Spendthrift Farm struck early to secure Bolt d’Oro for its stallion roster, completing a deal for his breeding rights in the fall of his 2-year-old season, but its relationship with the multiple Grade 1 winner goes back much further than that. Bolt d’Oro’s 10th dam is Hall of Fame filly Myrtlewood, a foundation mare for Spendthrift.
Three Chimneys Farm has an established history with the stellar female family responsible for 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner. The farm has continued to reinvest in that family, developed by the late Edward P. Evans, as it expands its stallion roster. This year, Three Chimneys adds a pair of Grade 1 winners in Funtastic, a half-brother to Saint Liam, and Sharp Azteca, out of a daughter of the champion.
Classic-placed champion Good Magic will enter stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm alongside his sire, Curlin, and several other former Stonestreet Farm colorbearers.
Charles Fipke continues to develop his program with two homebred stallion prospects headed to stud in Kentucky. Bee Jersey, winner of the stallion-making Metropolitan Handicap, will stand at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, while classic-placed Tale of Verve will begin his second career at Fipke’s own C.F. Farms near Paris.
New York-bred standout Mind Your Biscuits heads to a stud career in Japan with questions about whether his racing ability and pedigree are suited for success as a sire there.
While Kentucky sires cover more mares annually than all other state programs combined, regional breeders rely on in-state sires for their mares and to also take advantage of state breeding incentive programs. In 2019, there are 61 new stallions reported to be standing in North America, and two-thirds of those will be outside of Kentucky.
Oscar Performance was foaled at Mill Ridge on April 6, 2014, and spent his formative months there before heading off to training and the track. He now returns for his stallion career.
The Pegasus is expected to feature a showdown between Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Accelerate and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light. City of Light is the only horse to defeat Accelerate in 2018, and both will head to stud at Lane’s End Farm immediately after their final showdown. There is just more than a two-week turnaround between the race and the start of the breeding season for new stallions.
Coolmore’s Ashford Stud will open its breeding shed for business with Triple Crown heroes American Pharoah and Justify residing in its stallion barn. American Pharoah’s commercial-blockbuster first crop will be preparing to race as juveniles. Meanwhile Justify, who won all six starts by a combined 23 3/4 lengths in a meteoric career spanning 111 days, is the most anticipated new stallion in America for 2019.
The Lieutenant, a graded stakes-winning half-brother to unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify, has been retired and will begin his stud career at Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y.
