Kingmambo's season over

Kingmambo, who missed time from the breeding shed at Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Ky., because of health problems earlier this year, has ended the season early.

"He just had had a tough season," Lane's End owner Will Farish said Tuesday. "It's been up and down, and we just decided rather than put him through any more, we'd stop and let nature take its course."

Farish said the stallion is healthy but needed a rest, on the advice of veterinarians. He covered 36 mares in 2005.

Kingmambo, a 15-year-old son of Mr. Prospector who stood for $300,000 this season, was first withdrawn from stud duty this year in February, when he sustained a cut behind a knee.

In early March, a bone scan and X-rays revealed arthritis at the base of his neck, and Lane's End announced he might also have contracted equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, an infection that can cause a horse to become uncoordinated. Kingmambo missed a month of breeding as a result of those problems but returned April 16 and had been covering one mare a day.

Kingmambo is currently the seventh-leading sire on the North American general sires' list. A son of the champion mare Miesque, he is the sire of such champions as Lemon Drop Kid, El Condor Pasa, Divine Proportions, and Russian Rhythm.