Aikenite to stand at Calumet in 2013

Multiple graded stakes winner Aikenite, who was retired in late October because of an ankle injury, will begin his stud career in 2013 at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky. A stud fee for Aikenite, a 5-year-old Yes It's True horse, will be announced at a later date. He will become the first horse to stand at Calumet in the Brad Kelley era.

In May 2012, Kelley purchased Calumet for about $36 million from a trust that had been set up by the late Henryk de Kwiatkowski, and he moved his Hurricane Hall and Bluegrass Hall breeding and racing operations to the historic property.

"I think it's very flattering to the horse that this outfit bought him, and they are breeding to race," Cot Campbell, president of Dogwood Stable, who campaigned Aikenite, told the Aiken (S.C.) Standard. "They're not market breeders. This man is going to breed his mares to this horse. Aikenite had precocity, quality, class, and looks. I think it's flattering that he would go to one of the great farms of all time."

Out of the Saint Ballado mare Silverlado, Aikenite was retired with ankle problems in early 2012 but recovered so well that, with no stud deal in place, he returned to training. He was able to make just one more start, though, finishing fourth in the Phoenix Stakes in October at Keeneland. He re-injured his ankle while preparing for his next start, prompting his retirement.

Aikenite won two Grade 2 stakes in 2011, the Churchill Downs Stakes and the Commonwealth Stakes. He placed in six other graded stakes events, including a runner-up effort in the 2009 Breeders' Futurity and third-place finishes in the 2009 Hopeful Stakes and 2011 Forego Stakes. He won 5 of 24 career starts and earned $875,385.