Regally-Bred, Grade I-Caliber Homebreds Join Darley Roster
Speaker’s Corner (Street Sense – Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini) and Mystical Guide (Ghostzapper – Music Note, by AP Indy), both Grade I winning homebreds for Godolphin, have been added to the Darley America stallion list for 2023.
The newcomers come from impressive Godolphin families. Speaker’s Corner, who will charge an initial stud fee of $20,000, is out of a daughter of GI Breeders’ Cup winner Round Pond (Awesome Again), while Mystic Guide, a “TDN Climbers” who will go for $15,000 is a son of five-time Grade I winner Music Note.
“We couldn’t be more excited to add Mystic Guide and Speaker’s Corner to our stallion lines,” said Darley Sales Manager Darren Fox. “Speaker’s Corner is a horse that was highly regarded from the start. In the form of many Street Senses and Street Sense himself, he has a great mind. He wanted to train and was very uncomplicated. Mystic Guide was another who showed a lot of talent right from the start. [Trainer] Mike Stidham has been high on this horse since the early days of his two-year season so it was very gratifying to see him fulfilling the full potential and appreciation he has been shown from the early stages of his career.”
Trained by Bill Mott, Speaker’s Corner broke his maiden as a youngster at Belmont against a field of five other future stakes winners. As an easy running 3-year-old, he made two trips to the winners circle, but then blossomed at four when he dropped to a mile. The bay dominated in this year’s GIII Fred W. Hopper S. and GII Gulfstream Park Mile S. before taking his signature win in the GI Carter H., where he pulled off a 114 Beyer Speed Figure. Also in 2022, Speaker’s Corner finished third behind Flightline (Tapit) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Metropolitan H. and second behind Life Is Good in the GII John A. Nerud S. He amassed seven three-digit Beyers in 13 career starts.
Out of the Bernardini unmare Tyburn Brook, Speaker’s Corner is out of the same cross as Maxfield, another Darley sire and Grade I winner. The Street Sense-Bernadini pairing also produced Godolphin’s MGSW Shared Sense.
Fox said Speaker’s Corner reflects the best of both sides of his pedigree.
“He has good shoulder and good depth as we know and expect from the Street Sense and Street Cry (Irish) sire line. He is a correct horse with a lot of quality and has been extremely popular with breeders in recent months.”
Street Sense has been one of Darley America’s best stallions in recent years, but from his early crops his first five Grade I winners were all fillies. Now the resident of Jonabell Farm has the opportunity to make his mark as a sire of sires. For the last three consecutive years he has taken a new Grade I winning son into service. Street Sense’s main earner McKinzie is based at Gainesway Farm and will be represented with his first yearlings in 2023, while Maxfield will see his first foals next year when his studmate Speaker’s Corner begins his own stallion career.
Jonabell Farm’s other new resident Mystic Guide was a popular addition to Darley’s list. Fox said much of the appeal of the G1 Dubai World Cup winner lies in his elite racing pedigree.
Mystic Guide’s dam Music Note raced to Grade I wins at Mother Goose S., Coaching Club American Oaks and Gazelle S. as a three year old, then added GI Ballerina S. and GI Beldame S. at four years old. The daughter of AP Indy is a half sister to multiple Grade I winner Musical Chimes (In Excess {Irish}). Her second dam, It’s In The Air (Mr. Prospector) was a two-year-old champion filly and five-time Class I winner.
“It’s rare for a stallion to be a direct son of such an elite racer,” explained Fox. “Often a stallion is portrayed as the offspring of a winning or unridden daughter of such a mare, but it is not often that you get an elite stallion that is a direct son of an elite mare. This female family is so deep and there really is nothing but Blacktype on his family tree page.”
On the racetrack, Mystic Guide followed in the footsteps of the many talented artists on its family tree page. He earned TDN Rising Star status in his second start as a three-year-old, and later that year notched his first stakes win in the GII Jim Dandy. Also at three he finished less than a length behind Happy Saver (Super Saver) in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. and placed in the GIII Peter Pan S. At four he earned a 108 Beyer in the GIII Razorback H. Previously to win the G1 Dubai World Cup.
This victory marked Godolphin’s ninth Dubai World Cup success, but the first achieved by their US-based racing team. It was also the first win outside the United States for coach Michael Stidham.
“It was very special for Godolphin to win the Dubai World Cup with a homebred horse and a horse from the United States,” said Fox. “It was the first time Michael Stidham had been shipped to Dubai on a horse for Godolphin, so it was very special for him to come away with the big win on his first try. Mystic Guide has made us proud at every step of his career and the Dubai World Cup was certainly the highlight of that.”
Fox added that he believes Mystic Guide has all the qualifications to replicate his own track success with his future offspring.
“You can tell Mystic Guide was bred for the dirt as he is by Ghostzapper out of an AP Indy mare and was certainly very enjoyable to watch on the track. He had a very efficient way of walking, a real daisy-cutter action. He is a large, striking chestnut with a good length and hip. He certainly looks like he has all the attributes to be a top dirt sire.”
