Sire Spotlight: Afleet Alex.
2005 NTRA ‘Moment of the Year’ Winner and Champion Three-Year-Old.
The 2005 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Male and NTRA ‘Moment of the Year’ winner for his victory in the 2005 Preakness Stakes, Afleet Alex (Northern Afleet) has seen success on and off the track ever since breaking his maiden at Delaware Park in June of 2004.
Owned by Cash Is King Stables and trained by Tim F. Ritchey, Afleet Alex had only ever raced out-of-the-money once in his twelve start career. Of his six Grade 1 starts — he won three (2004 Hopeful Stakes, 2005 Preakness Stakes and 2005 Belmont Stakes), placed second in two (2004 Champagne Stakes and the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile) then placed third in the 2005 Kentucky Derby behind Giacomo (Holy Bull) and Closing Argument (Successful Appeal).
The highest speed figure of his career was 117 for a black type race at Oaklawn Park, and speed figures over 100 in eight of the twelve starts.
Afleet Alex, a bay standing 16.2 hands tall, has stood at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky since 2006 with an initial stud fee of $40,000. In 2021, his stud fee settled at $6,500 but was recently pensioned in January of 2022.
Sired by Northern Afleet (Afleet) and Maggie Hawk out of Hawkster (Silver Hawk) his pedigree is a mix of the Mr. Prospector-line and from Hail to Reason-line.
As of his progeny, he has had a total of six Grade 1 winners including Texas Red (2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile), Dublin (2009 Hopeful Stakes), Materiality (2015 Florida Derby), Sharla Rae (2015 Del Mar Oaks), Iotapa (2014 Vanity Stakes) and Afleet Express (2010 Travers Stakes).
As of recently, Skywire has been his most successful progeny, winning the 2020 Grade 2 Autumn Stakes and 2020 Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes, with speed figures of 105 and 96; respectively.
Afleet Alex has even become a prominent broodmare sire in champions such as Sir Winston (2019 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes), multi-stakes winner Dream Tree (2017 Grade 1 Starlet Stakes), and Bourbonic (2021 Grade 2 Wood Memorial).
This champion sire has known success on the track and continues to prove himself with his progeny as they make headlines, positively shaping the sport as a whole.
Fun Fact: Afleet Alex’s dam, Maggie Hawk, got sick soon after giving birth and was unable to properly feed little Afleet Alex. His breeder, John Silverstrand, allowed his 9-year-old daughter, Lauren, to bottle feed him (supposedly through a Coors Light bottle) until they could find a nurse mare.
