Barbara Livingston
by Sarah Mace
Pedigree Consultant Matt O’Neil named Utopia, a multiple Grade 1-winner and $4.9 million-earner who stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, as one of his “Five to Surprise” in a Stallion Spotlight report on 2011 Freshman Sires.
Matt O’Neil, who has worked for Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Taylor Made Farm and TrueNicks, produces a weekly “stalliontracker” report containing news, pedigree trends, observations and insights. In last week’s Stallion Spotlight, he included New York freshman sire Utopia in his piece, “2011 Freshman Sires – Five to Surprise.” O’Neil’s observations on Utopia appear below.
Stallion Spotlight: 2011 Freshman Sires – Five to Surprise
Posted on April 21, 2011 by stalliontracker
by Matt O’Neil
The 2011 freshman sire crop is loaded with some highly promising prospects, stallions like Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday, Scat Daddy and Corinthian. But as anyone who follows the stallion game knows, there are always surprises.
Utopia
Forty Niner/Dream Vision by Northern Taste
Standing at McMahon Thoroughbreds (NY)
If the adage is true that milers make the best sires then the New York-based Utopia is slam dunk. The son of Forty Niner won group/graded races at a mile on three continents. As a juvenile he was a G1 winner at a mile in Japan and took two more G1s at that distance in that country over the next three seasons. He began working his way west at age six, winning the Godolphin Mile (G2) in Dubai, before conquering the Westchester H. (G3) at Aqueduct over Sun King and the G1 winners Political Force and Evening Attire. Of course, if Utopia makes a splash at stud it won’t be much a surprise to breeders in New York who have supported him with an average of 117 mares his first three years seasons at McMahon Thoroughbreds. Utopia has the credentials to be New York’s first major homegrown stallion success (apologies to Freud) and, given the current dynamics of the stallion market, he could well stay in the Empire State if he hits.
The full blog entry including four other freshman sires reviewed by Matt O’Neil can be read at: http://stalliontracker.wordpress.com/
