Sam-Son Farm era coming to a close
A long goodbye, which has called to mind vivid memories from a half-century of racing history, is drawing to a close for Sam-Son Farm.
Nicole RussoDec 21, 2022
A long goodbye, which has called to mind vivid memories from a half-century of racing history, is drawing to a close for Sam-Son Farm.
Mind Control, a three-time Grade 1 winner including a victory in the $750,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 3 at Aqueduct in his final career start, will stand stud at Rockridge Farm in Hudson, N.Y. Mind Control will be under the management of Irish Hill Farm, Dutchess View Stallions, and Rockridge Stud.
California-bred Indian Charlie stood his entire stud career outside of his home state. But Indian Charlie left a sizeable influence on the breed that is continuing to grow nationwide, including stretching back to the state of his birth.
Eight Rings had a dynamic start to his racing career in the summer and fall of 2019, winning a maiden race in his debut at Del Mar and the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita in his third outing. As the most prominent new stallion in California in 2023, Eight Rings has a chance for a splashy beginning to his stud career as well.
Flightline is not the only member of the incoming stallion class of 2023 who has merited a lofty six-figure introductory stud fee. Multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Good, who like Flightline is expected to be an Eclipse Award finalist in the older dirt male category, has taken up residence at WinStar Farm for an advertised fee of $100,000.
Mandaloun, by leading sire and emerging sire of sires Into Mischief, retires to Juddmonte Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., for the 2023 season. He is the first horse to move into Juddmonte's Kentucky stallion barn in about six years, since champion Arrogate arrived there in fall 2017.
Gun Runner will be represented by his first sons at stud in 2023, both Grade 1 winners from his first crop. Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting has taken up residence at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., while multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife will return home to Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky., after one final start.
A.P. Indy was that rare, legendary Thoroughbred, and a lynchpin for the Farish family's Lane's End Farm operation. It's into those massive horseshoes that his great-grandson Flightline now attempts to step, and it's impossible not to draw comparisons.
Grade 1 winner Epicenter, who sustained a career-ending injury in the Breeders' Cup Classic last month, will begin a stallion career at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., that operation announced Sunday. Epicenter is a grandson of the late Coolmore leading sire Giant's Causeway, giving the international operation a chance to build upon that legacy in the United States.
Grade 1 winner Epicenter, who sustained a career-ending injury in the Breeders' Cup Classic last month, will begin a stallion career at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., that operation announced Sunday.