Quality Road juveniles firing

Quality Road had a career year in 2017, siring Eclipse Award champions Abel Tasman and Caledonia Road. His momentum has continued this year with a strong summer with his 2-year-olds, capped by Bellafina’s victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.

Bellafina, who finished second in her debut, won her maiden in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes. She won the Debutante by 4 1/4 lengths last Saturday.

Quality Road, an Elusive Quality horse who stands at Lane’s End, was also represented by a stakes-winning juvenile on the opposite coast this summer, as Stillwater Cove won the Bolton Landing Stakes on the Saratoga turf. Stillwater Cove, a Keeneland debut winner in the spring, had previously finished off the board in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Quality Road’s other stakesperforming juveniles over the summer were Ellis Park Juvenile winner Tobacco Road; Roadster, an impressive Del Mar maiden winner who finished third in the Grade 1 Futurity on Monday, the meet’s closing day; and Good Good, who was third in the Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga.

Spendthrift stakes discontinued

Spendthrift Farm has announced that it will discontinue the Spendthrift Stallion Stakes at Churchill Downs after October’s renewal, citing a refusal by the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee to give black-type consideration to the race. The race is restricted to runners by Spendthrift sires.

The $300,000 race for 2-yearolds is set for Oct. 28 during Churchill’s fall meeting, kicking off Breeders’ Cup week. Under its agreement with Churchill, Spendthrift has supplemented the entire purse for the Spendthrift Stallion Stakes, with half the purse money distributed to the breeders of the top four finishers.

“I am disappointed that the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee has told us they will not give black-type consideration to the Spendthrift Stallion Stakes going forward, and that significantly limits the race’s ability to grow,” Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes said in a press release issued by the farm. “Because of that unwillingness, we will be discontinuing our support of the race after this year and, instead, shift our focus to other ways we can help breeders.”

The North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee’s standards for awarding black type to a race state that the race must have a minimum purse value of $50,000 available for distribution on the day of the race; have a Black-Type Race Quality Score equal to or above the established minimum Race Quality Score for its age and sex division; close at least 72 hours in advance of its running; have a fee paid for entry; have a total purse value available for distribution on the day of the race equal to or greater than the established minimum; have all entries be eligible for the purse money used to determine the minimum purse value for black type; not have restrictions other than statebred, nonwinners of a sweepstakes, sales graduates, or state- or province-based stallions’ progeny; and not contain a preference clause based on criteria unrelated to the quality of the horse if such clauses could possibly exclude any horse of superior quality from competing.

The Spendthrift Stallion Stakes was first run in 2016, with Warrior’s Club taking down the $300,000 event. The colt has gone on to become a graded stakes winner. Last year, the race was run in two $200,000 divisions. Fight On defeated Captivating Moon in the male division, while Sultry defeated eventual Grade 2 winner Mia Mischief in the filly division.

Taylor Made enters Europe

Taylor Made Sales Agency, a perennial leading consignor in North America, will offer its first European consignment at the Tattersalls December mare sale, set for Dec. 3-6 in Newmarket, England.

In a press release, the Taylor family cited a strong market between the United States and Europe as a reason for its expansion. American-breds are having another strong year in European racing, including Taylor Made-raised sale graduate Roaring Lion winning multiple Group 1 events this year.

The sales agency plans to offer fillies and mares with graded or group stakes success on both sides of the Atlantic in England this fall and plans to expand into France in the future.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our customers’ chances for success,” Mark Taylor, vice president of public sales for Taylor Made, said. “The Thoroughbred marketplace is becoming more interconnected than ever before. We believe that our initial consignment at Tattersalls will maximize the value of our customers’ horses while also opening up many new relationships. We have also developed a working relationship with Haras De Gouffern, whom we will present a consignment with at Arqana in 2019.”