English Channel, Oscar Performance Turf Runners Shine

No one disputes the place dirt racing holds in North America. One look at the top sires whose progeny run on that surface and it presently looks a lot like the overall standings based on progeny earnings. But change over to the turf sires' list, and while there are some very familiar and very successful sires listed, there is much more diversity among the stallions. 

In the top 10, there are two names with two very different resumes that stand out: English Channel and Oscar Performance . 

Although English Channel died in 2021, he is still well represented by his offspring as his final crop is 3 years old this year. The 2007 Champion Grass Horse, English Channel was arguably reaching the zenith of his power as a sire at the time of his death at 19. He posted four consecutive years as the top turf sire (2020-23), and until last year, only once since 2013 had he finished with a ranking worse than seventh. He was ninth in 2024. English Channel is fourth this year.

He was outstanding on the turf, recording a mark of 13-4-1 from 23 starts and $5,319,028 in earnings. He ran the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) three years in a row, improving his finish each year and ultimately winning in 2007. He had five grade 1 victories and was second four other times.

But for as remarkable a runner as he was, he was just as prolific as a sire. He stood at Hurricane Hall for one season, Lane's End for seven, and the rest at Calumet Farm. He sired multiple grade 1 winners, including The Pizza Man, Travers Stakes (G1) winner V.E. Day, Parranda, Optimizer, and Heart to Heart. These last few years have seen his legacy cemented by his three greatest runners: Channel Maker, War Like Goddess, and Far Bridge. 

Channel Maker is the 2020 Champion Turf Male and 2017 Sovereign Award winner for top 3-year-old; multiple grade 1 winner War Like Goodess is a four-time Breeders' Cup participant; and three-time grade 1 winner Far Bridge recently won the Bowling Green Stakes (G2T).

Like English Channel, Oscar Performance enjoyed success racing on the grass, and his stallion career continues to show promise. That he was a very good turf runner should have come as no surprise. He is by 2004 Champion Turf Horse Kitten's Joy, who hit the board in all but one of his 14 starts. At stud, he twice finished atop the general sires list. Nearly seven months through the year, Oscar Performance is the 10th-ranked turf sire by progeny earnings. 

After finishing sixth in his debut, Oscar Performance then won three straight, including the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). His 3-year-old campaign started with a couple of speed bumps before he righted the ship with three more wins, plus a third in the Joe Hirsch Stakes (G1T) before a disappointing finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T).

Through three years of racing, Oscar Performance was 8-0-1 from 15 starts with $2,345,696 in earnings. He also collected five grade 1 victories.

Among his classmates, Oscar Performance has always been a standout sire of turf runners. As a sire of turf runners, he was first in 2022 among first-crop sires, then sixth among second-crop sires, second among third-crop sires of 2024, and ranks third this year. But a look at his climb among all turf sires puts his rise in better focus. 

On that list, his first two crops had him ranked 54th and 45th, respectively. But 2024 saw him catapult to 10th among turf sires in large part behind the success of his son Trikari, who had five top-five finishes. Like his father, Trikari won the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and Secretariat (G1T) stakes en route to being the 23rd highest-earning horse of 2024. 

Even though Trikari is Oscar Performance's only grade 1 winner to date, the sire has seven other graded stakes winners, although not all on turf. Andthewinneris, Endlessly, Dashman, and Rashmi have won on the turf. Another of the sire's progeny, 3-year-old colt World Beater, was 1 1/4 lengths short of winning this year's Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes in what was his first graded stakes effort. He is Oscar Performance's top runner to date this year. 

It appears safe to say Oscar Performance's days among the top turf sires are just beginning. He stood at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington for $45,000 this year.