Although he retired relatively late for the 2024 breeding season, one of the new stallions that we find find most intriguing is the Grade 1 winner Annapolis, who will join his sire War Front at Claiborne Farm.
A homebred for the Bass Racing Stable, Annapolis served notice of his potential with a series of bullet works leading up to his 2YO debut at Saratoga, and he didn’t disappoint first-time out, winning off by more than four lengths in a TDN Rising Star performance at 1-1/16 miles on turf. He came back and showed grit to go with his brilliance when he was up against it style-wise in a four-horse field for the G2 Pilgrim Stakes. Sent to keep tabs on a well-meant Chad Brown runner on the front-end, Annapolis dueled the length of the Belmont stretch with that rival before just prevailing by a head, earning an 89 Beyer Speed Figure — the highest Beyer for a 2YO on turf that season.
He returned as a sophomore and finished 2nd in the G3 Penn Mile over soft turf off a seven-month layoff, then won the Manila at Belmont by open lengths. A close 2nd in the G1 Saratoga Derby when stretched to 1-3/16 miles preceded a romping, 5-1/2 length, wire-to-wire victory in the 1-1/16-mile G3 Saranac at Saratoga. Leaving straight 3YO company after that, Annapolis was sent out against a talented field of older horses in the G1 Coolmore Turf Mile and showed a brilliant turn of foot to go clear of G1Ws Ivar and Order of Australia, with the likes of Set Piece, Casa Creed, Classic Causeway, Atone, Santin and Somelikeithotbrown even further back. His winning time of 1:33.1 was a new stakes record. He then closed out his 3YO year beaten just 5-1/2 lengths in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile.
Annapolis returned at 4YO with a gritty victory in Churchill’s Opening Verse, then ran 2nd to Casa Creed in both the G3 Kelso and the G1 Fourstardave, prior to closing his career with a pair of off-the-board finishes when beaten small margins in the Mint Million at Kentucky Downs, and when attempting to defend his title at Keeneland
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In addition to the precocity and brilliance that he showed on the racetrack, Annapolis brings a stunning physical and an excellent pedigree to stud. He’s a strapping 16.2 hands, with loads of scope and substance that will impress anyone that goes to see him in person. And in addition to being by War Front( the best statistical sire in the country by percentages of stakes winners, graded winners, and G1Ws), Annapolis is out of the dirt G2W My Miss Sophia, a daughter of Unbridled’s Song who placed in the G1 Kentucky Oaks and was a $4 million broodmare buy, in addition to being a half-sister to the G1 Florida Derby winner Materiality, from the immediate family of G1 Travers winner Afleet Express and G1 Alabama winner Embellish the Lace.
So Annapolis will have plenty going for him at Claiborne, and we’re excited to be sending a couple of mares his way in 2024 — starting with Paw Prints.
A half-sister to G1W Announce and closely-related to G3W/G1P Mexican Gold, Paw Prints has several family members that come from the same Danzig sire-line as Annapolis who picked up or added to their black-type resumes in 2023, including unbeaten 2YO G2W Ghostwriter (by Invincible Spirit), multiple GSW Zarinsk, and SW/G3P Straight Answer (the latter two both by Kodiac).
Even more interestingly, Paw Prints is a half-sister to a pair of black-type runners by Unbridled’s Song and his son First Defence, plus Mexican Gold is the dam of the three-for-five earner of $175k Arrobatic by Arrogate, and — as mentioned above — Unbridled’s Song is the broodmare sire of Annapolis (who favors him as much in type as he does his sire War Front), which we think bodes well here
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TrueNicks rates the War Front/Kitten’s Joy cross as an “A”, thanks to the success of G1W Fire At Will, G2W Watsonville and a third stakes winner from just 26 runners bred this way.
On proclivities this pairing also makes plenty of sense, as — despite the odd dirt horse by War Front and from Paw Prints’s family — most of their best runners have been turf mile types. And physically it’s a wonderful case of like-to-like, as Paw Prints is a very good-bodied, leggy mare herself.
All of which excites us for the chances of this anticipated first-crop Annapolis foal!
Are you looking at any breedings that do NOT have Unbridled Song progeny involved?
George...take a look at Oscar Performance with Kitten Joy mares. Four direct crosses...4 winners...2 stakes winners. Paw Prints would likely be a nice match. Perhaps in 2025!