Undefeated in three starts as a juvenile, Blofeld is from the initial crop of the now-leading sire Quality Road. With his victory in the historic Futurity Stakes at Belmont, Blofeld became the first ever graded stakes winner for his sire. He went on to add additional graded victories to his resume at 2- and 4-years-old before his retirement to Maryland’s Murmur Farm in advance of the 2018 breeding season.
Both Quality Road and Blofeld’s dam, the Storm Cat mare Storm Minstrel, were bred and raced by the top Virginia horseman Edward P. Evans. Storm Minstrel traces back through European champion 2-year-old filly Minstrella to the American Hall of Famer Gallorette, who is Blofeld’s 6th dam. This is also the female family of current leading American sire Gun Runner, who shares his 4th dam, Flight Dancer, with Blofeld.
Despite having covered moderately-sized books of mares resulting in no more than 25 foals per crop during his first four years at stud, Blofeld’s runners quickly established him as the most promising stallion in the Mid-Atlantic once they reached the races. Amazingly, his first fourteen foals to race were all winners. With that 100% strike-rate heading into the 2022 breeding season, Blofeld’s number of mares bred that year skyrocketed to a reported 86.
His second crop contained the winners of both the male and female Maryland Million juvenile races in 2022, Johnyz From Albany and Chickieness, respectively, as well as the black-type winner Alpine Mist. In 2023 he was again the most popular stallion in the Mid-Atlantic, covering a reported 97 mares this time around, and his third crop saw him sire another Maryland Million juvenile winner in the filly Miss Harriet later in 2023.
Beyond those four black-type winners, Blofeld has gotten six additional black-type runners, including the Grade 2-placed Fletcher. That adds up to ten total black-type runners from his first 54 runners, which works out to a sparkling 18.5% — the best percentage of any stallion outside of Kentucky (per a November 22, 2023, list in the BloodHorse Daily).
As of December 8, 2023, Blofeld’s foals’ average earnings/starter sits at an excellent $78,606, and his Average Earnings Index (AEI) of 1.44 is well-above the 1.13 Comparable Index (CI) of his mates, meaning he is moving up his mares quite substantially. No fewer than seventeen of his runners have earned six figures.
He will stand for a live foal fee of $5,000 again in 2024 at Murmur.
Two of Blofeld’s four black-type winners, specifically the Maryland Million Lassie winners Chickieness and Miss Harriett, are out of dams by Storm Cat-line stallions: Harlan’s Holiday (sire of Shanghai Bobby and Into Mischief, the latter, in turn, the sire of Goldencents, Maximus Mischief and young local stallion prospect Engage) and Sea of Secrets, respectively. Blofeld’s black-type placed Beach Daze, an earner of over $300,000, is out of a mare by the local Storm Cat grandson Gators N Bears, who was by Stormy Atlantic. The Storm Cat son In Case is the broodmare sire of a six-figure earner by Blofeld, and After Market is also the broodmare sire of a successful runner by Blofeld. This would suggest that mares by Storm Cat’s regional sons Lion Hearted, Cat Thief and Freud would be worth trying with Blofeld, as would those by his grandsons Etched, Fairbanks and Talent Search, plus his great-grandson Wiseman’s Ferry (especially since the latter is a son of Hennessy, who sired the dam of a first crop Grade 1 winner for Quality Road). Recent leading sire Scat Daddy is a grandson of Hennessy, and his daughters and granddaughters would also be interesting with Blofeld, as would mares by current local sire Bourbon Courage, whose own sire is a grandson of Storm Cat. Recent New York addition Bucchero is also from this latter branch of Storm Cat; his daughters, too, would be interesting with Blofeld.
The next most successful cross for Blofeld so far has been with mares from the A.P. Indy sire-line. Blofeld’s black-type-winning son Johnyz From Albany is out of a mare by A.P. Indy’s grandson Oratory, and black-type placed Strong Willed has a dam by Stephen Got Even, a son of A.P. Indy. Oratory is a son of Pulpit, responsible for leading sire Tapit, whose sons would work with Blofeld, as would the daughters of other local A.P. Indy and Pulpit sons Corinthian, El Padrino, Friesan Fire, Jump Start (out of a Storm Cat mare, so doubly appealing), Rock Slide, Scipion and Super Ninety Nine. Quality Road has sired two Grade 1 winners with dams by Bernardini, which makes daughters of his formerly Maryland-based son Buffum especially interesting for Blofeld. Quality Road also has a Grade 1 winner out of a Malibu Moon mare, and the latter’s son Freedom Child stood locally; his daughters could work here. A.P. Indy, of course, is a son of Seattle Slew, whose son General Meeting is also the broodmare sire of a winner by Blofeld.
