Multiple Grade 1 winner Giant Oak was euthanized Wednesday due to complications from an acute onset severe neurological disease.
The 11-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway had resided his entire stallion career at Millennium Farms in Lexington, Ky., and had not covered any mares during the 2017 breeding season.
Millennium Farms in Lexington, Ky., announced stud fees for its 2016 stallions, with three of its four stallions - Even the Score, Giant Oak, and Ice Box - standing for $7,500, and the other, I Want Revenge, standing for $5,000.
Even the Score, a 17-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song out of Ashtabula, by Rahy, has sired dual Grade 1 winners Dullahan and Take the Points among his 34 black-type winners. His progeny have earned more than $41 million.
The longer the race, the more important the pace.
This racing axiom is older than dirt, but it’s worth dredging up in the context of the Grade 2, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon because – at a distance of 1 3/4 miles – the Marathon is about as long as races get in this country these days.
“Pace is important in every race,” notes trainer Al Stall Jr. “The longer the race, the more of a chance the pace can get away from you, if you go too fast in the middle stages. I think that true class comes out in longer races.”
STICKNEY, Ill. – Chicago-based trainer Chris Block could have two starters in Breeders’ Cup races next month at Churchill Downs, or he could have none. Giant Oak is probable for the BC Marathon, while Never Retreat is a possible runner in the BC Mile, Block said Monday.
Giant Oak appeared to have exited his somewhat disappointing fifth-place finish Oct. 8 in the Hawthorne Gold Cup without any physical issues or undue fatigue, though Block said Giant Oak is not the easiest horse to read.
STICKNEY, Ill. – The Sport of Kings typically is more business than sport. Lower-level owners sell prospects for big bucks. Young horses are rushed off to a stud career that will generate more money than racing.
Rudy and Virginia Tarra already rejected the former path, turning down seven-figure offers for Giant Oak in 2008 and 2009, and now they are on the cusp of backing away from the latter, with plans to race 5-year-old Giant Oak again in 2012 rather than sell him as a Kentucky stallion.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Giant Oak, still seeking his first win since the Grade 1 Donn Handicap on Feb. 5, will make his next start Oct. 8 in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, trainer Chris Block said.
Block, in fact, will have two horses in the $500,000 Gold Cup, since he also intends to start Washington Park Handicap winner Mister Marti Gras in the race. Giant Oak is one of three nationally known horses pointing for the signature race of the Hawthorne season, with Apart and Awesome Gem also expected for the 1 1/4-mile dirt race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Giant Oak and Ice Box, a pair of late-runners who’ll be looking for a lively pace next weekend in the Grade 1 Woodward, were a contrast in styles in their final tune-ups for the race Saturday.
Giant Oak, working over the main track, breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:02.56, while Ice Box shared the morning’s bullet half-mile drill of 48 seconds across Union Avenue at the Oklahoma training track.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - More than 180 horses turned in timed workouts over a fast main track here on Sunday morning, including four tuning up Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney.
Mission Impazible, Rodman, and Giant Oak all worked five furlongs following the renovation break, while Duke Of Mischief went a half mile in his first breeze over the track since arriving from his Calder base earlier in the week.
