Owner/breeder Dennis Albaugh admits owning the sire of a Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) contender is not the same as owning the horse who could wear the blanket of roses, but it's exciting nonetheless.
Albaugh owns a big part of leading third-crop sire Not This Time , an 8-year-old son of Giant's Causeway who Albaugh bred and raced and now stands at Taylor Made Stallions for $75,000. The stallion is the sire of two with spots in the Kentucky Derby starting gate: Epicenter , the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) winner who sits atop the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 164 points, and Simplification , who won the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and was third in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1).
Among the also-eligibles is Not This Time's son In Due Time, who was second in the Fountain of Youth and third in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3), which has him ranked 22nd for the 20-horse field.
"It's a little different sitting on this side of it, but actually I think rewards-wise if one wins, the value might be worth more than winning the Derby," said Albaugh, a self-made billionaire of Des Moines, Iowa, and founder and chairman of the Albaugh pesticide and fertilizer company.
Owning stallions was not originally part of the business plan when Albaugh got into racing in 2005, but one of the first horses he bought put him solidly on that track.
At the 2005 Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale, Albaugh and his partners at the time bought a Trippi filly named Miss Macy Sue for $42,000. Bloodstock agent Tom McCrocklin signed the ticket on the filly that was sold by New Episodes Training Center.
Miss Macy Sue became a multiple stakes winner, with her best win coming in the 2007 Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. By the end of her career at 5, she had won 11 of 25 starts, earned $880,915, and was solely owned by Albaugh, who sent the mare to Taylor Made Farm and found himself in the breeding business.
"When they sent us the mare, we were told, 'I don't think we want to sell any of the babies. We just want to race them,'" recalled Mark Taylor, president of Taylor Made Farm. "Then Liam's Map comes along, and he is this gorgeous horse we know is going to bring a bunch of money. We talked to Dennis and explained that he has put a lot into the game and this is a chance to take something off the table."
Taylor Made offered Liam's Map at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale where the colt by Unbridled's Song sold for $800,000 to Vinnie Viola's St Elias Stables. Liam's Map became a multiple grade 1 winner, whose victories included the 2015 Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
"We were jumping up and down when he sold for $800,000," said Albaugh. "Then he went on to win more than $1.3 million and was sold off to a stallion farm. I don't know how much he went for, but he was very successful. So when we got a nice colt by Giant's Causeway out of Miss Macy Sue and they came to us again, we said 'Not this time.'"
Racing for Albaugh Family Stables, Not This Time lived up to the potential he radiated growing up at Taylor Made. The colt went to trainer Dale Romans, who gave the colt his first start June 30 at Churchill Downs where a poor start produced an unplaced finish. A month and a half later, he broke sharply in a mile maiden special weight at Ellis Park and won by 10 lengths.
The colt would follow with a win in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) and ended the year as runner-up to Classic Empire in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Not This Time earned a 115 Equibase Speed Figure in the Juvenile, one tick behind Classic Empire's figure. The top two finishers earned the highest ratings in the Juvenile since 2010 when Uncle Mo won with a 123 ESF and runner-up Boys at Tosconova earned a 116.
Unfortunately, Not This Time sustained a soft tissue injury in the Juvenile and was soon retired. Albaugh said he got several calls from major stallion farms wanting to stand Not This Time, but most wanted to buy the horse outright. The relationship Taylor Made and Albaugh had developed over the year paid off for the farm, which bought 50% of the stallion and then sold shares.
"Like a lot of things happen in this business, there is some luck involved, and in this case, it was their bad luck," said Ben Taylor, vice president of Taylor Made Stallions. "They could have gone on and raced him but decided he was too nice of a horse to take that chance. If he had raced at 3, he was going to cost too much money. We happened to be there negotiating and talking with them, so when they vetted him and decided to retire him, we got a deal done.
"We cannot compete with some of these people who have much bigger budgets, but occasions arise where people are looking for a place, and we're appealing because we have a lot of connections."
Taylor said the Albaughs and his son-in-law Jason Loutsch, who is the stable's racing manager, backed up their commitment to the stallion by buying seven mares at the 2017 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale to support Not This Time's first season at stud that year.
