Arabian Lion, Taiba, Zandon to stand at Spendthrift Farm in 2024
?q=100)
Grade 1 winners Arabian Lion, Taiba, and Zandon will stand at Spendthrift Farm in 2024, the Lexington, Ky., farm announced Saturday night.
Arabian Lion and Taiba are both campaigned by Zedan Racing, with Bob Baffert the trainer. Zandon, who races for Jeff Drown, is trained by Chad Brown. Taiba will stand for a $35,000 fee in 2024. Stud fees for Arabian Lion and Zandon will be announced at the end of their respective racing careers.
“All three are superior physicals, and all three displayed immense talent in winning some of America’s biggest 3-year-old races on dirt," Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said of the incoming trio in a press release. "Obviously, the Breeders’ Cup is ahead, and some of them will be looking to finish strong. These are the kind of stallion prospects we have looked to bring in and will continue to try to bring in at Spendthrift.”
Arabian Lion is from the first crop by Triple Crown winner Justify. The 3-year-old was a solid performer around two turns earlier this year, finishing second in the Grade 3 Lexington and winning the Sir Barton. He cut back to win the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont before most recently crossing the line third in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.
Millionaires Taiba, by the white-hot Gun Runner, and Zandon, by Upstart, were both leading sophomores of 2022. Taiba won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, while Zandon won the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes. Taiba added Grade 1 wins around both one and two turns later in the season, taking the Malibu and Pennsylvania Derby. He also was third in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Taiba has been retired from racing and is available for inspection at Spendthrift.
Zandon, who followed his Blue Grass by finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, has only been worse than third once in his career, with the Derby among his five Grade 1 placings. Most recently, those include runner-up efforts in the Metropolitan Handicap and Whitney.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.