The late B. Wayne Hughes had a feeling about the flashy bay colt. He purchased the son of first-crop sire Harlan’s Holiday for a relatively modest $180,000 as a 2-year-old, and later that year, campaigned him to a Grade 1 win in the colors of Spendthrift Farm, which he had purchased in 2004. Hughes was eager to get the colt into the stallion barn at Spendthrift.
When Khozan went to stud, he was commonly referenced in conversation as the half-brother to multi-time Eclipse Award champion Royal Delta. Now, he has made a name of his own as Florida’s leading sire.
Khozan, who has stood his entire career at Brent and Crystal Fernung’s Journeyman Stud in Reddick, Fla., led the Florida first-crop and 2-year-old sire lists with his initial runners in 2019. He has led the Florida general sire list for four consecutive years since, and turned in a particularly dominant performance in 2023, leading across a number of categories.
With a recent Grade 1 winner to his credit, Frac Daddy had a breakout year in 2023 and should be a popular sire for the 2024 Canadian breeding season.
Frac Daddy was Canada’s leading 2-year-old sire last year in both number of winners and money won. The 14-year-old son of Scat Daddy sired 10 juvenile winners, including stakes winners Scat Dancer and No More Options, a King’s Plate prospect. The icing on the cake was when his California-bred 3-year-old filly Daddysruby took the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita in December.
McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds already had plenty of firepower on its stallion roster, as it has developed New York’s current leading sire Central Banker and has a rising star behind him in 2023’s top freshman sire, Solomini. Now, the farm welcomes in Bucchero, who has proven himself in Florida and is poised to be a standout as the New York breeding and racing industry looks ahead to the future.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Steal Sunshine and Castle Chaos, both of whom could not quite escape the reserve list and draw into the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, will hope to settle for a lesser prize when taking on 10 rivals, including likely favorite Hejazi, in Saturday’s $150,000 Fred W. Hooper at Gulfstream Park.
Of course, one would want to get involved in the biggest American race of the winter, but the Pegasus World Cup elicits too many questions to find a firm answer.
The favorites, National Treasure and First Mission, can be opposed, but who is the alternative? Trademark, who vanquished First Mission in the Clark, is inconsistent. Senor Buscador ran against the bias in the Cigar Mile but requires a long one-turn race like that for his best, while Cigar winner Hoist the Gold benefited from that bias. Skippylongstocking, potential value, drew an objectively terrible post.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 4-year-old filly Warm Heart will look to close her career on a winning note while the undefeated colt Integration seeks to set the table for a big 4-year-old campaign when the two head a full field in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
Warm Heart, trained by Aidan O’Brien for the Coolmore connections, is stopping in Florida to try and get one more Grade 1 victory before she is bred to Justify in Kentucky in the coming months.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The ever-shifting California handicap division would temporarily stabilize Saturday if the favorite in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes does something unique, like maintain form in consecutive races.
Newgrange has won half his starts, including the San Pasqual last year and Grade 2 San Antonio last month, but it’s been two years since he won back-to-back. Now that Newgrange is 5 years old and in the prime of his career, his trainer is confident he will run two alike on his home track.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – At his best, National Treasure had some really memorable moments in 2023, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Mage when capturing the Preakness in game fashion during the spring before saving his best for last, extending likely Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish right to the wire before dropping a heartbreaking nose decision in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Hot Fudge and Ain’t Broke give trainer Linda Rice a potent one-two punch in Saturday’s $150,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct, rescheduled from a week ago when the Jan. 20 card was canceled due to extreme cold.
All seven of the original entrants for the seven-furlong race for females returned when the race was redrawn Wednesday. White Chocolate was added to the field, but she also was entered in Friday’s $100,000 What a Summer Stakes at Laurel Park and trainer Chad Summers indicated that six-furlong race is his preference, pending track condition.
