American Pharoah ’s stud fee will be listed as private for 2017 and leading second-crop sire Uncle Mo has had his fee doubled to $150,000, according to information released Nov. 7 by Ashford Stud.
The 2015 Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah entered stud with a published fee of $200,000, though many breeders disclosed later in the year they had been offered two-for-one deals at that price. A son of Pioneer of the Nile , American Pharoah was bred to a reported 208 mares in his first book. Those mares included 45% stakes winners and 26% graded stakes winners.
Uncle Mo has been a shooting star in the sire ranks. The grade I-winning son of Indian Charlie, who was 2010 champion 2-year-old colt, has blown away the leading earnings record for any North American sire’s first two years at stud with $14,722,243 in combined earnings to date. The previous record had been held by Danzig since 1985, when he had $11,951,395 in earnings from his first two crops to race.
In 2016 alone, Uncle Mo’s progeny have earned $11,046,949 through Nov. 6. Besides leading second-crop sires by earnings, Uncle Mo is the leading second-crop sire with 16 black-type stakes winners and 23 black-type wins. His chief earner is Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Nyquist , who enters stud at Darley next year.
Also announced were the entering-year fees for new stallions Air Force Blue and Vancouver.
Air Force Blue will stand for $25,000. The son of War Front, bred by Stone Farm and from W.T. Young’s grade I family of Flanders and Surfside, broke his maiden in May of his juvenile season—despite being a May foal—and went on to capture three straight group I successes in Ireland and England in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes, Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, and the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes. Timeform and Racing Post were unanimous in rating him five pounds superior to the next best colt of his generation.
Vancouver is reverse shuttling from Australia and will stand for $15,000. The Australian juvenile champion is by Medaglia d'Oro out of the Danehill mare Skates, a daughter of Australian champion sprinter and outstanding broodmare Skating. He was unbeaten in four starts at age 2, capturing a stakes race first time out early in the 2014-2015 season before adding three straight group wins, capped by the Aus$3.5 million Tooheys New Golden Slipper (Aus-I), the world’s richest race for 2-year-olds.
