Suns Out Guns Out to Hand Ride Stables in Ohio for 2016

Suns Out Guns Out, a multiple allowance winner, will debut at stud in 2016 at Hand Ride Stables in Dublin, Ohio, for a fee of $2,000.

The 6-year-old son of Empire Maker finished racing career with four wins in 26 starts for earnings of $327,451. He finished fourth in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Marathon.

Dale Romans trained Suns Out Guns Out for owner West Point Thoroughbreds.

“We were trying to ride the Empire Maker wave,” said William Francis, who co-owns Hand Ride Stables with Daniel Leader. “It’s just a hot sire line right now, and he became available through a private sale to us from the trainer, Dale Romans. We think he’s going to be a good fit here.”

Francis said that Suns Out Guns Out already had 20 mares booked for his first season, which alone would have made him Ohio’s fourth-most-active stallion in 2015 with a similar-sized book.

Bred in Kentucky by Shunji Izumi, Suns Out Guns Out is out of the unplaced Smart Strike mare Angel Arch, who is the dam of two winners from three foals to race. He is from the family of Canadian champion Bounding Away, Grade 2 winner Tenpins, and Spanish Horse of the Year Petit Loup.

“He’s a longer-bodied horse,” Francis said. “He’s going to need some substance in his mares. We think that all the things that have worked with Pioneerof the Nile and the Empire Maker line will work with him.”

A limited number of lifetime breeding rights to Suns Out Guns Out are available for $3,000.