By admin 
Ideally, a stallion is a horse for all seasons, one who handles the variety of distances and conditions he encounters from the beginning of his racing career to its glorious end, then passes on speed and stamina allied with an uncommon versatility. One such stallion was Smart Strike (by Mr. Prospector), bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm and then sent to stud at Lane’s End.
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A later foal (May 21), Smart Strike didn’t get started early but made his racing count, winning six of his eight starts, including the Grade 1 Iselin Handicap in 1996. Likewise, Smart Strike didn’t flash first with his freshman crop but made up for it with quality as his racers matured to become leading general sire.
The first of the great years for Smart Strike came in 2007. That season, Fabulous Strike won the G1 Vosburgh at six furlongs in 1:09.22; English Channel won a trio of G1 stakes, all at 10 to 12 furlongs on turf, and earned the Eclipse Award as outstanding turf male after his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the latter distance; and Curlin was named the year’s champion 3-year-old colt and Horse of the Year after winning the Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2007, as well as finishing second in the Belmont Stakes, third in the Kentucky Derby.
Some horses, of course, won’t hold to the script, either as racehorses or as stallions.
Whereas Smart Strike could sire Grade 1 winners from six furlongs to 12 furlongs or farther, his champion son English Channel was a different sort, both as a racehorse and as a sire.
At the races, English Channel began his career the right way: winning his debut at two at Saratoga.
The horse then proceeded to win four of his first five starts at three, including the Grade 3 Virginia Derby, and he also placed second in a pair of G1 races, the Secretariat at Arlington and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont.
English Channel returned to the races at four to win a trio of G1 stakes: the Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont, and the United Nations at Monmouth Park. Then the horse came back at five and did the same thing. And at five, the trio of G1s – the Turf Classic at Belmont and the United Nations, plus the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Turf run at Monmouth Park – brought English Channel the Eclipse Award as champion male turf horse.
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English Channel began his stallion career the right way in getting a classic winner, when Strait of Dover won the 2012 Queen’s Plate at Woodbine racetrack in Canada.
While most stallions get only a minority of classic-type stock, those longer distance performers became the norm for English Channel, who sadly died in 2021. Despite being quick enough to win a maiden at Saratoga, that was far from the aptitude that English Channel transmitted to his better offspring, and we see this played out once again in the results of the G3 Dowager Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 18.
In that 12-furlong stakes, Malibu Smart became the 75th stakes winner for English Channel. The 6-year-old was not only winning her first stakes but also gaining her first career black type in the Dowager. The mare was, however, winning her third consecutive race for trainer Michael Maker and owners Michael Hui and Phil Forte, who acquired Malibu Smart last Dec. 6 at the Fair Grounds on a $30,000 claim.
The new owners risked Malibu Smart once more for a tag, but not twice, and this year, she has earned a check for them in every start, winning $422,183 from nine races, three victories, and a pair of seconds in 2026 that have moved up her career earnings to $611,029.
Bred in Kentucky by Shadwell Farm, Malibu Smart is the third winner out of the Malibu Moon mare Mooghareadh, and the dam is a full sister to G2 stakes winner Malibu Pier. Shadwell acquired Mooghareadh for $675,000 at the 2014 Keeneland yearling sale.
Unplaced in a single start for Shadwell, Mooghareadh also has produced the stakes-placed Tarneema (Kitten’s Joy) and has been acquired privately by Springhouse Farm. Mooghareadh has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Abstract Art (Jack Christopher) and was bred to Gunite for 2027.
The mare’s 6-year-old, however, has finally found her niche going classic distances on the turf, and Malibu Smart is proving once more how beneficial English Channel has been for maintaining stamina in the breed.
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This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 8:27 AM.