Maryland Thoroughbred

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Maryland-bred champions of 2006
The Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) has announced the Maryland-bred champions of 2006.

Les Arcs was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, as well as champion older male, sprinter and turf runner, in the annual poll conducted by the MHBA.

Bred by James Moran’s Elk Manor Farm in North East, Md., Les Arcs rose from obscurity as a 6-year-old last season to establish himself as a top sprinter in England. He won the Golden Jubilee Stakes-G1 at Royal Ascot on June 20, and 20 days later captured England’s most prestigious sprint race, the July Cup-G1 at Newmarket, each time defeating international sprint star Takeover Target. He also won the Cammidge Trophy at Redcar (in his first turf outing of the season, on March 25) and just missed in Newmarket’s Abernant Stakes.

Les Arcs, a gelding by Arch—La Sarto, by Cormorant, was consigned by Moran to the 2001 Keeneland September Yearling sale, where John Ferguson bought him for $140,000 on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Stable. After a disappointing effort in the fall of his 3-year-old season, he was offered at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training sale. His current owner, British soccer agent Willie McKay, bought him at that auction for the U.S. equivalent of approximately $63,000. Les Arcs labored unimpressively at middle distances, and made a failed attempt at hurdles as a 4-year-old, before being transferred to the barn of trainer Tim Pitt in the fall of 2005. Under Pitt’s handling, Les Arcs bankrolled $855,075 during 2006, bringing his career total to $959,662.

Les Arcs is one of only two Maryland-bred runners to earn the Maryland-bred Horse of the Year title in races outside of this country. The other was El Gran Senor, Europe’s champion 3-year-old colt in 1984. Les Arcs is the second Maryland-bred champion to represent Moran, who also bred 2003 juvenile filly champion Richetta. Moran still owns Les Arcs’s dam, La Sarto, who he claimed for $25,000 in 1994 at Saratoga. Also the dam of stakes winner White Mountain Boy, La Sarto was due to foal this season to Two Punch.

Other divisional champions

Champion 2-year-old male: Clifton Park (dk.b./br.c., Allen’s Prospect—Cat Nap, by Storm Cat). Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Laura Schrock and Allen’s Prospect Syndicate; owned by Trade Winds Farm (Tom and Connie D’Ambra); trained by Bruce C. Jackson.

Champion 2-year-old filly: Spectacular Malibu (gr./ro.f., Malibu Moon—Spectacular You, by Spectacular Bid). Bred by Charles H. Hadry and Constance H. Hadry; owned by Country Life Farm; trained by Michael J. Trombetta.

Champion 3-year-old male: Ah Day (b.g., Malibu Moon—Endette, by Thirty Eight Paces). Bred by K.T. Leatherbury Assoc., Inc.; owned by The Jim Stable (King T. Leatherbury); trained by King T. Leatherbury.

Champion 3-year-old filly: Livermore Valley (dk.b./br.f., Mt. Livermore—Secret Prospect, by Allen’s Prospect). Bred by Robert Hahn; owned by Conover Stable (Robert Hahn); trained by James T. Ryerson.

Champion older female: Promenade Girl (b.m., 2002, Carson City—Promenade Colony, by Pleasant Colony). Bred by Sondra and Howard M. Bender; owned by Sondra D. Bender; trained by Lawrence E. Murray.

Champion steeplechaser: Good Night Shirt (ch.g., 2001, Concern—Hot Story, by Two Punch). Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman; owned by Sonny and Ann Via; trained by Jack Fisher.

Four of the seven 2006 Maryland-bred champions were sired by stallions who stood in this state at the time of conception. Malibu Moon, who stood at Country Life Farm in Bel Air, Md., until relocating to Kentucky, is represented by champions Spectacular Malibu (from his last Maryland-sired crop) and Ah Day. Clifton Park is from the final crop of Maryland’s all-time leading sire Allen’s Prospect, who stood 17 seasons at Country Life before his death in September 2003. Concern, sire of Good Night Shirt, was relocated to Oklahoma from Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md.

A committee of seven Maryland racing writers selected all champions except the steeplechaser, who was named by Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred steeplechasing writer Joe Clancy Jr.