New Stallions Cover First Mares

ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 24, 2010) -- California has seen an influx of promising stallions and they�ve just covered their first mares of the new breeding season.

Grade I winner Square Eddie, who stands at Vessels Stallion Farm for a $5,000 fee, is booked to 30 mares already for 2010, including the full sister of Devil His Due.

A son of Smart Strike, Square Eddie earned $819.336 and won the Breeders� Futurity.

Dixie Chatter, who stands at River Edge Farm for $5,000, covered the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Pride of Pegasus, who was purchased by Herman Sarkowsky out of the Barretts January Sale for $60,000 in foal to Candy Ride.

"We�ll breed him to 60 or 70 mares and I think that�s pretty good," said Russell Drake, farm manager at River Edge.

A top 2-year-old of 2007, Dixie Chatter won the Norfolk Stakes and received the second-highest weight among 2-year-olds ranked on the Experimental Free Handicap. In three stakes-winning seasons, the son of Dixie Union earned $464,606, winning four of 13 starts including the Oceanside Stakes as a 3-year-old and Arcadia Handicap as a 4-year-old.

Grade I winner Idiot Proof, who stands for $1,500 at Ballena Vista Farm, covered his first mare, Battledress, a daughter of Elusive Quality.

"The mare is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Marty Wygod, who raced Idiot Proof," said farm manager Manuel Ochoa. "The Wygods are supporting the stallion. I think we�re doing okay the first year. The book will probably be around 40. He�s taken to the shed very well."

A 2004 son of leading California sire Benchmark out of Perfectly Pretty by Bertrando, Idiot Proof won five races in a 17-race career and earned $1,294,484. Idiot Proof broke his maiden first out at Hollywood Park as a juvenile, going five furlongs. He won on both dirt and synthetic surfaces.

Kafwain�s first mare covered was the Hansel mare Queen Livia, which is owned by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

"We have 50 mares booked to Kafwain," said farm manager Mike Allen. "We�re hoping to have a bigger book, bringing an up-and-coming, young stallion to the state, not an older one that has cooled off. We think he has a lot of potential. A lot of people are impressed when they see him. He�s real balanced. We�re getting some very good mares from outside farms, like Golden Eagle and Harris Farms."

Kafwain, a multiple grade II winner in California, will stand in 2010 at Tom and Debi Stull�s Tommy Town Thoroughbreds near Santa Ynez for a $5,000 fee.

Kafwain, who won the Norfolk and San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita and the Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar, stood the 2009 breeding season at Alfred Nuckols Jr.�s Hurstland Farm near Midway, Ky.

The first mare bred to Papa Clem at Legacy Ranch was Bo Hirsch�s In Excess mare Won Four Dad. Speaking for the owners of the stallion, Gayle Van Leer said Papa Clem �seems to be taking to his new job very well."

Van Leer said Papa Clem is already booked to a full sister to multiple stakes winners Unusual Suspect and Golden Doc A, as well as a full sister to Lethal Heat.

Papa Clem is a 4-year-old son of Smart Strike who was retired after winning the recent San Fernando Stakes. He won last year�s Arkansas Derby, placed in four stakes and had earnings of $1,121,190. He stands for $7,500.

The first mare Southern Image covered in California was Madeleine�s Song, owned by Mercedes Stable.

Southern Image, who stands for $5,000 at Rancho San Miguel, is a son of Halo�s Image out of Pleasant Dixie, by Dixieland Band. He�s a three-time Grade I-winning millionaire.

He won the Grade I Malibu as a 3-year-old, the $1,000,000 Grade I Santa Anita Handicap, and the Grade I Pimlico Special, earning a 118 Beyer Figure. Southern Image also won the Sunshine Millions Classic and had career earnings of $1,843,750 from his six wins in eight starts, having never run off the board.

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