• American Freedom was a FREAK. He had more natural talent than most of the Grade 1 winners I've trained - Hall Of Fame Trainer, Bob Baffert
• Dominant winner of the GIII Iowa Derby and the Sir Barton Stakes, and runner-up in both the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and the Grade 1 Travers Stakes
• Defeated all three Classic winners in his crop - Nyquist, Exaggerator and Creator - and earned a higher 3YO Beyer Speed Figure (104) than all three   
• Defeated the mighty Gun Runner on both occasions they met
• A dazzling debut winner over 7 furlongs at Santa Anita, earning a 98 Beyer and a 3/4 Thorograph number
• Absolutely Gorgeous son of the Great Pulpit who was a $500,000 September Yearling purchase by Gary and Mary West
• Airdrie Stud and the Wests have committed to breeding no fewer than 120 of their own mares to American Freedom in his first three seasons at stud!

• THE #1 FIRST-CROP SIRE BY GRADED STAKES WINNERS & GRADED STAKES HORSES 
• FIRST CROP GRADED WINNER, CAIRO CAT (G3 Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs)
• #2 First-Crop Sire with 19 winners!      
• TDN Rising Star: Qahira dominated on debut in a Del Mar MdSpWt, winning by 4 3/4 l. in 1:10 2/5 with an 87 Beyer on Nov 25th
• TDN Rising Star: Mihos, a highly touted runner from Jimmy Jerkens' barn, made a wide move and won geared down by 1 1/4 l. at Aqueduct for Centennial Farms on Nov 24th
• Giza Goddess, a $200,000 yearling purchase and John Shirreffs trainee, dominated a MdSpWt at Del Mar on Dec 1st, drawing off by 5 1/4 lengths for an easy victory becoming #19 for Cairo Prince 
• Mont Perdu was a geared-down 4 length winner on debut at Kyoto (JPN) on Nov 17th. Bred by Bluewater Sales & Three Diamonds Farm.
• Silent Surprise won a Keeneland MdSpWt for the Estate of our late friend, Tommy G. Ligon, and Will Van Meter. Congratulations to his widow, Terri, on a heart-warming victory
• Pakhet was runner-up in the G2 Jessamine S. at Keeneland on 10/11 following her impressive MdSpWt victory at Belmont for Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Todd Pletcher
• Enjoyed his first "Super Saturday" on September 15th when he had 4 winners: 3 MdSpWt winners and Cairo Cat's breakthrough G3 Iroquois S. win!
• RECORD-PRICE for an OBS yearling at the 2018 October sale: $340,000 for a colt out of Minutia, sold to Mark Casse on behalf of Mr. John C. Oxley
• 2018 Yearlings: $450,000, $350,000, $340,000, $220,000, $200,000, $200,000, $190,000, etc.
• 2018: First-crop juveniles sold for $500,000, $400,000, $375,000, $350,000, etc.
• 2018: Second-crop yearlings averaging $135,000 and have a median of $140,000 
• 2017: First-crop yearlings averaged $150,786, over 15x his Freshman year stud fee, with median of $115,000
• A phenomenal 43 of his first-crop yearlings sold for $100,000 or more, including a $900,000 colt.
• His 2nd Crop Weanlings (2017 Avg: $89,643) sold even better than his 1st Crop Weanlings (2016 Avg: $87,850)!
• "They have a lot of leg, a lot of quality and are good movers. They look like sound horses and they are so consistent. He's an extremely good-looking horse himself, and he's very dominant." Mike Ryan, Blood Horse Daily 9/18/17 
• "They are very well balanced horses. I won't be surprised to see them run early. They are just very athletic, a very uniform bunch of horses." David Ingordo, TDN 9/17/17
• "They've been good-looking horses and their veterinary work has been impeccable. He's got a chance to be a tremendous sire." Barry Eisaman, DVM, TDN 10/4/17
• A brilliant 2YO who won the Nashua [G2] in just his second start to remain undefeated.
• A dominant victory in the Holy Bull [G2] by 5 ¾ in his 3YO year cemented his position as the Kentucky Derby [G1] favorite.
• His stakes-winning and graded-placed dam Holy Bubbette is by Horse of the Year and Champion 3YO Holy Bull. His half-sister, Nonna Mia, is the dam of 2016 Grade 1 Wood Memorial victor Outwork.

