Homebred Champion Essential Quality Takes His Place in Darley Stud Barn

Essential Quality, winner of the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2021 GI Belmont and GI Travers, has taken up stud duty at Darley America. The son of Tapit will stand for a fee of $75,000 in 2022 and has already been well-received among the breeders.
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[@sueparkin1218]

Such a beautiful looking horse.I love grey horses.

[@patty.baffert]

@Sue Parkin, He is a beauty with flawless conformation. The only thing I don't like about Grey's is that they turn white with age! 😄

[@lespangen]

Plus such an athletic walk 😬👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️

[@patty.baffert]

@@lespangen Yes! 💯💯💯

[@JPwhoknows]

I they it looks ugly

[@jasonzapata5179]

I'm a miss him on the track. Retired too soon. Always ran with alot of heart ❤ 💙 🥰

[@karaamundson3964]

Simply magnificent. A spectacularly special horse in a year of standouts--that's the way we love 'em!

[@peskycitizen7582]

I got to see him when he was a week old and still a bay with grey goggles. I would have loved to see him run as a 4YO.

[@frostedicepharoah7723]

It’s a shame he’s retired; I thought this horse could be the one to revive a new age of American horse racing. But it was still a great career for Essential Quality. Looking forward to his success as a sire.

[@nataliemar3183]

Brad Cox is a huge doper that’s why they don’t run as long as they used to

[@montanawarren8462]

@@nataliemar3183 well the Baffert girl just told me he was married to a veterinarian doesn't that explain it....&if that's so they don't know anything but drugs and operations the same as people doctors! Drug addicts only last a couple years they're either in institutions or dead....drunks will last 20 or 30 years

[@montanawarren8462]

Yes mr. Frosted I thought he was Tapit's finally going to get a Derby winner! But that was before his transmission give out, but he still run big races with a broken transmission All heart!!!

[@malgorzataplucinska1153]

@@montanawarren8462 What an unfair and unjustified opinion about Mr. Brad Cox and his wife.

[@montanawarren8462]

@@malgorzataplucinska1153 well I can see you haven't been around long enough to see the pharmaceutical companies in & the drug industry takeover the veterinarian care of these race horses you might look at your own doctor's way of treating you.....just a suggestion

[@abdullahaboobakker1758]

Good Luck Son 👍

[@studiokazuyo]

I have never seen this much dignified horse in my life time. Shining!

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

Absolutely gorgeous grey, love him

[@jenniferbeyer6412]

I had hoped to see him next year. He is a great looking horse. Can't wait to see his goals. That's about 3 years from now. Love Tapit breeding and most of the horses from him are grays. Grays are my favourite. Thank you his owners for allowing us to watch your grand colt run his races. And for the video letting us fans know how he is doing.

[@mariabykofsky4502]

All the best to Champion Essential Quality, he will sire future great ones!!!

[@pocahon8460]

I love that u respect him and it doesn't seem just like a sales pitch. Kisses mints and carrots EQ I have loved u and rooted for u all along

[@l13last]

Too soon,❤️, Hope he has a great retirement

[@kayeroskaft9619]

He is a gem. I wish him the best. Have always loved the grays, maybe because my first cat was a gray.

[@spirituallifecoachinginsti7207]

BEAUTIFUL GREY CHAMPION..........I WANT TO MEET HIM IN 2022 TRIP........ALSO CURLIN....MY FAVORITE OLDER CHAMP ALIVE.......!!!

[@bishlap]

I'm always excited to see a gray/dappled colt/horse like EQ or Frosted.... Essential Quality is a horse of a different color and quality for sure.

[@keeferdog5617]

75k OUT OF THE BOX- HELLO!

[@jimcunningham61]

Sounds a bit dear to an unproven sire

[@indychoate8350]

It’s in “The Blood!” What an animal. What “Bloodlines!

[@terryrussel3369]

In his Great x 4 and 5 grandsire ancestry Mr. Prospector, Northern Dancer and Secretariat are mentioned three times each. Seattle Slew is also mentioned along with a few other exceptional Sire's and Dams. 10-9-0-1 with $4.7 million in winnings

[@patrickpaes6653]

He has great blood lines.

