Union Jackson retired, will stand in New York

Union Jackson, a Grade 3-placed stakes-winning son of Curlin, has been retired from racing and will stand the 2018 breeding season at Sequel New York in Hudson for an advertised fee of $5,000.

The 5-year-old horse finished his ontrack career with six wins in 11 starts for earnings of $273,874. He won the Iowa Sprint Handicap and the Sam Houston Sprint Cup Stakes this year and turned in third-place efforts in the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes and the non-graded Thanksgiving Handicap.

Union Jackson raced as a homebred for Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Stables and was trained by Steve Asmussen. That duo also campaigned sire Curlin and dam Hot Dixie Chick.

“Union Jackson was a horse that we have always thought very highly of,” Banke said. “He reminds me very much of two other Stonestreet-raced horses, Kantharos and Maclean’s Music, who broke out to become very successfully young stallions.”

Hot Dixie Chick is a Grade 1-winning Dixie Union mare whose two foals to race are both winners. She is a half-sister to Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, out of the Grade 3 winner Above Perfection. The extended family includes Made to Perfection, Conky Johnston, Twenty Hawks, and Epitome of a Lady.

“Union Jackson is an outstanding individual from the physical standpoint, and I fell in love with him when I saw him,” said Becky Thomas of Sequel New York. “He was extremely fast, and when you consider that he is by a Horse of the Year and exceptional sire, out of a Grade 1-winning 2-year-old who is also half-sister to a Kentucky Derby winner, he may well be the best-bred stakes-winning runner to retire to begin his career in New York.”

Union Jackson will stand as a Sequel Stallions/Stonestreet Stables venture.

:: Get extended Cyber Monday discounts on PPs, digital subscriptions, and more!