It’s no secret how much we like the young Maryland stallion Blofeld, and you’ve seen us mention multiple times probably that his first crop so far contains 14 winners from his first 14 runners (out of just 24 foals in his first crop)- an absolutely outstanding statistic. With these first runners suggesting that Blofeld might be a sire on the rise, we have booked several mares of our own to Blofeld this year, and have recommended him to numerous Mid-Atlantic-based clients for their mares. One of those mares heading his way on our recommendation is the eight-time winner You Made It.
As well as Blofeld’s first crop has performed — including a two-time winner out of a mare by Congrats, the sire of You Made It — what makes us most excited about him for You Made It is the fact that he is a grandson of Elusive Quality, who is also the sire of leading Mid-Atlantic sire Great Notion, and You Made It’s female family has had repeated success with Great Notion. So we’re hoping that carries over to Blofeld being that he’s from the same sire-line.
Specifically, You Made It’s half-brother Hurricane Nation is a durable campaigner by Great Notion who has so far won two races, and another Great Notion half-brother is a 2YO of 2022 that cost an impressive $38,000 last year as a yearling. You Made It’s dam, the multiple stakes winner Heaven Knows What (by Holy Bull), is half to the multiple stakes winner Doing Great, by Great Notion, and their half-sister What Am I Gonna Do is the dam of two stakes winners by Great Notion in Great Soul and Valued Notion.
TrueNicks gives the Quality Road/A.P. Indy cross a “B+”, and it includes G1 winners Emblem Road, Dunbar Road, and Bellafina. As mentioned already, Blofeld himself has a winner on this cross, too — plus Congrats, Malibu Moon (broodmare sire of Bellafina and another Quality Road stakes winner) and Pulpit (broodmare sire of a Quality Road-sired stakes winner) are all bred very similarly being by A.P. Indy out of Mr. Prospector mares, while Bernardini (broodmare sire of Emblem Road and Dunbar Road) is also by A.P. Indy and out of a mare by Mr. P’s grandson Quiet American. The Elusive Quality/Holy Bull cross is good for an “A+” nick (and Holy Bull also has plenty of pedigree similarities to Quiet American, too, with names like Aspidistra, Rough N’ Tumble and Mahmoud appearing close up in both pedigrees).
So there is plenty on paper to recommend this mating.
Physically, Blofeld is a tall, long, leggy horse with plenty of substance to him, as contrasted with the shorter, chunkier You Made It, who is built like the wickedly-fast sprinter that she proved to be on the track. We’re hoping here for a nice blend of these two builds, and a quick, talented foal.