Though the day belonged to Justify, Quality Road’s offspring racked up two Grade One wins on the Belmont undercard, with Abel Tasman taking the Ogden Phipps S. by 7 ½ lengths, and Spring Quality winning the Manhattan S. But that was just the beginning. Paved won the Honeymoon S.-G2 at Santa Anita; Road to Victory won the Alywow S. at Woodbine; Lionite won the Prairie Mile S. at Prairie Meadows. At just 12 years old, and with only his fifth crop now running, Quality Road is number six on the leading sires list, and the youngest sire in the top ten, and has more Grade 1 winners than any other stallion. Let this sink in: he is ahead of Tapit on the leading sires list.

An imposing, large horse with a lovely pedigree representing the Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer cross, and an addition of Alydar on his dams’ side, Quality Road seems to love the addition of just about any Northern Dancer line mare. Both Abel Tasman and Spring Quality are out of Deputy Minister mares, and Lionite is out of a Summer Squall mare. Examining his best offspring, Northern Dancer-line mares are dominant as producers with him, especially Dixie Union mares and the above-mentioned Deputy Minister mares, though he also loves mares from the Storm Cat line—his first crop Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1 winner, Hootenanny, is out of a Hennessy mare. In theory, he should also nick well with A.P. Indy line mares, with his dose of Secretariat through Gone West, along with Sir Ivor in his sire line, and his Nijinsky II in his dam’s background.

Among the winners from Belmont Saturday, it’s also worth noting that Paved is out of a Cozzene mare, while Road to Victory’s second dam is by Cozzene. This would seem to be a new nick that is developing this year.

So I must forgive Quality Road, as he is the real deal. We are witnessing what seems to be the beginning of a stellar career at stud.

-- Roberta Smoodin