FRESHMAN SIRE EMPIRE MAKER ADDING TO TOUSSAUD'S STELLAR
LEGACY
Taken from the Thoroughbred
Times
By Jeff Lowe
The influence of 2002 Broodmare of the Year Toussaud
continues to shine following her official retirement this fall at
owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms in
Lexington.
Toussaud’s strong legacy already is secure as a
Grade 1 winner who has produced four Grade 1 winners and another
multiple graded stakes winner. Garrett O’Rourke, manager of
Juddmonte in Lexington, is still looking to the future for the
significance of Toussaud’s contributions.
Juddmonte achieved its first victory in an American
classic when Empire Maker, the sixth foal out of Toussaud, spoiled
Funny Cide’s Triple Crown bid in the 2003 Belmont Stakes
(G1).
In displaying the talent O’Rourke and others had
seen in him all along, EMPIRE
MAKER generated lofty expectations for his stud career that
have only grown with the success of his first crop of two-year-olds
in 2007. EMPIRE MAKER's first-crop fillies Country Star and
Mushka have developed rapidly into stars in their division, with
Country Star claiming consecutive Grade 1 victories in the Darley
Alcibiades (G1) and Hollywood Starlet (G1) Stakes and Mushka
dominating the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) in her stakes
debut.
A seven-year-old Unbridled horse, EMPIRE
MAKER also is the sire of stakes winner Miss Red Delicious
and four other winners from 23 starters through Monday in his first
crop.
“It’s exciting, and a lot of people are talking
about EMPIRE MAKERs that haven’t reached the races yet,
which is a great indicator that this is just the tip of the
iceberg,” O’Rourke said.
Mushka topped the 2006 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga
selected yearling sale on a final bid of $1.6-million from Ahmed
Zayat, which helped EMPIRE
MAKER lead his sire class in 2006 with an average price of
$379,125 for 32 yearlings sold at public auction.
EMPIRE MAKER will continue to
stand for $100,000 in 2008. He covered 130 mares in 2007 and
accounts for 92 yearlings and 91 weanlings. “He is a stallion with
a chance to be very special,” O’Rourke said. “It’s amazing to think
that one horse can fund a whole operation. It’s very expensive to
maintain an operation as big as ours, but he has the potential to
keep it very secure for a long time.”
Toussaud developed laminitis after producing her
first foal, 2000 Arlington Million Stakes (G1) winner Chester
House. Shortly after EMPIRE MAKER's birth in April 2000, the El Gran
Senor mare out of Image of Reality, by In Reality, underwent colic
surgery for an impaction. She was not bred again after delivering
an A.P. Indy filly in 2006.
Other representatives of Toussaud in Juddmonte’s
decorated breeding operation include Honest Lady, a Grade 1 winner
by Seattle Slew who has produced stakes winner Phantom Rose and
King’s Bishop Stakes (G1) runner-up First Defence; an unraced
four-year-old filly by Kingmambo; and an unraced three-year-old
filly by A.P. Indy. Chester House, by Mr. Prospector, died of
cancer in 2003 after his third season at Juddmonte, a loss that
continues to sting with his success as a sire. Chester House’s
three crops have delivered 18 stakes winners.
O’Rourke said Toussaud is in relatively good health
at age 18. “She’s had some tough years that have worn her down a
little,” he said. “It’s a bit early for her to be retiring, but
it’s the right thing to do. She doesn’t owe us anything, in fact
quite the opposite, and she has given us quite a legacy to build on
for the future.”
Juddmonte also has the prolific Grade 1 producer
Hasili (Ire) to build around. Hasili is the dam of champions Banks
Hill (GB) and Intercontinental (GB), Grade 1 winners Cacique (Ire)
and Heat Haze (GB), and leading French sire Dansili
(GB).
Banks Hill and Heat Haze recently arrived in Great
Britain along with Grade 1 winner Tates Creek and French classic
winner Zenda (GB), to support Juddmonte’s European
division.
Date:
19 December 2007