Henny Hughes sold to Japan

Henny Hughes, a multiple Grade 1 winner and sire of champion Beholder, has been sold to Yushun Company in Hokkaido, Japan, Thoroughbred Daily News reports.

The 10-year-old son of Hennessy had most recently been standing the Southern Hemisphere season at Rangeview Stud in Bullsbrook, Western Australia, which acquired the stallion in 2012. Henny Hughes began his stallion career in 2007, shuttling between Darley’s North American base, Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., and its Australian location, Kelvinside Farm in Aberdeen. After the purchase by Rangeview Stud, the horse shuttled to Walmac Farm in Lexington for one season in 2013.

Henny Hughes is the sire of four crops of racing age, led by Beholder, whose victory in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies led to champion 2-year-old female honors. His other leading runners include Grade 3 winner She Digs Me, Japanese Group 3 winners Keiai Leone and Henny Hound, and Mexican Group 1 winner Badajoz.

On the racetrack, Henny Hughes was a leading sprinter during the 2006 racing season, winning the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes and King’s Bishop Stakes that year, as well as the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Breeders’ Cup Stakes. As a 2-year-old, Henny Hughes won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special Stakes, and finished second in a trio of high-profile Grade 1 races: the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Champagne Stakes, and the Hopeful Stakes.

Henny Hughes retired with six wins from 10 career starts for earnings of $1,124,820.

Bred in Kentucky by Liberation Farm, Trackside Farm, and CHO LLC, Henny Hughes is out of stakes-placed winning Meadowlake mare Meadow Flyer, whose produce features nine winners from 11 foals to race.

A fee has not yet been announced for Henny Hughes’ Japanese debut season.