The Evil Empire's First Racing Crop

Original article written by Autumn Blackmill posted 5 months 3 weeks ago

The Evil Empire
Storm - Diabolical X, by King of Stars

Breed the best to the best and hope for the best is an oft used saying in the horse racing world. The Evil Empire fits the bill. His breeding is impeccable. By a top stallion and out of one of the best racemares to ever hit the track. He was born for greatness and proved it on the track, winning 24 races while never finishing worse than second in his 32 starts. He is a 15 time Grade 1 winner, taking races at all sprint distances, and is the only DS horse to breach the $10 million mark. Essentially, he was the perfect horse on the racetrack, and I believe he will pass that on to his offspring.

“But” you might say, “His stud fee is tremendously expensive for a Dirt Sprinter. Is he really that much more impressive than the other, more established stallions standing at stud?” Well, let’s count the ways shall we?

Thus far, he has had substantial success in his first crop to race. He is the sire of Grade 1 winning Warbringer, as well as the Grade 2 winning fillies Meta Moon and Beat the Heat. From his first crop, he has 25 individual stakes winners from 117 starters. That’s a 21% strike rate for stakes winners, putting him in the upper echelons of stallions standing at stud right now, Dirt Sprint or not. His progeny earnings just passed the $4 million mark, and with the big week 16 races still to run he is sure to bolster that number before the year ends.

Speaking of week 16, he has entries in all of the big two year old races. A filly in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies Sprint (Meta Moon), three colts in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Sprint (Mitre Delta, Sooley, and Warbringer), and a colt-filly pair in the Two Year Old Sprint Championship (The Coach, and The Female Mind). All have a decent shot at victory, and with the precocity that The Evil Empire showed it wouldn’t be surprising if he got a big time winner before the year is out.

As far as rankings go, The Evil Empire is represented with 7 of the top 50 two year olds as ranked by active points, and has 11 of the top 50 spots as ranked by active speed figures. He also has 8 of the top 50 top timing yearlings this season. In all cases that is more than any other stallion on the list.

When we look at The Evil Empire’s pedigree, we see that the sire-line descends from the mighty Walk Off Grandslam. However, his foals will have this big horse pushed back to the 4th generation in their pedigree. This allows for Walk Off Grandslam mares or mares with this stallion prominent in their pedigree to be bred without worry of more inbreeding. His female family is more interesting, as both his dam and his sire’s dam are both descended from the same line. This gives you a double dose of the most influential mares in the Dirt Sprint game.

And speaking of pedigree, who is he nicking best with?

From his top 7 active points horses we see these dam-sires:
3x Walk Off Grandslam
1x If Looks Could
1x Most Spirited
1x Turn the Tables
1x World Gone Mad

And from his top 8 fastest yearlings this season we have:
2x Walk Off Grandslam
1x Alc Shark On Fire
1x Gangsters
1x If Looks Could
1x King of Stars
1x Sinister Mister
1x World Gone Mad

So, essentially he is crossing well with just about any stallion-line you can think of, from St Longinus to Look I Am Scary and Look Close branches, with a healthy dash of the other stallions in the mix. I also believe he will be a strong broodmare sire, given his own stellar dam-line, though it will be many years before we find out for sure.

Thus, while his stud fee is steep in the dirt sprinting world, it’s not without thought. He is the best of the best in his division, and this is your time to gain access to his incredible dam. If his progeny are anything like him they will display both precocity and long term durability on the track, making them a very good investment. Doubly so if you get a filly for your future broodmare band.

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