• The best ever by leading sire, City Zip
• Debut winner and Graded-placed at 2, Multiple GSW at 3 and 4
• Posted triple-digit Beyers in all 6 of his starts in 2017, including 115, 114, 111, etc.
• 5-time Graded Stakes winner, he defeated the mighty Arrogate when winning the G1 Pacific Classic
• Defeated Accelerate (rec. 2 lb) by 14 lengths in a tour-de-force performance in the G3 Precisionist S.
• Gallant runner-up to Gun Runner in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, defeating 3yo Champion West Coast, Arrogate for the second consecutive time, and many more
• Undefeated in his first 7 starts on a fast dirt track
• $170,000 OBS March purchase by Marette Farrell on behalf of Peter Fluor & KC Weiner’s Speedway Stable LLC
• From the female family of Blushing Groom, he is inbred 5x5 to his dam, Runaway Bride

Click here to read Chris McGrath's article on Creative Cause from the June 28th issue of the TDN

11 Lifetime Black Type Winners

Current 2yos include: CREATIVE INSTINCT, undefeated 2 1/4 length winner of the Generous Portion S. [DMR]. Bred by Dr. Mike Harrington, she was a $285,000 purchase by Justin Casse at OBSMAR from Wavertree Stables; PRIMARY CAUSE, an impressive debut MdSpWt winner on Oct 6th for Barry & Carol Conrad and Bret Calhoun, CRAFT SHOW, etc.

Sire of G1-winning millionaire, PAVEL, an emphatic 3 3/4 length winner of the G1 Stephen Foster H., who is now going to the Champions Cup in Japan on Dec 2!

G3 Ms. Grillo winner, SIGNIFICANT FORM, dominant winner of the Memories Of Silver S. at AQU on her 3yo debut, going 1 1/16 in 1:40 4/5. "She was spectacular. Could be the best 3YO Turf filly in the country", Andy Serling [Twitter].

MGSW MY BOY JACK has won the Lexington S. [G3], the Southwest S. [G3], and the Zuma Beach S. (at 2), and rallied from last to 5th in the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

SKYLER'S SCRAMJET won the G3 Tom Fool H. with a 103 Beyer.

CREATIVE THINKING won the Keertana S. at Churchill Downs by 5 lengths on her stakes debut for Airdrie Stud & Tom Proctor, earning a 92 Beyer.

The blueblood filly, REMEDY, followed up an impressive 5 3/4 l. Allowance win with a runner-up finish to She's A Julie in the G3 Remington Park Oaks on 9/30, in her first stakes start, and will run next in the G3 Comely S. at AQU

Other Stars on the track include the multiple stakes winners TWISTED TOM, NIKKI MY DARLING & A. P. ZONA.

FOUR STAKES-WINNING JUVENILES IN 2017, while no other Second Crop Sire had more than ONE!

2017 Yearlings up to $500,000, 2017 2YOs up to $850,000!

• Grade I Winning Millionaire - By a Grade I Winning Millionaire - Out of a Grade I Winning Millionaire
• Grade I Winner and Eclipse Finalist at 2
• Grade II Winner and Classic Placed at 3
• Defeated every horse he ever ran against, including Grade I Winners I'LL HAVE ANOTHER, BODEMEISTER, UNION RAGS, PAYNTER, HANSEN, and GEMOLOGIST
• Largest crops are his yearlings and 2-year-olds of 2018

Include's September Sale was highlighted by a stunning $250,000 colt from Sierra Farm, purchased by D. J. Stable!

Victress became Include's newest Graded Stakes winner with a victory in the G3 Ballerina S. at HST, rallying from 7th to get up by a neck. Previously a SW and Graded placed, Victress now has 5 wins and 4 seconds in her 14 lifetime starts. 

Brereton C. Jones' homebred Hey Niki was 2nd in the Winter Melody S. on Oct 10th on her stakes debut, and is now 3-for-5 lifetime and stakes placed

Picture Day has finished in the exacta in 6 of her 7 starts in 2018, and has won 8 times lifetime, with earnings of $347,455

6 SW & 12 SH in 2018, also including K P Wildcat, who has won 13 of 19 starts, including 9 stakes races; 3yo filly Midnight Soiree who won the Martha Washington S. at GP.

Sire of recent 2yo Stakes Horses Group Text and Include Edition

Sire of 11 Grade I Stakes Winners, and 30 Grade I Stakes Horses worldwide

2015-2018 Stars include:

• SAMBA INC (G1) 
• INCLUDE BETTY (G1) 
• DON INC (G1)
• BOCA INC (G1)
• SOBRADORA INC (G1) 
• ALL INCLUDED (G3)        
• RIKER (G3)
• AVANTI BELLO
• JOINT RETURN
• K P WILDCAT
• MISS INCLUSIVE
• GI-Winning Millionaire who recorded 13 triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, including back-to-back 117 Figures
• Provides total outcross for A.P. INDY, MR. PROSPECTOR and NORTHERN DANCER line Mares
• Broodmare sire of Grade 1 winner Sam's Sister, and millionaire, Sunday Wizard (JPN)

