Valid Expectations, leading Texas sire, pensioned

Valid Expectations, the all-time leading sire in Texas who is now 20, has been retired from commercial stud duty, confirmed Danny Shifflett, general manager of Lane’s End Texas. Shifflett said the horse arrived Tuesday at Mt. Brilliant Farm in Lexington, Ky., where he will reside as the sole property of Greg Goodman.

Goodman bought out his other partners in Valid Expectations: Bob and Lee Ackerley; Joe Archer; Bob and Janice McNair; and Will Farish. Shifflett said Goodman’s sons play polo and plan to breed Valid Expectations to some polo mares as the stallion’s offspring have become well-regarded in that arena.

Valid Expectations has 499 starters from 13 crops of racing age who through Oct. 7 have earned more than $30 million, according to The Jockey Club. His foals to race include 43 stakes winners (7 percent), led by Saratoga County, the winner of the Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen who earned $1.6 million, and The Daddy, winner of the Grade 2 Super Derby. Earlier this year, Valid Expectations became the all-time leading Texas stallion by progeny earnings, surpassing Sunny’s Halo, according to the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

Valid Expectations, a Florida-bred son of Valid Appeal, came to Texas in 2001, Shifflett said. He raced for the Ackerleys, and was a Grade 3 winner of $596,092. He was also the first major stakes horse for trainer Steve Asmussen.

“Valid Expectations has been a landmark here at Lane’s End,” Shifflett said. “He’s done so much for Texas, and so much for everybody involved with him. He was a horse that everybody involved with achieved some sort of success. He brought fun to the game.”