The first reported foal from the initial crop by 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was born at Brookdale Farm early morning Jan. 3, the family-run operation announced.
Born at 12:30 a.m., the bay colt is the first foal out of the Tizway mare Kakadu. Kakadu is a half sister to multiple grade stakes winner Protonico and is from the immediate female family of Chilean champion and grade 1 winner Wild Spirit.
"It's very exciting," said Fred Seitz Jr. of Brookdale Farm. "For a first foal, he's a very nice, very attractive type. Personality wise, I think he seems like he's going to take after his dad with that mellow-type personality. Most babies are kind of skittish and want to run around behind their mother but he's not that type. You walk in the stall and he comes right up to you and starts chewing on your hand. He seems to be real bold and have that fun personality.
"He's what you look for if you're breeding Thoroughbreds, I think."
Kakadu is owned by Oussama Aboughazale of International Equities Holding Co. Seitz said the owners have not made a decision yet on who Kakadu would be bred to in 2017 but that the decision to be part of American Pharoah's first book was close to a no-brainer on their end.
"The owner has the whole family. He has the sister, a couple brothers, and also has sons of the sister already of this mare," Seitz said. "He and we regard this as a very nice, up-and-coming family. When American Pharoah retired, it was obvious he wanted to breed a couple mares to him."
American Pharoah stood his first season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in 2016 commanding an advertised fee of $200,000. According to report of mares bred statistics released by The Jockey Club, the son of Pioneerof the Nile covered 208 mares in his initial season including such grade 1 producers as Untouched Talent, dam of Bodemeister , and Arch's Gal Edith, dam of dual classic winner I'll Have Another . By the end of the breeding season, 47 grade 1 winners or producers were in foal to American Pharoah.
American Pharoah's fee has been listed as private for the 2017 season.
Trained by Bob Baffert and campaigned by Zayat Stables, American Pharoah capped off his historic 2015 season with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) en route to earning Horse of the Year honors. In addition to his Triple Crown sweep, he recorded grade 1 wins in the Del Mar Futurity, FrontRunner Stakes, Arkansas Derby, and William Hill Haskell Invitational and retired with nine wins from 11 starts and $8,650,300 in earnings.
