Pedigree Profile: The Wine Steward
The undefeated two-year-old is bred to be special
The Wine Steward expanded his record to three-for-three with his determined win this weekend in the Funny Cide Stakes. I’ve got a particular fondness for this colt, as his dam was a filly I watchlisted prior to her debut with high hopes. While Call to Service didn’t work out as a racehorse, it’s great to see her first son fulfilling some of that promise.
Call to Service’s pedigree caught my eye largely due to the presence of her dam, Game for More, a daughter of More Than Ready out of a Sea Hero mare. More Than Ready, his damsire Woodman, and Sea Hero all trace to La Troienne’s family 1x, and Game for More herself was a useful filly who was twice stakes placed at Delta Downs. As a broodmare, she produced the graded stakes winners Isotherm and Giant Game, as well as G1 placed Gio Game.
A $150,000 Saratoga select yearling, Call To Service was by the stallion To Honor and Serve, a member of family 4r by family 4m’s Bernardini. She was 0-for-5 in her career, with her best finish coming in her final start and only start for a tag against $15,000 maiden claimers at Woodbine. She sold for $110,000 while carrying Vino Rosso, then sold for $350,000 in foal to Authentic last year - a purchase that seems quite savvy with the success of her first foal.
The Wine Steward was a $70,000 yearling at the Saratoga New York Bred sale, then went for $340,000 at OBS March this year. I love the choice to send Call to Service to a son of Curlin, as she shares her family 19c with that sire. Additionally, Curlin crosses exceptionally well with both Bernardini and More Than Ready - the cross of Curlin over Bernardini has produced 18.5% stakes winners in 54 starters, including G1 winners Clariere and Paris Lights, and the cross of Curlin over More Than Ready has produced 14.3% stakes winners in 28 starters, including G1 winner Structor.
Vino Rosso is a stallion I’ve always been excited for, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how quickly his foals have come out running. He himself was a debut winner and won both of his starts at two, as well as the Wood Memorial, but really came into his own as a four-year-old with a season that culminated in a Breeders’ Cup Classic win. I was prepared to see his stud career follow a similar trajectory to that of his sire - a bit slow early, then catapulting to the top once his first crop started racing at three and four, - but Vino Rosso has had anything but a slow start with his first two-year-olds. He currently sits third on the leading first-crop sire list, with The Wine Steward being the highest earning two-year-old of any freshman stallion.
The Wine Steward started his career off strong with a 6-length win in a five furlong maiden special weight at Belmont, then returned to take the Bashford Manor Stakes at Ellis Park by 2 1/4 in his second start. After adding this gutsy victory to his resume, he’s hinted that he possesses the capacity for both brilliance and tenacity - a dangerous combination. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here! As a son of Vino Rosso, I expect that age and experience will only help this exciting young colt.