John Hall, the longtime yearling manager for Taylor Made Farm who worked with a young American Pharoah, died May 22 at his home in Delaware after a battle with cancer. He was 79.
Munnings is quietly crafting a stellar season, both on the racetrack and in the commercial arena. The sire of nine stakes winners in 2021 – including Grade 1 winner Kimari – he is posting a career-best average during this 2-year-old sales season.
Laoban, a breakout success as a freshman sire last season, has died unexpectedly, WinStar Farm announced Monday morning. No cause of death was given for the 8-year-old son of Uncle Mo.
Argentinian leading sire Pure Prize, who produced top-level performers in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, died last weekend at Haras La Providencia in his adopted country. The son of Storm Cat and Hall of Fame racemare Heavenly Prize was 23.
Classic sire Malibu Moon, a foundation sire for B. Wayne Hughes's program at Spendthrift Farm, died Tuesday in his paddock of an apparent heart attack, the farm reported that evening. The son of A.P. Indy was 24 and was owned by Spendthrift, fellow Kentucky farm Castleton Lyons, and Country Life Farm, all of which played a role in building his career.
The 15 stakes races at Pimlico between Friday and Saturday were won by runners representing 15 different sires and 15 different broodmare sires. Only one stallion was represented on both lists, as Congrats sired Grade 3 Pimlico Special winner Last Judgement and is the broodmare sire of The Very One winner Caravel.
Ultrafleet, a daughter of Afleet, became the foundation root of a family tree that has expanded to include six graded/group stakes winners worldwide, with its brightest stars including late European Horse of the Year Roaring Lion and the newly minted Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer.
With his victory in the Preakness Stakes, Rombauer is now a winner on dirt, turf, and synthetic racing surfaces. He has followed in the footsteps of sire, Twirling Candy, a graded stakes winner on all three surfaces and a similarly versatile sire who can now also be called a classic sire.
The global coronavirus pandemic turned life, including the Thoroughbred racing and sales calendar, upside down in 2020. But the shuffling of the sales calendar actually played out in favor of the small breeding program of John and Dian Fradkin.
One day before Rombauer runs in the Preakness Stakes, his older half-brother Treasure Trove will contest the Grade 3 Pimlico Special.
