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Bill's Columns

CLASSIC SCORE FOR DECLARATION OF WAR

Date:
This article originally appeared in BloodHorse Daily .
By Bill Oppenheim
Declaration of War, from War Front’s second crop, became one of his sire’s leading standard-bearers as a 4-year-old in 2013. Having won both his starts at two in France for owner-breeder Joseph Allen, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, the Coolmore partners bought into him and sent him to the U.S. to be trained by Todd Pletcher. However he sustained a training injury and was then sent to Ballydoyle, where he started out for Aidan O’Brien in September of his 3-year-old year, winning the G3 Diamond S. over 10 ½ furlongs on the all-weather at Dundalk in the third of his three starts as at three.
Declaration of War really came into his own at four, winning the G1 Queen Anne S. at 1m at Royal Ascot and the G1 Juddmonte International at 10 ½ furlongs at York, and placing in the G1 Eclipse S. and G1 Sussex S. before making an assault on the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita, where he finished third, beaten a half-length by Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge. That was all very strong form, and after standing at Coolmore in Ireland for his first year at stud in 2015, Declaration of War, like Giant’s Causeway had been, was transferred to Ashford Stud in Kentucky to stand the 2015 season.
Because he now stands in Kentucky, Declaration of War is classed as a North American sire for the purposes of leading sires tables, and as you’ll see from the accompanying tables, he ranks ninth among North American second-crop sires by cumulative progeny earnings, inches behind Animal Kingdom, with progeny earnings totalling $1,470,882. However, after his colt Olmedo’s victory in the G1 Poule d’essai des Poulains – French 2000 Guineas on May 13, if Declaration of War were classed as a European sire, having after all sired his first crop there, he would now rank number two in Europe, behind only the ill-fated sprint sire Society Rock, who died at Ireland’s Tally-Ho Stud in 2016 after siring three crops, before he ever had a runner. This would put Declaration of War just ahead of his former Coolmore barn-mate Camelot ($1,365,914; all figures through racing of May 19). In terms of 2018 earnings, Declaration of War ($883,186) would edge Camelot ($824,451) for the top spot, but as the lists are determined by where the horse now stands, Camelot is the leading European second-crop sire by 2018 progeny earnings.
Declaration of War is the leading second-crop sire on either continent by number of Group Stakes Winners (GSW) with three. Besides Olmedo, who ironically was winning his first stakes race in the ‘Poulains’ (having run second to the Coolmore filly Happily in last year’s G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere), Declaration War has sired two Group 3 winners, the filly Actress in Ireland, and the colt Speed Franco, at Gulfstream Park. This all adds up to Declaration of War being off to a really good start, and he is the only North American or European second-crop sire, thus far, to have sired a Classic winner.
Society Rock, a dual Group 1-winning sprinter by Rock of Gibraltar, was Europe’s Leading Freshman Sire last year, with his headline horse being the colt Unfortunately, winner of the G2 Prix Robert Papin and G1 Prix Morny, over 1100 and 1200 meters respectively, but he is running a distant second to Camelot on the European second-crop table so far this year. Camelot now has a total of 11 Black-Type Horses, seven of them Group horses, and now looks odds-on to have Group One horses added to his portfolio sooner rather than later. Clear third on the European second-crop sire list by cumulative earnings is the top French 2-year-old of 2011, Dabirsim, who is from the first crop by Sunday Silence’s son Hat Trick. Dabirsim was number two on the European first-crop sire list last year, when his star was G3 winner and G1 Cheveley Park S. second Different League, and he also has the Classic-placed Coeur de Beaute, who was second in the May 13 G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches – French 1000 Guineas, this year.
England’s Tweenhills Stud’s Havana Gold (Teofilo) retains his position in fourth, while moving up to fifth is Cheveley Park Stud’s Intello (Galileo), whose first 3-year-olds include two recent Group 3 winners. Two other notable sires from this group are Darley Kildangan’s Dawn Approach (New Approach), who’s had two promising stakes winners this year, and England’s Overbury Stud’s unheralded Cityscape (Selkirk), who had his third SW and second Group 3 winner this year when his filly Give And Take won the G3 Musidora S. at York. He is a revelation.
Other than Declaration of War moving from 13th to 9th on the North American cumulative second-crop list there were no significant changes in the last week or so. Former (and likely future) WinStar stallion Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) maintains a lead of around $250,000 over Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Violence (Medaglia D’Oro), with last year’s leading Freshman Sire, WinStar’s Overanalyze (Dixie Union), in third. Spendthrift’s Jimmy Creed (Distorted Humor), who is third by 2018 earnings, is fourth, with Ashford’s Shanghai Bobby (Harlan’s Holiday) edging back in front of WinStar’s Paynter in fifth and sixth. The top four sires each have five Black-Type Winners (BTW) so far; Darley’s Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux) and Declaration of War have four each.
The top three European third-crop (first foals 2014) remain miles clear of the competition. Darley’s (Dalham Hall) Helmet (Exceed and Excel), sire of 2018 G1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow is almost $3-million ahead of 2017 European Horse of the Year Enable’s sire, Nathaniel (Galileo), with the mighty Frankel (Galileo) still third by cumulative progeny earnings (Japanese earnings are adjusted to a US scale). But Frankel is now up to 22 Black-Type Winners, of which 17 are Group winners, which puts him way ahead of his contemporaries by those standards. Nathaniel is second by number of BTW, with seven, while Darley’s Sepoy is second by number of Group winners, with three.
Similar story among North American third-crop sires, in fact since Gainesway’s Tapizar (Tapit) moved up to 8th by cumulative earnings after Monomoy Girl’s win in the GI Kentucky Oaks there have actually been no changes in the top ten – they are all in the same positions they were two weeks ago. WinStar’s Bodemeister (Empire Maker), Darby Dan’s Dialed In (Mineshaft), and Lane’s End’s Union Rags (Dixie Union) all have cumulative progeny earnings over $7-million, with Airdrie’s Creative Cause (Giant’s Causeway) hot on their heels in fourth. Dialed In, Creative Cause, and Tapizar are 1-2-3 by 2018 progeny earnings, followed by Bodemeister and former Lane’s End (now Japanese) sire, The Factor (War Front). The Factor leads this group by cumulative number of black-type winners, with 10, followed by Creative Cause (9) and Union Rags and Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Maclean’s Music, with eight each. Union Rags has four Grade I winners and is the only North American third-crop sire with more than one,
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