• MGSP NETWORK EFFECT, bred by Louis Jolin, was runner-up in the G2 Remsen S. and the G3 Nashua S. following his brilliant debut MdSpWt victory at Saratoga 
• Airdrie-bred BACKTOHISROOTS won the Atlantic Beach S. at AQU on Nov 10 by 5 3/4 lengths! In his previous start he was a game 2nd (btn. 1/2 l.) to Uncle Benny in the Futurity S. Uncle Benny went on to finish 2nd (btn. 1/2 l.) in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs in his next start
• MISS MARIU, bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds, closed from last to 3rd in the Juvenile Fillies Turf S. at GPW on Nov 10
• Gorgeous Peter Pan S. (G2) winner by leading sire Proud Citizen
• Impressive 4 ½-length MdSpWt winner at 2 going 6 furlongs
• Top class at 3 when winning the Peter Pan S. (G2) and finishing 2nd in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and Risen Star S. (G2)
• Won the G3 Mineshaft at 4, finished a close second to G1 winner Graydar in the G2 New Orleans H.
• A talented and versatile race star that is passing on his exceptional looks
• Airdrie and Woodford Thoroughbreds have supported the stallion with no fewer than 90 of their own mares during his first three years at stud

• Precocious: An Undefeated Grade 2-winning 2yo from one of North America's most prolific sirelines
• Multiple Graded Stakes Winner and Track Record Setter at 3
• Superior miler speed with an electrifying turn of foot: McCraken won 6 of 7 starts at up to 1 mile 1/16th
• A TDN Rising Star, McCraken was a rare debut-winning juvenile for the patient Ian Wilkes' barn, before completing an undefeated juvenile campaign with emphatic victories in the Street Sense S. and G2 Kentucky Jockey Club S.
• He set a New Track Record and remained undefeated when winning the G3 Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs on his 3yo debut, with a 1 1/2 length defeat of subsequent G1-Belmont S. winner Tapwrit, to whom he conceded 6 lb
• Following a rough trip in the G1 Kentucky Derby, McCraken returned with a facile romp in the G3 Matt Winn S.
• In the G1 Haskell Inv. McCraken made an explosive wide move to seize the lead at the head of the stretch, only to be caught in the last jump by a surging Girvin, with Practical Joke, Battle Of Midway, Irish War Cry, etc. behind
• A winner and Graded Stakes-placed at 4, McCraken retired with a record of 14: 6-1-3 and earnings of $869,728
• "McCraken was one of the most naturally talented horses I have ever been around, and his turn of foot was second to none. He took the Whitham family and our stable on a great ride, and I look forward to training Grade 1 winners by him in the future." - Trainer, Ian Wilkes
• McCraken is the second foal out of the Seeking The Gold mare, Ivory Empress, a young Graded Stakes-placed sprinter whose first foal, Bondurant, is also Graded Stakes placed. Ivory Empress is out of the Graded Stakes winner and Grade 1-placed, Madame Pandit, who is also the dam of the Grade 1-winner, Mea Domina.

• Also represented by Six-Figure yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton July & Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Yearling Sales, as well as several more at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale
• Purchasers of his first-crop yearlings include Chad Brown, Steve Young, Mike Ryan, Cromwell Bloodstock, Glen Hill Farm, Kip McCreery, Crispin de Moubray, Ciaran Dunne, Powerstown Stud (IRE), etc.
• Look for his First-Crop of Two-Year-Olds in winners' circles near you in 2019!
• Exceptional First-Crop Weanlings sold for an average of $100,667 and a median of $100,000 in 2017
• Top-price of $200,000 for a weanling colt purchased by Steve Young
• Has bred at least 100 mares each of his first 3 years
• Millionaire son of the great War Front
• Undefeated multiple stakes winner at 2
• Graded stakes winner at 3, 4 and 5
• GII winner and 5-times GI placed
• Drop dead gorgeous – 16.1 hand individual that is all class
• $475,000 Steve Young purchase from War Front’s 2^nd Crop
• Half-brother to the Grade I Hollywood Starlet victress Laragh
• Exceptional miler with a renowned turn of foot
• 1:32 4 in the GI Shoemaker
• 1:33 in the GI Kilroe S.
• 1:33 in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile
• 1:33 3 in the GIII Hill Prince S.
• All the ingredients needed to follow in his special sire’s hoofprints.

• "The Upstart foal I bought was THE BEST LOOKING WEANLING I SAW during the entire November sale", Brian Graves
• The Highest First-Crop Weanling Average ($64,733) and Median ($60,000) of any $10,000 Kentucky Freshman Stallion 
• Multiple Graded Stakes Winner of over $1.7 Million
• Stakes Winner and dual Grade 1 Placed each year from 2 to 4
• Flatter’s Best Two-Year-Old
• The East Coast’s Top Rated Derby Prospect Following his Brilliant 5-Length Score in the GII Holy Bull Stakes
• Saratoga Debut Winner and Stakes Winner at 2, earning a sparkling 102 Beyer Speed Figure
• Placed in the GI Champagne Stakes and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes
• Defeated the Top Class Frosted twice in First-Place Finishes in the GII Holy Bull and GII Fountain of Youth Stakes at 3
• Winner of the GIII $350,000 Razorback H. at 4
• Finished his Career with Back-to- Back Placings in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile and Grade 1 Whitney Handicap
• An Absolutely Gorgeous Individual with Size, Scope and Class
• Trained by the late, great Rick Violette