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One of the stallions that we are most excited about heading into 2024 is the veteran sire Maclean’s Music. A brilliant winner of his only start when he was awarded an astronomical 114 Beyer Speed Figure — the highest Beyer ever earned by a first-time starter — Maclean’s Music was given a chance at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm and has made the most of his opportunities. He sired Preakness winner Cloud Computing in his first crop (conceived off a $6,500 stud fee), and has since added G1W 2YO Complexity, G1W 3YO Drain the Clock and Eclipse Champion Sprinter (a G1W at 2, 3 & 4) Jackie’s Warrior to his resume, among his 32 total black-type winners (good for a solid 5% of his foals of racing age).
What makes Maclean’s Music even more exciting at this moment is the fact that he’s about to jump from a crop of 2023 2YOs numbering 41 and conceived off of a $20,000 stud fee (out of which he already has six winners, three of whom have also picked up black-type), to a crop of 2024 2YOs numbering around 182 and conceived off of a $25,000 stud fee, which will be followed by two more triple-digit crops conceived off of $50,000 stud fees.
His 2024 2YOs include 113 that sold at yearling sales this year for an average of $118,636 (up over last year’s average of $100,857 for 21 sold), including individuals that brought $625k, $500k, $460k, $400k, $350k, $310k, $300k (x4), $275k (x2), $250k (x2), etc. Purchasers of Maclean’s Music yearlings in 2023 include the likes of the “Avengers” group, Stonestreet, Klaravich, WinStar, Rigney Racing, Cherie DeVaux’s Belladonna group, Mike Ryan, etc.
So we believe that Maclean’s Music is poised to take a big step forward in 2024 and 2025, and at his $40,000 stud fee heading into this breeding season, we think he offers excellent value.
We’ve recommended him for several young Wasabi mares this season, and some of the reasons are going to sound similar to regular readers of this blog.
In the case of American Thriller, first and foremost we like this matchup physically. She is a strapping, stout, almost coarse filly, whereas Maclean’s Music is a medium-sized, very attractive stallion with plenty of substance to him. Hopefully the pairing will result in a foal that’s got a little bit more of his size and scope — and his good looks — without having to compromise on bone and substance. And given that American Thriller’s family — though generally pretty versatile as to its preferred surface and distance — tends towards more classic distance proclivities, the addition of some speed from Maclean’s Music ought to sharpen this foal up a bit, too.
Second, as a young mare who will deliver her first foal in 2024, American Thriller made sense to send to another veteran stallion to make sure that she gets every chance to prove her worth as a producer.
Third, and although he himself is out of an Unbridled’s Song mare, Maclean’s Music has done very well with mares from the Unbridled sire-line, including nine runners and eight winners out of mares by grandsons of Unbridled, of which there are four runners and three winners out of mares by sons of Empire Maker (including a 2023 black-type runner out of a mare by Bodemeister, a son of Empire Maker just like Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of American Thriller’s Triple Crown-winning sire American Pharoah). Maclean’s Music’s sire, Distorted Humor, is responsible for 2023 G3W Durante out of a daughter of Pioneerof the Nile, too.
All of which, we hope, will lead to American Thriller delivering a successful Maclean’s Music foal in 2025!