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A winner of the historic, stallion-making Met Mile in blazing fast time and earning a 123 Beyer Speed Figure, Frosted retired to stud with loads of expectations and a $50,000 stud fee. And although the homebred son of Tapit has not gotten off to the start his connections would have hoped for, the racetrack success of his 2YOs at the end of 2022 and a fee cut to $10,000, with a still-loaded pipeline to come, make him an attractive value play in 2023, and he should be an excellent fit for the 14x winner No More Excuses.
In addition to his romp in the Met Mile, Frosted also won the G1 Wood Memorial at 3YO (when he was 2nd in the G1 Belmont to American Pharoah and 3rd in the G1 Travers) and the G1 Whitney at 4, plus was a G2PW 2YO. From the female family of Champion and quality sire Midshipman, Frosted has ranked in the top five of his sire crop in the USA each year he’s had runners, and he’s also been successful as a shuttle stallion in Australia. But — as the Darley ads have reminded us repeatedly of late — it was his 2022 juveniles that have created some renewed buzz for Frosted. He ended the year as the #7 sire of 2YOs in the country, and no other stallion topped his number of stakes horses in the last quarter. Those young stakes horses (continuing into 2023) include the top Maryland-bred 2YO of 2022 in Post Time, the top NY-bred 2YO of 2022 in Arctic Arrogance (who was a close 2nd in the G2 Remsen in open company), Oaklawn SW Frosted Departure, and 2023 G3 winner Ice Dancing (a G1P 2YO last year).
As a daughter of Maryland stalwart Not For Love, No More Excuses rates an “A++” on TrueNicks with Frosted, based on the cross of Tapit and Not For Love. That cross is responsible for 35 winners from 41 foals to race, including 7 stakes winners (17%), two of those new in the last month. Frosted himself has 3 winners out of Not For Love dams, including a black-type placed filly. And No More Excuses is a half-sister to the Maryland Million Classic winner Saratoga Bob, by Friesan Fire, who is an AP Indy-line stallion (like Frosted) and out of a mare by Deputy Minister’s son Dehere, while Frosted’s own dam is a daughter of Deputy Minister himself. So we think that bodes well for this cross, too. Looking further back, No More Excuses’s dam is a daughter of the Cherokee Run son Kafwain, and the TrueNick rating for Tapit/Cherokee Run is an “A”, which won’t hurt either.
Physically, No More Excuses is a big, beautiful, leggy mare, who should complement the strong-bodied Frosted very nicely, and hopefully produce a foal that will run successfully and for a long time in Maryland!