Story by Dave Briggs
Thoroughbred breeder Michael Byrne said he will never forget the day he first saw stallion Frac Daddy.
“I went out, looked at him and said, ‘I’ll take him.’ I loved the horse. He’s a big, strong, correct horse and he’s extremely athletic,” said Byrne, owner of Park Stud of Mono, ON, which stands Frac Daddy, who has made an immediate, deep impact on Ontario’s breeding industry as both Canada’s leading freshman sire and the nation’s leading sire of 2-year-olds for 2019 (
Ontario Racing Stallion Spotlight: Frac Daddy).
“It’s just an achievement to have a leading freshman sire and then have the leading 2-year old sire in Canada on top of that (up against) horses that have been there a long time and had bigger books of mares. It’s very gratifying,” Byrne said, proudly.
That Frac Daddy is a son of Scat Daddy (out of the Skip Away mare Skipper’s Mate) only added to the initial appeal for Byrne who was the agent that sold Scat Daddy’s sire, Johannesburg, as a yearling.
“I was very turned on to Scat Daddy, and I loved Scat Daddy as an individual. So, seeing Frac Daddy was a must for me,” he said. “I fell for the horse right away.”
With his first crop just entering its second racing year, Frac Daddy already is the sire of eight winners, including Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Sovereign Award finalist
Owlette ($208,340, Shady Well S., Victorian Queen S.). Frac Daddy is also the sire of stakes placed
November Fog (3
rd Ontario Lassie S., South Ocean S.) and impressive debut winners
Agnelli and
Cryptic Grip. His first crop earned $628,310, collectively.
“We’re very fortunate in Ontario to have a stallion like this,” Byrne said. “We’re also pretty fortunate to have (Frac Daddy’s owners) Magic City Stable, who agreed to send him to us in the first place and then leave him with us, because there was a lot of speculation that the horse was leaving, he was going to leave the country. People make up these stories, sadly, and it shouldn’t happen, but it did. The horse is not going anywhere and we’re very grateful to the Magic City people… We have a long-term commitment to stand the stallion in Ontario.
“Speaking of support, (Frac Daddy is) advertised at $5,000, and that is for somebody that’s never bred to the horse, never supported the horse in the past. People that have supported and bred to him in the past, they are getting it at $3,500. If they breed two mares they’re getting them for $2,500, plus a free breeding. Unfortunately, the breeding industry has been badly affected in Ontario and we’re trying to do our piece to see if we can’t help revive it somehow.”
All of which — but most notably the horse’s early success as a sire — has already turned into business for Byrne and Park Stud.
“Yesterday, I booked two mares from Manitoba, I booked a mare from Calgary this morning and several breeders that have been supportive in the past are breeding three and four mares to him this year,” Byrne said.
“He's a dream horse. He’s tough, but he’s not mean and he’s one of the best breeding horses I’ve been around since Bold Ruckus. His third breeding of the day will be equal to the first one in the morning. He doesn’t waste any time in the breeding shed.”
Meanwhile, Byrne is relishing watching Frac Daddy’s offspring display many of the same talents that helped their papa earn $712,480 on the track and become the graded stakes winner of five races.
“I’ve seen his Ben Ali (Grade 3) race at Keeneland (in April of 2014)… and that was still when Keeneland was a Polytrack. What impressed me was his versatility, because he had broken his maiden on the dirt at Churchill as a 2-year-old, he was second, only beaten a neck, in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (Grade 2), as a 2-year-old, both on the dirt at Churchill. Then he went on and was second in the Arkansas Derby on the way to the Kentucky Derby where he fell by the wayside a little bit. Then he came back and won the Eclipse at Woodbine, again on Polytrack. Then he won on the grass at Saratoga. So, he’s an extremely versatile horse. Having a polytrack and probably the best turf course in North America at Woodbine, it takes a special horse to stand (in Ontario).”
Beyond versatility, Frac Daddy also has speed as evidenced by the Beyer Speed Rating.
“He ran two 103 Beyers. He had a 103 Beyer in the Grade 2 Eclipse at Woodbine, and won that by five lengths and then in the Ben Ali at Keeneland he ran a 103 Beyer,” Byrne said. “You can see it on YouTube. It’s a very impressive race. You can see him stalking the pace. He just waits and let’s a horse set the pace and then just goes at him. He’s got dead aim on him all the way. He wasn’t one of those come-from-behind horses. Those horses that come from way out of it rarely make stallions… You can see the same (in Frac Daddy’s daughter) Owlette, for example. She either sets the pace or is right on the pace. Most of his offspring have been like that.”
That Owlette was bred and sold by Park Stud is just another nice achievement for Byrne and his operation.
“We sold her very reasonably because all the vets turned her down for her throat. Nine vets failed her because she had a throat issue… She’s the only offspring of (Frac Daddy’s) that we’ve scoped that had an issue, but it hasn’t stopped her running,” Byrne said.
It is an understatement about a supremely talented filly from the first crop of a stallion that could be a game-changer for Ontario’s breed.
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Photos from parkstud.ca
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