Square Eddie foals finish first and second in Graduation Stakes

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club races Aug. 5 included the Graduation Stakes whose top two finishers were both sired by Vessels Stallion Farm stallion Square Eddie.

Mrazek won the 5 1/2-furlong race for two-year-olds bred or sired in California. The colt had a winning time of 1:03.77 and finished 3 1/4 lengths in front of second-place Ralis, who crossed the finish line 5 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Swiss Minister.

"That's phenomenal," said Kevin Dickson, the farm manager at Vessels Stallion Farm.

Mrazek and Ralis are owned by J. Paul Reddam, who also owns Square Eddie, and trained by Doug O'Neill. "It's a good team," Dickson said. "It doesn't surprise me really that they're having this success."

The race had a total purse of $100,000. The $57,000 first-place share and the $19,000 for second place added $76,000 to Square Eddie's offspring earnings, giving him $423,049 for the year from his two-year-old foals. "It's pretty cool," Dickson said.

"Very pleased with the way things are going," Dickson said. "Everything's looking good for a great season, and there's more to come."

Square Eddie took over the lead in two-year-old offspring earnings. Scat Daddy was second with $401,973. Scat Daddy has 154 two-year-old foals. Square Eddie has 37 two-year-olds, including nine two-year-old runners. "He has fewer runners, fewer two-year-olds," Dickson said.

Scat Daddy stands in Kentucky, as do the next three stallions on the list. The only other California stallion in the top 10 is Lucky Pulpit, whose $271,000 of two-year-old offspring earnings ranked sixth. Lucky Pulpit has 83 two-year-olds including 24 runners. His four-year-old foals include 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome.

"He's right there among some very nice horses," Dickson said of Square Eddie's sire rankings.

The top position may change as offspring of different sires win stakes races, so Square Eddie has not been the leading sire of two-year-olds for the entire year. "He did stop for a while there," Dickson said. "He held the top position more weeks than any horse."

Square Eddie was foaled in Canada on April 4, 2006. He was sired by Smart Strike out of Forty Gran. Square Eddie won three of his 18 races during his on-track career from 2008 to 2011 and was trained by O'Neill after being stabled in California.

Square Eddie's paternal grandsire was Mr. Prospector, who won seven of his 14 career races before he began leading the nation in offspring earnings. The descendants of Mr. Prospector also include 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another, who is owned by Reddam and was trained by O'Neill.

Reddam uses O'Neill, Ben Cecil, and San Luis Rey Training Center trainer Edward Freeman to train Square Eddie's foals. "He's very good at assembling a good team around him," Dickson said. "It starts, though, with mating these mares."

Reddam is a part owner of Mrazek's dam, Heckuva Rush, and owns Ralis' dam, Silar Rules.

Square Eddie began his stud career when he was still racing. His first foals started racing in 2013. His 13 foals who raced in 2013 earned $473,045 and, in February 2014, the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association honored Square Eddie as the freshman sire of the year for 2013.

The 2015 Graduation Stakes gave Square Eddie foals first and second in a Del Mar stakes race for the second time. In the July 2013 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes race, a 5 1/2-furlong competition for two-year-old fillies, Sprouts and Eddie's Curl swept the top two finishing positions. Both of those fillies were trained by Freeman.

"It felt like deja vu to me," Dickson said.

The Vessels family is involved primarily in quarter horse racing. In Excess became the first thoroughbred stallion purchased by the Vessels family shortly after his retirement from racing in 1992. In Excess passed away on May 17, 2013, at the age of 26, and by the end of that year his offspring had earned more than $43 million. "In Excess was a phenomenal horse," Dickson said.

In Excess was inducted into the CTBA Hall of Fame at the same banquet which honored Square Eddie as the 2013 freshman sire of the year.

"Square Eddie put Bonsall on the thoroughbred map," Dickson said. "Square Eddie has brought Bonsall and Reddam Racing back to prominence in the breeding industry."