Ascot Stud owner Chris Blake saw a promising sire bereft of opportunity in Town Prize, when he went looking for a stallion for his roster that had been emptied by one retirement and another sidelined by a disability. He ended up getting much more than he anticipated.
Town Prize, a 12-year-old stakes winner by Speightstown , had been standing at the late William Sorokolit Sr.'s JWS Farms but not getting much support. Blake, who had previously stood stallions for Shadwell Farm—Swain and Aljabr—whose progeny were more suited to a distance of ground, was attracted to Town Prize because of his speed. The horse won the six-furlong 2012 Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine by 5 1/4 lengths in 1:08.22, only 6/100ths of a second off the track record of 1:08.16, held at the time by Essence Hit Man.
"I was looking for something more sprint-oriented," Blake said. "He has his father's build with a big rump and big shoulder." WinStar Farm's Speightstown, a son of Gone West, also was fast and earned honors as Eclipse champion sprinter for 2004 after winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Lone Star Park.
When Blake leased Town Prize and began standing him in March at his Ontario farm, the stallion had five winners from nine starters; a solid enough of a beginning for a stallion that has 16 foals of racing age.
Town Prize's stature as a sire changed quickly.
His 3-year-old daughter Artful Ballerina started the momentum by capturing the five-furlong Georgian Bay Stakes Aug. 7 at Woodbine to become her sire's first black-type winner. The William Sorokolit and Vandyk Sunny Stables' homebred, who made her racing debut this year, came into the stakes off two second-place finishes and now has a win and three seconds from four career starts.
Nearly a week after the Georgian Bay, 6-year-old gelded son Town Cruise made his mark in stakes company with a runner-up finish in the King Edward Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine, which was his first stakes start. Then Town Cruise blasted one out of the park Sept. 18 when he won the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1T) gate-to-wire by 2 1/4 lengths for trainer Brandon Greer, who bred the gelding with his father Terrance Greer.
"He's only had a handful of foals and now he's thrown a big horse, so you have to wonder what this horse could do if he had a full book of mares," Blake said. "It will help him that his runners are doing well at Woodbine."
As of Sept. 23, Town Prize has seven winners from 10 starters and two (13%) black-type winners. Town Cruise's victory in the Woodbine Mile pushed his Canadian earnings over $1 million (a total of US$789,642) and drove his sire's total progeny earnings to US$1,139,329. While a big purse like the Woodbine Mile certainly skews average progeny earnings, it is worth noting that the sire's median progeny earnings is $38,707, which is respectable considering his stud fee was CA$5,000 his first year at stud and has been CA$3,500 since then.
As noted earlier, Town Prize has not attracted many mares so Blake wants to give the stallion as much opportunity as possible going forward. He plans to stand him for CA$2,500 next year but will consider for approved mares offering a complimentary season in exchange for an agreement to split any future breeders' awards.
