Bluegrass Cat to shuttle to Chile

WinStar stallion Bluegrass Cat, 2010’s second-ranked freshman sire, will shuttle to Chile for the 2011 Southern Hemisphere breeding season, the central Kentucky farm has announced.

He will stand at Haras Don Alberto, a stud farm owned by Liliana Solari.

WInStar’s director of stallion seasons and bloodstock, Robert Hammond, said there is strong demand for Bluegrass Cat, a 8-year-old Storm Cat stallion, in South America. “Haras Don Alberto is a top stallion operation that has had success with other North American stallions like Fusaichi Pegasus, Proud Citizen, Stevie Wonderboy, and others, so we’re looking forward to the partnership and expanding the bluegrass Cat brand to the southern hemisphere market.”

Bluegrass Cat’s first crop hit the racetrack in 2010 and included Grade 2 winner Kathmanblu, who came back this year to win two stakes, the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds and Gulfstream’s ungraded Sweetest Chant Stakes. Bluegrass Cat’s first crop also included Canadian Grade 3 winner Blue Laser and such graded-placed runners as Another Silver Oak, Speed Demon, and Bluegrass Chatter.

Bluegrass Cat stands at WinStar in Versailles, Ky., for a 2011 fee of $25,000. His Chilean fee hasn’t been announced yet.