Mineshaft's stud fee: $100,000

Jockey Club Gold Cup favorite Mineshaft, who will stand his initial season in 2004 at Lane's End, will have a stud fee of $100,000. That is the most expensive fee announced for a new stallion in 2004, outstripping previous leader Vindication's $50,000 fee.

"[Mineshaft's] pedigree, his conformation, and his race record are what you'd hope to have check marks by, and he does," said Bill Farish, who runs the farm for his family. "He has a wonderful pedigree, and he's shown how good a racehorse he is with his string of Grade 1 wins. I think when you compare him to a Giant's Causeway or a Fusaichi Pegasus, he looks pretty good."

Mineshaft, a 4-year-old A.P. Indy colt, has won six stakes this year, including the Grade 1 Pimlico Special and Suburban handicaps and, most recently, the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. He has earned more than $1.6 million. Neil Howard trains Mineshaft for Will Farish, Lane's End owner and U.S. ambassador to Britain; James A. Elkins; and W. Temple Webber.

Mineshaft is out of Prospectors Delite, a Grade 1 winner who is the dam of Grade 1 winner Tomisue's Delight, Mineshaft's full sister. Prospectors Delite also has produced stakes winners Delta Music, Monashee Mountain, and Rock Slide.