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Weigelia might have a bit of an off-beat pedigree, but he was a stone cold runner and he has sired nothing but the same in his limited opportunities as basically a house stallion at WynOaks Farm in Pennsylvania — we believe he will make a fantastic first partner for Kuznetsov in the latest Housatonic Recommended Mating.
At this point, Weigelia has pretty much made his own pedigree. After winning 13 of 48 starts from 2- through 7-years-old, including the Grade 3 Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap and the Grade 3 Carry Back Stakes plus an additional half-dozen dirt stakes races — not to mention setting new course records on the turf at both Belmont and Monmouth — Weigelia has now sired 113 foals aged 3 and up, of which 92 have started and 63 have won, including seven stakes winners (good for 6.2% of his foals). His starters have earned an average of more than $81,000, and his 1.50 AEI compared to a 1.02 CI demonstrates that he’s doing it on his own without much help at all from his mares. He also had a bit of a commercial coming-out party with his sales yearlings in 2018, as six of them averaged over $18,000 off of his $3,500 advertised stud fee.
In Kuznetsov, Weigelia gets a mate who was also at her best sprinting, as she broke her maiden wire-to-wire at 5-1/2 furlongs on the Laurel turf course. She came by this ability honestly, as she is sired by Maryland’s current leading stallion, Great Notion, who was himself a sprinter on the track and is predominantly a speed influence at stud. Kuznetsov is also a half-sister to the stakes-placed sprinters Change of Seasons and Oldies But Goodies, and her second dam Special Kell was a stakes-winning sprinter, too.
Although Kuznetsov’s female family hasn’t yet been tried with Weigelia, there are no fewer than six black-type performers under her third dam that are sired by Partner’s Hero, a 3/4-brother to Weigelia’s sire Safely’s Mark. These six include the stakes winner Partners Due, who is out of a Two Punch dam, and Two Punch is Kuznetsov’s broodmare sire. Additionally, another Partner’s Hero filly from this family, What Am I Gonna Do, is the dam of multiple stakes winner Great Soul (by Kuznetsov’s sire Great Notion) and that one’s full-brother who brought $120,000 at the 2018 Timonium yearling sale.
So this is a blend of bloodlines that has already worked repeatedly, and we think that Weigelia’s speed and hard-knocking tendencies will perfectly compliment Kuznetsov’s own attributes. Not to mention that we always prefer to breed a young mare to a proven stallion when possible, in order to give her the best chance to hit the ground running in her reproductive career.
Weigelia wins the G3 Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap
Weigelia sets a new course record on Belmont’s turf
Weigelia wins the Jack Dudley Sprint Stakes
Weigelia wins the Ponche Handicap
Kuznetsov breaks her maiden wire-to-wire at Laurel