America’s Surprise, the half-sister to multple G1 winning heroine Songbird, gave birth to her first foal at Denali Stud in Kentucky on Tuesday (Jan 19).
The colt by leading sire Violence is the first of the year for owners Phoenix Thoroughbreds who are expecting a bumper crop of excitingly bred foals in 2022.
The latest addition to their roster has caught the attention of the group’s followers on social media. Exceptionally well-bred, the colt’s distinctive white-nose is the source of many of the comments the team have received.
Group One and Two-winning breeders in Australia, Phoenix will be hopeful of more success stories from their 2022 US arrivals. All things being equal, the Dubai-based group are expecting over 20 foals, many of them bred in the purple.
Perhaps of particular interest will be the progeny of Grade One winner Dream Tree. Her first foal was a striking filly by world-class sire Curlin and she is now due to give birth in the next week to the offspring of the equally impressive Into Mischief. Pheonix’s Multiple Graded Stakes winner and Kentucky Oaks placed Lady Apple expects her first foal this season. Likely to be a later foaling she is pregnant to Quality Road.
Placed in a Group Three in Ireland and herself by a Galileo mare, Sometimesadiamond can look forward to welcoming the progeny of American Pharoah. Meanwhile, Phoenix was thrilled to support their own co-owned stallion, Volatile. Raced to G1 glory in the Vandervbilt and now standing at stud in partnership with Three Chimneys Farm, he received half a dozen mares from his co-owners, including twice graded stakes-placed Splashy Kisses. Lil Miss Moppet became a fan favourite at Monmouth Park by winning four on the bounce, culminating in Stakes success. She is the expectant mother to Daredevil.