BY LAURIE ROSS
Rated by Merit is finally home. The gray son of Battalion Runner was foaled and raised at Ocala Stud and he returns there to begin his stud career in 2027 for a $3,500 fee.
As a 2-year-old in 2024, he became just the 11th colt or gelding since 1984 to sweep the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series. His 99 Beyer in the Affirmed was tops among North American juveniles that year.
He retired with five wins from seven starts and $516,750 in earnings, giving Florida breeders a homegrown stakes winner with early speed and a deep Lane’s End female family.
AT THE RACES
Rated by Merit raced as a homebred for St. Elias Stables under trainer Michael Yates. He hit the ground running in July at 2 with an eye-catching nine-and-three-quarters-length victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight contest at Gulfstream Park.
He set a stakes record of 1:09.45 for six furlongs in the Dr. Fager division of the Florida Sire Stakes, then won the seven-furlong Affirmed division by three-and-three-quarters lengths in 1:22.55.
Rated by Merit proved he was more than a sprinter with a six-length score in the mile-and-one-sixteenth In Reality, the final leg of that year Florida Sire Stakes, in 1:45.71.
Neoequos, runner-up in both the Dr. Fager and Affirmed, went on to finish third in the Grade 2 Coolmore Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Curling Florida Derby presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa at Gulfstream before running 13th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.
Sidelined for almost a year with bone bruising, Rated by Merit returned in October 2025 for Chad Brown and picked up where he left off in the $121,250 Discovery Stakes during the Belmont at Big A meet at Aqueduct. He controlled the pace and won by a length-and-a-quarter as the 1-5 favorite in 1:33.45, with a :12.44 final furlong, a little more than a second off Easy Goer’s 1989 record of 1:32.40.
He returned the following April in the Grade 2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets against Book’em Danno, the 2025 Champion Male Sprinter. His first defeat came when fourth after he broke out at the start and swapped leads throughout a three to five wide trip, suggesting he may not have handled the Aqueduct track.
In his final outing two months later, Rated by Merit faced a salty field in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga, including 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)-hero Nysos, Preakness (G1)-hero Journalism, and Knightsbridge, who later won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. A troubled start left him about seven lengths behind, and he finished sixth. His three seasons of racing began with a five-race win streak.
PEDIGREE
Rated by Merit’s pedigree is stuffed with quality on both sides, representing all three modern sire lines: Unbridled (Mr. Prospector), Tapit (Bold Ruler) and Dixie Union (Northern Dancer).
His bottom side is anchored by a solid Lane’s End distaff line that includes a pair of Reines-de-Course, Up the Flagpole (Hoist the Flag) and The Garden Club (Herbanger (Fr)). He also hails from the family of Mineshaft and the direct line of the spectacular La Troienne.
His sire, Battalion Runner (Unbridled’s Song – Tamboz, by Tapit), was a $700,000 yearling that won his second start at Gulfstream by nearly nine lengths and added an allowance victory. He then finished second in the 2017 Wood Memorial (G2), three-and-a-half lengths behind Irish War Cry and three-and-a-half lengths clear of Cloud Computing, who won the Preakness next out. He retired after running third in the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont and fifth in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones at Parx.
Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled – Trolley Song, by Caro (Ire)) needs no introduction. He has sired 117 stakes winners and has 17 sons at stud, led by Liam’s Map.
Battalion Runner’s dam, Tamboz (Tapit – Winning Call, by Deputy Minister), is a full sister to 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)-winner Tapizar.
Battalion Runner is a half-brother to five stakes-placed runners, three of them graded. They include Creative Minister (Creative Cause), third in the 2022 Preakness; Dolder Grand (Candy Ride), third in the 2020 Grade 1 Summer Stakes as a turf miler; and multiple graded-placed Oceanwave (Harlan’s Holiday), dam of 2020 Grade 3 Iowa Oaks-placed Ocean Breeze (Curlin) and granddam of multiple stakes-placed Prime Suspect (Medaglia d’Oro).
Battalion Runner’s distaff line is knee deep in black-type runners and stallions, thanks to his fourth dam, the Reine and Winchell Thoroughbreds foundation mare Carols Christmas. Her descendants include 2014 champion 3-year-old filly Untapable and the stallions Olympio, Cuvee and Paddy O’Prado.
Battalion Runner entered stud late in the 2018 breeding season. From 50 foals, he has 37 starters and 28 winners, two of them stakes winners, including Lightnin Runner, who won a pair of listed stakes at Charles Town. Before Rated by Merit won, interest from a stud farm in Uruguay led to his export.
Rated by Merit is the fourth and most accomplished foal out of Banner Waving (Speightstown), who is expecting a Liam’s Map foal next year. His second dam is a half-sister to multiple graded winner and Grade 1-placed Revolutionary (War Pass), both out of Grade 1-heroine Runup the Colors (A.P. Indy).
His fourth dam, the Reine Up the Flagpole (Hoist the Flag), produced Flagbird (Nureyev), champion mare in England, Ireland and Italy, and Grade 1 winner Prospector’s Delight (Mr. Prospector). Prospector’s Delight is the dam of Mineshaft (A.P. Indy) and his full siblings, multiple Grade 1-winner Tomisue’s Delight and multiple stakes winner Rock Slide.
AT STUD
Rated by Merit brings natural speed and elite bloodlines to Florida as the most accomplished grandson of Unbridled’s Song standing in the state.
“He’s just a beautiful individual, very correct,” Ocala Stud general manager David O’Farrell said. “We foaled him and raised him, trained him here at Ocala Stud for St. Elias. He’s got a very nice pedigree with an extremely good, precocious race record. And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to offer him up to the Florida breeders.”
Milers tend to make the best sires because they carry speed and stamina and cross well with a wide variety of mares, without the limits of pure sprinters or extreme stayers.
Rated by Merit should suit just about any pedigree, though his sire and damsire both descend from Mr. Prospector, so breeders may want to avoid mares with Mr. Prospector close up.
His foals should be naturally precocious, and some may develop into two-turn runners, depending on the dam.
Rated by Merit stands at Ocala Stud in central Florida for $3,500.
Return to the October 13 issue of Wire to Wire
