Behrens, a three-time Grade 1 winner with more than $4.5 million in earnings, has retired from stud duty in California, Ellen Jackson of Victory Rose Thoroughbreds confirmed Wednesday. Plans call for him to reside at the Old Friends at Cabin Creek facility in New York.
Grade 1 winner Desert Blanc was successful in his return to racing after a season at stud earlier this year, winning a weight-for-age race in France on Monday.
Local standout and freshman sire Nationhood was represented by his first winner at stud on July 13 when Zafari Nation won a maiden claiming race at Emerald Downs by 1 1/2 lengths.
Six-time Grade 1 and Group 1 winner St Nicholas Abbey, who had been favored to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes this Saturday, fractured a pastern during training Tuesday in Ireland and is to undergo surgery Wednesday, according to Coolmore Stud.
The opening of Saratoga and Del Mar, respectively, signaled an upturn in graded stakes action around North America that will last through Labor Day as the popular summer meets in upstate New York and Southern California kicked off with stellar racing. Perhaps the most impressive performance of the weekend, however, came on Saturday at Delaware Park, as champion Royal Delta rebounded from a subpar performance last out with an absolutely dominating win in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap.
Spring Moon made an auspicious debut on Saturday at Del Mar, running unchallenged in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race and drawing off to win by four lengths under jockey Martin Garcia.
European Horse of the Year Sea The Stars, winner of the 2009 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, was represented by his first winner on Monday when Stars Over the Sea took the first race at Ayr in England.
Forefathers, a multiple graded stakes-placed half-brother to Grade 1 winner Pioneerof the Nile, was represented by his first winner at stud on Saturday when Home of America won a maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Park by 3 3/4 lengths.
Darley shuttle sire Exceed And Excel will be the first mate for unbeaten two-time Australian Horse of the Year Black Caviar when the Southern Hemisphere breeding season begins in September.
A fire destroyed a barn housing 21 Thoroughbreds and several other horses Saturday at Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable in Aiken, S.C., but all horses escaped unharmed, according to published reports.
