Bloodline: Sakima — A Curlin Son Who Was a Nobody in the U.S., Went Undefeated in 5 Starts in the Philippines, and Now Sires Graded Winners — The Other Pattern of U.S. Stallion Imports

Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez, head of SC Stockfarm in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, bought a horse at a Fasig-Tipton sale on the modest expectation of “winning a couple of races and getting to stud.”
The horse was Sakima (foaled May 2012, by Curlin, 2007 and 2008 U.S. Horse of the Year). His U.S. racing record is so sparsely documented in public sources that the purchase reads as something close to an impulse buy — at least in retrospect.
After arriving in the Philippines, Sakima went 5-for-5 unbeaten as a racer, took the Henry Cojuangco Cup in February 2017, and on entering stud in 2018 produced two graded winners — Gomezian (2021 Two-Year-Old Champion) and Radio Bell (2022 Triple Crown Leg 3 winner).
Where He’s Had Enough represents the “U.S. Grade-1-class horse re-rated in an emerging market” pattern, Sakima represents the other one — a U.S. unknown blooming explosively in the Philippines.

Who Sakima Is — The Value of Being by Curlin

Sakima is a U.S.-bred chestnut horse foaled May 2012, with the following pedigree:

Curlin is one of the defining contemporary U.S. stars: 2007 Preakness Stakes (G1), 2008 Dubai World Cup (G1), 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1, won; runner-up in 2008) — 11 starts, 7 wins, USD 10.53 million in earnings (Curlin — Wikipedia). At Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in the U.S. he has produced multiple Grade 1 winners including Stellar Wind (7× G1), Palace Malice (2013 Belmont Stakes G1), and Vino Rosso (2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic G1).

Sakima is a direct son of that Curlin. His dam Queen of Kills traces to Unbridled’s Song, also a defining contemporary U.S. sire — the page itself is a clean mainstream contemporary North American pedigree. Velasquez’s “win a couple of races and get to stud” framing suggests the purchase was a pedigree-page bet rather than a racing-CV bet.

U.S. Racing Record — Sparsely Documented

Sakima’s U.S. racing record is not extensively documented in public sources at time of writing ※. The Equibase Sakima page (refno=9311853) exists, but detailed race-result data could not be retrieved due to access constraints during research.

That said, when Velasquez frames the purchase as “win a couple and get to stud,” it strongly suggests Sakima’s U.S. record was not top-class, or that he was sold before accumulating much of a CV. The starting point of the Sakima story is: a Curlin son acquired on pedigree value alone, from outside the U.S. mainstream market.

SC Stockfarm and Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez

The buyer was Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez of SC Stockfarm, based in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. SC Stockfarm was the top-honored breeder at the 2018 Philracom Awards and runs a stable of imported and locally bred horses (Philstar, “Powerhouse SC Stockfarm leads awardees” (Feb 11, 2018) / Manila Bulletin, “SC Stockfarm dominates Philracom awards” (Feb 2, 2018)).

In the 2021 Philippine breeders’ wins ranking (Philstar, Feb 19, 2022), SC Stockfarm placed in the Top 10 with 45 wins, putting it alongside Tiger Horse Farm as part of the mid-tier sustained leadership of Philippine breeders.

Per local accounts, Velasquez saw Sakima at the Fasig-Tipton sale and bought him on the strength of the pedigree page — close to an impulse purchase. This contrasts with the He’s Had Enough acquisition pattern (Bell Racing securing a U.S. Grade-1-class bloodline through planned channels). Sakima represents a more risk-leaning pattern: buy cheap on pedigree, recoup at stud if it works.

Philippine Racing Career — 5-for-5, Henry Cojuangco Cup

In the Philippines, Sakima ran well past Velasquez’s modest expectation.

Per Philstar, “Sakima reigns in Henry Cojuangco Cup” (Feb 12, 2017):

“Won two big classic races within just three months” is how local coverage frames it — a textbook case of an import reaching the top tier of Philippine racing in a short window after arrival. The 5-for-5 record signals that as a racer Sakima was genuinely strong against the Philippine classic route at the time.

After his racing career, Sakima entered stud at SC Stockfarm in early 2018.

Sakima at Stud — Gomezian and Radio Bell

Few seasons in, Sakima progeny have already won graded races in the Philippines:

Gomezian — 2021 Two-Year-Old Champion

Per Journal News Online, “Gomezian goes wire-to-wire in Lakambini Stakes”, Gomezian led from gate to wire in the 2022 Lakambini Stakes. The fact that Esguerra Farms (the 153-win leading breeder named in the Tiger Horse Farm article ranking table) bred a Sakima foal is a signal that the imported Sakima is built into the top breeders’ own programs.

Radio Bell — 2022 Triple Crown Leg 3 Winner

Per Philstar, “Radio Bell foils Basheirrou’s TC sweep bid” (Jul 27, 2022), Radio Bell took the Triple Crown Leg 3 and blocked Basheirrou’s sweep bid. Bell Racing rotates multiple sires (He’s Had Enough, Union Bell, Union Rags), and Sakima belongs in that rotation too — Radio Bell extends Bell Racing’s sire-axis breadth.

