Despite an admirable race career that saw him go (48) 13-9-11 with wins in a pair of graded stakes races and earnings of over a million dollars, Weigelia had to do things the hard way at stud. Supported at the outset pretty much exclusively by his owners at WynOaks Farm and their close relatives at St. Omer’s Farm, Weigelia proved that he was capable of passing on something resembling his own ability and durability, rather than the much more limited qualities his own pedigree implied (by Safely’s Mark out of an Obligato mare). Now in the twilight of his career, he has sired a dozen black-type winners from 180 runners, with average earnings per starter of over $93k in his career and an AEI of 1.37 vs. a CI of just 1.05. Those stats are super impressive, and that low CI indicates just how much Weigelia has had to overcome to achieve what he has.
Beren is very much his father’s son, and retires to stud beside Weigelia at WynOaks for the ‘25 breeding season. Campaigned from 2YO through 6YO, Beren won 12 of 35 starts and earned just under a million dollars. Seven of his wins were in black-type events, from 6 furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth. In addition to numerous stakes at Parx and Penn, Beren also won two black-type events at Belmont Park and the historic Frank DeFrancis Dash at Laurel. In addition to his 12 wins, Beren placed in 11 races of which nine were black-type stakes, including the Grade 3 General George. He won on fast and wet tracks and had loads of speed, but also won his longest race — the two-turn Crowd Pleaser — by 9-1/2 lengths “under wraps.” So Beren has all of that same versatility that Weigelia has brought to the table as a stallion. He’s also out of a heck of a racemare in the Grade 3 winner and millionaire Silmaril, who won 16 of her 36 starts. Speed, versatility, durability and class — Beren has it all and comes by it all honestly, and he makes a fascinating addition to the Pennsylvania sire ranks where our black-type runner and producer Faze the Nation will be part of his first book of mares.
Faze the Nation won seven of her 27 starts and earned $226,295 while racing from 2YO through 5YO — so not quite as accomplished as Beren, but plenty durable in her own right. She was a winner at 2, 3 and 4YO (and placed at 5YO), from 5-1/2 to 7 furlongs, on fast, muddy and sloppy dirt tracks, including a streak of four straight wins at 2 and 3YO — so her proclivities match up pretty closely with Beren’s own. She was a two-time allowance winner, and finished 3rd in the black-type Miss Disco Stakes at 3. Her younger half-sister, Malibu Moonshine, was the Maryland-bred champion 2YO filly of ‘22, and another half-sister, Malibu Hooch, was black-type placed as a 2YO in ‘24.
Faze the Nation’s first foal, Flamingo Faze, won her 2YO debut for trainer Phil Schoenthal and then finished 3rd in the black-type Rosie’s Stakes in her second start to get Faze the Nation’s breeding career off on the right foot. (Her second foal, Concrete Faze, is also a multiple winner.)
What makes Flamingo Faze even more noteworthy here is that she’s a daughter of Mosler, he in turn a son of War Front, by Danzig — meaning the same sire-line that Beren comes from (Weigelia’s sire, Safely’s Mark, is also a son of Danzig). Faze the Nation’s family has had additional success with this sire-line: under her 3rd dam is Danzig’s G2 winner Greek Sun, plus G3 winner Fiscally Speaking by Danzig’s son Belong To Me, as well as the G3-placed pair of Bondurant (by War Front) and With Dignity (by War Front’s son Declaration of War).
Faze the Nation is a daughter of Cal Nation, by Distorted Humor, and Weigelia sired three winners from four runners out of mares by Distorted Humor (plus two more winners from daughters of other sons of Forty Niner). TrueNicks rates the cross a “C+” with a pair of G1 winners.
Also of note here is that Faze the Nation’s own broodmare sire is Malibu Moon, and Weigelia’s first-crop black-type winner Brenda’s Way is out of a Malibu Moon mare.
Physically, Faze the Nation is a stocky, muscular, quick-looking mare and Beren is also powerfully-made but with a bit more scope to him — but they should absolutely produce a quick and durable foal to earn us breeder bonuses for a long time once it reaches the races!