This dark bay or brown colt by Hard Spun offers a combination of proven sire power, a high-class female family and several interesting connections to horses that have already excelled at the highest level.

Hard Spun has been one of the most dependable stallions in the country for well over a decade. The Grade 1-winning son of Danzig has sired 115 black-type winners and six champions, with progeny earnings exceeding $172 million. West Point Partners know his ability firsthand through Hard Not to Love, our one-eyed Grade 1 winner who captured the La Brea Stakes (G1) and Santa Monica Stakes (G2). Another of Hard Spun’s champions is Questing, winner of the Alabama Stakes (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).

That connection is particularly interesting because Questing appears directly in this colt’s female family. She is out of his third dam, Chercheuse, and this colt is bred on a similar pattern to the champion filly. Questing was named champion 3-year-old filly after her brilliant Saratoga campaign and later became the dam of multiple stakes winner Adventuring, who earned more than $900,000.

His dam, Cover Version, was a tough and versatile runner herself, winning five races in the United States and earning nearly $250,000 while placing in both stakes and the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3). This colt is only her second foal.

There is also an interesting sales connection. This colt was offered by the relatively small Nicky Drion Thoroughbreds operation, which sold Hard to Justify for $190,000 from Book 3 of the Keeneland September Sale in 2022—a similar price point. Hard to Justify went on to win the Miss Grillo Stakes (G2) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

He will be trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, whose program has been responsible for some of the sport’s most accomplished horses, including Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish, two-time champion sprinter Elite Power, and Horse of the Year Sovereignty. Mott also knows the Hard Spun line particularly well through Bold Journey, a horse he developed from a maiden winner at two in 2021 into a graded stakes winner at age seven. Earlier this year, Bold Journey captured the Tom Fool Stakes (G3), providing a great example of the longevity and durability that have become hallmarks of Hard Spun’s offspring.

Price includes acquisition, training, veterinary, and insurance expenses until January 1, 2028.