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We try with our mating recommendations to focus on like-to-like as often as possible, and by sending Coffee Pond to Raging Bull in 2022, we will be doubling down on top class European speed lines in a pairing that is very much apples-to-apples.
Described by Chad Brown as “the best-looking horse I have ever trained”, Raging Bull is a son of leading Irish stallion Dark Angel, renowned as a speed and precocity influence, out of a mare by the very fast American sprinter Mr. Greeley — though he himself was a multiple G1 winner from a mile to 9 furlongs in the USA and showed his speed more as a blistering turn of foot than by rocketing from the gate. Coffee Pond, meanwhile, though from a classic family that has accounted — further back — for the likes of Generous, Imagine, Horatio Nelson and Van Gogh, is out of a half-sister to the multiple G1-winning sprinter/miler Moonlight Cloud, and sired by Havana Gold, whose own top runner has been the Euro G1 sprinter Havana Grey. So this is a matchup that should reinforce turf sprinter/miler tendencies with a chance to produce a foal that might also stretch out a bit on American grass.
The cross of Raging Bull’s sire-line with Galileo-line mares like Coffee Pond rates only a “D” on TrueNicks, but the 3 stakes winners bred on this cross include 2021 2YO G1 winner Angel Bleu and 2021 2YO G2 winner Malavath, as well as the 2021 G1P 2YO Cachet and 2021 G3P 2YO Juncture — so we believe this to be a case where the nick rating will look better in the near future than it does today. And Coffee Pond’s family has already had success with this sire-line, as well, having produced the likes of G3 winner Talwar (by Raging Bull’s grandsire Acclamation), stakes winner Bruges (by Marju, who descends from Try My Best as does Raging Bull), and stakes winner Osumi Tycoon (by Marju’s sire Last Tycoon).
Physically, Raging Bull has a good bit more leg and length to him than many European-breds (including the compact Coffee Pond herself), which likely explains his ability to stretch out a little further than many Dark Angels — and that should also make him a more successful American turf sire (both commercially and on the racetrack) than he could otherwise be. It also makes him an excellent fit for Coffee Pond, and hopefully their foal will have a bit more of his scope and stretch — to go along with plenty of speed and talent!