Hard Aces, a 5-year-old who became a stakes winner in a four-length romp in the Louisiana Handicap on Jan. 17, is being sold by Dreamchaser Thoroughbreds and will be sent to the California barn of trainer John Sadler, Larry Jones said Friday.
With more frigid temperatures accompanied by high winds in the forecast, Sunday’s nine-race card at Aqueduct is very much in jeopardy of being canceled. If it is not, the main event will be a $59,000 New York-bred second-level optional claimer, featuring the 10-year-old debut of Writingonthewall.
Since 1968, the famed eton blue and brown silks of the Whitney family have been carried just once in the Kentucky Derby, when Birdstone ran eighth in 2004. Gorgeous Bird could revive a century-old tradition by running in the 141st Derby, but a couple of major tests await the gray colt, the first being the Fountain of Youth next Saturday, Feb. 21, at Gulfstream Park.
Without a marquee horse, the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 21 at Fair Grounds appears to be shaping up similarly to the Grade 3 Lecomte. As of Friday morning, stakes coordinator Scott Jones had eight 3-year-olds on his list of Risen Star probables, headed by International Star
In 2014, Road Ruler ranked second among Illinois sires by progeny earnings, with $634,776, and the only horse ahead of him, Cherokee Rap, died in 2012. In 2013 (the most recent year for which the Illinois Department of Agriculture has published such records), he had the most named foals of any Illinois stallion, 15, and his popularity has since grown.
Strong Contender stood in Florida in 2014, but his progeny earnings of more than $1.34 million would have topped the Indiana sire list.
The addition of Cowtown Cat to Ohio’s stallion roster near the end of 2014 automatically put him at the top of the state’s general sire list by progeny earnings, and he stands a strong chance of remaining in that spot until he can defend the title with his own Ohio-sired runners in 2018.
Standing multiple generations of a sire line can go a long way in establishing the reputation of a stallion, his sons, and the farm at which they stand. Repeated achievement in that area creates the foundation for a successful stallion operation and a coveted brand name for the horses themselves.
Grade 2 winner My Best Brother has been retired from racing and will stand the 2015 breeding season at Stonewall’s Prestige Stallions in Ocala, Fla.
Elite broodmare Kind, dam of champions Frankel and Noble Mission, will be among the mares in reigning Cartier European Horse of the Year Kingman's first book in 2015, Juddmonte Farm, which bred and owns both horses, announced Friday.
