It’s ordinarily considered risky to breed to a stallion in the year his first foals are set to hit the racetrack. By the time the resulting foal is born, the value of the sire could have skyrocketed due to freshman success – or it could have plummeted if he didn’t live up to early expectations. But American Pharoah, who became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, is no ordinary horse. And a selective market has not responded in the ordinary fashion, with the young stallion living up to all expectations so far. “Usually, I don’t like breeding to horses when they have their first-crop 2-year-olds – it’s just dangerous,” Mark Taylor of the family operation Taylor Made Farm said while discussing the 2015 Triple Crown winner’s first crop. “But I’m going to be breeding to American Pharoah [in 2019]. If he doesn’t get runners, I’ll be shocked. He got the mares, and he’s doing his job. He’s putting quality into every one of them. I think big things are on the horizon.” American Pharoah, who is based at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, has had smashing success with his first crop as its representatives have come to the commercial market as weanlings and yearlings over the last two years. Much is now expected as he moves into the next phase of his career, with 2-year-olds on offer at public auction beginning this month and juvenile racing, featuring a stellar class of freshman sires, ahead in April. American Pharoah was himself the Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old of 2014 before going on to sweep the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic and earn Horse of the Year honors the following season. His sire, Pioneerof the Nile, also has sired another Eclipse champion 2-year-old in Classic Empire, confirming the line’s ability to produce precocity. American Pharoah’s first-crop 2-year-olds were conceived on an advertised stud fee of $200,000, and he covered 208 mares that season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Of those, 55 were Grade 1/Group 1 winners or the dams of winners at that level. Ten members of the crop were sold as weanlings, fetching an average of $445,500. The group was led by a $1 million half-sister to classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister sold at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, then a co-record price for a weanling at that auction. American Pharoah went on to average $453,273 from 70 yearlings sold worldwide last year – a staggering figure for a first-crop stallion in a market that trends toward proven sires. For example, at last year’s Keeneland September yearling sale, American Pharoah’s average price of $416,702 ranked behind only War Front, Tapit, Medaglia d’Oro, Frankel, and Curlin, all proven and internationally successful stallions. The next-highest average for a first-crop sire was Honor Code, at $228,095. American Pharoah registered seven seven-figure yearlings last year, led by a colt sold for $2.2 million to Godolphin at Keeneland September. The underbidder on that colt, who was a successful pinhook after fetching $400,000 as a weanling, was the Coolmore group, which has strongly supported American Pharoah both with its own mares and in the commercial arena. The international outfit landed a $1 million colt by their young stallion at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, with Bob Baffert, who trained American Pharoah, signing the ticket for the half-brother to Grade 2-winning millionaire Upstart. “I see a lot [of American Pharoah] in him,” Baffert said. “He’s stamping his foals pretty well, with the head, the demeanor, and everything. He has a great, athletic body – that’s what you look for.” As American Pharoah’s first foals have moved on to enter early training, being broken last fall and then prepared for racing or sales with more focused work early this year, they have continued to impress. Bloodstock agent Liz Crow spoke highly of a colt out of the Tapit mare Our Love Tap, purchased for $200,000 at Keeneland September in partnership with consignor Paul Sharp. “Love this guy, full of class and covers an enormous amount of ground,” Crow wrote on her Twitter account, posting a photo of the colt standing alertly under tack at Sharp’s training facility. Crow said that the partnership’s American Pharoah colt is targeting the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale. He will be one of several juveniles that agents attempt to successfully pinhook this season, looking to capitalize further on his young sire’s commercial appeal. American Pharoah has 10 2-year-olds in the catalog for the boutique Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale in late March, including several who were pricey purchases. Chief among those is a colt out of stakes winner J Z Warrior, herself a half-sister to three stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner A Z Warrior. The colt was a $575,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Drawing an unfortunate slot as Hip No. 10 early in the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, when the auction was still finding its rhythm, he failed to meet his reserve, with a high bid of $800,000. A filly who was a $425,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase also is part of the Gulfstream group. She is a half-sister to classic-placed Social Inclusion and to stakes-placed Road to Damascus, both by American Pharoah’s sire, Pioneerof the Nile. American Pharoah’s contingent for Gulfstream also includes a half-brother to Grade 1 winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box; a half-brother to Grade 1 winner I’m a Chatterbox; a colt out of Grade 1-placed Sea Queen, herself out of Grade 1 winner Nereid; and a filly out of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Bonnie Blue Flag, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Diamondrella. American Pharoah has nine representatives in the catalog for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of 2-year-olds earlier in the month, including a colt out of graded stakes winner Hessonite; a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Night Prowler and stakes winner Regal Glory; and a colt whose dam is a full sister to Grade 1 winner and successful sire Quality Road. Consignors Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo are among the pinhookers who put early faith in American Pharoah and will look to cash in this month. They purchased a colt out of stakes winner Funfair for $525,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. A few days later, they landed a filly from the immediate family of Grade 1 winners Evening Jewel, Denman’s Call, and General Challenge for $450,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale. Now juveniles, the youngsters will be offered at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream and OBS March, respectively. "There is so much upside," Hartley said. "You always hope to get a bargain, but for me, I think at the end of the day, I think [the yearling prices] will end up being like a bargain for one of [American Pharoah’s offspring]. His babies are looking fantastic. I just think he was one of the greatest racehorses I've ever seen."