Beyond These Two

A comprehensive Sakima progeny list is not publicly confirmable at time of writing ※. Gomezian and Radio Bell are the headline cases verifiable in local reporting. PHILTOBO and Philracom sire-award records for Sakima are a separate verification line.

Compared with He’s Had Enough — Two Stories of U.S. Imported Stallions

Set against the He’s Had Enough article, the Sakima story makes visible that the Philippine U.S.-imported-stallion market runs through multiple distinct paths.

What they share: a contemporary U.S. mainstream bloodline imported to the Philippines, producing graded winners across generations. The entry stories are opposite, though:

• He’s Had Enough: U.S. G1-class ability plus an established Tapit-son pedigree, secured deliberately and at higher cost by Bell Racing, putting already-recognized blood to work in an emerging market
• Sakima: U.S. unknown plus a Curlin-son pedigree page, secured on impulse at lower cost by SC Stockfarm, with value created in stages — first as a racer, then as a sire

Emerging-market stallion sourcing tends to run through one or both of these paths. Sakima is the clean case of “buy a U.S. horse with a strong pedigree page but a modest race record cheaply, and create value locally.” It’s a value-creation pattern more available in an emerging market than in the established U.S. market, and it gives a second example of a bloodline that would have stayed buried in the U.S. being re-rated in the Philippines.

International Comparison — A Receptive Soil for U.S. Stallion Imports

Why Sakima works in the Philippines reduces to two sides: U.S. mainstream blood being available and the Philippine breeding programs being receptive enough to absorb it.

The Philippine market’s distinctive feature is that a single large operator does not monopolize the import flow; multiple mid-tier breeders and stables run U.S. blood imports in parallel. SC Stockfarm acquiring Sakima, Bell Racing acquiring He’s Had Enough, Esguerra Farms breeding a Sakima foal (Gomezian) — multiple players absorb U.S. blood in distributed fashion. That distribution is part of what sustains the emerging market’s activity.

Caveats

• Sakima’s U.S. racing record details are not extensively documented in public sources at time of writing ※. The Equibase Sakima page (refno=9311853) exists but detailed race-result data could not be retrieved due to access constraints
• A comprehensive Sakima progeny list is not publicly confirmable; Gomezian and Radio Bell are the headline cases verifiable in local reporting. Other graded winners by Sakima may exist ※
• Careful handling of “U.S. unknown”: Sakima cannot be definitively labeled as a U.S. unknown — only that detailed records are unverified. Velasquez’s “win a couple and get to stud” framing in local reporting suggests he was probably not U.S. top-class, but this is held with that caveat
• PHILTOBO / Philracom sire-award records for Sakima are a separate verification line
• No betting implications: This is a bloodline article, not a tipping piece

Related

• Bloodline: He’s Had Enough — The contrasting U.S.-imported-stallion pattern (G1-class re-rated)
• Stable Profile: Bell Racing’s Breeding Strategy — The stable that owns Sakima’s progeny Radio Bell
• Profile: Tiger Horse Farm’s Benhur Abalos — Another breeder’s vertical for contrast
• Analysis: Imported Bloodlines — The volume side of international pedigree inflow

Summary

Sakima is more than “a U.S.-bred sire active in the Philippines.”
He is a Curlin son bought on pedigree page alone by SC Stockfarm’s Velasquez, more or less on impulse at Fasig-Tipton — and the bet paid off in the Philippines as 5-for-5 as a racer + Henry Cojuangco Cup + multiple graded winners as a sire (Gomezian / Radio Bell). A value-creation arc that is possible because the market is emerging.
Where He’s Had Enough represents “U.S. Grade-1-class re-rated in an emerging market,” Sakima represents “U.S. unknown blooming explosively” — a different path, confirming that the Philippine U.S. stallion-import market runs through multiple patterns in parallel.
We’ll keep tracking Sakima’s progeny and SC Stockfarm’s broader breeding program as a sustained observation theme on the U.S. imported stallion market.

Sources

• Philstar, “Sakima reigns in Henry Cojuangco Cup” (Feb 12, 2017)
• Philstar, “Powerhouse SC Stockfarm leads awardees” (Feb 11, 2018)
• Manila Bulletin, “SC Stockfarm dominates Philracom awards” (Feb 2, 2018)
• Journal News Online, “Gomezian goes wire-to-wire in Lakambini Stakes”
• Philstar, “Radio Bell foils Basheirrou’s TC sweep bid” (Jul 27, 2022)
• Sakima — Equibase form page (access constraints prevented detailed retrieval)
• Curlin — Wikipedia (sire’s racing form and stud record)
• Philstar, “Esguerra Farms tops breeders’ honor roll for 2021” (SC Stockfarm’s 2021 ranking)