Going Ballistic joins Victory Rose band of stallions

ARCADIA, Calif. – Going Ballistic, the latest addition to California’s stallion ranks, is scheduled to arrive at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds at Vacaville, Calif., by Wednesday, farm owner Ellen Jackson said on Friday.

The 8-year-old Going Ballistic will give Victory Rose seven stallions for its 2012 roster. Earlier this year, Bold Chieftain was retired from racing and will begin his stud career at Victory Rose when the breeding season starts in earnest later this month.

Jackson said negotiations were completed with Going Ballistic’s owner, Mike Kindred, in late January for the stallion to be shipped west.

“It came as a complete surprise,” she said. “Over a week, we hammered out an agreement.”

By Lite the Fuse, Going Ballistic won 7 of 46 starts and $1,195,567. In a career that spanned from 2006 to last year, Going Ballistic won six stakes, including the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in 2007 and races at Lone Star Park, Remington Park, and Retama Park.

Going Ballistic was trained by Donnie Von Hemel.

Going Ballistic will stand for $3,000, and Jackson is hopeful of attracting approximately 40 mares.

“I hope we can get that,” she said. “We’ve got mares waiting.”

Jackson expects stallion books at Victory Rose to grow substantially, and perhaps double this year, after a poor 2011 breeding season. She said that the farm bred “90 to 100” mares last year, a number that she described as “dangerously scary. It was nothing like years gone by. This year, I would hope to have close to 200. The mare population is starting to pick up around here.”