Muscles Yankee rates highly among get of Valley Victory

Since the announcement of the retirement of Muscles Yankee after his recent Breeders Crown win, I thought it might be interesting this week to review the siring performance of Valley Victory, and offer some analysis as to just where "Muscles" ranks among the offspring of our most successful current trotting sire.

For starters, Muscles Yankee is the third leading money-winning son or daughter of Valley Victory, trailing only Continentalvictory and Lookout Victory. Muscles Yankee earned just over $1.4 million in his two years at the races, with 15 career wins and a record of 1:52 2-5. That mark is second only to Continentalvictory, who at 1:52 1-5, is Valley Victory’s fastest performer to date. Muscles Yankee made 21 starts total at two and three, which is just about the average number for one of Valley Victory’s successful offspring.

A REVIEW OF THE NUMBER OF STARTS MADE BY VALLEY VICTORY'S GET

I tallied up the number of actual starts made by the most important of Valley Victory's progeny and found that Lookout Victory was the most durable of all his top performers. Though her European records are not readily available in the U.S., it is safe to say that Lookout Victory, who was a two-time winner Breeders Crown winner, and also won the Hambletonian Oaks and the World Trotting Derby filly stake in her North American campaign, is the most enduring of Valley Victory’s champions. The 1998 Kentucky Standardbred Sale catalog credited her with 22 wins, and more than $1.5 million earned, so it is safe to say that she must have started more than 40 times in her career.

It is rather interesting to discover that the Valley Victory offspring who are longer lasting are the fillies and mares. In fact, of his most prominent get, the top four in number of starts are all females, including Lookout Victory, Continentalvictory, Lifelong Victory and Act Of Grace. Continentalvictory made 29 starts at two and three; Lifelong Victory raced 28 times in three seasons, and Act Of Grace faced the gate 25 times.

MOST GET ONLY A FEW GLAMOROUS STARTS

A long, productive career is not the hallmark of the Valley Victory set. They come along quickly, flash their brilliant ability, and then are gone, sometimes before the average fan can even take note. For example, it is interesting to learn that none of Valley Victory’s most famous sons had the same kind of durability as his fast females. Victory Dream made 22 starts at two and three, and Muscles Yankee, Donerail and Lindy Lane all made exactly 21 starts. Yankee Glide raced only 17 times in two seasons; Mr Vic appeared in only 12 races at two and three, and Dancer’s Victory started ten times, all at two.

The average number of starts for the top ten sons and daughters of Valley Victory is 20. It must be acknowledged that this statistic does not compare very well to those of other successful horses of recent vintage like Pine Chip, who raced 35 times; or American Winner, who made 27 starts. Garland Lobell, one of our top sires now, who raced a little more than a decade ago, made 63 career starts! Malabar Man, Horse of the Year and Hambletonian winner a year ago, made 31 starts. Mack Lobell raced nearly 100 times. Mr. Lavec, another international star, faced the gate on 44 occasions. And Sierra Kosmos raced 30 times at two and three.

HOWEVER, THERE IS A VERY HIGH WINNING PERCENTAGE

While the average number of starts for the most successful Valley Victory offspring hovers around the 20 start plateau, it should also be noted that the average number of wins in those 20 starts is more than 12. As an old trainer friend of mine said long ago, " There may not be much gas in the can, but what is there is all pretty high octane stuff."

The conclusions of this study are pretty obvious. Trainers of the Valley Victory offspring have to be certain they pick their spots carefully. If a trotting colt or filly can be expected to race an average of only 20 times at two and three, their careers must be managed carefully, and it is very important to choose their racing opportunities carefully. Of these prominent offspring, only Lookout Victory and Lifelong Victory show any measure of longevity in their careers. Muscles Yankee looks to have been a sound horse, and his trainer Chuck Sylvester has said he had no major problems that affected the horse’s soundness. Still, Sylvester was mindful of the reputation of the Valley Victory offspring, and was protective and careful in choosing the racing opportunities for Muscles Yankee. Sylvester encountered much criticism, it should be remembered, for skipping the potential three heats of the World Trotting Derby as he prepared Muscles Yankee for his unsuccessful assault on the Triple Crown. There is little doubt that some of the factors at work in that decision had to do with the fragility of Valley Victory’s previous get.

THE MARKET FOR A VALLEY VICTORY IS VERY STRONG

This lack of long racing careers has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of owners in their pursuit of Valley Victory offspring. He has led the way to the virtual explosion in popularity that trotting now enjoys in North America, and he is the first Standardbred sire ever whose yearlings routinely average more than $100,000. Though he is still a very young horse, as he will be but 13 years of age on January 1, Valley Victory has accomplishments as a sire that are unrivaled in the industry. His siring totals are already the envy of all his competitors. From only five crops of at least three years of age, he has produced three Hambletonian winners, including Victory Dream, Continentalvictory and Muscles Yankee. From only six crops of racing age, including his current two-year-olds, he has more than twenty in 1:55, led by Continentalvictory, who at 1:52 1-5,is both his fastest and richest performer.

Muscles Yankee is next with his 1:52 2-5 score in the 1998 Hambletonian final, followed by World Trotting Derby filly winner Act Of Grace at 3,1:52 3-5; Beacon Course winner Lindy Lane and Armbro Mascara at 1:53; World Trotting Derby and Kentucky Futurity winner Bullville Victory at 3,1:53 1-5; Hambletonian Oaks champion Must Be Victory at 3,1:53 2-5. Then comes the resilient Federal Yankee at 4,1:54; the world champion Lifelong Victory and Mr Vic at 3,1:54 1-5; and the iron-tough Lookout Victory, whose US mark of 1:54.3-5 is also shared by the Merrie Annabelle winner Armbro Monarch.

