Miss Sakamoto Sire Profile

With a career debut potentially on the horizon for Miss Sakamoto later this month in a five-furlong turf race at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27, she will join a lengthy list of her sire More Than Ready’s progeny to reach the races.

To date, the 25-year-old stallion has sired more than 3,500 foals of racing age with over 2,000 winners around the world. Among them are 13 champions, 97 graded stakes winners, and 212 black-type winners (non-graded races), which ranks him the all-time No. 1 North American sire of BTWs. More Than Ready also leads the way in the number of Breeders’ Cup winners he has sired, with seven reaching the winner’s circle at the World Championships.

He’s had an amazing career while standing at stud, first at Vinery Stud, and now at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, where his breeding fee this year is $50,000. He also was a remarkable racehorse, winning graded races from 5 1/2 to 7 furlongs on the dirt and collecting more than $1 million in purse earnings. Even when presented with the tall task of racing 1 1/4 miles, which was probably beyond his scope in distance ability, More Than Ready rose to the occasion and finished fourth in the 2000 Kentucky Derby.

Although he surely made a mark on the racetrack, it’s been in the breeding shed where he has really flourished, particularly because of his notoriety to produce all sorts of horses — sprinters and routers, on both turf and dirt. While he is generally regarded as a terrific sire of turf runners, it’s worth noting that his all-time leading earner in North America is Roy H, a dirt performer who won the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Sprint as part of a campaign that earned him $3.1 million on the racetrack.

A 2021 sampling illustrating the diversity — particularly in various distance capabilities — of his progeny, reveals graded stakes victories by Say the Word, who won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles; Hit the Road, winner of the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on the turf; Slipstream — trained by Miss Sakamoto’s conditioner, Christophe Clement — the winner of the Grade 3 Futurity Stakes at six furlongs on the turf; and Title Ready, victorious in the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.

In the Thoroughbred Daily News, which features a section called “Rising Stars” and is a nod to impressive maiden winners, More Than Ready has been represengted by 16 of his offspring earning that status. Read about the sire’s latest “Rising Star”, Emmanuel, here.

Later in December, his son, Holiday House, scored a maiden victory over 11 rivals going 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf at Fair Grounds on Dec. 27.

With the countdown on for Miss Sakamoto’s career debut, we’re excited to see what’s in store for the filly and are hopeful she will add further distinction to her sire’s already impressive resume.