A few weeks back we noted Northern Afleet as a stallion who appeared to be great value at his current fee. Looking at last weekend’s results, we’re prompted to note a couple more.

>Proud Citizen’s son, Mark Valeski, didn’t add to his sire’s total of stakes winners at the weekend, but he ran with tremendous credit in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II). Coming into the 8½ furlong classic trial off a maiden and allowance win in sprints, he missed by a nose to one of the principal Kentucky Derby (gr. I) fancies, El Padrino.

Of course, Proud Citizen was a one-time classic challenger himself, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and third in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), before suffering a fractured shin that required several screws be inserted, during the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). He came back at four, but never returned to top form, although he did captured a 7½ furlong allowance race at Churchill Downs. A son of sire of sires, Gone West, out of Drums of Freedom, a daughter of Shecky Greene, whose granddam, Arctic Dancer, was a sister to Northern Dancer, Proud Citizen sired Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Proud Spell (out of a mare by Langfuhr, and TrueNicks Rated A++) and four other stakes winners, including group/graded scorers Motovato (dam by Slew City Slew, and TrueNicks A), and River Proud

Mark Valeski comes from the first crop sired after Proud Citizen’s runners had made a promising start at two (his current two-year-old crop, sired at a fee of $30,000 were conceived immediately following Proud Spell’s championship season). The current three-year-old crop has also produced the Tempted Stakes (gr. III) and Silverbullet Stakes winner Believe You Can (TrueNicks A++) and Citizen Advocate(TrueNicks A++), who took the My Trusty Cat Stakes and Presque Isle Debutante Stakes. Interestingly enough, Believe You Can is out of a mare by El Prado (by Sadler’s Wells) and Citizen Advocate is out of a mare by by Horse Chestnut, a grandson of Sadler’s Wells, and Proud Citizen also has graded stakes winner Torre Laguna in Chile, from a shuttle crop, and out of another Sadler’s Wells line mare. Another of Proud Citizen’s shuttle-sired runners, Vamo A Galupiar, won the Megahertz Stakes at Santa Anita in January. Given the above, the extremely good-looking Proud Citizen has to be counted a bargain at $7,500 if you are looking for a racehorse sire. If his current two-year-old crop come out running, he could also turn out to be a smart commercial play.

Third to El Padrino and Mark Valeski in the Risen Star was Z Dager, a son of Mizzen Mast. He wasn’t Mizzen Mast’s most notable runner of the weekend, however, that honor going to the swift fillyMizdirection, who added a win in the Clocker’s Corner Handicap to her victory in the Monrovia Handicap (gr. III) achieved in January. Mizdirection (TrueNicks A++) is out of a mare by Clever Trick, but her second dam is by Wavering Monarch, also the broodmare sire of Z Dager. This brings togetherGraustark, the broodmare sire of Mizzen Mast, and his genetic relative Majestic Light (the sire of Wavering Monarch), a formula that did well for Wavering Monarch’s son, Maria’s Mon. Mizzen Mast has another 2012 star in Ultimate Eagle, who added the Strub Stakes (gr. II), to his win last year’s Hollywood Derby (gr. I). TrueNicks rated B, Ultimate Eagle is out of a mare by Captain Bodgit, a son ofSaint Ballado from the Halo line.

All told, Mizzen Mast has 25 stakes winners from his first five crops, the others including grade one scorers Mast Track, Midships (TrueNicks A++, and out of a mare by Sadler’s Wells), and graded winners Jibboom (TrueNicks A++, and one of three stakes winners for the sire out of mares by Gone West), Madeo (TruenNicks A++, out of a mare by Deputy Minister), Tropical Light (TrueNicks A+, out of a mare by Secreto), Strike The Bell (TrueNicks A++, out of a mare by Mountain Cat) and Seaspeak(another out of a Gone West mare). All in all, a very solid effort for a horse now standing at $12,500.

We’d also like to give a call to Langfuhr, a former Champion Sprinter by Danzig. He’s now available for $10,000 for the 2012 breeding season, which is an incredible price when you consider that his 60 individual stakes winners include seven millionaires, among them Champion Older Male Lawyer Ron(who unfortunately died early, but who is making a pretty useful start at stud with his first crop, now three); Champion Canadian Three-Year-Old and Horse of The Year, Wando; Champion Canadian Older Horse Mobil; Champion Canadian Three-Year-Old Filly Kimchi; and other grade one winners Euroears(one of the fastest sprinters of 2011), Imperial Gesture, Interpatation, and Langfield. As a bonus, he’s looking like a useful broodmare sire in the making, and his daughters have already produced 11 stakes winners, including Champion Proud Spell, and grade two winners Augusta Proud and Humble and Hungry.