Aldebaran to stand in Japan

Aldebaran, 2003's champion sprinter, will head to Japan for the 2009 season. Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky announced Monday that Aldebaran, a 10-year-old Mr. Prospector horse, has been sold to the Japan Racing Association in a deal brokered by Rollin Baugh.

Aldebaran will stand at the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association Stallion Station.

Aldebaran's first runners are 3 this season. To date, they include Group 3 winner Arcadia's Angle, Graade 1-placed Grace Anatomy, and Japanese stakes-winner Danon Go Go. He stood for $30,000 in 2008.

Aldebaran, a son of the Private Account mare Chimes of Freedom, won the Grade 1 Metropolitan, Forego, and San Carlos Handicaps en route to his sprint title. He also placed in seven other Grade 1 races. He retired with earnings of more than $1.7 million.

Aldebaran currently is in quarantine pending export tests.