Violence has book limited to 125 in 2024, stud fee set at $40,000

Violence, whose champion Forte is among his six graded stakes winners this year, will be limited to a book of 125 mares in order to maximize his chances of success in the upcoming breeding season and has thus had his stud fee lowered to $40,000 at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm.

John Sikura, president of Hill ‘n’ Dale, said that for part of the 2023 breeding season Violence was “missing too many of his mares” in a statement released late Sunday night. The farm did not specify what the stallion’s issues were.

Violence was represented in 2022 by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and divisional champion Forte, finishing third on the national 2-year-old sire earnings list and 17th on the general sire list. Forte continued on to win the Grade 1 Florida Derby and two other graded stakes this year and was second in the Belmont Stakes. Violence also has been represented during the 2023 racing season by Grade 1 winner Dr. Schivel and graded stakes winners Gala Brand, Newgrange, Order and Law, and Raise Cain. He currently ranks 12th on the general sire list.

With his rising success, Violence covered 134 mares during the 2023 breeding season from February to June, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred – despite what Hill ‘n’ Dale alluded to as some hiccups in his work. The stallion was originally scheduled to stand for an increased $60,000 in 2024.

“At the end of last breeding season, Violence had a period where he was missing too many of his mares,” Sikura’s statement read. “We raised his fee to not only reflect his racetrack success, but to lessen demand for the stallion. In evaluating a recent veterinary opinion on the management of his book, we feel confident he can cover a maximum book of 125 mares in 2024.”

Later in the statement, Sikura added, “Violence is an important sire and we feel this adjustment will allow more breeders to access the horse at a price more than competitive in the marketplace. It’s a tough time for breeders with stud fees rising in an ever-polarized market. I think this is good for the stallion and good for breeders.”

Sikura indicated that an important part of managing Violence will be communication with mare owners. The Thoroughbred breeding season is a fluid process, with broodmare managers and their veterinarians monitoring a mare’s ovulation process and communicating with the stud farm in order to book her at the farm on a day that will maximize her chances of getting in foal. On the other side of the phone, stallion bookers are often juggling multiple mares who might want to visit a stallion on a given day, with only two or three breeding sessions a day to work with. The process is, obviously, made more complicated when a stallion has a consideration such as Violence’s.

“We will accommodate breeders with constant communication regarding the ideal booking schedules for their mares, and ‘double’ all mares if possible,” Sikura said.

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