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The best way to start off a young broodmare’s career is to send her to proven stallions if at all possible. This gives a broodmare owner a better handle on the mare’s abilities as a producer (whereas if you send her to a series of first-year stallions and they all flop, you’re none the wiser as to whether the mare’s unsuccessful foals had to do with the covering sires or her own contributions). As such, we are very excited to be able to send the well-bred maiden mare American Thriller to the court of Candy Ride at Lane’s End for her first cover in 2023.
A brilliant turf miler in his native Argentina, Candy Ride was imported to the U.S. and scored a track record-setting victory in the G1 Pacific Classic going 10 furlongs on dirt over Medaglia d’Oro to conclude an unbeaten 6-race career. At stud he has accounted for over 100 black-type winners, half of them graded, with his best offspring including Horse of the Year (and now leading sire) Gun Runner, champions Shared Belief and Game Winner, plus other G1Ws Vekoma, Twirling Candy, Rock Your World, Leofric, Separationofpowers, etc. His ratio to 6% stakes winners/foals for his stud career is excellent for this day and age, and his 1.94 AEI is well above a 1.67 CI, meaning that he moves his mares up. He can also get all types, from champion 2YOs to top older horses, sprinters and routers, and on all surfaces — all of which makes him a perfect candidate with which to start out a young mare like American Thriller.
Candy Ride will suit American Thriller more specifically for a couple of additional reasons. Firstly, as a large, robust mare she will suit Candy Ride physically. And then on pedigree, Candy Ride has already crossed with Empire Maker-line mares (he being the grandsire of American Pharoah) to produce G1Ws Separationofpowers and Rock Your World, as well as G3W Crewman. Not only that, but American Thriller’s own broodmare sire is Uncle Mo, a son of Indian Charlie, and Candy Ride is responsible for G2W Candy Boy and a trio of additional stakes winners out of mares by this sire-line, while his champion son Game Winner has a second dam by Indian Charlie, as well. And American Thriller’s second dam, Excited, is a daughter of Giant’s Causeway who is the broodmare sire of Candy Ride’s top son Gun Runner. Then one final point is that American Pharoah is out of a Storm Cat-line mare, and Candy Ride with Storm Cat more generally (Giant’s Causeway being a son of Storm Cat, too) has produced Shared Belief, Sidney’s Candy, Capt. Candyman Can and Evita Argentina.
So the names at every remove of American Thriller’s pedigree match with Candy Ride in positive nicks, and there is plenty of versatility in her lines as well, to complement that which Candy Ride brings to the table — we can’t wait to see the first foal she produces in 2024!