Over the years one of the best foils for Curlin —as it was for his sire, Smart Strike—has been mares from the male line of Danzig (who, probably not coincidentally, was the sire of Smart Strike's marvelous half sister Dance Smartly). At least 12 of Curlin's stakes winners are bred on this cross, including champion 2-year-old Good Magic and grade 1 winner Known Agenda . Doubling down on the nick, Good Magic has an even better strike-rate with the classic-winning brothers Mage (2023 Kentucky Derby, G1, winner) and Dornoch (2024 Belmont Stakes, G1, winner) and the 2024 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) victor Mixto from just 12 starters out of mares by Danzig and his sons and grandsons.
On Dec. 21, the Curlin line repaid the debt, when Built, by Good Magic's broodmare sire Hard Spun , out of a Curlin mare, placed himself in a prominent position on the classic radar earning 10 points towards Kentucky Derby qualification with an impressive 6 1/2-length victory in the Gun Runner Stakes, the first of the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots winter prep series.
The Gun Runner was the second victory in three starts for the progressive Built. He finished fourth, promoted to third via a disqualification, behind the subsequent Breeders' Futurity (G1) captor East Avenue in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Ellis Park in August, and returned to score by 1 1/2 lengths Oct. 6 in a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland.
Built's victory in the Gun Runner Stakes put a strong close on what has been a solid year for veteran sire Hard Spun. Conceived when his own sire, Danzig, was 26 years old, Hard Spun was a member of the vintage 3-year-old crop of 2007, which also included Curlin, Street Sense , and Any Given Saturday. With a 3-for-3 record as a juvenile, including two minor stakes wins, Hard Spun held up well among this contentious group the following year with wins in the King's Bishop Stakes (G1), Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G2), LeComte Stakes (G3), and Lane's End Stakes (G2); seconds in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Kentucky Derby (G1), and Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1); and a third in the Preakness Stakes (G1). At the end of the year, he was retired to Darley at Jonabell Farm near Lexington alongside his contemporaries Street Sense and Any Given Saturday (all three also shuttled to Australia for a number of seasons).
Hard Spun kicked off his stud career with a first crop that produced a then-record of 17 individual stakes winners. He's continued to be a consistent black-type provider, and his total of stakes winners worldwide now stands at 109. No fewer than 15 of his progeny have won grade 1 events, and in North America they include 2012 champion 3-year-old filly Questing, Hard Not to Like, Silver State , Wicked Strong, Hard Not to Love, Hard Aces, Spun to Run , Aloha West , Hardest Core, Zo Impressive, Out for a Spin, and Smooth Roller. Hard Spun has also now emerged as an important broodmare sire, his daughters having already produced 50 stakes winners, including the aforementioned Good Magic, and other grade 1 winners Alcohol Free, Danon Smash, and Desert Flower.
Built is the first foal out of his dam, Sea Garden, whose best effort in three starts was a third in an Ellis Park maiden special weight. She is half sister to the Street Cry gelding Glenville Gardens, whose most notable success came in the 2016 Play the King Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine. Navy Gardens, the granddam of Built, never ran, but owned a stellar pedigree as she was by Storm Cat out of the Forty Niner mare Marley Vale, a winner of four black-type events, including the 1999 Test Stakes (G1). Marley Vale did produce a top-class runner in the A.P. Indy daughter Indian Vale, who captured four graded stakes, and had strong claims to be considered the best of her division at 3 on the basis of a crushing 6 1/2-length victory over her elders in the 2005 Falls City Handicap (G2).
Marley Vale's dam, Waggley, won the First Lady Handicap and Davona Dale Breeders' Cup Stakes, both in 1989. She traces back to Annarella, a minor French stakes winner, bred by Baron Maurice de Rothschild, who was imported to the United States in 1926. Annarella possessed an outstanding classic pedigree, as she was half sister to Astrella, the dam of 1926 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French Two Thousand Guineas) victor and major sire Asterus, and to Diavolezza, who captured the 1914 Poule d'Essai de Pouliches (French One Thousand Guineas), and subsequently featured as the fourth dam of 1946 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) hero Prince Chevalier, who was the leading sire in France in 1960. Annarella's dam, Saint Astra, captured the 1907 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), and was out of a half sister to Star Shoot, a five-time leading sire in North America.
Built is the fourth stakes winner for a Danzig-line stallion out of a Curlin mare. The others include graded scorers Big Invasion and Second of July, who are by Declaration of War and Jack Milton, respectively, both sons of War Front . A son of Danzig, War Front is the sire of grade 1 winner Peace and War, who is out of a Smart Strike mare. Meanwhile, Hard Spun has seven stakes winners out Smart Strike mares, including graded winners Sparkle Blue, Rocketry, Elysian Field, and Millie Girl. So these runners and Built show that reversing a successful nick can produce major dividends.
