Dornoch to stand at Spendthrift at end of career

Belmont Stakes and Haskell Invitational winner Dornoch will eventually stand at Spendthrift Farm, the principals behind both his current racing and future stallion careers confirmed over the weekend.

Dornoch is campaigned by the partnership of West Paces Racing, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables. Those owners announced after the colt won Saturday’s Haskell at Monmouth that they had struck a stallion deal with Spendthrift Farm shortly after last month’s Belmont Stakes. Spendthrift confirmed the news in a release on Sunday.

In addition to consecutive Grade 1 victories, Dornoch has also won two Grade 2 races – last fall’s Remsen Stakes and this year’s Fountain of Youth Stakes. Trainer Danny Gargan indicated that he does not expect the colt, who has earned more than $2.3 million to date, to race on as a 4-year-old.

“Every race with him is precious,” Gargan told Monmouth publicity on Sunday. “With his pedigree, no one is ever expected to run at 4. His pedigree is so big. He’s arguably the best-bred horse racing right now. We’ve always known there would be the day when he’d have to go be a stallion.”

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Dornoch, by Good Magic and out of Puca, is a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who began his stallion career this year at Airdrie Stud. Good Magic, by consistent classic influence and emerging sire-of-sires Curlin, is the sire of four Grade 1 winners and another six graded stakes winners from his first two crops to race.

“With his impressive wins in the Belmont Stakes and Haskell, Dornoch is certainly the 3-year-old division leader, and he is making a strong case that he’s the best 3-year-old we have seen from the Curlin line,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said in a release. “He really has an impeccable profile that should make him as desirable a stallion prospect as the industry can provide when his racing days are over. Until then, we will be cheering on their team and can’t wait to see what Dornoch goes on to accomplish. He keeps getting better and better, and the sky is the limit for a horse like this.”

This year’s Triple Crown races were won by three different colts, and two of the three are now spoken for as future stallions. It was announced earlier this month that Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey, who races for the micro-share partnership MyRacehorse, will stand at Gainesway upon his retirement from racing. It was not firmly indicated when that would be.

“MyRacehorse only sold his breeding rights, not his racing rights, which means the horse does not transfer to Gainesway until his racing career is over,” the ownership group said in a message distributed to partners in the colt. “MyRacehorse did agree to certain conditions as to when that racing career ends, and the breeding career begins, and will share details in the coming days.”

While Dornoch and Seize the Grey – who is entered in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy next Saturday at Saratoga – are both pointing to next month’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes, Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is getting a break from training, and trainer Ken McPeek has announced his intentions to freshen the colt for a 4-year-old campaign. No stallion deal has been publicly announced for Mystik Dan, who races for Four G Racing, Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm.

In addition to the Triple Crown race winners, there are five other individual colts who have won Grade 1 races in 2024 – Fierceness (Florida Derby), Muth (Arkansas Derby), Sierra Leone (Blue Grass Stakes), Stronghold (Santa Anita Derby), and Trikari (Belmont Derby). Of those, Sierra Leone is owned in majority by the Coolmore team – with Peter Brant and Brook Smith as partners – thus making his future home as a stallion obvious. While the owners of this year’s other Grade 1-winning colts have partnered with various farms on other accomplished stallion prospects, nothing has been publicly announced to date about their current colorbearers.

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