The first reported foal by Claiborne Farm's multiple grade 1 winner Catholic Boy is a filly out of the winning Bodemeister daughter Hope So that arrived Jan. 8 in New York.
The filly, bred by Pioneer Ventures, is the first foal out of Hope So, who is out of grade 2 winner and multiple stakes producer Sweet and Ready (by El Prado). Sweet and Ready has produced nine winners from 11 to race, including multiple graded-placed winner Sweet and Flawless (by Unbridled's Song) and Japanese stakes-placed winner Matikanetamakazura (by Kingmambo).
Catholic Boy is a 6-year-old son of international sire More Than Ready who scored grade 1 victories on dirt and turf in 2018, taking the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and immediately following with a win in the Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. He won four other graded stakes that included the Remsen Stakes (G2), Dixie Stakes (G2T), With Anticipation Stakes (G3T), and Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3T). He retired with a 7-2-0 record from 13 starts and earned $2,134,000.
The sire has been represented by two other foals recently. A filly out of stakes winner Roo's Valentine and bred by Kretz Racing was born in Kentucky Jan. 17, and a colt out of the graded-placed stakes winner Zestina was born Jan. 19 at Frankfort Park Stud. Zestina's colt is her first foal and was bred by Anthony Kirwan and Paul Cairns Racing.
