Danza retired to Spendthrift

Classic-placed Grade 1 winner Danza has been retired and will enter stud for 2016 at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky.

Danza, a 4-year-old son of Street Boss, will participate in Spendthrift's "Share the Upside" incentive program. The Share the Upside fee for Danza will be $5,500 stands and nurses, and breeders will earn a lifetime right after breeding a mare in each of Danza's first two seasons, producing two live foals, and paying both stud fees. Danza’s 2016 fee on a traditional, one-time contract will be $4,000 stands and nurses.

“We are excited about the opportunity to stand such a talented Grade 1 winner as Danza,” Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes said. “Simply put, he was one of the best racehorses of his crop, and showed it at both 2 and 3. His tremendous looks match the ability, and I invite breeders to come out to the farm to see him. We believe he’ll be well received, particularly through our Share the Upside Program.”

Grade 2-placed as a juvenile, Danza emerged as a classics contender in the spring of 2014, romping by 4 3/4 lengths in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby against a field that included eventual Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern and classic-placed runners Ride On Curlin and Commissioner. Three weeks later, Danza finished third in the Kentucky Derby.

Campaigned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by Todd Pletcher, Danza retires with earnings of $866,428. The colt is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Majestic Harbor.

“Danza was a sensationally gifted racehorse with the courage to match his natural talent, and he took our racing partners to the top of the mountain,” said Eclipse president Aron Wellman. “He's an imposing physical specimen, and we are delighted that Spendthrift has put their faith in him. The team at Spendthrift is second to none, and we have every confidence Danza will have a legitimate opportunity to succeed at stud in Kentucky.”