Duke of Carthania’s half-length maiden special weight victory on Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds gave Constitution his 27th First-Crop winner, pushing him one ahead of American Pharoah and Tapiture for the top spot on the Freshman sire list.
Constitution also tops the list by graded stakes winners, with four, and black type horses, with eight. He and American Pharoah are the only to first-year sires with progeny earnings over $2 million.
Duke of Carthania, who hadn’t been out since finishing second on the grass in a Keeneland maiden special weight on Oct. 6, returned to the grass for Thursday’s win. He prevailed despite getting squeezed at the start and going extremely wide on both turns and into the stretch.
Owned by BG Stables, Duke of Carthania was bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall. He is a half-brother to stakes winner Whatwasithinking out of the stakes-winning mare Shot Gun Pennie.
