Laoban will begin stallion career in New York

Laoban, a Grade 2 winner whose retirement due to a soft-tissue injury was announced this week, will begin his stallion career at Sequel Stallions in New York in 2017. The 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo will debut for an advertised fee of $7,500.

Laoban will be syndicated in a joint venture involving Sequel, co-owner Southern Equine Stables, McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Thoroughbreds.

“We are so excited to be able to offer our clients this very exciting prospect,” Sequel’s Becky Thomas said. “He looks just like Uncle Mo. He’s gorgeous. We are particularly excited to partner with such a great group of horsemen and breeders. The mares that will be presented to him will be second to none.”

Laoban’s only victory in nine career starts was a front-running upset in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 30, triggering a $56 win payout.

Laoban subsequently finished 12th in the Travers Stakes; he had surgery to remove a displaced chip in his ankle shortly afterward. He was working toward Saturday’s Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park as a local prep toward the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 when he emerged from a workout with the injury.

“He came out of his last work with a little soft-tissue issue,” Mike Moreno of Southern Equine said. “We had a choice whether to give him three or four months off and bring him back for the last half of 2017, or to stand him with Becky Thomas in New York, and we didn’t want to miss that opportunity or the start of the next breeding season.”

Laoban finished on the board in three other races, including a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes and a third in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes. He retires with $526,250 in earnings.

Laoban is from the record-setting first crop of elite young sire Uncle Mo and will be his sire’s third son entering stud next year. Uncle Mo, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, is also represented by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, debuting at Darley’s Jonabell Farm, and Grade 1 winner Outwork at WinStar Farm.

– additional reporting by Mike Welsch