[@karaamundson3964]

So happy to see beyond the sire. He really does have some shiny apples on the family tree

[@JPwhoknows]

Doesn’t mean the offspring will be any good.

[@patmcstuff671]

I love gray horses, and this will help create more, go gray!, tougher than the rest

[@wadelapan5756]

I guess the Travers footage is on the cutting room floor. That's a win that looks pretty good in the resume.

[@lanettarollison4726]

My favorite horse😊❤👏

[@ratherbwithhorses]

His momma is intelligent and it's good breeding for that as well as the physical.

[@adotintheshark4848]

his daddy Tapit was a grey too

[@davidg.s.hounslow1663]

Great story. Cheers

[@kim.in.nature.]

As close to perfect as I have ever seen! And a gray to boot.

[@fahadsm7029]

What amazing A sire horse

[@CajunAdrienne]

He's beautiful!

[@renajsh]

He would have made an even better racer at 4, but I heard that many stud farms cannot afford the insurance on their horses when they turn 4, so they retire them.

[@johnwalsh3215]

It will be interesting to see how white he becomes years from now. Terrific horse! He will be missed on the track!

[@thechampion9525]

Breders cup champion ??

[@mikecrawford73]

nice this dude is going to breed some kings and queens $$ i can't wait to see his kid's run

[@cmmarsden]

Retired so early. Why? Such a beautiful grey horse.

[@juliofigueroa1843]

I feel that he could of run one more year but that’s how it goes sometimes..

[@ladyspartafitness]

In the post parade for the classic it looked like he was slightly unsound. Not surprised at all hes retired and going to stud so soon.

[@DoubleDogDare54]

If he was moving in a manner which indicated he had a problem, he never would have passed the vet inspection and Saez would never have risked his life and the life of the horse riding a lame horse 10f. Riders can tell when a horse isn't moving normally. He would have done what riders are allowed to do - report the situation and have the horse scratched. As this was the colt's last race anyway, Darley would rather have a live horse than a necropsy report on what caused the catastrophic breakdown on the far turn.

[@montanawarren8462]

@@DoubleDogDare54 he ran with his head cocked to the right doesn't that tell you something? Veterinarians don't know everything you know....

[@DoubleDogDare54]

@@montanawarren8462 He ran with his head to the right in the Travers. Check the replay. Its online. So, doesn't that tell you something? Like, horses will often tilt their head to see clearer and get better depth perception. EQ is one of those horses.

[@montanawarren8462]

@@DoubleDogDare54 well if you know anything about a horse being balanced that tells me there's something wrong and how many of these veterinarians know anything about Ass end troubles.... I didn't watch that race and I'm not going to pull it up, but my experience has been that when their head goes to the side there's something wrong....and beings how he's trained at Churchill Downs all year I would say that track finally got to him... you know they keep it like a paved surface for the Derby but after the Derbies over it loosens up to the river bottom sand that it is and it cups out with a big strided horse like for example Skipaway, he couldn't handle the track it cupped out with him it was the only track he didn't win on....but Brad Cox is newer to the game..... he hasn't learned that yet, I don't think, we'll see....

[@montanawarren8462]

@@DoubleDogDare54 PS for example: Barbaro.... you could tell he was off in his right hind leg when he was in the post parade.....the jock NOR the vets NOTICED THAT!

[@tontastoner6115]

So glad is retired and ready to make beautiful foals.

[@jamessills5802]

He should have had a 4 yo campaign

[@adotintheshark4848]

I'll stand for a fee for quite a bit less than that.

[@fugetabouit6591]

Should be racing next year...but hey its the era of Greed and decline of horseracing. No standout horses that. run till they'd turn 4 or 5 straightt to the breeding shed. Sad times in the Horse Racing Industry.

[@elmayitoacosta9170]

Cniks go es el mejor

[@nightowl7459]

I don't think Essential Quality was given the best of rides in the Breeders Cup Champion Stakes.

[@DoubleDogDare54]

But they didn't have the confidence in him he could run successfully as a 4yo............that's a shame.