CONTINENTALVICTORY LEADS THE MONEY PARADE

Continentalvictory also leads the money-earning list, with $1.6 million, just ahead of the resilient Lookout Victory. Muscles Yankee is the leading male money-winner with more than $1.42 million. Two other millionaires round out the top five, including the Italian star Record OK and the aforementioned Bullville Victory. Three other talented fillies appear in Valley Victory’s top dozen money-winners, including Armbro Monarch, who banked more than $670,000, while Goldsmith Maid winner True Blue Victory has nearly $560,000. 1997 Breeders Crown winner My Dolly, with nearly $450,000 in her often spectacular career, rounds out the top twelve money-winners.

Another point also is obvious. Valley Victory has not yet produced a spectacularly fast two-year-old. Continentalvictory again leads this department with her 1:55 3-5 Breeders Crown win, a mark matched by Musical Victory last week in the Breeders Crown, while Donerail is still the fastest freshman Valley Victory colt at 1:55 4-5, also his career mark. Musical Victory, tied as her sire's fastest freshman, also became her sire’s fourth winner of the Breeders Crown freshman filly event in just the last five years, joining previous winners My Dolly, Continentalvictory and Lookout Victory.

Valley Victory set a world record winning his Breeders Crown two-year-old colt event in 1988, but no son of Valley Victory has won the season-ending freshman feature. San Pellegrino, a son of Valley Victory, was second in this year’s world record final, and was officially timed in 1:54! Lookout Victory and Muscles Yankee are Valley Victory’s lone Breeders Crown three-year-old winners.

Three sons of Valley Victory, including Donerail, Yankee Glide and Dancer’s Victory, all won the Peter Haughton final, but Armbro Monarch is his lone Merrie Annabelle winner. Lookout Victory and Must Be Victory are Hambletonian Oaks winners, and Bullville Victory and Continentalvictory both took home the silver in the World Trotting Derby open race, while Act Of Grace and Lookout Victory won the companion WTD filly event.

From my vantage point, the Valley Victory progeny are clearly superior in many ways. But they also offer some challenges. Soundness is always an issue. But bravery is not. Anybody who saw Victory Dream’s raw courage in the late stages of his brilliant three-year-old campaign could ever offer any criticism of that horse in my presence. And Continentalvictory’s victory in the World Trotting Derby was as great a showcase of superior trotting talent and determination that has ever been witnessed in any of our classic events. As impressive as her dual-heat Hambletonian was (the fastest ever, I would remind you) the World Trotting Derby was a tour de force of the highest order, calling upon all her bountiful resources.

THEY ARE VERY DETERMINED HORSES

This determined personality type is one of the best qualities of Valley Victory’s offspring, but this blessing is also a curse. They have a willing desire to go forward even in the presence of pain, and this is often their undoing. When the average colt or filly will not try to advance in their training, the Valley Victory’s still have the desire to try and go forward. This often works to their disadvantage. Nearly every trainer who has any experience at all with a Valley Victory will tell you the same thing. Even with problems, the Valley Victorys want to get to the races.

Where does Muscles Yankee fit in all of this? First, he would appear to be the soundest of all of Valley Victory’s previous male offspring. He made all the big races in the last two years with the exception of the World Trotting Derby, which was omitted from his schedule. He also raced and won on a half-mile track at both two and three, and seemed to handle four turns with no problems. Secondly, he was a tremendously powerful, good-gaited, clean-going horse with high speed and good racing manners. Muscles Yankee made breaks at two in the finals of both the Breeders Crown and the Valley Victory stakes, but those breaks were attributed to track surfaces, and did not reveal a significant weakness. Muscles Yankee did not make another break during his entire career. He is the fastest son of his great sire, and has a splendid pedigree, which I reviewed in this column after his Hambletonian win. He is a bigger, coarser horse than either Donerail or Victory Dream, but does not have Victory Dream’s overall physical appeal. He is much more similar in type to Lindy Lane and Mr Vic, two of the taller sons of Valley Victory already in the stud. Among Valley Victory’s sons, Muscles Yankee also won 15 races, and that is second only to the 16 wins recorded by Donerail in his abbreviated career. Victory Dream won 12 races over two years and Lindy Lane won 11 times.

CHAMPIONS FROM EACH AND EVERY CROP

Valley Victory also has produced champions in each of his crops. His first crop included Bullville Victory, Victory Dream, Armbro Monarch and Armbro Mascara. His second crop, foals of 1992, included Donerail, Lookout Victory, Lifelong Victory and Divine Victory. The third crop, a most remarkable group, foals of 1993, had not only Continentalvictory, but also Act Of Grace, Lindy Lane and Mr Vic. The fourth crop, born in 1994, included the ill-fated Must Be Victory and Yankee Glide, and the fifth crop, foals of 1995, includes Muscles Yankee, True Blue Victory and My Dolly.

The amazing thing about Valley Victory’s production is that all of this success has come from very few foals. For example, Muscles Yankee is from a limited crop of only 42 foals. This shortage of supply and high demand has created a very virile market. For the 1999 breeding season, Valley Victory’s stud book has been reduced as his well-publicized fertility problems persist. What is encouraging, and what has led to the bold $15,000 fee for Muscles Yankee’s initial season, is the early siring success of Victory Dream, also a very infertile horse.Donerail was well-received at this fall’s yearling sales with his first crop of yearlings. Lindy Lane and Mr Vic will follow in 1999, with Yankee Glide following in 2000, while the first crop of Muscles Yankee will not see the sales ring until the year 2001. I am quite sure the $15,000 opening fee for Muscles Yankee will not be a deterrent to the breeders clamoring for access to this robust bloodline.