Cupid to stand at Ashford Stud in 2018

Grade 1 winner Cupid will retire to Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2018 breeding season, the international operation announced Thursday.

A release from Coolmore said the son of Tapit will, as expected, make his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Cupid also was pre-entered in the Classic but has first preference in the Dirt Mile.

The Coolmore team purchased Cupid, a half-brother to Grade 3 winners Heart Ashley and Ashley's Kitty and stakes winner Indianapolis, for $900,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale. He won three Grade 2 events as a 3-year-old in 2016, annexing the Rebel Stakes, Indiana Derby, and West Virginia Derby. Cupid became a Grade 1 winner when he took the Gold Cup at Santa Anita in his 4-year-old debut following eight months on the shelf.

“We loved Cupid as a yearling, and he has developed into a smashing horse, just like you would have hoped,” Ashford manager Dermot Ryan said in a release. “He’s a quality individual with plenty of size and great balance and the pedigree and race record to match. He’s an exciting prospect.”

After another three months off, Cupid won the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes in preparation for his fall campaign but is looking to rebound at the Breeders' Cup after finishing fourth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes in his most recent outing.

While Cupid will take up stallion duties for 2018, Coolmore will still have a representative from his family on the track next year. The operation went to $2.7 million for his full sister to lead the Keeneland September yearling sale.

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales