Roadster a Regional Standout Heading Into OBS June Sale

The 10 stallions leading the BloodHorse freshman sire standings as of June 15 will all be represented at the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale that will be held June 16-18 and wrap up the juvenile sale season.

A stallion that stands out among the top 10 is Ocala Stud's Roadster  because it is tougher than ever for a regional sire to break into the national standings, let alone be among the top four as Roadster is as of June 15.

"Not only is it tough for a regional sire to compete nationally, but particularly this year," said David O'Farrell with Ocala Stud in Central Florida. "No one knows how well this crop is going to turn out but right now it appears to be one of the best freshman crops in a long time."

Roadster, a 10-year-old son of Quality Road , has sired three winners from eight to race so far, and his runners have banked $169,850 in earnings. He ranks behind class leader Life Is Good , who stands at WinStar Farm and is the leader with $357,562 in progeny earnings; Golden Pal , who leads the class by number of winners to date with six and stands at Ashford Stud; and, Early Voting , who is tied with Life Is Good with four winners so far and stands at Taylor Made Stallions.

O'Farrell said he is not surprised to see Roadster's first runners standing in the winner's circle this early.

Racing for Speedway Stables and trainer Bob Baffert, Roadster won his racing debut at Del Mar in July 2018 by 4 1/4 lengths and then went on to run third in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) in his second start. He went on at 3 to win the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and run second in the Malibu Stakes (G1). 

"He's by Quality Road with a classic pedigree, but he did come to hand early and that precocity is what drew us to the horse," O'Farrell said. "The Santa Anita Derby win and the second in the Malibu were certainly stallion-making races, but what really got us excited is that he won early."

Roadster's progeny have shown ability as soon as they went into training.

"They matured really well, they have good minds, and they are very athletic," O'Farrell said. "Really, they are just good horses. When it came time to breeze, whether it was ours or with other consignors, they all breezed very well. They all seem to have some ability and that gave us even more confidence in him as a sire."

As of June 15, Roadster is represented by 13 juveniles in the OBS June sale. Leading the group during the under-tack show is Hip 792, a gray or roan colt named Southern Road who breezed in :10 for consignor Omar Ramirez. Southern Road is out of the Jess's Dream mare Roarsrayofsunshine, who is half sister to grade 3 winner Hurricane Ike and grade 3-placed stakes winner Drums of Thunder.

Others by Roadster to work well include:

• Hip 65, a gray or roan filly out of the Midshipman  mare American Grin, that worked in :10 1/5 and is consigned by Sugar Hill as agent,
• Hip 288, a bay filly out of the Candy Ride  winner Enlisting, that worked in :10 1/5 for consignor Niall Brennan as agent,
• Hip 494, a bay colt out of Just Like Lucy, a winner and stakes producer by Majesticperfection, that worked in :10 1/5 for Dark Star Thoroughbreds,
• Hip 517, a gray or roan colt named Quality Dream, out of the Khozan  winner Kozy Dreams, that worked in :10 1/5 for Sugar Hill, and
• Hip 453, a gray or roan colt out of the American Freedom  winner Hope and Dreams, that worked a quarter-mile in :21 for Medina Acres, as agent.

To date, Roadster has been represented by 23 that sold during the 2-year-olds in training sales for an average of $102,087, with seven of his progeny selling for $100,000 or more. Ocala Stud sold his top seller so far, a $625,000 colt out of the Lope de Vega group 3 winner Candy Store that Shunsuke Kubota purchased and sent to Japan. 

"When a horse goes to Japan, sometimes they become out of sight, out of mind, but it does expose your stallion to the global market," O'Farrell said. "We still have a long way to go with Roadster, but right now he is giving us a lot of confidence and hope."