Blofeld’s fourth black-type winner so far, Alpine Mist, is by the Danzig son Brahms. Another of Danzig’s sons, Exchange Rate, is the broodmare sire of an accomplished Blofeld runner, as well as of a Grade 1 winner by Quality Road, so this is a cross worth pursuing further. The Danzig grandson Magna Graduate is the broodmare sire of a pair of Blofeld winners, and Danzig’s formerly local son Polish Numbers is the broodmare sire of a Grade 1 winner by Quality Road. Other Danzig descendants who have stood in the Mid-Atlantic and whose daughters ought to cross well with Blofeld include Outflanker, Partner’s Hero, Rimrod and Weigelia. Danzig’s sons War Front and Hard Spun are both still successful Kentucky stallions, and their locally-based sons Mosler, Peace and Justice, Royal Artillery and Wicked Strong will have daughters that could fit Blofeld.
Maryland-bred Dixieland Band went on to a successful stallion career in Kentucky, and his son Dixie Union is the broodmare sire of a trio of Grade 1 winners by Quality Road. Dixie Union’s son, Union Rags, has so far produced three winners from three to race by Blofeld, including a six-figure earner, and another of Dixie Union’s sons, Overanalyze, is also the broodmare sire of a Blofeld winner. Disco Rico, by former longtime Maryland stallion Citidancer (a son of Dixieland Band and also the sire of Maryland-based stallion Cherokee’s Boy) has had two daughters produce winners by Blofeld, one of those a six-figure earner.
Quality Road is also the sire of three Grade 1 winners from dams by Deputy Minister or his son Dehere, and Blofeld is already the sire of winners out of mares by Yarrow Brae (two six-figure earners), Ghostly Minister and Desert Warrior (all three sons of Deputy Minister), as well as one from a mare by the Deputy Minister grandson Posse. Other Deputy Minister-line stallions who stood locally and whose daughters could fit well with Blofeld would include Defrere, Medallist (by Touch Gold) and Talk Is Money.
From just two foals out of a mare by Wild Again, Blofeld has sired a pair of black-type and six-figure earners. This sire-line also includes Clever Trick and Phone Trick.
Blofeld also has two black-type earners out of mares by sons of Mr. Prospector, specifically Not For Love and Kitalpha (a full-brother to Kingmambo, sire of Lemon Drop Kid and grandsire of local stallion Charitable Man, whose daughters would be interesting with Blofeld). Another locally-based son of Mr. Prospector who is the broodmare sire of a Blofeld winner is Two Punch, while Preakness winner Afleet Alex (by the Mr. Prospector grandson Northern Fleet) has sired the dam of a six-figure earner by Blofeld. Meanwhile, Quality Road is the sire of a Grade 1 winner from a mare by Silver Ghost, from the same female family as Blofeld and whose daughters would be interesting here because of that.
Blofeld has two winners from mares tracing to the Fappiano branch of Mr. Prospector’s sire-line, once via Unbridled’s son Broken Vow, the other through Unbridled’s Song’s son Rockport Harbor. Gun Runner, who, as mentioned above, shares a female family with Blofeld, is by the Fappiano grandson Candy Ride, and is inbred to Fappiano — that makes his daughters (and those of his full-brother Fortune Ticket, who stood briefly in Maryland) interesting with Blofeld.
Louis Quatorze, who pre-dated Blofeld in the Murmur Farm stallion barn, is the broodmare sire of four winners by Blofeld already, including a pair of six-figure earners. Both Louis Quatorze and Blofeld have the Blue Hen mare Grey Flight twice in their pedigrees, once each through that one’s Broodmare of the Year daughter Misty Morn, which makes the success of this cross unsurprising.
Blofeld has a winner from just one runner out of a mare by Medaglia d’Oro, who is also the broodmare sire of the 2023 Preakness winner by Quality Road. This means daughters of Medaglia d’Oro’s Maryland-based son Golden Lad are worth considering with Blofeld, and as Medaglia d’Oro is a son of El Prado, mares by that one’s son Kitten’s Joy could also work.
Blofeld has a six-figure earner out of a mare by More Than Ready (who traces to the Halo/Roberto sire-line, which has re-risen in prominence recently as Japanese runners by Sunday Silence and his sons and grandsons have achieved success around the globe), and more of these mares could be successful with Blofeld as well.
Finally, although Blofeld has not yet sired any runners from Blushing Groom-line mares, Quality Road has sired a Grade 1 winner with a dam by that one’s grandson Najran, which would make daughters of the locally-based Bop, During and Orientate — all from this sire-line — worth considering with Blofeld.
— George Adams, Housatonic Bloodstock // December 8, 2023