One of those mares was Simply Confection, a stakes-placed daughter of Candy Ride who produced Simplification. Another was Sheza Smoke Show, a grade 3 winner by Wilko, who the Albaughs resold to Oussama Aboughazale's International Equities Holding for $185,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale carrying Princess Noor, who became Not This Time's first grade 1 winner.
"The Albaughs have had a lot to do with his success. You look at the horses they've bred, and they are a major player. They give his horses at the track every chance," said Ben Taylor.
Not This Time got off to a fast start at stud. He ended 2020 as the leading North American freshman sire by number of winners with 29 and ranked third by progeny earnings at $1,557,138.
With age and distance, Not This Time's progeny continued to excel. He became the leader of his class as second-crop sires of 2021 by number of black-type winners with 13 and led with $5,468,315 in progeny earnings. He was tied with Darley Stallions' Nyquist with 18 black-type performers and tied with Darley's Frosted and Claiborne Farm's Runhappy by number of graded stakes winners at two apiece.
Not This Time is leading the third-crop sire ranking as of April 29 by progeny earnings ($3,697,472), number of black-type winners (6), and number of black-type performers (nine). He is tied with Nyquist so far by number of graded stakes winners with three each. Besides Epicenter and Simplification, Not This Time has been represented this year by 4-year-old Just One Time, who won the Madison Stakes (G1) and Inside Information Stakes (G2).
Looking at cumulative results for this year's third-crop sires, Not This Time leads by number of black-type winners (18) and percentage (12.5%) of black-type winners from runners. He is also the top sire by number of graded stakes winners with six.
Not This Time was an early commercial success because he simply throws good-looking foals, much like Taylor Made's late sire Unbridled's Song, with refined necks, big shoulders, and strong two-turn-type hips, according to Mark Taylor.
"He has worked really well with Candy Ride and Speightstown, which are blockier, stronger models," Taylor said. "So it seems if you breed him to a real strong, square mare, he will just stretch it out, refine it, and pretty it up. The other thing that he seems to be throwing, which I think this is a credit to his sire and grandsire (Storm Cat), is that will to win.
"We get a report every day on all his babies that are running—where they're running, what type of race they're running in. So he gets some horses that aren't super talented, but they are winning the claiming races or they're second or third. They are right there and they fight."
The fighting spirit seen in Giant's Causeway's progeny was a key reason Albaugh said he wanted to keep Not This Time.
"(Not This Time) had an unbelievable burst of speed, and knowing Miss Macy Sue and what she has done along with Giant's Causeway and his unbelievable stallion career, that's why we wanted to keep this horse," Albaugh said. "When other horses are starting to slow down a little bit, that's when the Not This Times' speed comes out—at the end. We've watched that happen over and over with many of his offspring."
Miss Macy Sue may soon own a place in Thoroughbred breeding lore as the reviver of two prominent sires' legacies. Prior to the arrival of Liam's Map and Not This Time, both of their sires struggled to have breakout sons with a high percentage of elite runners at their level or better, particularly in North America. The success of Juddmonte Farms' late sire Arrogate's three crops is still unfolding, but as of now Liam's Map is taking the lead among Unbridled's Song's sons with more than half of his stakes winners finding success in graded/group stakes.
Giant's Causeway had a successful son in Europe with the late Shamardal (9% stakes winners from foals), but his accomplishments have not been repeated by a son in the U.S. and Canada. Again, there are sons yet to prove themselves but none who have matched the strong start of Not This Time.
"I'm not a geneticist but if you get one of these mares who is just a super producer like Miss Macy Sue, there is something magic about that. Maybe nobody totally understands it, but it's for real," said Mark Taylor.
In addition to Not This Time, Albaugh has been engaged with other racehorses-turned-stallions. Albaugh Family Stables also campaigned grade 1 winner Brody's Cause (by Giant's Causeway) who finished seventh in the 2016 Kentucky Derby and is now a top 20 third-crop sire; grade 1 winner and freshman sire Free Drop Billy (by Union Rags ), who is a freshman sire this year; and, grade 2 winner Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile), who entered stud in 2021. Albaugh owns shares in all three stallions that stand at Spendthrift Farm.
"The stallion business was not in the original plans, but right now I couldn't be happier; it's a lot of fun," Albaugh said.
