Kingmambo likely to be pensioned

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lane’s End stallion Kingmambo, sire of 1999 Belmont winner and 2000 champion older male Lemon Drop Kid, is unlikely to return to the breeding shed in 2011, farm owner Will Farish told the Blood-Horse.

Farish said the 20-year-old Mr. Prospector horse bred only one mare in 2010.

“He has had a terrible neck problem for some time,” said Farish. “We only bred one mare to him this year, and she didn’t get in foal. It’s not his fertility – it’s his ability to perform. We’ve tried everything in the world, as you can imagine.”

A son of Miesque, Kingmambo has had a neurological problem that has troubled him periodically for several years. In 2006, he missed part of the breeding season, and in 2008 he was off for about a week before returning to the Lane’s End lineup. A Group 1 winner in England and a classic winner in France, Kingmambo is the sire of more than 85 stakes winners. They include European champion and Japan’s 1999 Horse of the Year El Condor Pasa, European champions Divine Proportions and Russian Rhythm, multiple Group 1 winner Henrythenavigator, and Japanese champion King Kamehameha, among others. From 14 crops to race, Kingmambo has progeny earnings of more than $94.8 million to date.

Tinners Way joining Old Friends

Three-time Grade 1 winner Tinners Way, one of the last sons of Secretariat at stud, has been pensioned to the Old Friends retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky.

Now 20, Tinners Way stood at Key Ranch in Texas. He was a member of Secretariat’s last crop and won consecutive runnings of the Pacific Classic in 1994 and 1995. He equaled two track records, one in the 1994 Pacific Classic when he went a mile in 1:59.43 at Del Mar and again in Hollywood’s Grade 1 Californian Stakes, when he covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.60. Before racing in the United States, Tinners Way was Group 1-placed in France and a stakes-winner in England for his breeder, Juddmonte Farms.

From 11 crops to race, he is the sire of stakes-winner Tin Man Commin and the earners of more than $3.1 million.

Owners Phil Leckinger and Jerry Hardin bought Tinners Way from Harris Farms in California and moved him to Texas.

“You bring ‘Tinners’ out, and people smile,” Key Ranch manager Joe Kerby said last year. “It’s like they’ve got a personal connection, all the memories of Secretariat hit them all at once.”

Tinners Way was scheduled to arrive Monday at Old Friends, according to the operation’s founder, Michael Blowen.

Blowen said he and Leckinger had been in contact for some months over Tinners Way’s pensioning. “he said it was time for Tinners to come meet all his friends and have some fun,” Blowen said.

Closing Argument relocating

Hill ‘n’ Dale stallion Closing Argument will relocate to Millennium Farms for the 2011 breeding season, the farm has announced. The 8-year-old Successful Appeal stallion doesn’t have a fee yet but stood this year at Hill ’n’ Dale for a $5,000 fee.

A son of Mrs. Greeley, by Mr. Greeley, Closing Argument started his stud career in Florida, where he stood for two seasons.

Closing Argument was runner-up to Giacomo in the 2005 Kentucky Derby. He won the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes that season, one of two stakes wins on his record. He also placed in five stakes. including a third in the 2005 Blue Grass Stakes. He earned $986,984 and won 3 of 9 lifetime starts.

Closing Argument is a top 10 second-crop sire with almost $1.9 million in progeny earnings. His runners are led by stakes-winners My Irish Girl, Midst, and Foreign Argument, as well as 2010 Grade 3-placed Crider. He has 102 juveniles this year and has 86 yearlings this season.

Millennium Farms and partners purchased Closing Argument in late August.