Was there really ever any doubt as to who would be the leading freshman sire of 2019? American Pharoah was always the stand-out among the first crop sires. The surprise is that he’s turned out to be a great turf sire.

At Future Stars Friday, the first day of Breeders’ Cup festivities, American Pharoah was the champion sire, with Four Wheel Drive winning the Juvenile Turf Sprint-G2, and Another Miracle finishing third, and Sweet Melania finishing third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf-G1. American Pharoah’s first crop has now earned $2,316,893, with 20 winners out of 53 runners, led, of course, by Four Wheel Drive ($692,500). Remember, American Pharoah never ran on grass, and of course won the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1, North America’s signature dirt races. The mysteries of genetics are profound.

Examining the pedigrees of American Pharoah’s three Breeders’ Cup graded stakes juveniles, a startling similarity appears. Four Wheel Drive is inbred 6 x 5 x 7 x 6 to Northern Dancer, through a variety of sons and daughters, and 5 x 6 to Hail to Reason, through Halo and Stop the Music, giving him a powerful coupling of Almahmoud’s two influential daughters, Natalma and Cosmah. But it’s his second dam, Fleuron, who brings the turf mastery to Four Wheel Drive. She is by Juddmonte’s Distant View (by Mr. Prospector, making this colt 6 x 4 x 5 inbred to that important stallion), whose dam Seven Springs, was by Irish River, one of the great turf influences of all time.

His grandsire, Never Bend, remains a powerful influence in European pedigrees today, and Fleuron’s granddam provides another dose of Never Bend, as well as Vaguely Noble. There’s also Zilzal, by Nureyev (one of Northern Dancer’s best grass sires) by the Le Fabuleux mare French Charmer, adding to the grass ability. The two doses of Hail to Reason, by Turn-to, reach out to the Klairon in Irish River, as they are closely related. All of these significant turf genetic markers reach out to the North American grit and speed of Fappiano and Storm Cat in the sire line (as well as inbreeding to Buckpasser, 6 x 6 x 6), to create this monster turf sprinter.

Another Miracle and Sweet Melania feature similar pedigrees; it’s rare that good nicks for a first-year stallion become so apparent so rapidly. Another Miracle is inbred 6 x 5 x 6 to Northern Dancer, and adds powerful inbreeding to Secretariat (6 x 5), with another cross to his dam Somethingroyal through Sir Ivor. The touch of Damascus, through Bailjumper in Another Miracle’s broodmare sire Medaglia d’Oro, echoes a similar dose in Sweet Melania, through Private Account.

Sweet Melania has, arguably, the best pedigree of the three. She is inbred 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 (!) to Buckpasser, 6 x 6 x 6 x 4 to Northern Dancer, 6 x 4 to Mr. Prospector, and 6 x 6 x 5 to Secretariat, not to mention that her tail female family is that of A.P. Indy, through the Alydar mare Lassie’s Lady. Lassie’s Lady also brings My Babu to the mix, complementing the Damascus in Private Account. This pedigree is a testament to the theory that there is no such animal as too much of a good thing. Expect great things from this filly in her three-year-old year.

Honorable mention must also be awarded to another freshman sire: Palace Malice, whose son, Structor, won the Juvenile Turf-G1 in impressive fashion, placing his sire securely in third on the freshman sires’ list. Structor’s pedigree is marked by inbreeding to Deputy Minister on the zigzag, a trend we see more and more of, especially when one of the doses if through Dehere, who is out of a Secretariat mare. Dehere, much like Fappiano, seems to have begun his own, important line separate from his sire’s. There is also significant inbreeding to Turn-to, and those all-important doses of Natalma and Cosmah, through Northern Dancer and Halo. Trainer Chad Brown declared, in a post-race interview, that he intends to try this impressive colt on the dirt for his three-year-old campaign, placing him squarely on the Kentucky Derby trail, especially after the bewildering longshot, Storm the Court (Court Vision), won the Juvenile-G1, when Dennis’s Moment and Eight Rings failed to come through, and Maxfield scratched.

It would seem Coolmore American knew what it was doing when it announced all of its stud fees except American Pharoah’s, which was designated TBD—to be determined. Though it’s been private this year, the rumor was that it stood at $100,000. We can guarantee that it will rise for 2020, and rightly so. North American racing would seem to have a new, magnificent turf sire, one who might bring turf racing in this country to new prominence.

-- Roberta Smoodin