2011 Eclipse Awards: Adena Springs

Frank Stronach’s far-flung breeding operation continued to dominate North American racing in 2011, ending the season well ahead in every category. With the largest number of starters among top breeders – 483 compared with second-ranked Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s 231 – Adena Springs led by total earnings with more than $14 million, by number of stakes winners with 20, and by number of winners with 252.

Although many of Adena’s stakes winners last year were homebreds raced by Stronach, the breeding program’s biggest star in 2011 was one of Adena’s sales graduates. Game On Dude, a son of Adena stallion Awesome Again, won the Santa Anita Handicap and Goodwood Stakes before finishing second to Drosselmeyer in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He races for a partnership that bought him in 2010.

Adena Springs also bred 2011 Grade 1-placed Stately Victor, Indulgence, and Judy the Beauty as well as the graded winners as Bay to Bay, Bourbon Bay, Celtic New Year, Don Cavallo, Stunning Stag, Matthewsburg, and City Wolf.

Stronach established Adena Springs near Versailles, Ky., in 1989, but in 2005 he sold that property and relocated to a custom-designed facility on about 2,000 acres outside Paris, Ky. Adena Springs also stands stallions in Ontario, California, and New York.

In 2010, Adena Springs earned a record seventh breeding Eclipse Award, following honors in 2000 and 2004-2008.