Kentucky Derby 2021: Spendthrift buys breeding rights to Rock Your World

B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm already had multiple rooting interests in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, and it has added another. The farm announced Thursday that it has secured the breeding rights to Derby entrant Rock Your World, and will stand the colt upon his eventual retirement.

Rock Your World, by Candy Ride and out of the stakes-winning Empire Maker mare Charm the Maker, has won all three of his starts, all for trainer John Sadler and owners Hronis Racing and David Michael Talla. Winner of the Pasadena Stakes on turf, the colt rolled home by 4 1/4 lengths in the Santa Anita Derby in his dirt debut.

“We are really excited about Rock Your World and thankful to the Hronis family, Michael Talla, and John Sadler for allowing us to be a part of the horse’s promising future,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said in a release. “Rock Your World has a wonderful combination of sheer talent, pedigree, and sire power, and he’s an imposing physical specimen, which you would expect from a $650,000 yearling. We were especially taken by the brilliance he displayed in the Santa Anita Derby in his first start on the dirt, and think he has a great shot to show that again in the Kentucky Derby and beyond.”

Spendthrift's stallion roster is led by two-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, the sire of last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic, whom Spendthrift owned in partnership and now stands. Into Mischief is the sire of three entrants in this Saturday's Derby - Highly Motivated, Mandaloun, and Soup and Sandwich - as he bids to become the first stallion ever to sire back-to-back winners of the classic race.

In addition to Into Mischief's three sons and now Rock Your World, Spendthrift has two other horses of interest in this Derby. The farm owns Keepmeinmind with Cypress Creek Equine and Arnold Bennewith. The farm also stood Wicked Strong in Kentucky when his son and Derby entrant Brooklyn Strong was conceived. Wicked Strong moved to Pin Oak Lane Farm in Pennsylvania for 2021.