel Alexandra Stakes Presented by Fasig-Tipton (G2), and Paris Lights, who won the Distaff Handicap (G3). Flatter is the broodmare sire of King Fury, who won his first stakes in the Lexington and has now won three of six career starts.

Bred by Heider Family Stables in Kentucky, King Fury is the only foal produced by grade 1-winner Taris. Trainer Ken McPeek picked out the colt as a yearling in 2019 at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in New York, for $950,000 on behalf of Paul Fireman's Fern Circle Stables. King Fury is now campaigned by Fern Circle with Three Chimneys Farm.

King Fury is on the outside looking in on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 20 points, which puts him 26th in line for a spot in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) starting gate. In the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) standings, however, Malathaat ranks fifth with 110 points and Clairiere ranks seventh with 94 points.

Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
King Fury Wins the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland

Curlin, a 17-year-old son of Smart Strike, has sired 76 black-type stakes winners so far, of which 39 are graded/group stakes winners and six are champions.

Through April 12, mares from the A.P. Indy broodmare sire line have produced 15 black-type winners, which represents 20% of all Curlin's black-type winners. Bernardini daughters alone have produced 17.8% stakes winners from foals of racing age, significantly higher than the 10.3% stakes winners produced by just A.P. Indy mares.

Twenty-eight foals of racing age represent the cross of Curlin with Bernardini daughters. Of these foals, 19 started in a race and 11 (58%) became winners. The five stakes winners produced by this cross include three graded stakes winners, which is 26% of starters. Besides Paris Lights and Clairiere, the cross produced Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner Point of Honor, who also placed in five grade 1 stakes.

Curlin has certainly shown his effectiveness with other broodmare sire lines as well. The sire's 865 foals of racing that are not out of an A.P. Indy-line mare include 61 (7.1%) black-type winners. The Danzig broodmare sire line also has been especially successful. Known Agenda , who ranks fifth on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, is a son of Curlin out of the grade 1 winner Byrama (GB). The mare is by group 1-placed, group 2 winner Byron (GB), who is a grandson of Danzig through Green Desert. Known Agenda won the March 27 Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

Mares by Danzig's sons Polish Numbers and Foxhound also have produced stakes winners. Polish Numbers' daughters are responsible for four stakes winners by Curlin out of nine foals of racing age and mares by Foxhound have produced two stakes winners from six foals of racing age.

The cross of Curlin with War Front  mares has not produced a stakes winner yet but this cross is represented by Juddmonte Farms' homebred Millefeuille, who was runner-up in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) and in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at 2. Millefeuille ranks 10th on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 44 points.

Crosses of Curlin with A.P. Indy-line Mares
Photo: Equineline
Crosses of Curlin with A.P. Indy-line Mares