Max Player, winner of the 2021 Jockey Club Gold Cup, has arrived at Annestes Farms in Middletown, New Jersey where he will stand for the 2024 breeding season. The six year old son of Honor Code has over 700 investors who own shares of the dark bay colt . “After an impressive career on the racetrack, we are excited about his prospects as a sire” said majority owner George Hall of Rumson, New Jersey.

Speaker’s Corner, who stands at Godolphin’s Darley division in Lexington, sired his first reported foal in Kentucky on January 18, a filly, for breeder Airdrie Stud.

Out of the Upstart mare Gratz Park, who is a half to G3 winner Rich Mommy, Airdrie General Manager Ben Henley commented, “We are overjoyed to see such a nice first foal by Speakers Corner out of the Upstart mare Gratz Park. She has a ton of quality and within a few hours of being born was running laps around the stall!"

Spendthrift Farm’s Mo Donegal, the classic-winning son of Uncle Mo, sired his first reported foal this week when a colt was born at WinStar Farm in Versailles.

Bred by Alfredo Gastaneta, the bay colt is out of the Declaration of War mare Andavete, a half-sister to 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) third-place finisher Mr. Big News and hailing from the immediate family of champion sire Saint Ballado.

The late Robert Lothenbach's breeding, racing, and young stock will be dispersed in Fasig-Tipton sales over the next several weeks.

Lothenbach Stable’s breeding stock and yearlings will be sold at Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky winter mixed sale on Feb. 5 and 6 at its Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington, Ky. Prior to that, the stable’s horses of racing age will be dispersed on Fasig-Tipton’s digital auction platform, with bidding opening Jan. 29 and closing Feb. 2.

Texas champion Sunlit Song’s 2023 campaign earned him Horse of the Year honors and Champion Older Horse among Texas-breds. Owned by Carolyn Barnett and Becky Harding, Sunlit Song continued his high-level performance on track in 2023 with five wins and a second in 6 starts in 2023, including four stakes victories.

The first foal publicly reported for unbeaten Horse of the Year Flightline is a filly out of Grade 1 winner Juju’s Map.

Breeder Albaugh Family Stables reported the arrival Saturday morning on social media, saying the filly had arrived overnight. No other arrivals from the highly-anticipated first crop of Flightline have yet been shared by farms, including Lane’s End, where Flightline stands in Kentucky.

“We are so excited, and we are happy to say that Juju and her baby are doing great!” the Albaugh stable posted on X, adding that the filly is “gorgeous.”

Early Voting, the 2022 Preakness Stakes winner whose nascent stud career hit a major roadblock last year, will continue as a stallion while moving to Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., for the upcoming breeding season.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There was a strong weanling market during the major-market November mixed sales in Kentucky, with a number of buyers looking to get out ahead of what has been a robust yearling marketplace in recent years. And thus, there was anticipation for this segment of the marketplace coming into this week’s Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. The demand for foals of 2023 has continued to be strong, with a competitive, selective marketplace delivering solid returns for this particular sale. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For stallions retired closer to breeding season, the final major-market mixed sales provide a valuable opportunity for their supporters to add solid mares to bolster their crucial first book. That was the case on opening day of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale, as $750,000 Bridlewood Cat, the third-highest price of the day, is now slated to visit Grade 1 winner Annapolis, whose retirement to Claiborne Farm was announced less than a week ago.

Michael Blowen, whose pioneering Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement organization celebrated its 20-year anniversary in 2023, has announced he will step down as president, with John Nicholson, former executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, taking over as president and CEO.