[@valerieteti1755]

Unfortunately there’s more $ to make in stud fees than to continue racing him

[@DoubleDogDare54]

@@valerieteti1755 That's the reason horseracing has degenerated from a major sport to series of trials to demonstrate if a horse has any speed or talent. If they flash just a glimpse, the owners are satisfied with that and usually say the horse has nothing left to prove. Essential Quality took his marbles and went home when he could have trained on as a 4yo/5yo. We could have seen if he was actually as great as Darley claims he is, or if he'd turn out to be a moderate winner when faced with older horses and his own crop as they became more seasoned. But Darley chose to yank him from the track instead of risking his record. Was that for the $$$? Usually it is, but let's get real in his case - the price of oil has jumped substantially in the last six months. Does anyone in racing think that Sheikh Mo is having a hard time keeping the lights on???

[@wildanwuzhou1125]

@@DoubleDogDare54 you know if a horse win g1 as 2 years old thats mean the horse ability growth rate is very precious or peak early,, meaning at the end of 3yo season that horse abilty will go down. thats why they retire him.

[@DoubleDogDare54]

@@patty.baffert He didn't win the Breeders' Cup Classic - Knicks Go won the Classic. EQ came in 3rd, behind Medina Spirit, who also whupped him in the Kentucky Derby. $75K is also high for him. Tapit sons are a dime a dozen now. Nothing rare there. His dam has fashionable breeding, placed in ungraded stakes ( one notch above allowance) but didn't win any - 2 wins out of 13 starts. She also has other get of racing age and either they didn't even make it to the track or only lasted one or two races total. EQ is the only thing of note she has produced out of five that are old enough to race. That's not a great production record - looks like one-and-you're-done. If he passes along his dam's racing abilities, he won't be worth any $75K. What he hasn't proven is if he's got the guts and toughness to race successfully against older, more seasoned company as a 4yo/5yo instead of just running against his own crop. I'm guessing Darley has decided he can't, either for lack of ability or soundness issues. So to the shed he goes.

[@DoubleDogDare54]

@@wildanwuzhou1125 That is the modern way of looking at it and the brainwashing the breeding "industry" in this country wants you to believe so horse that only shows a flash of talent at the start can be hauled off the track to make more money with stud fees than racing. If you take a look at the race careers of top colts from before the sport shifted the financial emphasis from the track to the shed, it was not uncommon at all for quality horses to race well at 2,3,4,5. If they were good, they were good. Someone on a racing forum recently (not me, but I wish it were as I agree with the suggestion wholeheartedly...) was bemoaning this baloney and said the best way to change that situation was to limit the number of mares a stallion could breed based on the length and quality of his race record. Short career on the track, you get a handful of mares, pal, so choose wisely. Longer career? More mares. Graded stakes wins will be in your favor, you get a few more mares for each graded stakes you win. Do that, watch how many of these fragile young flowers with nothing left to prove suddenly toughen up and start running more, racing longer, facing each other instead of carefully cherry-picking races to avoid tough competition that might sully their artificially spotless racing careers.

[@theravagedgrapefruit8190]

👎

[@audradobson5624]

He has no top line

[@valerieteti1755]

Are you kidding? His sire Tapit is a 3 time leading stallion in North America tracing back to leading sires AP Indy and Seattle Slew.

[@audradobson5624]

@@valerieteti1755 if you knew what a top line was you’d know he doesn’t have one

[@valerieteti1755]

@@audradobson5624 Then you’re referring to his anatomy in which case the syndicate members sending mares to him would know more about than you. And a sire line is also referred to as the top line. Have a nice day

[@patty.baffert]

@@audradobson5624 *If you knew **_anything_** about Thoroughbred racing; you would know he is only three years old and has beautiful conformation.*

[@patty.baffert]

@@valerieteti1755 Ms Dobson is not referring to his lineage. She is referring to the muscles that run along the top of the horse from rump to withers. She forgot he is ONLY three, and has only raced, which does not increase a top line. She thinks his top line should look like a twelve year old hunter/jumper horse. She is confused so don't bother. Your eyes and knowledge are greater than hers. 🤫